Tuol Sleng torture survivor starts group for Khmer Rouge victims

Mom Kunthear

Phnom Penh Post

CHUM Mey, a 79-year-old who is among the few known living survivors of Tuol Sleng prison, has established a new organisation to support victims of the Khmer Rouge.

The former mechanic testified in June as a civil party in the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s first case, that of Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav. On Wednesday, he received official permission from the Ministry of Interior to establish his group, the Association for Peaceful Support of Victims of
the Democratic Kampuchea Regime, after submitting his application last month.

“We established this association in order to collect members and urge the Khmer Rouge tribunal to seek justice for both dead and living people,” Chum Mey said, adding that almost 900 people had already expressed interest in joining.


Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Chum Mey, one of only a few known living survivors of Tuol Sleng, enters the ECCC last year during the trial of Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch.




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Artist enshrined small moments in life on canvas

Douglas Long

Phnom Penh Post

Svay Ken’s paintings have often been described as “naive” by international critics, full of vitality in approach and subject matter, but lacking the technical skills that come with formal training.

Such categorisation has been resisted by Phnom Penh’s arts community, especially by those with a vested cultural interest in promoting Svay Ken as a unique visionary among contemporary Cambodian painters. Even critics who have tagged the painter as “raw” acknowledge that he brought a certain level of sophistication to his art, particularly in his creative, if unorthodox, use of perspective.

Svay Ken, who only started painting in 1993 at the age of 60, does seem to be one of those rare artists who benefited from lack of overexposure to the formal art world. Divorced from the desire to create work that followed any existing school of artistic thought or technique, he was liberated from the need to do anything but follow his own heart.

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Giant puppets invade Siem Reap

Byron Perry

Phnom Penh Post

The Giant Puppet Project team has been feverishly making final lighting, rigging and paper-maché-eyeball-painting touches all this week at Wat Damnak.

Over the last few weeks, kids from local NGOs participated in art workshops taught by Giant Puppet Project staff where they made the various parts for the puppets. Now the staff is putting everything together in preparation for the big parade Saturday night in Siem Reap.

“Right now we’re working on a lot of the animatronics, so wings can flap and eyeballs can turn,” said an overworked Jig Cochrane, art director for the project. “We’ll relax when the parade is finished.”

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CHRAC Calls for a Political Solution to Sam Rainsy Case

CAMBODIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT ON
CHRAC Calls for a Political Solution to Sam Rainsy Case
Phnom Penh, 26 February 2010

The Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), a coalition of 23 NGO members, regrets to learn about a recent complaint made by the Royal Government of Cambodia against Mr. Sam Rainsy, President of the Opposition Party, in addition to his former charges which was previously tried by Svay Rieng Provincial Court.

According to the announcement made by a lawyer who is representing the Government, it is believed that the new complaint against the opposition leader with new charges had been already recently lodged to the prosecution office of Phnom Penh Municipal Court. This news makes national and international public opinions another concerns about the recent political issue in Cambodia, particularly in relation to the democracy space and the roles of the parliamentarians; namely the roles of opposition parliamentarians which are often affected by the complaints filing to the court from time to time, while other national important issues strongly need of contributions from all politicians of different political tendencies.

With regard to this matter, CHRAC is in the opinion that all Cambodian political leaders from various different political tendencies should pay more attention on national interests and bound together through a significant national reconciliation in order to solve these problems peacefully. CHRAC, therefore, urges our political leaders to mutually respect each other and negotiate with their political maturity in order to address the national issues, and for the people of Cambodia to live in a peaceful and democratic society, of which the Government has often affirmed and committed to.

For more information, please contact:
Mr. Hang Chhaya, CHRAC Chairman/KID Executive Director, Tel: 012 865 910
Mr. Sok Sam Oeun, Executive Director of CDP, Tel: 012 901 199
Ms. Sun Chansen, President of KYA, Tel: 017 788 955
Ms. Say Saravathany, Executive Director of CWCC, Tel: 092 993 358
Mr. Ny Chakrya, Coordinator of ADHOC, Tel: 011 274 959

Behind Sundance Award, a Decade of Reporting

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer

Original report from Park City, Utah

It was curiosity over the killing of his family members under the Khmer Rouge that led journalist Thet Sambath on a personal quest to find the truth. He wanted to know who gave the orders.

His search led him through the hierarchy of the Khmer Rouge, a process that took years of research and interviews with cadre who received orders, undertook the killing, and, finally, to the regime’s top ideologue, Nuon Chea.

Thet Sambath began working with experienced British filmmaker Rob Lemkin in 2006, based on reporting that began in 2000, and eventually earned the trust of Nuon Chea.

The result of the decade-long project became “Enemies of the People,” a documentary that received the World Cinema Special Jury Prize at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in the US last week.

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For Abstract Painter, the Art of the Mind

By Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer

Original report from Phnom Penh

For painter Chhim Sothy, standing in his Phnom Penh studio, the image of three deer trying to escape a forest under destruction is clear. For others, the mix of green, red and dark yellow makes less sense.

“At first glance, the painting depicts nothing, because abstract art requires more time to understand it,” said the 41-year-old abstract artist, who is currently displaying 22 of his latest paintings at the Reyum Gallery in Phnom Penh.

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From darkness into light

By Jonathon Braden

Columbia Daily Tribune (Missouri, USA)

Toward the end of “Enemies of the People,” the documentary screeches to a halt when the rich soundtrack recedes, the color drains from the frames and stark black-and-white images of rotting bodies and skeletons flash across the screen.

During yesterday’s midday showing of the film at the True/False Film Fest’s Missouri Theatre venue, the crowd of more than 900 fell silent as the images from the killing fields of Cambodia screamed out on the big screen.

The loss of his family in the Khmer Rouge regime’s killing fields was what led co-director Thet Sambath on the journey that culminated in “Enemies.” He began the project more than a decade ago with the goal of finding out the truth about the Khmer Rouge’s killing of an estimated 2 million Cambodians — his father and brother included.


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A life through sounds

Colin Meyn

Phnom Penh Post

Skylines don’t tell the story of the city when you can’t see. Phnom Penh has transformed since Kong Nai first arrived, at the request of the Ministry of Culture, in the early 1990s, and although he hasn’t been able to watch the expansion, he has been listening intently.

For the past two decades the blind father of 10, who is also one of Cambodia’s most beloved traditional musicians, has been playing the chapei dong veng – a traditional long-necked, two-string guitar – for audiences around the city and the world. At the age of 65, the man can still strum and sing with a whole lot of soul, but he’s taking more time to sit back in his hammock and “just think about which words sound good together”.




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Painter sees blue skies as an omen of a clouded future for humanity

Ou Mom

Phnom Penh Post

According to traditional Khmer belief, catching sight of a human-shaped cloud is a sign of good luck. Conversely, clouds in the form of animals are thought to be an omen of bad things to come.

But what does it mean when there are no clouds at all?

Artist Srey Bandol, who has been watching the sky with a creative eye for more than a decade, says that in the past few years he has noticed fewer clouds than before, a signal that even worse luck might be coming our way than any animal shape might indicate.


Photo by: Ou Mom
Artist Srey Bandol.

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Charity run returns to Kep

Roth Meas

Phnom Penh Post

Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia will hold its third annual Kep Trio fundraising and sporting event in Kep on March 6 and 7, with the aim of raising money to fund community development projects in Kep province.

Events will include a 10 kilometre bike ride on March 6, and a half marathon and 10 kilometre run/walk the following day.



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Filmmaker overcomes childhood fear to document eerie Khmer funerary chanting

Ou Mom

Phnom Penh Post

NEANG Kavich says that when he was a child, he and his friends were scared every time they heard smot, a type of traditional Khmer chanting performed at funerals and characterised by eerily drawn-out syllables.


Photo by: Sovan Philong

Buddhist monks lead chants at a funeral service.


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Welcome to LIFT issue 1

Post Staff

Phnom Penh Post

We’re thrilled that you are reading the first issue of Lift! But, let us assure you that the possibilities for this magazine are greater than what it is now, and its future is in your hands.

Rather than being a magazine that we create and you read every week, we want Lift to become a conduit for online and on the ground exchanges between upwardly mobile Cambodians. By promoting and serving Cambodian students and young professionals as they work to improve themselves, we hope it will also facilitate cooperation in the ongoing development and improvement of the Kingdom.

The writers, reporters, photographers and thinkers of the Lift team Left to right: Tha Piseth, Sovan Philong, Mom Kunthear, Keo Kounila,Bun Tharum

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Crowding a problem in prisons, govt says

Khoun Leakhana

Phnom Penh Post

THE Kingdom needs new prisons to handle a growing inmate population, Interior Ministry officials said Wednesday.

The capacity of Cambodian prisons has already been exceeded by more than 5,000 people, Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said during the first day of the ministry’s annual conference.

“Prisons all over the country can house only 8,000 prisoners, but there are 13,325 prisoners in total in 2009,” Khieu Sopheak said.

Meanwhile, the inmate population is increasing at a rate of 7.6 percent each year, he said.

The trend has led authorities to plan for renovations in two facilities and the building of three new prisons.

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Complaint filed in case of domestic maid

Mom Kunthear

Phnom Penh Post

A MAN in Banteay Meanchey province has lodged a complaint with local rights groups and provincial authorities after being told that his daughter had been abused after she was sent abroad as a domestic worker.

In the complaint, Kean Keal accused the recruitment agency that sent his daughter abroad, Philimore Cambodia Company, of being slow to act on his concerns that she has been abused.

The man said he hasn’t heard from his 18-year-old daughter, Kuch Srey Thea, since she left home last year.

“I have never received any information about her,” he said.

Through a friend of Kuch Srey Thea in Malaysia, who he declined to name, Kean Keal said he has heard that his daughter has been subjected to abuse while working as a maid.

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Malaysia asks foreign maids to study rights

Irwin Loy and Mom Kunthear

Phnom Penh Post

FOREIGN maids working in Malaysia will be required to attend training courses to learn about their “rights and responsibilities”, Malaysian media have reported, a development likely to affect thousands of Cambodians preparing to head there in search of jobs, but rights organisations warn that domestic workers are still vulnerable to mistreatment.

Beginning next month, new foreign maids and their employers will attend mandatory courses aimed at “improving working relations”, according to Malaysia’s New Straits Times.

The country is reliant on foreign domestic workers. More than 200,000 foreign maids are currently working there, according to the paper.

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US Launches Program for HIV/AIDS Victims

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer

The US announced on Monday a $13.4 million program to reduce the impact of HIV and AIDS in Cambodia.

More than 700 people gathered for the launch of the program, at a Takeo province pagoda that acts as an orphanage and help center for victims of the disease.

The five-year US program will “offer care to people affected by HIV/AIDS, including people living with the disease and orphans, while also seeking to prevent new infections among groups at high risk of acquiring the disease,” the US Embassy said in a statement.

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Study shows rise in youth alcohol use

Mom Kunthear and Khoun Leakhana

Phnom Penh Post

Children as young as 14 are regularly drinking alcohol in Cambodia, according to a new study that has prompted fresh calls for strict age limits on alcohol consumption across the Kingdom.

The report from the People Centre for Development and Peace (PDP-Centre) found that 85 percent of 1,400 people studied in seven provinces said they liked to drink alcohol. Of that, 14 percent were only 14 years old. More than half - 52 percent - were between the ages of 18 and 25.

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Alcohol to require warning labels

Mom Kunthear

Phnom Penh Post

The government is set to order that alcoholic beverage producers put warning labels on containers in a bid to promote safe driving habits, said Him Yan, director of the Ministry of Interior’s Department of Public Order.

Him Yan said the goal of the initiative, to be launched next year, is to educate people on the hazards of drunken driving through warning labels on containers. Sem Chenda, the Road Safety Programme assistant at Handicap International Belgium, welcomed the government’s efforts, noting that drunken driving is the second-leading cause of road fatalities, after speeding.

Svay Rieng pig farmers report officials collect unlawful taxes

Mom Kunthear

Phnom Penh Post

PIG farmers in Svay Rieng province have accused local officials of imposing border and customs fees that they say were abolished five years ago.

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Starlet victim of acid attack to seek treatment in South Korea

Mom Kunthear

Phnom Penh Post

A TELEVISION talent show star who was the victim of an acid attack late last year will be flown to Korea in another attempt to treat her wounds, the girl’s mother said Monday.

Hang Srey Leak was doused with half a litre of acid in December while she was leaving a Daun Penh district beauty salon. She was sent to Vietnam for treatment after the assault, but her mother said Monday that the wounds still have not healed.



Photo by: Heng Chivoan
At their home on Monday, Soam Sichoun, 52, shows the wounds that her daughter, Hang Srey Leak, 16, sustained in an acid attack last year.

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Hospital faces malpractice claim

Mom Kunthear

Phnom Penh Post

THE DIRECTOR of a referral hospital in Stung Treng province has launched an investigation after medical workers there were accused of malpractice in the death of a pregnant woman.

The woman’s family says she died as hospital workers haggled over the cost of transferring her to a larger facility.

Oung Soveat, director of the Stung Treng referral hospital, said he knew little of the case but promised to look into the matter.

“I really regret what happened to the woman. I would also be upset if her death was related to my staff,” said Oung Soveat, who pledged a thorough investigation.

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Acid attacks could earn life in prison

Mom Kunthear and Irwin Loy

Phnom Penh Post

AUTHORITIES will explore legislating stiff new punishments for perpetrators of acid crimes as part of measures aimed at quelling an apparent jump in reported incidents of the violent attacks, officials said Monday.

The proposal, issued earlier this month after a string of acid attacks, is among options being evaluated by a new government committee charged with decreasing acid attacks by controlling its use.

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Draft Acid Law starts to take shape

Mom Kunthear and Irwin Loy

Phnom Penh Post

A GOVERNMENT committee plans to finalise a draft law aimed at countering acid attacks shortly after Khmer New Year, officials said Thursday, meaning it has roughly eight weeks to flesh out regulations that rights groups hope will cut down on an apparent surge in the violent assaults.

The 11-member Ministry of Interior task force met Thursday to discuss an initial draft of the law, said Ouk Kimlek, undersecretary of state at the ministry and the committee’s deputy director.

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Move to check acid sales lauded

Mom Kunthear

Phnom Penh Post
ADVOCATES are urging the government to legislate for stiff punishments against the perpetrators of acid attacks and to strictly regulate the sale of acid, as officials consider reforms aimed at cutting down on the violent assaults that have spiked in the last two months.

Observers were buoyed this week with news that government officials will convene a committee to address the issue, marking an apparent shift from previous public statements.

Am Sam Ath, technical supervisor for the rights group Licadho, said acid attacks should be treated as serious crimes as part of any new legislation.

“There should be a strong law and strong sentences for perpetrators,” he said.

“I think that when the law is approved, people who plan to use acid will stop and reconsider.”

‘Positive step’
The government should find a way to keep track of those who distribute acid and establish guidelines for its sale, said Ziad Samman, programme coordinator for the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity.

“If someone says, ‘I want to buy some acid’, somebody should be asking, ‘What are you going to use it for?’ These are small things we could do,” Samman said. “It’s a question of how do you make people more accountable.”

Samman called the government’s move a “positive step”.

“I think it’s a formal recognition that this is an important issue,” he said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said the ministry plans to establish a committee to crack down on acid attacks and look at creating an “acid law” to punish perpetrators.

“I think we should create a law to manage both acid sellers and buyers,” he said.