Photos from the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing

A panel member of the TLHRC, Congressman James P. McGovern, the co-chair of the TLHRC, with Mrs. Mu Sochua and Dr. Pung Chiv Kek (All Photos: SRP North America)
Dr. Pung Chiv Kek and Mr. Moeun Tola talk with the hearing attendants
Mrs. Mu Sochua greets the attendants to the hearing
Mrs. Mu Sochua greets the attendants to the hearing

An attendant shows which party he is supporting

Briefing dinner following the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing

Moeun Tola and Dr. Pung Chiv Kek were also present during the dinner following the Tom Lantos Human Rigths Commission hearing (All Photos: SRP North America)

SRP MP Mu Sochua briefed the attendants to the dinner

Mr. Tung Yap (C), Dr. Pung Chiv Kek (L) and Mrs. Mu Sochua (R)

Mrs. Mu Sochua was presented with a plaque

Participants to the dinner

Mrs. Mu Sochua is being interviewed

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Hem Heng throws a tantrum and accuses TLHRC hearing as biased

CPP Hem Heng and his wife (Photo: Viseth)

Ambassador Dismisses Rights Hearing as Biased

Cambodia’s top representative to the United States dismissed as biased a hearing at the US House of Representatives Thursday that is looking into Cambodia’s human rights record.

“We already know that they only invited the opposition party and non-governmental organizations,” Ambassador Hem Heng said in an interview in Washington. “It means that this is a biased hearing.”

The House of Representative’s Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, co-chaired by Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia, and James McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, scheduled a hearing Thursday to address “a concerning trend in the Cambodian government’s overall human rights record.”

Invited were Mu Sochua, a Kampot National Assembly representative for the Sam Rainsy Party who recently lost a defamation suit to Prime Minister Hun Sen; Kek Galabru, founder of the rights group Licadho; and Moeun Tola, head of the Community Legal Education Center’s labor program.

“Normally, the hearing needs to have two sides or more,” Hem Heng said. “But this hearing has only one side participating. So the hearing is trending toward the opposition party.”

International and local observers say Cambodia has seen a decline in media and personal freedoms, with critics of the government facing lawsuits and other charges.

The Cambodian Embassy in Washington released a statement Wednesday saying human rights in Cambodia have been improving.

“We have thousands of civil societies, from of expression, and the unions are progressing,” Hem Heng said. “Among these, there are at least 11 international organizations. Besides those, there is the office of the High Commissioner of the United Nations for human rights.”

Ou Virak, head of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said by phone the rights situation in Cambodia has deteriorated over the past four years.

“In 2005, there were some arrests, some complaints, and then the situation was back to normal,” he said. “But in 2009, we see arrests and intimidation.”

Chan Soveth, a rights investigator for Adhoc, said political violence in Cambodia never meets justice.

“The culture of impunity in Cambodia from day to day is accumulating,” he said. “It is scary, and a serious concern.”

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Jailed Journalist Seeks To Apologize

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
11 September 2009

Hang Chakra, who is facing a yearlong jail term for defamation charges, has said in a letter he would like to apologize to a senior minister implicated in corruption by his newspaper.

Editor of the Khmer Mchas Srok newspaper, Hang Chakra was sentenced in July and fined 9 million riel, about $2,250, after publishing reports on alleged corruption at the powerful Council of Ministers, which is headed by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.

Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said officials had received the letter and would provide it to Sok An on Monday.

In the letter, according to Phay Siphan, Hang Chakra “accepted the mistake of disinformation and expressed his regret for improperly writing some text in his newspaper, affecting the honor of Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.”

“He accepts his wrongdoing and requests a pardon,” Phay Siphan said.

Hang Chakra’s arrest and imprisonment came in July amid increasing concern the courts were used to punish government dissenters, after two opposition parliamentarians, Mu Sochua and Ho Vann, had their immunity stripped and another opposition journalist, Dam Sith, vowed to close his own newspaper rather than face similar charges.

Phay Siphan said Friday Hang Chakra should have apologized before his sentencing, because the government is interested in seeing information that follows a professional code of conduct.

Now, he said, “Prime Minister Hun Sen has the right to get Hang Chakra’s apology letter to request the king to pardon him.”

Journalist associations in August requested King Norodom Sihamoni pardon the jailed editor, with no result.

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The Khmer from the diaspora: is a new generation back? (1/2)

For nearly thirty years, Cambodians have fled their country. But a reverse trend seems to have started in the last few years. The children of those exiled have grown. Now adults, some have decided to return to Cambodia to work here, launch a project or create their company. Who are these Khmer from elsewhere and what are they looking for in the land of their ancestors? Ka-set met with them. First article in a two-part investigation.

“Caught” by Cambodia

The stories of “repat Khmer,” a nickname given to “repatriated Khmer” by some French people with Cambodian origins, often start with a trip. They discovered or rediscovered the country of their parents and decided to stay here. Temporarily or not. Such was the case of Auray Aun, deputy regional director of “Aid and Action,” a French NGO working in education. Eight years ago, he left a well-paid job in a PR firm in Paris to start an adventure with a friend: going round Asia and Latin America and meeting with NGOs working in education. The country of smiles was one of the places visited during their trip. “It was a very powerful time,” Auray recalled. “I was welcomed by my family and I really liked what I saw. The people, the country… It was magical. So much so that my travel companion was afraid I would stay. Of course, we finished the trip together, but by the end of my stay in Cambodia, it was clear to me I would come back to work here.”

2009 Kan Ben celebration photos

Cambodians holds plates with food and incenses to offer at a Buddhist temple during the the festival of the dead, early Friday, Sept. 11, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The festival, also known as the Pchum Ben festival, commemorates the spirits of the dead and almost every Cambodian takes part by visiting temples. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodians celebrate the the festival of the dead at a Buddhist temple early Friday, Sept. 11, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The festival, also known as the Pchum Ben festival, commemorates the spirits of the dead and almost every Cambodian takes part by visiting temples. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodians celebrate the the festival of the dead at a Buddhist temple early Friday, Sept. 11, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The festival, also known as the Pchum Ben festival, commemorates the spirits of the dead and almost every Cambodian takes part by visiting temples. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

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Water ride in Phnom Penh

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA - A Cambodian motor-taxi man drives through a flooded street, carrying two customers. AP Photo/Heng Sinith.

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"Pad"-Thai group still wants to claim Thai ownership of Preah Vihear temple

PAD scholars want court to rule temple, land is Thai

12/09/2009
Bangkok Post

Academics from the People's Alliance for Democracy have asked the Civil Court to rule that the disputed Preah Vihear temple and surrounding land belongs to Thailand.

The 10 yellow shirt academics yesterday petitioned the Civil Court in Bangkok, which has no international jurisdiction, to make the ruling.

They also accused Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, his deputies Sok An and Hor Nam Hong and their subordinates of violating the Thai people's rights and liberty under the Thai constitution by encroaching on the area.

One of the group, ML Walwipa Charoonroj, an historian from Thammasat University, said she was glad that the court accepted the lawsuit for examination. The academics decided to take action because the Thai government did nothing to protect the land, she said.

Meanwhile, the government will discuss cutting troop numbers in the area.

According to a source, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya last Wednesday asked 2nd Army chief Wibulsak Neepal about the possibility of reducing the number of soldiers guarding the 4.6-square-kilometre disputed area.

Lt Gen Wibulsak said that the government would seek approval from parliament to reduce its forces and then would discuss the issue with the Cambodian government.

"We proposed the reductions in many locations in the disputed area but have not estimated by how much the military forces will be reduced and whether it will reach 50%," said the 2nd Army chief.

Lt Gen Wibulsak said Cambodia was cutting back its forces in the area where 3,000 Cambodian soldiers and 2,500 Thai troops are posted.

Cambodian Supreme Commander Gen Pol Saroeun told his Thai counterpart Supreme Commander Songkitti Jaggabatara in Cambodia two weeks ago that Hun Sen would halve Cambodian troops in the near future and would further cut his forces by another 20% late this year.

Meet SRP MP Mu Sochua in Long Beach on 12 Sept and Stockton on 19 Sept 2009

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Photos from the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing

Attendants to the packed-room hearing (All Photos: SRP North America)
Panel members to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
US Congressmen James P. McGovern (C) and Frank R. Wolf (R), the co-chairs of the TLHRC
Attendants to the hearing
Sophie Richardson (R), Asia advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, gives her testimony. Sitting next to her are, from left to right: SRP MP Mu Sochua, Dr. Pung Chiv Kek, and Mr. Moeun Tola
Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, gives her testimony
Mrs. Mu Sochua giving her testimony
TLHRC panel members

Meet SRP MP Mu Sochua in Long Beach on 12 Sept and Stockton on 19 Sept 2009

Click on each announcement to zoom in

Click to Read More...

Photos from the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing

Attendants to the packed-room hearing (All Photos: SRP North America)
Panel members to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
US Congressmen James P. McGovern (C) and Frank R. Wolf (R), the co-chairs of the TLHRC
Attendants to the hearing
Sophie Richardson (R), Asia advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, gives her testimony. Sitting next to her are, from left to right: SRP MP Mu Sochua, Dr. Pung Chiv Kek, and Mr. Moeun Tola
Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, gives her testimony
Mrs. Mu Sochua giving her testimony
TLHRC panel members

THE MYSTERIES OF ANGKOR WAT

Angkor Wat, one of the most beautiful and mysterious historical sites in the world. Located over 192 miles to the North-West of Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, Angkor has been "protected" from tourism, and the customs and the cultures of the people living there have not changed much. However, intense internal warfare for over fifty years has impacted on the people and to an extent on the physical structure of the temples at Angkor.

In 1991, the Khmer Rouge, the guerrilla movement, controlled the area. It was then very difficult to visit the area, and the only way to get there was by Helicopter from Phnom Penh. I will never forget when I first got out from the Helicopter, and stepped into the land of history, a land which the western civilization had forgotten. In this paper, I would like to discuss the history of the great temples of the "lost city" of Angkor Wat, but I would also like to describe some of my own observations from the summer of 1991.

For many years, Angkor Wat was totally isolated from the Western World. Large, thick jungles covers the area, and it is located in the center of Cambodia. The French colonialists were the first westerners to get exposed to Angkor. They heard rumors from the local population about "temples built by gods or by giants." Most of the colonialists referred these rumors to folk tales, but some believed that there really was a "lost city of a Cambodian empire", which had once been powerful and wealthy.

The temples were first discovered by French missionaries in 1860. Henri Mahout, a French botanist started intensive research and restoration programs. These research efforts continued until 1968, when the Vietnam war disrupted the studies. Initially, he did not believe that the temples were built by Cambodians, but by another race which had concurred and occupied Cambodia for over 2000 years ago. His theory would later be proven to be incorrect, after that researchers discovered scripts on the walls of the temples, and stone sculptures, that have made it possible for archeologists to piece together the history of Cambodia. Now it is known that Angkor, was the great capital city of the Khmer empire from the city's founding in about AD 880 until about 1225.

The history of Angkor Wat dates back to the kingdom of Funan. This kingdom was established by an Indian Brahmin, and in AD200, the country was peacefully settled by Indian traders. Four hundred years later, the kingdom had become a prosperous trading region. As the area was located on the Pilgrim rout between China and India, Hinduism and Chinese Buddhism was adopted by the new settlers. The Indian and Chinese influence can still be felt in Cambodia, and the temples of Angkor Wat closely resembles Hindu and Buddhist temples that can be found in Northern India and in Nepal. In the end of AD600, the Funan Empire lost much of its power to the kingdom of Chenla. The capital of this new empire, Sambor, was located about 40 miles to the Southeast of Angkor. During this time, beautiful sculptures and carvings in sand-stone was popular. In AD750, a king with a reputation of being a war-like person, who was able to expand the Chenla kingdom. However, trade with India stopped, and the Indonesian Empire raised to power.

In AD800, the kingdom of Kambuja was established, and king Jayavarman I took control over the kingdom. He built several capitals near Angkor Wat, were responsible for many social changes, and was able to size land to the North and to the East. In AD889, a nephew of Jayavaram became the new emperor, and he was able to bring peace and unity to the Khmer Kingdom. In AD944, Jayavarman V established many Mahayana Buddhist temples near Angkor, and moved the court to Yasodharapura, at Angkor. Cultures prospered, and so did the Khmer empire. In AD1000, Suryavarman, a young man who may have come from the Malayan provinces of the empire, ascends the throne of Kambuja. He would become the king of Kambuja for over 50 years. He is responsible for the planning and foundations of the city of Angkor. In AD1051, Udayadityavarman II succeed Suryavarman, and continued to build the city of Angkor, and restored many of the temples. Angkor was now both a sacred temple city and the center of a vast irrigation system.

Massive expansion of the city continued throughout the next 200 years, and ambitious building programs expanded the city. Many temples were built. The temples are spread out over about 40 miles around the village of Siem Reap. Temples and similar structures to the temples that can be found in the city of Angkor are common sights in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and in China. Perhaps the most famous temple, Angkor Wat, is a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu was built during this period.

Angkor Wat is the highest achievement of Khmer temple architecture, and is today the "flagship" of the temples at Angkor. The temple is a huge pyramid structure. The compound at Angkor Wat covers an area of 1,500 by 1,300 m (4,920 by 4,265 ft) and is surrounded by a vast moat 180 m (590 ft) wide. Along the causeway leading to the enormous entrance gate are balustrades shaped as giant serpents, which are believed to represent emblems of cosmic fertility. The temple consists of a towering complex of terraces and small buildings that are arranged in a series of three diminishing stories and surmounted by five towers. The roofed and unroofed structures are covered with bands of finely carved stone sculptures. The walls are covered with carved reliefs that illustrate Hindu mythology, principally scenes relating to the god Vishnu, to whom the temple was dedicated. The "mass of bas-relief carving is of the highest quality and the most beautifully executed in Angkor." All the temple mountains of Angkor were filled with three-dimensional images and every inch of the walls are covered by sculptures.

In the beginning of AD1200, the Angkor and the Khmer empire started to decline. When jayavarman VII died, the Thai Empire in the West emerged as a major power in the region. The Thai capital was moved to Ayudhya, near Angkor, and obviously threatened the Cambodian kingdom. In AD1389 the Thais attacked Angkor, and the city fell into the hands of the Thais. The 15th-century conquest of the Khmer kingdom by the Thais resulted (1431) in the final abandonment of Angkor. The city was deserted and the capital was moved to Eastward to the region of the present capital Phnom Penh.

Miraculously, very little damage has been made on the Angkor region as a result of the bloody civil that has terrorized the Cambodia for over 30 years. The Khmer Rouge, an extreme-left organization has actively organized guerrilla activities against Prince Sihanouk's government. In 1975, many Buddhist monks who lived in the Angkor temples were massacred along with the majority of the Buddhist population as a result of a "social reorganization". However, Angkor Wat suffered very little structural damage in that attack. Today, archeologists from all over the world are actively involved in the restoration process of the temples. Much of the history of the "Lost city" of Angkor is still a mystery, but Angkor has entered the "Coca Cola" and "Kodak" age, and as Cambodia is becoming more developed, the mystical atmosphere at Angkor will disappear.

Rough weather to continue

Ratanakkiri officials prepare for evacuation as government says it is unsure when destructive rains and floods will cease

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON

A vendor sells sandwiches to motorists amid the downpour in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

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We have six boats prepared for helping victims if the water rises higher.

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OFFICIALS in Ratanakkiri province said they were prepared to evacuate roughly 2,000 families in two districts where water levels surged to 13 metres Thursday, as a week of wretched weather continued in three provinces across the Kingdom.

"There has been flooding in five communes within those two districts," said Pav Hamphan, Ratanakkiri's provincial governor.
"There will be one more district affected by floods if the rain still falls every day."

No one had been reported injured as a result of the Ratanakkiri storms.

The head of one of the affected districts said officials were prepared for an evacuation.

"We have six boats prepared for helping victims if the water rises higher," Kong Srun, Lumphat district's governor, told the Post Thursday.
"I think those boats are enough for us because the water isn't rising fast enough to make us worry," he said.

Wet weather nationwide
Three provinces - Ratanakkiri, Kratie and Kampot, where two men drowned earlier this week - have been hit with flooding, said Ly Thuch, deputy president of the National Committee for Disaster Management.

But he said the conditions weren't yet severe enough to spark a countrywide flood alert.

"The water isn't high enough yet," Ly Thuch said.
"We will issue an alert when the water reaches 22 metres."

In Kratie province, water levels had swollen to 17 metres in five districts, said Chen Hong Sry, the province's deputy chief of Cabinet.

Floods in Kratie destroyed almost 2,500 hectares of rice paddies and more than 1,200 homes on Wednesday.

After days of rough weather throughout the country, meteorologists were unable to say Thursday when the rains would end.

"I don't know when it will stop," said Seth Vannareth, director at the Department of Meteorology at the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology.

"I will announce later if [the rain] affects more people and when it's expected to end," she added.

Jailed publisher writes Sok An letter of apology

IMPRISONED opposition newspaper publisher Hang Chakra has written a letter of apology to Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, officials said.
Minister of Information and government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said he has delivered it to the deputy prime minister.

But since Hang Chakra, 55, has already been convicted of defamation, the letter alone doesn't guarantee the journalist's release, Khieu Kanharith said. "I delivered a letter to Excellency Sok An," he said. "How he will decide depends on him because he is the plaintiff."

Journalists who have been lobbying on Hang Chakra's behalf said they hoped the move would facilitate his release. "I hope he will be allowed to leave prison," said Touch Nora, president of the Cambodia Watch of Journalists Association.

Hang Chakra was convicted of defamation and publishing false information for a series of articles alleging corruption against officials under Sok An. He was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 9 million riels (US$2,187). The Court of Appeal rejected his case on August 11.

Twisted Traveller nets 4th suspect

A 61-year-old man from Hawaii has become the fourth US national removed from Cambodia on suspicion of child sex crimes under an international law-enforcement operation targeting Americans who travel to Cambodia to exploit children for sex.

Richard David Mitchell was charged on Wednesday with engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign country by a court in Hawaii. According to the affidavit, witnesses reported seeing Mitchell engaging in sex acts with a 13-year-old girl on the curb of a street in Phnom Penh in August 2008.

He was initially arrested by Cambodian police, but was returned to the US on September 5, where he was taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to US$250,000.

"Child sex tourism is a scourge: adults preying on the young and vulnerable to satisfy their dark sexual desires," Wayne Wills, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Hawaii, was quoted as saying on the ICE Web site. "There can be no place for the abuse of foreign children by our citizens."

Mitchell was charged under an initiative dubbed Twisted Traveller. Led by ICE and the US Department of Justice, it specifically targets American sex offenders who travel to Cambodia to have sex with children.

Last week, three US nationals became the first to be charged under the initiative.

If convicted, they face jail terms of up to 30 years for each one of their victims.