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.