Sam Rainsy to all Cambodians: The major national issues are borders and Yuon immigrants

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy (Photo: Sovannara, RFI)

27 July 2010
By Pech Bandol
Free Press Magazine Online
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

In response to questions asked by Cambodians living throughout the world, including those who live in the American continent and in Europe (Austria, Finland, France, Norway), opposition leader Sam Rainsy – who is currently living in self-exile – told them that Cambodia is currently at the edge of a dangerous abyss due to border problems with Vietnam, as well as due to the illegal Viet immigrants.

You Saravuth, the former editor-in-chief of the pro-opposition Sralanh Khmer newspaper who had to flee Cambodia in 2006 stemming from a lawsuit initiated by Hun Xen’s nephew and who is currently living in Norway, indicated that during the video-conference meeting with Sam Rainsy on 25 July, the latter responded to numerous questions filed by overseas Cambodians on his personal situation, as well as the situation faced by Cambodia vis-à-vis her neighbors.

According to You Saravuth, Sam Rainsy discussed about his personal situation with the audience, including the restriction of freedom rights on regular citizens and opposition MPs by the government, the use of the court system to serve the interest of the rich and powerful so that these people can violate human rights and democracy. Sam Rainsy said that he is struggling to resolve these hot issues with the International communities, in particular with countries that are signatories to the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement on Cambodia.

Regarding the border issue, the situation is tense due to the encroachments from neighboring countries, in particular along the eastern borders with Vietnam. Because the Yuon government knows that the Phnom Penh regime is its puppet, the encroachments are still taking place. Cambodian territories where blatant encroachments can be observed are found in Svay Rieng, Takeo and Kanpong Cham provinces. Because the villagers dare to rise up to protest against the loss of their rice fields, Hun Xen’s regime went on to send them to jail, such was the case of Mr. Prum Chea and Mrs. Meas Srey. This situation creates fear among several Cambodian villagers living along the border who no longer dare to protest even though they know that the Yuons are encroaching on their rice fields, their only source of income. Sam Rainsy said that, up to now, he collected numerous map documents and testimonials which indicated that the Yuon indeed encroached on Cambodian territories through a blind eye by the Phnom Penh regime.

Regarding the illegal flow of Yuon immigrants to Cambodia, this is also a dangerous problem for Cambodia. Currently, there are more than 3 million Yuons living illegally in Cambodia. These Yuon communities receive close attention and support from the Yuon leaders, and they also being spoiled by the Phnom Penh regime as well.

This situation brings shame and major losses to the Cambodian interest, it is an act of national treason, of betrayal of the Cambodian people by the ruling CPP party. According to Sam Rainsy, the resolution of these problems can only be done through unity of the Cambodian people, the rightful owners of the country, and through an election change to salvage the country.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy left Cambodia in 2009 following the uprooting of border stakes along the Yuon border. These stakes were planted as part of Yuon encroachments on rice fields belonging to Cambodian farmers in Koh Kban Kandal village, Samrong commune, Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province. Because of this case, Sam Rainsy was sentenced in absentia by the Svay Rieng provincial court to 2-year of jail time in January 2010.

Regarding his return to Cambodia, opposition leader Sam Rainsy told overseas Cambodians that it will depend on the resolution from the International community and he hoped that democratic countries in the world will not allow Hun Xen to go on with his misdeeds.

The “Cambodian Women’s Movement” is valueless … enough to attract the attention of the government?

Tith Sothea claimed that the the Grassroots Cambodian Women’s Movement is valueless in terms of national development, yet, this government mouthpiece still couldn't resist but being attracted by the issues raised by the Women's Movement. So is the Women's Movement valueless as Tith Sothea claimed or is it time for Hun Xen and Xok An to replace this clueless flatulent windpipe?

Gov’t official: Cambodian Women’s Movement is valueless for national development

27 July 2010
By Son Sopheak
DAP news
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Phnom Penh – A government official declared that the Cambodian Women Movement – which expressed its concerns over the freedom of expression and the respect of women rights in Cambodia – has no value for the national development because this group was set up to support only one individual.

The claim was made by this [stupid] official after the Grassroots Cambodian Women’s Movement issued a joint statement supporting and defending SRP MP Mu Sochua. The Women’s Movement indicated that it represents the Cambodian people, including human rights advocates, garment workers, sex workers, beer-promotion women, community members, motor-taxi drivers, university students, vendors, farmers, union members, teachers, government officials, and NGO representatives, and it is concerned about the freedom of expression and the respect of women’s rights in Cambodia.

Tith Sothea, government advisor and mouthpiece of the Press and Quick Reaction Unit of the Council of Ministers, said on 27 July that this women’s group was formed to serve the ambition of an individual only and that it does not represent all the women in the country. Tith Sothea claimed that the extreme demands made the group have no value for national development at a time when Cambodia is abiding by the rule of law (sic!).

During a meeting of about 15 people, most of whom were women, at the Baitong Restaurant on Tuesday morning, the Women’s Movement declared in its joint statement that they call on the government to show strong commitment and take more visible responsibility in putting in practice the promotion of: (1) Women’s roles and participation in politics, (2) Women’s rights; (3) Freedom of expression; and (4) A fair judicial system.

Tith Sothea, the (stupid) government mouthpiece, stressed that the formation of this Women’s Movement was done to set up a foundation for political and popularity gain for an opposition MP so that she can compete with the opposition party leader (sic!). Tith Sothea voiced the government’s mantra, claiming that freedom of expression and the respect of democracy is widely accepted in Cambodia, unlike what the Women’s Movement claimed.

Cambodia's Precedent for Humanity

JULY 27, 2010
By DAVID J. SCHEFFER
The Wall Street Journal

The first Khmer Rouge genocide conviction lays the legal groundwork for bringing other offenders to justice.

One might think that the conviction Monday of Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, for crimes against humanity was a foregone conclusion. During his 72-day trial before a U.N.-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh, Duch confessed his role as head of the notorious Tuol Sleng Prison in the torture and killing of at least 12,272 individuals between 1975 and '79. But in fact many observers in the courtroom and around the world were eagerly waiting to read the verdict. That's because the legal reasoning behind Duch's conviction will shape the tribunal's upcoming effort to bring senior Khmer Rouge leaders to justice.

The co-prosecutors largely won the legal battle over Duch's criminal liability, and set the stage for vigorous prosecution of the four senior-most Khmer Rouge leaders who next stand trial. The trial chamber discovered the big idea behind the Khmer Rouge atrocities: The criminal persecution of an unprecedented proportion of a nation's citizens because leaders had the specific intent to discriminate against them on political grounds. During the regime of Pol Pot, under which an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians perished, or one-quarter of the population, anyone could be accused of being an "enemy" of the Khmer Rouge.

The tools used for the persecution were murder, unjust imprisonment, enslavement and torture (including rape), but on a scale that was so widespread and systematic that these particular crimes against humanity fed into the master plan of persecution. The co-prosecutors now have the means to show why senior leaders used various crimes against humanity to advance their evil intent to discriminate against and extinguish so many politically inconvenient people.

Significantly, the judges ruled that such systematic attacks against the civilian population of Cambodia were illegal under international law during the 1970s. This conclusion was by no means certain as the trial started. The verdict depended on when crimes against humanity became part of the uncodified realm of customary international law, thus prohibiting such egregious conduct by all nations and their leaders. The ruling paves the way for such crimes to be vigorously prosecuted against the surviving senior Khmer Rouge leaders. This is especially important because Duch avoided any conviction under Cambodia's 1956 Penal Code. The international judges refused to recognize an extension of the Code's statute of limitations.

The trial chamber also confirmed Duch's role in war crimes against Vietnamese prisoners of war and civilians. He refused all of them protected status under the Geneva Conventions and executed them. The judges found that an armed conflict between the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese forces clearly existed and that Duch supervised torture and inhumane treatment, including water boarding.

One potent theory emerging from the international war crimes tribunals is that a defendant's individual responsibility can be discovered by searching for his or her participation in a "joint criminal enterprise" of like-minded people set on committing an atrocity. No one knew whether the judges would embrace this theory, which has the potential to impact future trials.

The trial chamber held that Duch knew of the criminal character of Tuol Sleng, acted with the intent to further its purpose, and so participated in a joint criminal enterprise. The judges also tagged Duch with superior responsibility for what transpired at Tuol Sleng. Like many other architects of atrocities, Duch's leadership skills proved to be his undoing. The trial chamber's holdings on joint criminal enterprise and superior responsibility spell more trouble for other defendants.

Drawing upon precedents of other war crimes tribunals, the trial chamber rejected Duch's defense that he had been acting on orders from superiors, because such orders simply do not matter when international crimes, such as crimes against humanity and war crimes, are committed. Duch also claimed that toward the end of his reign of terror, he acted under duress because he feared that he and his close relatives would be killed. But the trial chamber found that he continued to participate willingly and with zeal. He earned some mitigation points for his sentence due to the coercive environment of the Pol Pot regime. But future defendants, those who led the atrocities, will not prevail with any nonsense about acting under duress.

Duch's 35-year sentence for such heinous crimes is the real shocker in this verdict. This was further reduced to only 19 years for good behavior, time served, and the Cambodian military's unjust imprisonment of Duch for eight years without trial. Atrocity crimes of this magnitude cannot be seriously prosecuted if the punishment is so disconnected from reality.

Bringing the masterminds of such crimes to justice is serious business that demands serious punishments. The co-prosecutors should appeal the sentence to seek punishment reflecting the gravity of Tuol Sleng. If the precedent of Duch's sentence stands, then the gains made in his trial to establishing the criminal liability of Khmer Rouge leaders may be washed away with pathetically short sentences.

Mr. Scheffer, a former U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues (1997-2001), is director of the Center for International Human Rights at the Northwestern University School of Law and co-edits the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor (www.cambodiatribunal.org).

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US army gear used in repression of Cambodian factory workers?

The Kevlar helmets used by some of these riot cops are standard issues for US soldiers, they are most likely provided by the US as military aid to Cambodia, but they have been used as tools for repression of the Cambodian workers rights to free expression! (Photos: Reuters)

Cambodian women rally behind condemned opposition MP Mu Sochua

Photos taken by Philip Skoczkowski on June 2, the day of Mu Sochua's third hearing in Phnom Penh.


Mu Sochua (centre) heads to her third hearing. Photo by Philip Skoczkowski.

27/07/2010
The Observers

Mu Sochua, a female MP of Cambodia's opposition Sam Rainsy Party, faces jail for refusing to pay 4,000 dollars in fines and compensation on a conviction last year for allegedly defaming prime minister Hun Sen. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has called the proceedings against her an example of the "alarming erosion" of Cambodia's free speech and judicial independence.

Victoria Petitjean works for a women's rights NGO in Phnom Penh. She tells us how a nationwide network of women rallied in Cambodia in support of Sochua. This account has not been edited by FRANCE 24.

"A network of women has been created to support Mu Sochua and her cause"

Mu Sochua is considered the most prominent woman MP in Cambodia's leading political opposition, the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). A New York Times article on February 21 described Mu Sochua as "part of a new generation of women who are working their way into the political systems of countries across Asia and elsewhere, from local councils to national assemblies and cabinet positions."

For more than twenty-five years, Mu Sochua has been a leading human rights advocate, working forcefully to prioritize women's issues after years of unrest and tragedy. As Minister for Women's Affairs (1998-2004), she joined with local and international actors, working to stop human trafficking, child abuse, domestic violence, worker exploitation and corruption. During her six years in office, she authored the Domestic Violence Law that was finally passed in 2005. Today, she is also battling governmental abuse of power in her own case as the Cambodian Supreme Court - a tool of the party in power - upholds her criminal defamation conviction for accusing the Prime Minister of gender discrimination during a political meeting a year ago. Her case has been denounced nationally and internationally as a politically motivated prosecution that violates principles of the rule of law and freedom of expression. Nationally, she has found herself being supported by a newly growing movement of Cambodian women. In this, Mu Sochua herself has never changed her line, "Be loud, be fearless, be united".

In April 2009, during a political meeting in Kampot Province, Prime Minister Hun Sen called Mu Sochua "strong leg" (a "gangster/thug"). He then further insinuated that the MP had unbuttoned her blouse in front of an officer. Mu Sochua filed a complaint against Premier Hun Sen and sued him for defamation, not only in defence of her own right to dignity and non-discrimination but for that of all Cambodians, including most particularly women. However, her lawsuit was followed by Hun Sen's counter-lawsuit alleging that Mu Sochua had defamed him. In June 2009, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court dismissed Mu Sochua's suit for lack of evidence, and in August, found her guilty, ordering her to pay a total of 16.5 million riels (approximately $4000) in fines to the court and compensation to the premier for "psychological trauma". In October, the Court of Appeals upheld the Municipal Court's ruling. Yet, Mu Sochua did not abandon her stand and this, despite political pressures including on her own lawyer. Indeed, he resigned after enduring political and personal pressures from the accusing party.

On June 2, 2010, Mu Sochua, without a lawyer of her own choosing, was summoned to appear by the Supreme Court, for the third and final ruling. The hearing took place in front of a full audience of SRP members, local and international journalists, as well as human rights advocates and EU representatives and diplomats. During the trial, Mu Sochua maintained the line she has relentlessly taken: this case is driven by the principles of fair trial, freedom of speech and gender justice. Yet, the Supreme Court upheld the verdict from the previous rulings, declaring it could not accept Mu Sochua's defence. She was ordered to pay the fine by 4th July, or else would have to face a prison sentence. On 5th July, Mu Sochua, as required by law, was given a final ten days to pay the defamation fine.

In this time, since the Supreme Court's ruling on 2nd June to uphold her conviction, Mu Sochua and her supporters gathered forces, raising awareness about her case within national and international public authorities, civil society and the media. A petition was circulated and signed in Cambodia and around the world, and was presented earlier in June to the US President, Barack Obama. Further, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay made a public statement, expressing "'serious' concerns about legal proceedings against opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua"

In Cambodia itself, a network of women has been created to support MP Mu Sochua and her cause. This movement, including garment workers, sex workers, university students and teachers, sellers, NGO staff, public officials and farmers, has been organizing a group of citizens who refuse to see MP Mu Sochua unjustly imprisoned for exercising her right to free speech and promoting women's rights in Cambodia. The group has been collecting donations whilst also circulating a petition across the country. Close to 2000 signatures were collected in just a few days, $6000, and broad-ranging national and international media implicated (including Radio Free Asia and Voice of America). As Arun Reaksmey, the movement's spokesperson, declared at a press conference, "Allowing Mu Sochua to be imprisoned will not only take away one of Cambodia's most important political figures and human rights advocates, but will also symbolically undermine the voice of all Cambodian women."

The 15th July was the final deadline for her fine to be paid to the National Treasury. With a resolute passion, Mu Sochua tirelessly maintained her never-changing stand: in the name of human rights, she would not pay the fine. However, rather than sending her to jail, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court ordered the National Assembly, on Tuesday 20th July, to take approximately 4.2 million riel, or $1,000, from MP Mu Sochua's pay check for two months. Today, in the eyes of MP Mu Sochua and the newly created Cambodian women's movement, if this is the end of her trial, this does not terminate the fight for justice and women's rights. As she stated in an interview, she is supportive of the women's movement created behind her and her cause, and would now like to join and work together. The movement's representatives are organizing a roundtable discussion this week, at which MP Mu Sochua along representatives of various women's associations and networks, have been invited. As declared by the movement, "Showing solidarity among us women is our way of expressing our freedom of expression as well as our strong willingness and support, and thereby increase the protection of women's rights."

If there are many uncertainties and barriers still to be faced, it is at least certain that, today, the foundations for a strong women's movement are being set in Cambodia."

[Thai] PM accepts Preah Vihear petition

27/07/2010
Bangkok Post

Leaders of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) on Tuesday led a demonstration against the listing of Preah Vihear temple as a Unesco World Heritage site and presented a protest petition to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya.

Mr Abhisit and Mr Kasit went to Baan Phisanulok to accept the petition from PAD leaders Pibhop Thongchai, Panthep Puapongpan and Kamnoon Sitthisaman.

In the morning, PAD leader Chamlong Srimuang led about 700 people to the Unesco building on Sukhumvit Road to protest against Cambodia being given management control of the ancient temple despite the territorial dispute over the border area around it.

Maj-Gen Chamlong told reporters later that Unesco Bangkok's chief administration officer Edgar Sharuk had informed him the PAD's petition had been forwarded to the Unesco World Heritage Committee, which is meeting in Brazil this week. The committee had acknowledged receipt of the petition.

The PAD leaders would meet again to discuss what to do next, he said.

The demonstration caused a severe traffic jam during the morning.

Thailand and Cambodia tussle over World Heritage Site Preah Vihear Temple

Preah Vihear Temple

As Cambodia prepares a management plan that will give it the sole rights to the popular tourist destination of Preah Vihear Temple, Thailand weighs in with its own claim

27 July, 2010
By Virginia Lau
CNNGo

Antagonism between Cambodia and Thailand is intensifying in the run up to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in Brazil this weekend, over the management of World Heritage Site Preah Vihear Temple. Led by Thai government supporters Chamlong Srimuang and Chaiwat Sinsuwongse, about 1,000 protestors arrived at UNESCO’s Bangkok office this morning to oppose Cambodia’s unilateral management plan that will be submitted during the meeting.

In 2008, UNESCO approved the Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage Site in Cambodia. Opposition to Cambodia’s management plan comes from a murky resolution by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1962. While the ICJ granted the temple to Cambodia, it did not settle the ownership of a 4.6 square kilometer piece of land next to the structure.

Tul Sitthisomwong from the Thai position was quoted in the Bangkok Post as saying, "It is the right direction for the government not to accept the Cambodian-made plan until the process of the land demarcation is complete."

From January to June this year, the Preah Vihear Temple attracted 46,400 visitors. “In the future, Preah Vihear Temple will become the second-largest tourist destination after Siem Reap’s Angkor Wat -- as roads and infrastructures around the temple have been developed,” Hang Soth, director general of the Preah Vihear National Authority (PVNA), told the Phnom Penh Post.

Tul notes the necessity of the two nations to develop the World Heritage Site together, but Cambodia is not expected to let go of its sole proprietorship to the major tourist attraction easily.

Sore loser Abhisit, did you forget again that Preah Vihear belongs to Cambodia?

Click on the timeline graphic to zoom in

PM firm on temple plan [Abhisit was a softie before?]

'No Thai cooperation' on Preah Vihear area

28/07/2010
By Pradit Ruangdit, Sirikul Bunnag and Apinya Wipatayotin
Bangkok Post

Thailand will not cooperate with the World Heritage Committee if it agrees to a management plan for the Preah Vihear temple that infringes upon the disputed border area, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says.

The prime minister is sending a message to the WHC meeting which is expected to discuss Cambodia's management plan for the Hindu temple and its surrounding areas before the gathering, which began on Sunday in Brasilia, Brazil's capital, ends next Tuesday .

The Cambodian-sponsored plan is on the WHC agenda for its 21-member committee to discuss.

Phnom Penh is required to submit the management plan for WHC approval after the temple was placed on the world heritage listing of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) in 2008.

Thailand's main concern is that the overlapping territory of 4.6 square kilometres, which has not been demarcated, could be included in the plan and jeopardise negotiations to sort out the area, which has been the main source of border conflicts between the two countries.

Thailand last year successfully blocked the plan at the meeting of the WHC in Seville, Spain.

This time, Mr Abhisit is refusing to cooperate with the WHC on the issue as the conflict over sovereignty of the area remains unsettled.

He reiterated yesterday Thailand's stance on opposing the management plan, which he says should not be brought up for discussion until the two countries resolve their dispute over the territory.

If the WHC's resolution on the management plan affects Thai sovereignty, the government will make it clear that it will not accept it, he said after talks with key leaders of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) at Ban Phitsanulok.

The prime minister met with the PAD's co-leader Pibhop Dhongchai, the movement's spokesman Panthep Puapongpan, Senator Kamnoon Sitthisamarn and historian ML Walwipha Charoonroj, who leads the Preah Vihear listing monitoring network.

With the Brasilia meeting scheduled to discuss the issue, the PAD, led by Maj Gen Chamlong Srimuang, and 1,000 supporters converged on Unesco's Sukhumvit office yesterday in an effort to derail the Cambodian effort and call for a review of the registration of Preah Vihear as a world heritage site.

The rally broke up after officials from the UN agency agreed to forward the demands to the WHC meeting.

The 21 members of the serving WHC committee are Thailand, Cambodia, Australia, Bahrain, Barbados, Brazil, China, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Iraq, Jordan, Mali, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti is leading the Thai delegation to Brasilia to try to stifle Cambodia's management plan.

Mr Kamnoon said the PAD and the government shared a similar view on protecting the country's sovereignty.

He said he felt "relieved" since the government had prepared measures to be taken against the UN agency if it ignores Thailand's stance.

But Maj Gen Chamlong apparently did not feel that way. He said it would be difficult for the Thai delegation to support its objection to the management plan for the temple and its surrounding area, but warned the PAD would not give up its rallies to block it.

"We need to reaffirm our position because we don't believe that the Thai representatives will be able to oppose Cambodia's plan," he said.

"But we still have time to protest until the decision is made. Another series of protests will be definitely arranged to have our voices heard."

The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear belonged to Cambodia.

The disputed area near the temple is claimed by Thailand as part of Kantharalak district in Si Sa Ket.

Hun Xen wraps up golf playing in Singapore?

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong (L) with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen

Cambodian PM wraps up 3-day visit to S'pore

27 July 2010
By Hoe Yeen Nie
Channel News Asia

SINGAPORE : Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has wrapped up his three-day official visit to Singapore, with leaders from the two countries agreeing to strengthen mutual ties.

The Cambodian PM started Tuesday with a golf game with Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, followed by lunch.

The two leaders last met in November 2009, when Mr Goh visited Cambodia.

Cambodia is Singapore's eighth largest foreign investor.

Bilateral trade reached S$1.3 billion between January and June, up 60 per cent over the same period last year.

Convicted Khmer Rouge prison chief to appeal: lawyer

(Photo: Reuters)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AFP) - – Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch will appeal against his conviction by Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal, which sentenced him to 30 years in jail, his defence lawyer said Tuesday.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the court on Monday in a ruling that has been hailed as a "historic milestone" in tackling impunity in the country.

He is the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face an international tribunal over crimes committed under the 1975-1979 hardline communist regime.

The 67-year-old was initially handed 35 years but the court reduced the jail sentence on the grounds that he had been detained illegally for years before the UN-backed tribunal was established.

"We will appeal against the (court's) decision," Duch's lawyer Kar Savuth told AFP by telephone, without elaborating.

Many survivors and relatives of victims were dismayed by the verdict, which also took into account the years Duch has served since his arrest in 1999, meaning that he could walk free in about 19 years.

"He only apologised to the judges. Duch didn't apologise to the victims," said Chum Mey, 79, one of the handful who survived the prison because his mechanical skills were put to use repairing sewing machines and water pumps.

Cambodia's Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Tuesday told reporters: "From my own point of view, not that of the government... the sentence is not suitable.

"Tens of thousands of people were tortured at Tuol Sleng and killed at Choeung Ek (a former orchard) -- it appears that the sentencing is too light."

But UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Cambodia Surya Subedi welcomed the verdict against Duch as a "historic milestone".

"I hope that this landmark conviction will serve as a catalyst for the government to address impunity and accelerate its legal and judicial reforms," Subedi said in a statement.

During his trial, Duch repeatedly apologised for overseeing the mass murder of 15,000 men, women and children at Tuol Sleng prison -- also known as S-21 -- but shocked the court in November by finally asking to be acquitted.

Kar Savuth in November said Duch wanted to be acquitted on the grounds that he was not a senior member of the Khmer Rouge hierarchy, while his other defence lawyer Francois Roux had argued for leniency based on his contrition.

Duch then sacked Roux for "loss of confidence", just weeks before a verdict.

Roux in November the about-face was a "bad surprise" and apparently linked to political interference in the trial, noting that premier Hun Sen -- himself a former Khmer Rouge cadre before turning against the movement -- had previously said he hoped the tribunal would fail.

Duch's appeal for release "calls into question Duch's plea of culpability, but also the competence of the court," the French lawyer told AFP at the time.

But after the verdict Roux, who is now head of the defence section for the UN special tribunal for Lebanon, said he hoped it helped reconciliation with Duch.

"I express my hopes that this trial, including the cooperation of the accused to justice, has provided an initial response to the Cambodian people about the tragedy he has lived," Roux said in a statement.

Prosecutors have said they are considering whether to appeal against the sentence. They had sought a 40-year prison term from the tribunal, which did not have the power to impose the death penalty.

But international co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley told AFP Tuesday he thought it was a "logical, well-reasoned judgment".

"You must recall that this is a man who actually acknowledged responsibility and pleaded guilty but still received a sentence of 35 years, which is actually on the high side as far as guilty pleas are concerned," Cayley said.

Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge wiped out nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population through starvation, overwork and execution.

Fighting for a regime that sends you begging in the street for survival?

Former soldier Porn Pean, 48, who lost his left leg during a land mine explosion in 1986 near the Cambodia-Thailand border, counts money as he begs around the streets in Phnom Penh 27 July, 2010. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Sochua may yet be tipping point

King Baby Hun

Sochua vs Sen

July 28, 2010
By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
Pacific Daily News (Guam)

Supporters of Cambodian premier Hun Sen wished lawmaker Mu Sochua had been arrested and sent to rot in jail. Sochua's supporters cheered her refusal to pay court-ordered fines and the regime's backtracking from arresting Sochua by the July 15 deadline.

With Sochua free, they asserted, "justice has prevailed!"

But wait! A new round of Khmer political Ramvong has begun. Ramvong is a popular, slow-circle dance with men and women continuously moving in the same circle, with graceful hand movements and simple footwork, as long as the drumbeats continue.

It has been said that premier Sen bows to no man or law.

Counselors and therapists characterize similar behavior as a "king baby," a person who "wants what he wants and when he wants" and has insatiable thirst for control.

It was extraordinary for lawmaker Sochua, a woman in a male-dominated society, to declare at a press conference with her lawyer in April 2009 a defamation lawsuit against autocratic ruler Sen.

That Sen slammed Sochua with a counter-lawsuit for defaming him should have come as no surprise. The courts lacked the fortitude to deal justly with Sochua's suit and Sen ran the woman's lawyer out of court with threats.

The courts ruled that Sochua had until July 15 to pay the fines to Sen, for "mental damage," and fines to the state. Sochua's stance that she would go to jail rather than pay the fines for a crime she has never committed challenged the king baby.

I wrote earlier about the late Khmer pundit Krom Ngoy's advice, "Never to fight a woman." Some may be upset thinking I placed women in an "inferior" role, but I see a "woman" as one's grandmother, mother, wife, daughter, granddaughter, one's own flesh and blood -- to be adored.

It must be a source of considerable frustration to Sen that Sochua never wavered from her stance: She has rights. But not even Sochua herself believed she would not be behind bars after July 15. Her husband had nudged her to pack a bag before Sen's police showed up.

Sochua's crisis gave life to a Cambodian women's grassroots network. The group raised funds to support one they view as a women's rights icon. The group asked Sochua's consent for it to pay the fines to keep her out of jail. No payment, replied Sochua.

The network grew into a movement, and it broke Khmer women's silence. A petition inside and outside the country calling for more rights from the Sen regime picked up speed. Fundraising brought money for the movement's activities to further promote women's rights and freedom of expression.

Washington invited Sochua to join in the 60th anniversary of U.S.-Cambodia relations.

It would take a regime in deep denial not to see what's happening. I wrote the societal tipping point described by Malcolm Gladwell might be in the making in Cambodia, and Sochua might just be Gladwell's "right kind of impetus" to the tipping point -- her cause is contagious. You don't need a July 14 storming of the Bastille to create big effects.

The sight of Sen's ruthless police arresting Sochua would have unleashed a series of reactions.

A tipping point is an action that leads to a door that opens many other doors. In Niccolo Machiavelli's words, "One change leaves the way open for the introduction of others."

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy chooses to remain in Paris facing Sen's jail threat; Sochua says she hates jail, but will fight those trampling her rights.

No king baby would find a woman's refusal to submit tolerable. His ego must be assuaged by a victim's suffering.

On July 15, Municipal Court Judge Chea Sok Heang wrote prosecutor Sok Roeun to ask the national assembly to impound Sochua's salary (as requested by Sen's lawyer, Ky Tech) to pay about $2,000 in compensation to Sen for causing mental damage.

On July 16, Roeun wrote Sochua that her "detention by force" was postponed; she needed time to compensate Sen. Both letters are available on the Internet.
Impounding Sochua's parliamentary salary ought to satisfy Sen's ego -- if Sochua agreed.

She doesn't. She said, "I do not agree to have my salary impounded. ... If my salary is taken without my agreement, it's a violation of my rights."

On July 16, Sochua told a press conference: "Today I would like to declare war, ... as a democrat, against the loss of morality and justice. I would like to tell people that the CPP must be held accountable before the nation."

And she thanked her financial contributors, but, no, she couldn't accept their funds to help pay the fines.

"Let the court take action," she said.

As Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said, "The police are waiting for the court's citation." Sochua's statement: "The Cambodian People Deserve an Independent Judiciary," reads: "I wish to make it clear that the decision of the Courts (to dock her salary), if carried out, will be against my will."

On July 19, the Phnom Penh Post reported CPP senior lawmaker Cheam Yeap, head of the national assembly's finance and banking commission, said the assembly may not be able to dock Sochua's salary without her consent. She could sue the assembly.

On July 20, the court ordered the national assembly's finance director to impound Sochua's salary.

Meanwhile Sochua told the nation that the "struggle for an independent judiciary begins now. ... Let's get to work!"

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.

Like the regime dictator, Hun Xen's cops like to use violence against women workers

Workers of PCCS Garments Ltd protest outside their factory in Phnom Phenh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end a week-long strike over the suspension of a local union official. The placard (C) reads: "We all garment workers demand our representative to be back to work". REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Riot police try to force workers of PCCS Garments Ltd, who were protesting against the suspension of a local union official, back into their factory in Phnom Penh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with Cambodian riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end the week-long strike. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Riot police try to force workers of PCCS Garments Ltd, who were protesting against the suspension of a local union official, back into their factory in Phnom Penh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with Cambodian riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end the week-long strike. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Riot police try to force workers of PCCS Garments Ltd, who were protesting against the suspension of a local union official, back into their factory in Phnom Penh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with Cambodian riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end the week-long strike. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Workers of PCCS Garments Ltd protest outside their factory in Phnom Phenh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end a week-long strike over the suspension of a local union official. The placard reads: "Ty, the factory administrator, gave us permission to hold the strike inside the PCCS factory compound". REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Workers of PCCS Garments Ltd protest at their factory in Phnom Phenh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end a week-long strike over the suspension of a local union official. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Workers of PCCS Garments Ltd protest outside their factory in Phnom Phenh while a security personnel stands guard, July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end a week-long strike over the suspension of a local union official. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Riot police try to force workers of PCCS Garments Ltd, who were protesting against the suspension of a local union official, back into their factory in Phnom Penh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with Cambodian riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end the week-long strike. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Workers of PCCS Garments Ltd protest outside their factory in Phnom Phenh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end a week-long strike over the suspension of a local union official. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Thais protest against UNESCO temple listing [-The thieves claim they are robbed?]

Hundreds of Thai nationalists led by a leader of the "yellow shirt" movement, Chamlong Srimuang (not pictured), gather outside the UNESCO office in Bangkok July 27, 2010, to voice opposition to Cambodia's plan to administer Preah Vihear Temple, an ancient border temple and a World Heritage Site. Some Thais said the plan would compromise Thailand's claim to land in a disputed border territory with Cambodia. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang
Hundreds of Thai nationalists led by a leader of the "yellow shirt" movement, Chamlong Srimuang (not pictured), gather outside the UNESCO office in Bangkok July 27, 2010, to voice opposition to Cambodia's plan to administer Preah Vihear Temple, an ancient border temple and a World Heritage Site. Some Thais said the plan would compromise Thailand's claim to land in a disputed border territory with Cambodia. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang

Tue, 27 Jul 2010
DPA

Bangkok - Protestors in Bangkok Tuesday defied emergency law to campaign against the listing of the Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia as a World Heritage site.

Chamlong Srimuang, a leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), also known as yellow shirts, led some 700 followers to the UNESCO building to protest Cambodia's efforts to secure management control over temple despite an ongoing territorial dispute over land adjacent to the Hindu site.

The Preah Vihear demonstration brought traffic to a standstill on Sukhumvit Road, the main commuter artery between Bangkok's eastern suburbs and the inner city.

The protest was held in defiance of the government's emergency decree. It bans political gatherings of more than five people and allows authorities to make arrests without filing charges. The decree has been in place since anti-government protests in April.

More than 400 members of the red-shirt anti-government protestors, a movement opposed to the yellow shirts, who held protests in Bangkok between March and May, are currently in jail under the decree.

Police were not ordered to arrest Chamlong or his followers in front of the UNESCO building for violating the decree.

"We all know there are double standards in Thailand," said Police Senior Sergeant Kawiwong Yoryingyos, one of 300 officers sent to control the protest. In November 2008, the PAD led yellow-shirted followers to seize Bangkok's Don Muaeng and Suvarnabhumi airports.

Chamlong and other yellow-shirt leaders have yet to be fined or jailed for the incident, which sullied Thailand's reputation as a tourist destination and lost the country billions of dollars in income.

At the annual UNESCO meeting on heritage sites this week in Brazil, Cambodia is expected to win management control over the Preah Vehear temple and adjacent areas, a proposal Thailand is to oppose.

In July 2008, UNESCO named Preah Vehear a World Heritage Site, although Thailand first agreed to and then disputed the listing.

Then-foreign minister Noppodon Pattama, was forced to resign after he endorsed the listing in the face of widespread Thai opposition.

The 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, perched on a mountain range on the Thai-Cambodian border, has been the source of a sovereignty dispute between the two countries for decades.

The International Court of Justice in 1962 ruled that the temple belonged to Cambodia, but failed to pass judgement on land adjacent to the complex, giving rise to ongoing disputes between the two countries that led to border clashes in late 2008.