Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights Launches Facebook Page
0 comments Posted by khmerboy at 9:42 AMThe Cambodian Center for Human Rights is pleased to announce the launch of our Facebook Page. This function allows the CCHR to engage our supporters and to maintain a live newsfeed on our activities and the human rights situation in Cambodia. The CCHR hopes that our Facebook Page can become a focus point for discussion of Cambodian affairs and will bring together Cambodians who are concerned with matters of human rights and democracy in the Kingdom. We encourage all to visit the page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Cambodian-Center-for-Human-Rights-CCHR/206984670430?ref=ts
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) is a non-political, independent, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect democracy and respect for human rights throughout Cambodia.
--
John Coughlan
Communications Manager
Cambodian Center for Human Rights
Tel: 855-89 58 35 90
Nº798, Street 99, Beoung Trabek,
Khan Chamkar Mon, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) is a non-political, independent, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect democracy and respect for human rights throughout Cambodia. For more information, please visit www.cchrcambodia.org
To stay up to date on the work of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights and the human rights situation in Cambodia please join our Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Cambodian-Center-for-Human-Rights-CCHR/206984670430?ref=ts
The CCHR is proud to be sponsored by USAID, the European Commission, the British Embassy, East West Management Institute, the Open Justice Society and the Asia Foundation.
Mam Nay, Duch’s former deputy: amnesia and serious accommodation with truth
0 comments Posted by khmerboy at 9:35 AMMam Nay, former head of the interrogation unit at S-21 – the equivalent in this structure of the political commissioner dear to communist regimes –, returned before the Chamber on Tuesday July 14th, duly assisted by a lawyer this time, as recommended by the defence on the previous day. All throughout the day, the witness in Duch’s trial was assailed with questions by the judges – for good reason, as his answers were quite often terse, alternating between “I don’t know” and “I don’t remember,” when he was not ostensibly lying. His testimony prompted much outcry and out loud comments in the public gallery, as the audience was exasperated by such bad faith. The ten seats reserved for civil parties in the courtroom were all occupied for once.
Where should the witness’ lawyer be placed?
The tribunal managed to find a lawyer for Mam Nay but, at the start of the hearing, the defence expressed “the strongest reservations” regarding the place he was given: on the same bench as Duch’s defence counsels. “This leads to granting, by anticipation, the request of the Prosecutor to consider Mr. Mam Nay as an accused today. […] It seems to me that is not correct,” François Roux, Duch’s international co-lawyer, argued. The international co-Prosecutor, who said the situation did not offend him, added he regretted that the defence worried, on the previous day, about “whether the witness was fully aware of his rights.” William Smith stressed that the remark should not have been made in front of the witness, but before his testimony and in camera.
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President Nil Nonn announced that the Chamber would not change the seat it assigned the lawyer called to assist Mam Nay, which “does not mean in any way that the witness is guilty.” He took the opportunity to recall the parties that “the trial management came under the sole authority of the Chamber.”
From:
Phnom Penh - A US-based human rights group on Wednesday demanded Cambodia's leaders end what it called a campaign of "harassment, threats, and unwarranted legal action" against government critics following a spate of court rulings apparently aimed at limiting free speech. The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement that Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) had filed nine defamation and disinformation suits this year against journalists, opposition party members and civil society leaders.
"The Cambodian government is imposing its most serious crackdown on freedom of expression in recent years," the group's director, Brad Adams, said in a statement. "Once again, Hun Sen is showing his true stripes by harassing and threatening to imprison peaceful critics of his increasingly authoritarian government."
The group's demand came a day after Moeung Sonn, president of the non-profit Khmer Civilization Foundation, was sentenced in absentia to two years prison for disinformation, after he accused the government of damaging the historic Angkor Wat temple by installing lighting fixtures in the building's walls.
Moeung Sonn was in France at the time of the ruling.
Last week the publishers of Moneaksekar Khmer, an opposition-affiliated newspaper, closed operations after being threatened with legal action and forced to apologize for recent criticism of government officials, the statement said.
Two opposition lawmakers are expected to face trial for defamation in coming weeks after the CPP-dominated legislature voted to strip the pair of their parliamentary immunity.
Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said the Human Rights Watch statement was based on "uninformed observations" about Cambodia's media and legal system and "did not tell the whole story."
"I appreciate their concern about freedom of speech, but they incorrectly mixed defamation with the other cases, which relate to misinformation and national security," he said. "The rule of law requires that the government can take people to court to judge whether they are right or wrong."
Visit of Cambodian Prime Minister would undermine Labour’s anti-corruption pledges, warns Global Witness
0 comments Posted by khmerboy at 9:06 AMThe government should revoke the visa for Cambodia's prime minister Hun Sen who is set to visit the UK this week, said campaign group Global Witness today. Failure to do so would signify a failure by the Labour government to live up to its commitments to fight corruption and promote development, said Global Witness.
According to reports, Hun Sen is due to visit Bristol tomorrow (Thursday 16 July) to attend his son's PhD graduation ceremony. The news comes at a time of mounting international criticism over increasing levels of institutionalised corruption, repression and human rights abuse in Cambodia.
"Cambodia today is a country for sale," said Global Witness campaigner, Eleanor Nichol. "Hun Sen's regime has presided over a process of grand corruption which has seriously undermined poverty alleviation in Cambodia, but Europe and the UK continue to welcome him and his entourage. Meanwhile, gaps in Cambodia's state services are covered by the UK taxpayer through overseas aid."
The visit comes just as the UK government pushes ahead with the introduction of an anti-bribery bill geared towards bringing the UK in line with its international obligations on tackling graft in other countries.
"The anticipated anti-bribery bill is welcome, but the government should not neglect other obvious steps which can be taken within its own borders to cut down on overseas corruption and incentivise development," said Nichol.
At last week's G8 meeting and in a recently published DFID White Paper, the UK Government recommitted to increasing its overseas aid to the level of 0.7% of GDP. This is a pledge that the Conservative Party also stands by.
"Keeping aid promises is welcome and important, but with additional aid comes responsibility to ensure effectiveness. Throwing money at countries with poor governance could do more harm than good," said Nichol. "The UK and others must create tough disincentives for developmentally damaging, institutionalised corruption of the sort that we see in Cambodia. They should start by denying safe haven to the leaders of such regimes."
/ Ends
Contact: +44 (0)7872600870
Global Witness exposes the corrupt exploitation of natural resources and international trade systems, to drive campaigns that end impunity, resource-linked conflict, and human rights and environmental abuses. Global Witness was co-nominated for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for its leading work on ‘conflict diamonds' and awarded the 2007 Commitment to Development Ideas in Action Award, sponsored jointly by Washington DC based Center for Global Development and Foreign Policy magazine.
Cambodia, China complete phase 1 of GMS Information Highway Project
0 comments Posted by khmerboy at 9:03 AMPHNOM PENH, July 15 (Xinhua) -- A signing ceremony for the completion of Phase 1 of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Information Highway Project in Cambodia was held here on Wednesday by China's Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei") in collaboration with Telecom Cambodia.
Both parties provided a brief overview and arrangement of the work of Phase I of the GMS Information Highway Project - a project funded by the government of China - and voiced their support for the promotion and development of Phase 2 of the Project.
The event was graced by the presence of the Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon, Minister of Posts and Telecommunication So Khun, diplomats from Chinese Embassy and representatives of other technical experts.
"The project will help strengthening and foster the relationships between our people and nations in the GMS region, as well as to promote stronger Cambodia's and regional economies," said Keat Chhon, adding that "in particular, this project would play an important role in strengthening the relationship between China and Cambodia in developing tele-communication sector."
The GMS Information Highway Project Phase l - started from Dec.2007 and completed in June 25, 2009 - involved the task of laying an optical fiber cable over a total distance of 649.9 km and equipment upgrades for the 11 stations as well as the construction of 15 new stations along the route within the Kingdom of Cambodia.
The completion of the GMS Information Highway Project Phase l has brought about, within the Kingdom of Cambodia, the coverage of an optical transmission system in the Mekong Basin with a high capacity backbone in addition to interconnection with Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, promoting to a great extent the construction level of basic communication networks of Cambodia, building a solid foundation for further development in the Cambodian communications industry.
In the mean time, interaction between all countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion has been strengthened, making it a crucial contribution to the joint development of all nations in the subregion.
"I strongly believe that the development of telecommunication sector, GMS-IS, in Cambodia will strengthen the long-lasting cooperation between Cambodia and China as well as the cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion for sustainable economic growth and prosperity of all countries in the region," Keat Chhon said.
From:
Cambodia and France have pledged to strengthen their both diplomatic relations and commercial cooperation between the two countries, according to a press statement released Wednesday by the Cabinet of the Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The statement said Bernard Kouchner, foreign minister of France during his talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, has vowed to strengthen the two countries' relations by proposing a set up as soon as possible a Cambodia-France Joint Committee so as to consolidate the relations and cooperation.
And in addition to consideration on additional financial assistance to Cambodia, France had also pledged to grant more graduate scholarships to Cambodian students, it added.
Hun Sen was on a five-day official visit to France during which he had held a series of meetings and talks including Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Prime Minister Francois Fillon and President Nicolas Sarkozy.
While meetings with those French leaders, Hun Sen said Cambodia had granted French oil company Total to exploit oil exploration in Block III, one of its potential oil and gas resources in the Gulf of Thailand with which France welcomed it and expressed its satisfaction.
Hun Sen left the country on July 9 for an official visit to France and Britain where he will attend his son's graduation ceremony and he is expected to return home on Sunday.
CPL champions Phnom Penh Crown were forced to cancel their trip to Thailand on Tuesday due to their failure to gather sufficient documen-tation from some of their foreign players for visas in time. "We are sorry we couldn't make the trip," said Crown manager Makara Be by phone Tuesday, adding that he intends to organise a trip to Thailand sometime in the near future. Crown were aiming to use the trip to expose some of their players to Thai Premier League (TPL) teams - who will go on a mid-season break in a week's time - for potential transfer consideration. Meanwhile, Crown's Cameroonian-born striker Jean-Roger Lappe Lappe, who is on a two month loan to TPL strrugglers Samuth Songkhram FC, is expected back August 15.
From:
Horrendous images of the babies being smashed against the trees: "I didn't recognise it at first," says Pol Pot's former chief torturer from the witness dock.
The television camera cuts to a shot of the dual row of Cambodian and foreign judges. Some frown; others remain impassive.
The footage then flips back to the accused, capturing the reptilian pride emanating from 66-year-old Kaing Guek Eav, better known as "Duch", as he continues in a measured tone: "It was done by my subordinates. I do not blame them because this was under my responsibility."
We cut back to a well-lit TV studio, where a pair of handsome, businesslike co-presenters promptly begins quizzing a Cambodian legal expert on intricacies of the case.
Male presenter: "Some of Duch's evidence seems carefully calculated rather than spontaneous. Is that a fair statement?"
"The way he answers each question cautiously may make the judges and observers sceptical about what he says..." begins the guest in response.
Hoping for closure
The aforementioned represents a sample minute of the 24 minutes allotted weekly (excepting repeats) to covering the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia - the long-awaited Khmer Rouge genocide trials - by Cambodian Television Network (CTN).
It is hoped that the trials will bring closure to survivors' grief, and that the process will also educate young Cambodians about an era they know little about.
The show, Duch On Trial, summarises the weekly developments with a deft blend of courtroom 'action', explanation and analysis. It's slicker than typical local media output - though a company called Khmer Mekong Films (KMF) is credited with the production.
It turns out that a 64-year-old Cambridge-educated BAFTA-winning former BBC producer, who helped shape primetime pop culture for millions of British telly addicts for three decades, is the man behind KMF.
Award-winning
Having won awards for his contribution to iconic British television shows such as Eastenders (he cast characters like 'Dirty Den' and Nick Cotton) and Crossroads, and founded the kids' soap opera Byker Grove in the process, Matthew Robinson came to Cambodia six years ago on a contract from BBC World Service Trust to make a health-promoting drama.
"A hundred episodes; that's finished," he says, briskly.
Robinson founded the film and television production company in 2006 - and has run it from Phnom Penh ever since.
The company's involvement in the landmark tribunals started when it won a bid to produce some pre-trial short films, funded by the British government.
"It was part of their funding for developing countries," says Robinson, who came up with a semi-dramatized treatment to explain a complex, convoluted trial system - that has had international legal experts scratching their heads - "in simple terms to ordinary, uneducated Cambodians".
The resulting series of six films, titled Time For Justice, was screened to thousands of villagers as part of a nationwide outreach programme. This jolted horrific memories in its older viewers, evident from the filmed post-screening debates.
"This film reminded me of what Pol Pot did," exclaims an old, bespectacled man. "It was the same as in the story. My brothers and sisters all died."
Painful generation gap
He begins to cry. "I cannot speak because I am overcome," he eventually sobs.
His testimony stands in sharp contrast to that of the jeans-clad teenage girl who subsequently says: "Now I believe that this regime really did exist. It's shocking to hear older people talk about what happened to their families.
"When I was first told that so many people were killed, I didn't believe it."
Such footage exposes the painful generation gap between those who survived the brutal Khmer Rouge regime and their children and grandchildren, who are often left in the dark when it comes to their country's recent history.
Despite the education campaign, a pre-trial survey found 85 percent of respondents "had little or no knowledge" of the tribunal, although court officials disputed its findings.
A subsequent study conducted by the Human Rights Centre at the University of California in the fall of 2008 found that as much as 70 percent of cent of Cambodia's population is under the age of 30 - and four out of five members of this generation know little of the Khmer Rouge years.
"It is a problem," acknowledges Robinson. "That was why we commissioned an initial focus group to find out whether those beliefs are really true. And partly they were, though I don't think the intelligent [younger] generation thinks it's all fictional.
"In terms of 'bang for buck', outreach really doesn't compare with television," he continues.
"You have to have an awful lot of motorbikes and projection equipment, and a lot of people going into a lot of villages to get anywhere near even 10 percent of one showing on television."
When the British Embassy won additional government funding to produce a television show to cover the Khmer Rouge tribunals, KMF was invited to advise.
"I suggested a weekly sum-up of the weekly highlights presented in bite-sized chunks - again aiming at rural Cambodians," says Robinson.
"It was never intended for the legal community or more highly educated Cambodians; you'd start off with a different approach for that target audience."
Impressive results
The results have still impressed. After initially expressing doubts about the programme, CTN now schedules regular repeats of key episodes in addition to the regular Monday lunchtime slot.
And, whereas the funding initially only covered the first eight weeks of the courtroom developments, the show's success has prompted further funds that should extend to covering the closing of Duch's trial - and hopes that additional donations could see it become a permanent fixture on the TV schedule while the tribunals are running.
Meanwhile, the wisdom and experience Robinson brings to the editing suite are setting new standards for local production values.
"Cambodian people have never seen a show like this. We include so much information, so many details, in the 24 minutes; we cannot afford to waste any time," says male co-presenter, 29-year-old Neth Pheaktra, who is also deputy chief of staff at the Post.
"My friends tell me that as presenters, Ung Chan Sophea and I seem very professional," says Neth Pheaktra, who says he sometimes gets recognised by viewers. They ask him why he never smiles on TV.
"Cambodian people have never seen this presenting style before. Lots of TV presenters - they talk a lot, and they're always joking, but they never say anything.
"I cannot joke about such a serious subject."
His co-presenter, 26-year-old Ung Chan Sophea, a reporter for French newspaper Cambodge Soir Hebdo and Radio France International, says before the show aired "some of my friends and other people around me told me 'It's useless doing a trial programme' - but after they'd watched it, they changed.
"Suddenly it was 'Oh! It's a worthwhile, interesting programme'."
National calling
Both presenters feel duty-bound to contribute to this moment in Cambodian history, a bittersweet note of progress in an impoverished nation still struggling to rehabilitate its crippled economic and human resources.
Moreover, "if we don't have this programme, some victims will not know the outcome of the trials", believes the show's resident legal expert, Sok Sam Oeun.
"We want all victims to be released from their suffering. And the best way of doing that is by giving them the right to follow this trial."
Greater outreach
And the best medium for doing so happens to be television.
As Matthew Robinson notes: "Although the outreach people did a very good job and probably got [Voices For Justice] shown to 50,000-100,000 people, one showing on CTN is going to get at least 800,000, if not a million people."
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Mixed-use development hits financial wall, seeks foreign investor
0 comments Posted by khmerboy at 8:23 AMThe developer behind a $50 million mixed-use retail, residential and leisure complex near the Happiness City housing development on Phnom Penh's Chroy Changvar peninsula is seeking foreign capital to complete the project.
Young's Commercial Centre and Resort administration manager Ngin Pok said the global credit crunch and the related bottoming-out of the local real estate market had hit the development hard.
"Recently we are working hard to find foreign partners who are interested to cooperate with us on this huge capital investment project because we are struggling with financial issues," Ngin Pok said. "We aren't choosy about our partners; if someone wants to cooperate with us, we welcome them."
We aren't choosy about our partners; if someone wants to cooperate with us, we welcome them.
The first phase of the two-phase development was originally due to be completed in April 2010 but has only been 40-percent completed, Ngin Pok said. Construction began in January 2008.
"Although we haven't found a partner, I am optimistic that we still try our best to complete the first phase of construction," he said.
"We are gathering other financial resources for this first phase, and we plan to sell other property to support the project as well. If we don't meet the deadline, we will feel the wrath of customers who have signed a rental contract."
He said that around 60 customers had already signed a contract to rent retail space in the development.
Young's Commercial Centre and Resort has a multilevel design featuring 123 four-storey shophouses arranged in a horseshoe shape at its base. A further 26 five-storey shophouses provide a frontage to the complex.
A three-storey shopping mall ànd two two-storey arcade malls will be built immediately on top of the shophouses, containing 45,000 square metres of retail space.
The resort, which will be located on the roof of the shopping mall, features 30 stand-alone motel units scattered throughout a landscaped terrace garden.
It was designed by Vietnam-based firm Real Architecture.
It is the final phase of development in the Happiness City site, which was built on reclaimed swampland 600 metres along National Road 6A from the Cambodia-Japanese Friendship Bridge.
Saturation point
Phnom Penh already has a large number of "one-stop" shopping destinations, including the city's first major mall, Sorya Shopping Centre, which opened for business in 2002, Sydney Mall, Paragon Cambodia, Sovanna and BS Department Store.
BS marketing office assistant Men Phirom said he was concerned about more shopping centres being built in an already highly competitive city. "I think that when there are new city malls, sales will be affected because the customers will have more choices to buy products at other shopping centers," he said. "However, we will improve our services and products and create something new to impress those customers."
Sorya Shopping Centre General Manager Lam Ratana said the economic crisis had hit the shopping habits of Cambodians, but that the retail sector would survive. "Purchasing power has dropped, but that does not means customers have stopped coming to my shopping centre; they cut down their expenses since the crisis occurred, but the number of buyers is still the same."
He said he was upgrading products, services and the building itself to compete with other new shopping centers. He planned to also introduce a flower shop, bar, 24-hour coffee shops and new parking lots to attract customers. "My new services and products will be launched this year to compete with new city malls," he said.
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SILVERSMITH Ros Chanthou learned his craft as a youngster from his father. But it was in 1990, once he had married, that he decided to set up his own business: Sothea Khmer Silver Crafts.
In the early days, he had four craftsmen who made almost all the products by hand on the premises in Phnom Penh's Daun Penh district. Now he employs 10 artisans, who earn US$80-$100 a month depending on their skill.
Ros Chanthou would not be drawn on his business's revenue, saying only that custom began well and kept improving through the years. But like many businesses, Sothea Khmer Silver Crafts has recently been affected by the global economic crisis.
"My business ran very well in 2007 and 2008, but when the crisis started to bite, my business dropped about 70 percent," he said.
The decline in business is easily seen in his reduced orders for the raw material. Until a year ago he bought 100 to 120 kilograms of silver a month. Now he needs between 10 and 30 kilograms.
The only bright spot in the current economic gloom is that the price of silver, which he sources from Malaysia, China and Singapore, is lower. Ros Chanthou said that it costs him $450 per kilogram today, down from $600 per kilogram last year.
"Because the raw material is cheap, this ought to be a good opportunity for business," he says. "But how can we if we cannot sell the end product?"
He says conditions mean some of his competitors are facing bankruptcy.
"Bankruptcy is not something I am concerned with since we have built good relationships with our clients - they know our quality, and they trust our products," he says.
So who are his clients? They vary, says Ros Chanthou. Local purchasers include foreign embassy staff, government officials and NGO workers. And until the drop in tourism hit home, tour groups were a good earner, too.
"Some senior government officials have bought my silver products to use at home, such as spoons, glasses and plates. And some buy them to display at home," he says.
Sothea Khmer Silver Crafts has also sent work overseas and competes with producers in Thailand and Vietnam. But in the past year, the economic problems mean the Thai market has dried up.
And although he maintains that Cambodian silverwork can compete with that done in Thailand, China and Vietnam, he acknowledges that imports from those countries are proving stiff competition here.
"Many market vendors are displaying goods sourced from outside Cambodia, including from countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and China. We do find it hard to compete with all of them," he says.
When asked about the future, he says the global crisis means he has had to put on hold his plans to boost overseas sales.
"I planned to expand this year, but I can't because I would have lost money," he says.
In the meantime Ros Chanthou says the government ought to do more to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) such as his. He wants lower tax rates and says the government could help businesses learn how to export their products.
"The other thing is interest rates. I borrowed money from the bank to invest in my business, but rates are too high," he says. "I would like the government to help bring down those rates to give SMEs a chance to stay in business."
THE Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) has approved 53 investment projects in the first half of the year, worth a total of US$1.2 billion, according to statistics released Monday.
The figures represent a sharp drop from the first half of 2008, when the CDC approved $4.43 billion in investments, including a $3.8 billion tourist development in Koh Kong by Chinese Union Development Group.
A CDC official, who declined to be named, said investment had taken a hit from the global financial downturn, but that in relative terms the Kingdom remained an attractive destination for investors.
"Today's economic crisis has caused direct influxes of capital around the world to decline by 50 percent in the first half of 2008, and cross-border investment to decrease 77 percent," the official said.
Of the investments approved, $354 million went to the tourism sector, $323 million to agriculture, $303 to industry and $241 million to other private-sector developments.
Our FDI is still in a favourable condition despite the world economic crisis.
The CDC official added that Cambodia's pre-existing investment projects had boosted the current economic activity in the country and would continue to propel private-sector development.
He noted, "If no companies came to invest, many other sectors would be sure to grind to a halt. But as long as factories are built, workers are needed.... This will create job opportunities for transportation service providers and other services. What is more, they will pay taxes to the government."
Sok Sina, an independent economic analyst, agreed that most CDC-approved investment projects are now being carried out since the authority had started vetting them more strictly.
"Generally speaking, we are happy to see that many requested investment projects are in operation. It is a good sign for Cambodia's economy, and our FDI is still in a favourable condition despite the world economic crisis."
According to the CDC, ASEAN countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia, were the leading sources of investment money in the first half, with $389 million in investments. Second to ASEAN were other Asian investors - including from China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong, which have invested a total of $367 million.
THE Ministry of Economy and Finance has announced that the annual collection of road taxes begins today and will run for the next three months.
"The finance ministry announces for all vehicle owners that the tax collection on the means of transportation for all kinds of vehicles will begin on July 15 and run to October 15," stated the announcement, which was signed by Minister Keat Chhon.
Cheap Davuth, the deputy director general at the general department of taxation, said the tax applies to any and all means of motorised transport, be they motorcycles, cars or even ships.
"If the owners fail to pay the tax during the set period they will be fined. That fine is double the amount of the applicable road tax fee for their vehicle," he said.
The announcement also lists a number of exclusions from the tax.
These include ambulances and fire trucks; vehicles belonging to the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, the military police and the police; any vehicles used for national defence or security; and diplomatic or consular vehicles.
Vehicles of international organisations and those belonging to the government's technical cooperation agencies are also excluded.
The Ministry of Public Works and Transport estimated in a report last year that there are 197,800 registered cars and 671,000 registered motorcycles in the Kingdom.
THE government announced garment exports dropped 20 percent in the first five months to US$909 million compared with the same period last year.
Hang Chuon Naron, secretary general of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said the decrease should not seriously damage the Kingdom's economy, as the decline will prove temporary and ought to end later this year.
"We expect garment exports will decline only 5 percent for the year overall," he said. "We hope garment exports will climb to $2.8 billion later this year as the United States' economy is showing a higher demand for garments."
Cambodia exported $3.1 billion worth of garments last year. Most went to the US and the European Union.
Hang Chuon Naron was talking at a forum on Tuesday on the effects of the global economic crisis and strategies to overcome the challenges. The forum was attended by 300 people from government, NGOs and the private sector.
Chan Sophal, president of the Cambodia Economic Association (CEA), said it is not clear that local garment manufacturers will benefit from the expected boost to the US economy since other garment-exporting nations have moved ahead.
Chan Sophal blamed the closure of garment factories locally on a lack of competitiveness as well as the economic crisis.
"The US ... can buy from other countries which are more competitive, such as Bangladesh," he said. "The prediction that Cambodia's garment exports will decline only 5 percent ... is too optimistic."
Kaing Monika, external affairs manager for the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia, a trade association, said garment exports would likely end the year 10 percent down, citing competition from high-volume producers Vietnam and Bangladesh.
"GMAC would welcome it if exports decreased in line with the government's prediction, but I don't think that will be easily achieved," he said. "Today's export markets are still narrow."
PRIME Minister Hun Sen has given Preah Vihear provincial authorities until the end of the week to construct a new market to replace the one near Preah Vihear temple that was destroyed during a clash between Cambodian and Thai soldiers in early April, despite the fact that Thailand has yet to respond to Cambodian demands for compensation.
Hang Soth, general director of the Preah Vihear National Authority (PVNA), said Hun Sen issued the order from France, where he is on a state visit with Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong.
Though he described the one-week deadline as unrealistic, Hang Soth said work on the market had already begun Tuesday afternoon.
"I have sent my officials to the market site this morning to prepare for the construction," he said.
"The new market will be a market for tourists."
During an exchange of gunfire between Cambodian and Thai soldiers on April 3, Thai rocket fire destroyed all 264 stands, leaving roughly 319 families who lived and worked at the market homeless, according to accounts from Cambodian military officials.
The Cambodian government in May demanded US$2.1 million from the Thai government to pay for the damages.
Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said during a visit to Phnom Penh in late May that Thai authorities would investigate the cause of the damage to the temple before responding to the request.
Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Tuesday that the government had decided to go ahead with the building of a new market despite having received no response from Thailand regarding compensation.
Officials from the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh and the Thai Foreign Ministry in Bangkok could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
PM's orders
Hang Soth said the PVNA would be responsible for settling on a location for the new market, though he said vendors would need to pay for the construction of individual market stalls themselves.
He said that vendors who were displaced would "be given priority" for stalls.
"We planned to rebuild about 319 shops, but after studying the site now we think we will build about 150 shops," he said, adding that individual stalls would cost between $3,000 and $7,000, depending on size.
Sar Thavy, a deputy governor of Preah Vihear province, said Tuesday that the location of the new market had been selected and that construction materials had already been taken to the site.
"It's been raining for three days, so it's been difficult to transport the materials up the mountain," he said.
"But they have to obey the premier's order."
Also Tuesday, an RCAF official said that a meeting scheduled for Monday between Thai and Cambodian military officials had been cancelled because the Thai officials had been unable to secure approval from government officials in Bangkok.
Chea Morn, commander of RCAF Military Region 4, said that the meeting had been proposed to reduce tension along the border.
AFORMER deputy chief at Tuol Sleng prison downplayed his role at the notorious detention facility Tuesday, telling Cambodia's war crimes court that he never tortured prisoners, prompting judges to accuse him of having "no fear".
Mam Nai, 76, said he had "no knowledge" at the time of the fate that awaited prisoners at Tuol Sleng, a stance he maintained even after being read grisly testimony from his former boss and shown forced confessions that he had apparently signed.
"I was just a plain and simple interrogating cadre," Mam Nai, wearing fingerless gloves and a krama, told judges.
"I only interrogated prisoners without applying torture. It was my belief that applying torture would lead to untrue confessions," he said.
Mam Nai told the court he had worked with his former boss, prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, at the M-13 detention centre in Kampong Speu, where the ex-jailer first taught him how to interrogate.
He said he had "no knowledge" of Tuol Sleng's organisational structure because he worked in an interrogation house separate from the prison.
His repeated denials prompted judges to question, at various points in his testimony, whether he suffered from memory, vision and hearing problems.
Mam Nai said he had fallen from his house once, which he said had affected his memory.
After reading out an extensive list of Mam Nai's academic achievements, Judge Sylvia Cartwright asked why one of the most intelligent people at Tuol Sleng was not aware of how the prison worked.
"In principle ... I was only mindful about my duties," Mam Nai said. He said he had not known that all Tuol Sleng prisoners were presumed guilty, and he told Judge Jean-Marc Lavergne that his only regret was "that [Cambodia] was invaded" by America and Vietnam.
Lavergne then asked if he knew what the words "no fear" meant in English, and Mam Nai responded that he did not.
"In that case, I have no further questions," Lavergne replied.
Witness receives lawyer
Mam Nai's testimony came amid an ongoing row at the court over self-incrimination.
After Duch's defence lawyers argued Monday that Mam Nai could be prosecuted if a legal doctrine being pushed by the prosecution were applied, lawyer Kong Sam Onn was assigned to act as his legal adviser. But the lawyer admitted Tuesday that he was unclear of his role.
Kong Sam Onn defected to the ruling Cambodian People's Party earlier this month after facing disciplinary action by the Bar Association for his representation of SRP lawmaker Mu Sochua.
Co-counsel Francois Roux again urged the prosecution to question whether it was necessary to push for a legal amendment, known as joint criminal enterprise, that he said would make it more likely for subordinates such as Mam Nai to be prosecuted.
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AROUND 350 garment factory workers gathered at the Xing Tai garment factory in Sen Sok district for the second day running Tuesday, protesting poor working conditions at the factory, which they claim include inadequate toilets and hot, windowless workspaces.
Tuesday's protest followed similar demonstrations Monday, which attracted more than 800 workers.
"We have no place to go to the toilet because the drainage system in this factory does not work," Sok Say Eam, 37, said outside the factory Monday.
She added that due to cramped working conditions in the factory, many workers were fainting during their shifts.
Heng Son, 31, who claims she was injured when a fan fell from the ceiling of the factory, said management had been "unaccountable" for the conditions.
She also said the owners had asked staff to work overtime and had fired any worker who refused to work extra hours.
One aim of the protest, she said, was to call for the reinstatement of Va Sophon, the deputy chief of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union.
Va Sophon, whose organisation represents some Xing Tai workers, said Tuesday that Horm Hav, the factory's chief of administration, had fired him late last year in an attempt to silence worker protests.
"He forced me to replace two administrators who had resigned, but I clearly could not do it. I was dismissed three days later," he said.
He added that the Arbitration Council, an independent mediation body, had ruled in February for the company to reinstate him, but that the company did not accept this agreement and threatened to fire any workers who supported him.
Horm Hav denied the charges, saying that Xing Tai had appealed the February ruling, and that Va Sophon was fired for poor performance.
"We dismissed him because he was not accountable in his role - not because of discrimination against union workers," he said, adding that sanitation at the factory had improved since July 9.
In hearings Monday and Tuesday, the Ministry of Labour's Labour Conflict Resolution Bureau heard the complaints of the Xing Tai workers. But Um Visal, a coalition labour dispute resolution officer, said the company rejected workers' demands.
"I don't think that the company was willing to negotiate and solve the problem with us," he said. "We will call on international union workers to contact the buyers and put pressure on the company if they won't find a solution."
Prum Veasna, a labour conflict official at the bureau, said the dispute would be sent to the Arbitration Council.
CAMBODIA has awarded French oil giant Total the rights to a contested drilling area in the Gulf of Thailand.
The announcement was contained in a press release dated July 14 - Bastille Day - from Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cabinet during his official visit to France.
The statement was confirmed to the Post by Prak Sokhon, secretary of state for the Council of Ministers, who is in France with Hun Sen.
Both Thailand and Cambodia claim a 27,000 square kilometre swath of the seabed, which is thought to be rich in oil and gas deposits.
The area in the press statement that has been awarded to Total is referred to as Block III.
In the statement, Hun Sen said the decision to award the concession was made after proper overview of bidding documents, adding that he welcomed the presence of any French companies wishing to invest in Cambodia, a former French colony.
The news was a surprise to Total's leading upstream executive in Cambodia, Jean-Pierre Labbe.
Last week he told the Post that Total had been negotiating with Phnom Penh for several years and in 2008 submitted an official request for concessions.
Contacted by phone on Tuesday, Labbe said he had not heard an official response from the government on the bid.
"I don't know. We knew the Cambodian Prime Minister [Hun Sen] is visiting France, but we have no feedback from Paris," he said.
A source at the Council of Ministers, who asked not to be named, said it was likely that Total's bid had come up in discussions in Paris, but was unable to provide detailed information and referred all questions to the prime minister's Cabinet.
Hun Sen is accompanied on his trip by Foreign Minister Hor Namhong.
The director general of the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority (CNPA), Te Duong Tara, hung up when called about the issue, saying he was too busy to comment.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner reportedly welcomed the announcement.
Multiple concessions
Stephane Dion, managing director of Total Cambodge, told the Post during an interview last week that the firm was in ongoing discussions with Phnom Penh on offshore and onshore concessions for oil and gas exploration.
"[There are] at two different projects that we are interested in," he said at the time.
Minister Hun Sen left on Thursday for a five-day visit to France at the invitation of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The trip was aimed at boosting ties between the two countries. "This visit is to strengthen cooperation between Cambodia and France," said Koy Kuong, a spokesman for Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Begging and Sale of Bloc III to Total is on the agenda ... Oui, Monsieur!
0 comments Posted by khmerboy at 5:26 AMThe statement said Bernard Kouchner, foreign minister of France during his talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, has vowed to strengthen the two countries' relations by proposing a set up as soon as possible a Cambodia-France Joint Committee so as to consolidate the relations and cooperation.
And in addition to consideration on additional financial assistance to Cambodia, France had also pledged to grant more graduate scholarships to Cambodian students, it added.
Hun Sen was on a five-day official visit to France during which he had held a series of meetings and talks including Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Prime Minister Francois Fillon and President Nicolas Sarkozy.
While meetings with those French leaders, Hun Sen said Cambodia had granted French oil company Total to exploit oil exploration in Block III, one of its potential oil and gas resources in the Gulf of Thailand with which France welcomed it and expressed its satisfaction.
Hun Sen left the country on July 9 for an official visit to France and Britain where he will attend his son's graduation ceremony and he is expected to return home on Sunday.
ROUGHLY three-quarters of urban women in households making less than US$300 per month reported that their household incomes had declined in the last year, leaving their families unable to afford healthy food, according to a survey released this week by Indochina Research.
The survey questioned 200 women aged 25 and older in Phnom Penh. Respondents were stopped outside of four markets and asked about their employment, incomes and expenditures over the last year.
Seventy-four percent of respondents said they had seen their household incomes decline from June 2008 to June 2009.
The survey also found that small businesses in Phnom Penh had been hit hard by the economic crisis. Nearly 80 percent of respondents who had family members with a small business - including informal enterprises such as motorbike repair shops, hair salons and food stalls - said their incomes had decreased.
Kent Helmers, the social research director at Indochina Research, said via email: "While the plight of poorer urban and rural workers laid off from garment factories has been highlighted in the media ... we also need to highlight the struggle under way for poorer urban families depending on small business."
Poor diet
Because of their reduced earnings, many poor urban families are now unable to afford nutritious meals, the survey said.
Eighty-five percent of respondents said chicken - an important source of protein - had become less affordable over the last year, while 73 percent of women said they could not afford enough chicken for their families.
In addition, 17 percent of women said they were unable even to purchase enough rice, according to the survey.
"The concern is that these poorer families may not be able to buy sufficient protein in these hard times," Helmers said.
The 2008 National Anthropometric Nutrition Survey showed an increase in acute malnutrition in children, evidence of the unhealthy coping measures of families run by underemployed women, UN Resident Coordinator Douglas Broderick said via email Tuesday.
"Informal coping measures all have implications for long-term human development- stalling health, nutrition and literacy," Broderick said.
"Deterioration in these areas not only sets back the country today, but also long into the future."
The decline in urban incomes does not just affect urban areas, Broderick said. According to the United Nations, about 1.5 million rural Cambodians depend on remittances from urban migrants, mostly women, as their major source of income.
In contrast to Cambodia, Indochina Research's survey showed that the urban poor in Laos had benefited from continued economic growth despite the economic crisis, with only 25 percent of women saying their household income had decreased, whereas 43 percent said it had increased.
Indochina Research concluded that to buffer the impacts of the global economic crisis, improvements to the small business environment should be made to help the urban poor.
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The assistant for Preah Vihear Provincial Governor Preap Tan said Tuesday that the executive's family had decided to keep the 58-year-old on life support despite a bleak prognosis offered by doctors. Preap Tan was taken to a Ho Chi Minh City hospital after suffering a stroke last Wednesday. "We were told by Vietnamese doctors that there is no hope to save his life," said Bun Tharom, the assistant. "It is sad news for all of us. He has worked very hard for years for the nation." Preah Vihear Deputy Governor Long Sovann said Kuoy Bunthan, another deputy governor, was serving as acting provincial governor. He said officials were thinking about a permanent successor but had yet to name one out of respect for Preap Tan. Bun Tharom said officials from the Ministry of Interior had formed a committee to plan a funeral for the governor, to be held at his Phnom Penh residence.