រាជធានីភ្នំពេញ: លោកឧបនាយករដ្ឋមន្រី ហោ ណាំហុង បានបញ្ជាក់ថា.... កម្ពុជា មិនលូកដៃចូលកិច្ចការផ្ទៃក្នុងរបស់ថៃទេ ហើយថ្មីៗនេះលោកថាក់ស៊ីនបានសុំ សម្តេចមកកម្ពុជា ប៉ុន្តែសម្តេចតេជោបានហាមឃាត់ថា កុំទាន់អាលមកដោយសារ នៅទីក្រុងបាងកកមានបាតុកម្មធំធេង បើកាលណាថាក់ស៊ីនមក នាំតែគេចោទ ប្រកាន់ពីទំនាក់ទំនងរឿងនយោបាយរបស់ថៃ.....។ អានបន្ត.....Saturday, April 10, 2010
កម្ពុជាមិនលូកដៃចូលកិច្ចការផ្ទៃក្នុងរបស់ថៃទេ ចំណែកថាក់ស៊ីនគឺជាមិត្តភាព
រាជធានីភ្នំពេញ: លោកឧបនាយករដ្ឋមន្រី ហោ ណាំហុង បានបញ្ជាក់ថា.... កម្ពុជា មិនលូកដៃចូលកិច្ចការផ្ទៃក្នុងរបស់ថៃទេ ហើយថ្មីៗនេះលោកថាក់ស៊ីនបានសុំ សម្តេចមកកម្ពុជា ប៉ុន្តែសម្តេចតេជោបានហាមឃាត់ថា កុំទាន់អាលមកដោយសារ នៅទីក្រុងបាងកកមានបាតុកម្មធំធេង បើកាលណាថាក់ស៊ីនមក នាំតែគេចោទ ប្រកាន់ពីទំនាក់ទំនងរឿងនយោបាយរបស់ថៃ.....។ អានបន្ត.....
លោកហង្សចក្រាចាងហ្វាងការសែតប្រឆាំងនឹងត្រូវដោះលែងនៅថ្ងៃចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី
ចាងហ្វាងការសែតប្រឆាំងខ្មែរម្ចាស់ស្រុកលោកហង្សចក្រានឹងត្រូវដោះលែងចេញពីពន្ធនាគារនៅថ្ងៃទី១៤ ខែមេសា ចំថ្ងៃចូលឆ្នាំ។ នេះបើតាមការអះអាងចុងក្រោយរបស់មន្រីជាន់ខ្ពស់រាជរដ្ឋាភិបាលកម្ពុជា។ អានបន្តរ.....Takeo villagers forced to sign land over to NGO: witnesses
Takeo province villagers involved in a land fight with an NGO protest in front of the National Assembly on Wednesday.POLICE in Takeo province’s Kirivong district surrounded the homes of 50 villagers on Thursday, ordering them to go to the district police office, where they were told to sign an agreement turning over their land to a local conservation NGO, villagers said. Read More(...)
Friday, April 9, 2010
World Bank Forecasts More Growth in 2010
Wednesday, 07 April 2010
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Original report from Phnom Penh
The World Bank said Wednesday that Cambodia’s economy is expected to grow around 4.4 percent this year, signaling a recovery from the economic crisis and a recession in 2009.
A World Bank economist told VOA Khmer Wednesday that growth could climb as high as 6 percent in 2011, a rate that would be close to the galloping growth the country experienced in the years preceding the global downturn.
“Recorded agri-business exports more than doubled, especially in milled rice and rubber exports, year-on-year air tourist arrivals stopped declining, imports of consumer goods stabilized, and both domestic credit and inflows of foreign direct investment began rebounding,” the World Bank said in a statement Wednesday.
Cambodia’s economy contracted 2 percent in 2009, driven by poor exports of garments, less tourism and a 35 percent drop in foreign direct investment, the World Bank said.
Chea Hout, a Cambodian economist for World Bank, said Cambodia still had a high amount of its exports—60 percent—destined for the US, while a full two-third of its imports came from China, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.
“Cambodia’s economy is still very narrow,” he said. “So it can be highly vulnerable to the external environment.”
A diversified economy and structural and institutional reform would improve the investment climate, he said, which would in turn help Cambodia compete with other countries to reach the international market.
The World Bank suggested the region’s middle-income countries, including Vietnam and Thailand, invest in physical and human capital to move up the value chain, while low-income countries like Cambodia should focus on manufacturing and on becoming a part of global and regional production networks.
Sang Sinavith, a customs official, told reporters Wednesday Cambodia had exported $3.9 billion in goods in 2009, but he expected exports totaling more than $4.1 billion this year.
However, the country is still running a trade deficit, having imported $5.45 billion in goods in 2009 and potentially $6.38 billion in 2010, he said.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tribunal Asked To Call Hun Sen: Letter
By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer Original
Khmer Rouge tribunal investigators were requested to call Prime Minister Hun Sen to testify with other key government figures, but declined, according to a confidential court order obtained by VOA Khmer.
In the days before they concluded their investigation of the tribunal’s second case, judges Marcel Lemonde and You Bunleang decided Hun Sen “was not likely to provide additional evidence” and that he should not be interviewed.
The decision was a response to a request from the defense teams of Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, who wanted Hun Sen interviewed along with Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon, and other senior government leaders.
“They are not likely to provide any additional evidence in relation to that already obtained from a large number of documents or from interviews of other witnesses, 725 in total,” You Bunleang wrote.
In January, judges closed the investigation of Case No. 002, which will try Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Kaing Kek Iev for atrocity crimes.
Defense for Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan have reportedly filed a complaint to the Pre-Trial Chamber of the UN-backed court over the decision.
The decision raises more questions about the independence of the court, which had sought to question senior Cambodian People’s Party members last year but was refused.
report from Washington
02 March 2010
Khmer Rouge tribunal investigators were requested to call Prime Minister Hun Sen to testify with other key government figures, but declined, according to a confidential court order obtained by VOA Khmer.
In the days before they concluded their investigation of the tribunal’s second case, judges Marcel Lemonde and You Bunleang decided Hun Sen “was not likely to provide additional evidence” and that he should not be interviewed.
The decision was a response to a request from the defense teams of Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, who wanted Hun Sen interviewed along with Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon, and other senior government leaders.
“They are not likely to provide any additional evidence in relation to that already obtained from a large number of documents or from interviews of other witnesses, 725 in total,” You Bunleang wrote.
In January, judges closed the investigation of Case No. 002, which will try Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Kaing Kek Iev for atrocity crimes.
Defense for Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan have reportedly filed a complaint to the Pre-Trial Chamber of the UN-backed court over the decision.
The decision raises more questions about the independence of the court, which had sought to question senior Cambodian People’s Party members last year but was refused.
“A critical test for the success of the [tribunal]—as for all courts trying international crimes—is that the judicial process be allowed to run its course without political interference,” James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, in New York, told VOA Khmer.
The group remains concerned over government objections to trials of lower-tiered Khmer Rouge and of the senior officials’ refusal to testify, he said.
“It is important for the rule of law in Cambodia that decisions about whom to charge, what to charge and who should testify be made by judges, not politicians,” he said.
Cambodian officials have denied political influence at the court, and tribunal officials say the court works independently, according to agreements between the UN and Cambodia.
Meanwhile, the tribunal retains the right to issue arrest warrants along with subpoenas but has no real way to enforce them.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Abhisit counters Hun Sen's claim
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(Photo: Reuters)Bangkok Post
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva insisted Thai military officers have not trespassed to Cambodia, as Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen claimed.
"The Thai government will use Prime Minister Hun Sen's comment to explain to the World Heritage Committee that the area around Preah Vihear temple clearly belongs to Thailand," Mr Abhisit said on Sunday.
The Cambodian premier visited the ancient Preah Vihear and Ta Muan Thom temples on Saturday without incident. More than 100 Thai troops were sent to the area.
Thai soldiers will not be withdrawn from the disputed border area yet and more personnel will be deployed to oversee the area around Ta Muan Thom, Mr Abhisit said.
"I don't have to give details whether former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was behind Mr Hun Sen's visit, but the government will continue keeping a close watch on the red-shirts' activities in different areas," he added.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Rainsy sentenced to two years' jail
SVAY RIENG PROVINCE & PHNOM PENH—SVAY RIENG provincial court has found opposition leader Sam Rainsy guilty of racial incitement and destroying demarcation posts on the border with Vietnam, lawyers said. In a closed-door session on Wednesday, Judge Koam Chhean sentenced the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) president to two years prison in absentia and fined him 8 million (around US$1,927), said Sam Sokong, the defense attorney of two villagers accused on similar charges.
“I cannot accept the trial today, because it did not take evidence and proof into consideration to find justice,” Sam Sokong said. “The court did not base its decision on the evidence.” He added that his clients – local villagers Meas Srey, 39, and Prom Chea, 41 – were also sentenced to one year in prison each on the charge of destroying public property. Rights activists also reported that the three were ordered to pay 55 million riels ($13,253) in compensation for the removal of the border markers.
The charges stemmed from an October 25 incident in which Sam Rainsy joined villagers in uprooting six temporary border markers in Svay Rieng’s Chantrea district. Locals claimed they were placed in their ricefields by Vietnamese authorities. Sam Rainsy is currently in France.
Long Ry, an SRP lawmaker who attended the trial, also rejected the verdict, saying the proceedings were a farce. “The decision was prepared beforehand and everything was decided in advance. The court ‘acted’ very well,” he said.
But one government official said the criticisms were misplaced, since all Cambodian judges followed due process and adhered to the law. “Everyone has different ideas, but we have one law,” said Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers. “We have to accept the judge’s decision.”
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Cambodia Battling Diseases on Two Fronts
| Original report from Phnom Penh 04 January 2010 |
Cambodia is facing threats from both the H1N1 virus and the avian influenza, health officials warned Monday, announcing that another man fell ill with bird flu in December.
December’s infection brings the total bird flu cases in humans to nine, with seven killed from the disease since in first appeared in 2004.
The most recent case, in Kampong Cham province, was accompanied by the deaths of 143 chickens. (Testing on two of two samples showed positive results for avian influenza.)
Meanwhile, H1N1, sometimes called swine flu, has killed six people and infected more than 500, officials said.
“We have found, every week, two, three or five new cases for H1N1,” said Ly Sovann, deputy director of the Ministry of Health’s communicable disease department. “On Dec. 16, we found a new [bird flu] case in Kampong Cham province, but he has not died.”
“Even though there are a small number of cases of human contamination, we are still worried about these diseases,” he said.
World Health Organization health specialist Nima Asgary confirmed the new case of bird flu, saying Cambodia was now facing infections of both viruses.
However, the H1N1 virus was considered less dangerous than bird flu, he said.
Ly Sovann recommended that Cambodians maintain good hygienic practices, including washing of hands and covering of mouth and nose while coughing, to prevent the spread of H1N1.
He also warned against selling or eating already-dead poultry, to prevent the spread of bird flu.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Groups Continue Opposition of Seizure Law
Original report from Phnom Penh
30 December 2009
www.voanews.com/khmer
Rights and housing advocates on Wednesday continued to rail against a new law on imminent domain that they say will make it easier for people to lose their land.
The Law on Expropriations passed through the National Assembly on Tuesday, allowing for authorities to move people from their land in the name of national development, such as the construction of an airport or the widening of a road.
The bill had the support of 76 lawmakers from the Cambodian People’s Party and was opposed by members of the opposition Sam Rainsy and Human Rights parties.
“When the law on expropriation is enforced, it will allow the government and the authorities, in the capital and in the provinces, the full ability to easily expropriate real estate of citizens, under a pretext for the sake of fundamental infrastructure,” Ny Chakrya, lead investigator for the rights group Adhoc, told reporters in Phnom Penh.
Cambodia’s poor have faced increasing pressure, from both legitimate authorities and unscrupulous officials and businessmen, in recent years, as the country experienced a boom in land prices. Some people have been evicted by the government or had their land taken, creating a source of unease for many and, critics warn, potential unrest.
“There was the confiscation before the draft law passed without reasonable compensation,” said Kem Sokha, president of the Human Rights Party. “And because of this law, the government will have more ability to confiscate the land of citizens.”
However, Ouk Rabun, secretary of state for the Ministry of Economy and Finance, who defended the bill in the National Assembly this week, said the law was suffering from “negative interpretations.”
“In this case, the government will do the expropriation,” he said. “We must distinguish between legal expropriation and violence and abuse” in land disputes.
The law, which has eight chapters and 39 articles, allows the state to seize land for development in the national interest. That can mean for ports, power structures or an energy network, but it can also mean for security or national sovereignty.
Opponents of the law say it is not clear enough and could allow the government to evict people from their land before a case has been arbitrated. They also warn the law makes no provision for fair market values; instead, compensation will rely on a decision by a national committee.
Ny Chakrya said rights and housing groups sent recommendations for the law to the National Assembly and the government, but they were not heeded.
Cheam Yiep, a CPP lawmaker, said some of the recommendations may find their way into subdecrees when the law is promulgated.
Banteay Chhmar temple wins American preservation grant
ONGOING conservation efforts at the dilapidated Banteay Chhmar temple complex in northwestern Banteay Meanchey province have received a substantial boost in the form of a site-preservation grant from the Archeological Institute of America (AIA), the organisation announced.Heritage Watch, the grant recipient, is a partner of the Global Heritage Fund, which launched restoration efforts in 2008 in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and several other NGOs.In a press release, the AIA said: “With new road improvements, the site is expected to become a major tourist attraction for those travelling from Thailand to Cambodia’s major archaeological attraction, Angkor Wat,” making it essential to advance conservation efforts quickly, as well as to establish community-based enterprises that “protect the site, rather than destroy it”.
Conservationists also fear that the road improvements, particularly National Highway 6 linking Siem Reap with Poipet, will accelerate the looting of Banteay Chhmar. The temple’s proximity to Thailand means that antiquities can disappear undetected into the jungles across the border.
Read More...
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Deportation of Uighur Asylum Seekers Condemned
Original report from Phnom Penh 21 December 2009 |
The US joined rights groups on Monday in condemning the forced return to China of 20 Uighur asylum seekers over the weekend.
The Muslim Uighurs had fled after anti-Chinese riots in their home province of Xinjiang in July, but Chinese officials had said they should be returned to face criminal charges.
The US condemned the deportation, which occurred before members’ asylum status could be assessed by the UN’s refugee office in Phnom Penh and on the eve of a visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping.
The US State Department said in a statement the forced return would affect Cambodia’s relationship with the US and its international standing.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Kuy Kuong said the move had been conducted under Cambodia’s constitution.
Xi arrived in Cambodia on Sunday to lead a high-level delegation to discuss cooperation between the two nations and “promote common development.”
“The good-neighborly relations between China and Cambodia are in the interests of the two peoples and benefit the peace, stability and prosperity in the region," Xi told the Chinese news agency Xinua on his arrival in Siem Reap.
Friday, December 11, 2009
The convicted, Sivarak Chutipong, Thai engineer, was took through the behind door of Phnom Penh Municipal Court after issueing a verdict stating the 7-year imprison and 10- million- Riel fine to the man in accusation of spying in Cambodia.Read More...
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Amnesty Calls for Expanded Tribunal Prosecution
Amnesty International has called on prosecutors at the Khmer Rouge tribunal to expand their strategy and reveal their decision publicly, following the appointment of a new UN-appointed prosecutor to the court.“Three years into the work of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the prosecution has identified only ten suspects as being ‘senior leaders’ or ‘most responsible’ for massive human rights violations that took place between 17 April 1975 and 6 January 1979,” the group said in a Dec. 4 statement, referring to the tribunal by its official name. “Unless more cases are investigated and prosecuted, it is highly questionable whether the current caseload would fulfill the mandate of the tribunal.”
Read More...
No war in Cambodia: PM
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday reassured that Cambodia will not provoke a war with any of its neighboring countries.
The premier’s confirmation came after Cambodian-Thailand diplomatic ties were down, leading to the mutual withdrawal of ambassadors.
The premier said during a ceremony to mark the construction of National Road 68 construction in Oddor Meanchey province, bordering Thailand on Saturday that the road will now be built by the Cambodian Government alone at a cost of more than US$30 Million. The 117 km road will link Odor Meanchey and Siem Reap.
Read More...
The premier’s confirmation came after Cambodian-Thailand diplomatic ties were down, leading to the mutual withdrawal of ambassadors.
The premier said during a ceremony to mark the construction of National Road 68 construction in Oddor Meanchey province, bordering Thailand on Saturday that the road will now be built by the Cambodian Government alone at a cost of more than US$30 Million. The 117 km road will link Odor Meanchey and Siem Reap.
Read More...
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Obama moves against Taliban
US President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 more troops to move quickly to Afghanistan "to prevent a cancer from once again spreading through the country."
Read More...
Rights Situation Comes Under UN Review
Original report from Phnom Penh
01 December 2009
Under the Human Rights Council, member states are reviewed every four years. In a submission to the council, Human Rights Watch underscored political violence, impunity for senior government officials in serious rights abuses, forced evictions and land confiscation, among others.
Sam Rainsy backers protest abroad
Supporters of opposition leader Sam Rainsy wave placards during a demonstration against the “deterioration of democracy in Cambodia” on Parliament Hill in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, on Monday. Hundreds gathered to protest against the Cambodian government’s alleged mistreatment of opposition politicians.
SUPPORTERS of embattled opposition leader Sam Rainsy gathered in North American capitals this weekend to protest what they called the deteriorating state of democracy in Cambodia.
Organised as a response to the National Assembly’s decision last month to strip Sam Rainsy of his parliamentary immunity, nearly 200 people protested on Parliament Hill in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, while a smaller group demonstrated in front of the Cambodian embassy in Washington on Saturday, organisers said.
Pretty Ma, secretary general of the Sam Rainsy Party North America, said opposition politicians in the Kingdom face “mistreatment and harassment”.
“The way immunity can be easily revoked from the people’s representatives is something almost unheard of here in the West,” he wrote in an email. “It’s overdone, truly abusive and ridiculous.”
The protesters urged Canada and the US to deny entry visas to “any corrupted official, including any human rights violators”.
Sam Rainsy, who is currently in Europe, was stripped of his immunity last month after an October incident in which he uprooted six wooden posts in Svay Rieng province along the border with Vietnam.
Villagers had claimed the Vietnamese were encroaching on their land.
The Vietnamese government, however, reacted with outrage, and the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the act “perverse”.
Read More...
Organised as a response to the National Assembly’s decision last month to strip Sam Rainsy of his parliamentary immunity, nearly 200 people protested on Parliament Hill in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, while a smaller group demonstrated in front of the Cambodian embassy in Washington on Saturday, organisers said.
Pretty Ma, secretary general of the Sam Rainsy Party North America, said opposition politicians in the Kingdom face “mistreatment and harassment”.
“The way immunity can be easily revoked from the people’s representatives is something almost unheard of here in the West,” he wrote in an email. “It’s overdone, truly abusive and ridiculous.”
The protesters urged Canada and the US to deny entry visas to “any corrupted official, including any human rights violators”.
Sam Rainsy, who is currently in Europe, was stripped of his immunity last month after an October incident in which he uprooted six wooden posts in Svay Rieng province along the border with Vietnam.
Villagers had claimed the Vietnamese were encroaching on their land.
The Vietnamese government, however, reacted with outrage, and the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the act “perverse”.
Read More...
Monday, November 30, 2009
Duch asks to be set free
On Friday, 27 November 2009
Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, on Friday asked judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal to release him, and his lawyer later clarified that the former chief of Tuol Sleng prison was seeking an acquittal on war crimes and crimes against humanity charges.
Duch’s surprise request came at the end of a 17-minute statement, his last before the Trial Chamber, during which he acknowledged his involvement in Khmer Rouge-era crimes, including the execution of more than 12,000 Tuol Sleng prisoners, but said they were committed by a “criminal party”.
“I still maintain my position that I am responsible for the crimes as the member of the criminal party,” he said. “At the beginning, I thought that the party would be a decent one, but later on it was the criminal party, and I was part of the party.”
Duch also noted that he had served more than 10 years in detention, and stressed that he had been fully cooperative with the tribunal.
“So I would ask the chamber to release me. I’m very grateful, your honours,” he concluded.
Read More....
Duch’s surprise request came at the end of a 17-minute statement, his last before the Trial Chamber, during which he acknowledged his involvement in Khmer Rouge-era crimes, including the execution of more than 12,000 Tuol Sleng prisoners, but said they were committed by a “criminal party”.
“I still maintain my position that I am responsible for the crimes as the member of the criminal party,” he said. “At the beginning, I thought that the party would be a decent one, but later on it was the criminal party, and I was part of the party.”
Duch also noted that he had served more than 10 years in detention, and stressed that he had been fully cooperative with the tribunal.
“So I would ask the chamber to release me. I’m very grateful, your honours,” he concluded.
Read More....
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