Chhay Channyda and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
DAUN Penh district authorities have arrested a monk who allegedly recorded videos of naked women in the public shower of a pagoda and distributed them via Bluetooth and his mobile phone, police said.
Neth Kai, 35, was arrested on Saturday following a complaint from one of the victims, who accused the monk of secretly recording a video of her while she was showering at Srah Chak pagoda in Daun Penh district, said Sok Penhvuth, the deputy district governor.
Police searched the monk’s quarters at the pagoda, he said, and “found a lot of evidence to prove that he had recorded video clips of innocent naked ladies”.
“The suspect admitted that since 2008 he had secretly recorded videos of about 20 women using two mobile-phone cameras … one hidden in the shower’s ceiling and one hidden in a can of incense sticks,” he said.
Among the confiscated pieces of evidence were two mobile phones, about 80 pornographic VCDs, a computer and more than US$5,000, he added.
Sok Penhvuth said the suspect would be charged at Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday, and he encouraged more victims to come forward with evidence relevant to the case.
Read More
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Island project sparks concerns
Brooke Lewis and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A CONSERVATION NGO collaborating with an investment firm told residents of an island off the coast of Preah Sihanouk province this week that they would be restricted to a 12.3-hectare piece of land in order to make way for a development project, Paul Ferber, the founder of Marine Conservation Cambodia (MCC), said.
Ferber said the meetings between the residents of Koh Rung Sangleum and representatives of Fauna and Flora International (FFI) took place on Monday and Tuesday. He noted that the size of the land could be subject to change.
Toby Eastoe, project manager for FFI, confirmed that the meetings had taken place, and said his organisation was working with the Hong Kong-based investment company Lime Tree Capital on the development project. He said the size of the land for villagers and the details of the development project had yet to be finalised.
MCC, an ecotourism business based on the island, has criticised the restriction that could be imposed on the 92 families who stand to be affected by the project, saying it would constitute an unnecessary impingement on their rights.
“FFI, even with knowledge about the reduction of community land, seems happy to support a concessionaire that has created a master plan without any local consultation, regardless of the effects to the community,” Ferber said by email Thursday.
He said the restriction, which has yet to be approved by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), would leave “absolutely no room for the village to grow”.
But Eastoe defended FFI’s work with Lime Tree Capital, saying they were working together to mitigate the potential effects of the project on both the environment and the local community.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
A CONSERVATION NGO collaborating with an investment firm told residents of an island off the coast of Preah Sihanouk province this week that they would be restricted to a 12.3-hectare piece of land in order to make way for a development project, Paul Ferber, the founder of Marine Conservation Cambodia (MCC), said.
Ferber said the meetings between the residents of Koh Rung Sangleum and representatives of Fauna and Flora International (FFI) took place on Monday and Tuesday. He noted that the size of the land could be subject to change.
Toby Eastoe, project manager for FFI, confirmed that the meetings had taken place, and said his organisation was working with the Hong Kong-based investment company Lime Tree Capital on the development project. He said the size of the land for villagers and the details of the development project had yet to be finalised.
MCC, an ecotourism business based on the island, has criticised the restriction that could be imposed on the 92 families who stand to be affected by the project, saying it would constitute an unnecessary impingement on their rights.
“FFI, even with knowledge about the reduction of community land, seems happy to support a concessionaire that has created a master plan without any local consultation, regardless of the effects to the community,” Ferber said by email Thursday.
He said the restriction, which has yet to be approved by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), would leave “absolutely no room for the village to grow”.
But Eastoe defended FFI’s work with Lime Tree Capital, saying they were working together to mitigate the potential effects of the project on both the environment and the local community.
Read More
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Testing of KR history expanded in schools
Mom Kunthear and Brooke Lewis
Phnom Penh Post
THE question, appearing on a history exam administered nationwide to Grade 12 students on Wednesday morning, was simple: Who were the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime?
But for those who have been pressing for a fuller, franker presentation of the Democratic Kampuchea period in Cambodian classrooms, its inclusion marked a significant step forward.
Prior to this year, high school history tests drew from a government-approved textbook that gave short shrift to the regime and its history, omitting some of the most basic facts about it.
“The government never included the names of the leaders in their textbook,” said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia.
Terith Chy, team leader of DC-Cam’s Victim Participation Project, said the old material likely reflected the fear that identifying high-ranking regime officials – many of whom were unknown to the general public – would compromise national reconciliation efforts.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
THE question, appearing on a history exam administered nationwide to Grade 12 students on Wednesday morning, was simple: Who were the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime?
But for those who have been pressing for a fuller, franker presentation of the Democratic Kampuchea period in Cambodian classrooms, its inclusion marked a significant step forward.
Prior to this year, high school history tests drew from a government-approved textbook that gave short shrift to the regime and its history, omitting some of the most basic facts about it.
“The government never included the names of the leaders in their textbook,” said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia.
Terith Chy, team leader of DC-Cam’s Victim Participation Project, said the old material likely reflected the fear that identifying high-ranking regime officials – many of whom were unknown to the general public – would compromise national reconciliation efforts.
Read More
KR Education: KR history slogans to be in schools
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
The Education Ministry has approved two slogans concerning the importance of Khmer Rouge history lessons that are set to be displayed in high schools nationwide, officials said Monday. According to an unofficial translation, the slogans, which were suggested by the Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DC-Cam) and amended by the Education Ministry, read: “To study life in the Khmer Rouge period is to learn about reconciling and educating children to be tolerant and forgive each other,” and,“To learn about the history of Democratic Kampuchea means to learn to prevent other genocidal regimes from happening”. Ton Sa Im, an undersecretary of state and head of Khmer Rouge studies at the Education Ministry, said the slogans would be posted in schools to ‘‘remind all people to know and remember our history”. DC-Cam director Youk Chhang said the ministry approved the phrases on Thursday, and that he expects them to appear in schools early next year.
Phnom Penh Post
The Education Ministry has approved two slogans concerning the importance of Khmer Rouge history lessons that are set to be displayed in high schools nationwide, officials said Monday. According to an unofficial translation, the slogans, which were suggested by the Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DC-Cam) and amended by the Education Ministry, read: “To study life in the Khmer Rouge period is to learn about reconciling and educating children to be tolerant and forgive each other,” and,“To learn about the history of Democratic Kampuchea means to learn to prevent other genocidal regimes from happening”. Ton Sa Im, an undersecretary of state and head of Khmer Rouge studies at the Education Ministry, said the slogans would be posted in schools to ‘‘remind all people to know and remember our history”. DC-Cam director Youk Chhang said the ministry approved the phrases on Thursday, and that he expects them to appear in schools early next year.
Kampot police eye allegations of child abuse
Mom Kunthear and Khoun Leakhana
Phnom Penh Post
POLICE in Kampot province have launched an investigation into a woman accused of beating her 16-year-old niece, officials said Monday.
The girl was removed from her aunt’s custody last Tuesday, after neighbours told police and the rights group Adhoc that she had been abused for around six years. Officials investigating the case said they found more than 20 wounds on the girl’s body, some old and some fresh.
Chin Oav, chief of the provincial anti-human trafficking department, said Monday that he had asked neighbours of the suspect to assist with the investigation, but that so far only one witness had come forward.
“They are afraid the woman will seek revenge because she is very cruel,” he said, and added that a witness interviewed Monday had alleged that the suspect used a range of objects to beat the girl, and that beatings had taken place “almost every day”.
He said he was planning to interview the suspect today.
“I will send her case to the court if I find her answers and the witness’s answers are the same,” he said.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
POLICE in Kampot province have launched an investigation into a woman accused of beating her 16-year-old niece, officials said Monday.
The girl was removed from her aunt’s custody last Tuesday, after neighbours told police and the rights group Adhoc that she had been abused for around six years. Officials investigating the case said they found more than 20 wounds on the girl’s body, some old and some fresh.
Chin Oav, chief of the provincial anti-human trafficking department, said Monday that he had asked neighbours of the suspect to assist with the investigation, but that so far only one witness had come forward.
“They are afraid the woman will seek revenge because she is very cruel,” he said, and added that a witness interviewed Monday had alleged that the suspect used a range of objects to beat the girl, and that beatings had taken place “almost every day”.
He said he was planning to interview the suspect today.
“I will send her case to the court if I find her answers and the witness’s answers are the same,” he said.
Read More
Forestry officials picked for NW
Tep Nimol and Mom Kunthear
PhnomPenh Post
THREE forestry officials have been appointed to lead new administrative zones in Cambodia’s northwest, the director of the Forestry Administration said Monday.
Chheng Kim Son said the three officials were sworn in Monday morning and will be in charge of newly created cantonments in Siem Reap, Banteay Meanchey and Oddar Meanchey.
Previously, all three provinces fell under the watch of a central cantonment based in Siem Reap town, and officials had difficulty covering such a large area, he said.
“They will start their work in each province now after they were sworn into their positions,” the director said. He declined to name the new officials or discuss the issue at length.
Read More
PhnomPenh Post
THREE forestry officials have been appointed to lead new administrative zones in Cambodia’s northwest, the director of the Forestry Administration said Monday.
Chheng Kim Son said the three officials were sworn in Monday morning and will be in charge of newly created cantonments in Siem Reap, Banteay Meanchey and Oddar Meanchey.
Previously, all three provinces fell under the watch of a central cantonment based in Siem Reap town, and officials had difficulty covering such a large area, he said.
“They will start their work in each province now after they were sworn into their positions,” the director said. He declined to name the new officials or discuss the issue at length.
Read More
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Eviction site to become gym
Mom Kunthear and Will Baxter
Phnom Penh Post
LOCAL developer 7NG Group has begun construction of an employee fitness centre on the former site of the Dey Krahorm community in Chamkarmon district, a company official said Thursday.
Srey Chanthou, managing director of 7NG Group, said Thursday that company employees would soon have an exclusive gym where they could “play” in their free time.
“The building of the fitness centre will be complete next month, and all 7NG Group staff will be free to play different kinds of sports: football, tennis, volleyball, etc,” he said. “But we won’t allow other people to come in.”
He added that there was no clear development plan in place for the rest of the site.
On January 24 last year, police and construction workers employed by 7NG Group forcibly evicted Dey Krahorm’s remaining families and levelled their homes. Residents and housing rights groups say 144 families were still living at the site at the time of the eviction.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
LOCAL developer 7NG Group has begun construction of an employee fitness centre on the former site of the Dey Krahorm community in Chamkarmon district, a company official said Thursday.
Srey Chanthou, managing director of 7NG Group, said Thursday that company employees would soon have an exclusive gym where they could “play” in their free time.
“The building of the fitness centre will be complete next month, and all 7NG Group staff will be free to play different kinds of sports: football, tennis, volleyball, etc,” he said. “But we won’t allow other people to come in.”
He added that there was no clear development plan in place for the rest of the site.
On January 24 last year, police and construction workers employed by 7NG Group forcibly evicted Dey Krahorm’s remaining families and levelled their homes. Residents and housing rights groups say 144 families were still living at the site at the time of the eviction.
Read More
GMAC meets over garment wage increase
Mom Kunthear and Brooke Lewis
Phnom Penh Post
THE Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia held a meeting on Thursday to discuss a proposed 40 percent increase in the minimum wage for garment workers, two days after a trade union representing more than 80,000 workers announced plans to hold a three-day strike next month.
Ken Loo, the secretary general of GMAC, said it was too early to comment on how the body views the proposed increase.
“We have a position on minimum wage, but we are not ready to disclose it to the media,” he said.
In a letter sent to the Interior Ministry Tuesday, Chea Mony, head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTU), said he planned to organise a three-day sit-down strike beginning July 13 to press his demand that the monthly minimum wage be raised from US$50 to $70. The announcement came less than two weeks after the Labour Ministry urged unionists to hold off on strikes so that negotiations could go forward.
Under a 2006 agreement, the minimum wage is set to be discussed at some point this year, but Chea Mony has in recent weeks demanded
immediate action.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
THE Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia held a meeting on Thursday to discuss a proposed 40 percent increase in the minimum wage for garment workers, two days after a trade union representing more than 80,000 workers announced plans to hold a three-day strike next month.
Ken Loo, the secretary general of GMAC, said it was too early to comment on how the body views the proposed increase.
“We have a position on minimum wage, but we are not ready to disclose it to the media,” he said.
In a letter sent to the Interior Ministry Tuesday, Chea Mony, head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTU), said he planned to organise a three-day sit-down strike beginning July 13 to press his demand that the monthly minimum wage be raised from US$50 to $70. The announcement came less than two weeks after the Labour Ministry urged unionists to hold off on strikes so that negotiations could go forward.
Under a 2006 agreement, the minimum wage is set to be discussed at some point this year, but Chea Mony has in recent weeks demanded
immediate action.
Read More
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Koh Kong stepmother charged in child abuse
Mom Kunthear and Khuon Leakhana
Phnom Penh Post
A KOH Kong woman accused of beating her 12-year-old stepson has been charged with intentional battery, a provincial court official said Tuesday.
Under the UNTAC criminal code, the woman, who was arrested Friday, faces a potential jail term of between two months and five years if found guilty, depending on the extent of her stepson’s injuries.
Rights workers say she forced the boy to earn money by collecting rubbish and selling the scraps. When he didn’t earn enough money, he was beaten, and when he earned too much, the stepmother also beat him, they said.
Meas Vanthana, deputy director of the Koh Kong provincial court, on Tuesday confirmed that the woman has been charged and is being held in pretrial detention.
“We charged her on Saturday with intentional battery of her 12-year-old stepson, and now she is in temporary custody pending further investigation,” he said.
Chhin Chamroeun, a provincial monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said on Tuesday that the boy needed a new place to live. “We are taking measures to find a new home for the boy because we are afraid that his father is not a good person and cannot feed or take care of him,” she said, and added that the boy’s father has “a drinking problem”.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
A KOH Kong woman accused of beating her 12-year-old stepson has been charged with intentional battery, a provincial court official said Tuesday.
Under the UNTAC criminal code, the woman, who was arrested Friday, faces a potential jail term of between two months and five years if found guilty, depending on the extent of her stepson’s injuries.
Rights workers say she forced the boy to earn money by collecting rubbish and selling the scraps. When he didn’t earn enough money, he was beaten, and when he earned too much, the stepmother also beat him, they said.
Meas Vanthana, deputy director of the Koh Kong provincial court, on Tuesday confirmed that the woman has been charged and is being held in pretrial detention.
“We charged her on Saturday with intentional battery of her 12-year-old stepson, and now she is in temporary custody pending further investigation,” he said.
Chhin Chamroeun, a provincial monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said on Tuesday that the boy needed a new place to live. “We are taking measures to find a new home for the boy because we are afraid that his father is not a good person and cannot feed or take care of him,” she said, and added that the boy’s father has “a drinking problem”.
Read More
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Rare crocodiles hatch in cardamoms
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
Conservation NGO Fauna and Flora International (FFI) announced Thursday that 13 baby Siamese crocodiles were hatched in the Cardamom Mountains last week. Sam Han, a national field coordinator for FFI, said researchers initially found 22 eggs of the critically endangered reptile in a nest in the Areng Valley in Koh Kong province. “We are very happy because we try our best to protect this endangered animal, because they are rarely found in other countries,” he said. “There are only around 2,000 Siamese crocodiles left in the wild in Cambodia.”
Phnom Penh Post
Conservation NGO Fauna and Flora International (FFI) announced Thursday that 13 baby Siamese crocodiles were hatched in the Cardamom Mountains last week. Sam Han, a national field coordinator for FFI, said researchers initially found 22 eggs of the critically endangered reptile in a nest in the Areng Valley in Koh Kong province. “We are very happy because we try our best to protect this endangered animal, because they are rarely found in other countries,” he said. “There are only around 2,000 Siamese crocodiles left in the wild in Cambodia.”
Effects of rains on AWD unclear
Brooke Lewis and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
FOR months, officials in provinces afflicted with outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea, or AWD, have pointed to a longer-than-usual dry season – and the resulting lack of clean water – as a factor behind the mounting cases.
The corollary to that argument has been that the illness should begin to abate with the first rains of the wet season, which came to some provinces in May but have not yet hit everywhere.
Few officials are hoping this holds true more than Dr Chhneang Sovutha, the director of the Health Department in Kratie province, the location of at least 10 deaths from AWD or cholera this year as officials have treated roughly 2,000 cases of AWD.
Last year, Chhneang Sovutha said, there were fewer than 1,000 recorded AWD cases.
“Normally, the diarrhoea cases happen more in the dry season, and this year there have been more cases than last year,” Chhneang Sovutha said Monday.
“The biggest outbreaks of diarrhoea were in March and May, when there was a dry season like I have never seen before in Kratie province.”
But as reports of AWD continue to come in – three men were said to have died last Friday in Mondulkiri province, and 24 fell ill over the weekend in Pursat – some experts say the wet season might not necessarily lead to a drop in cases, and one noted that it could even make things worse, albeit temporarily.
Dr Nima Asgari, a public health specialist for the World Health Organisation, said there was insufficient information to determine how AWD cases fluctuate with the seasons.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
FOR months, officials in provinces afflicted with outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea, or AWD, have pointed to a longer-than-usual dry season – and the resulting lack of clean water – as a factor behind the mounting cases.
The corollary to that argument has been that the illness should begin to abate with the first rains of the wet season, which came to some provinces in May but have not yet hit everywhere.
Few officials are hoping this holds true more than Dr Chhneang Sovutha, the director of the Health Department in Kratie province, the location of at least 10 deaths from AWD or cholera this year as officials have treated roughly 2,000 cases of AWD.
Last year, Chhneang Sovutha said, there were fewer than 1,000 recorded AWD cases.
“Normally, the diarrhoea cases happen more in the dry season, and this year there have been more cases than last year,” Chhneang Sovutha said Monday.
“The biggest outbreaks of diarrhoea were in March and May, when there was a dry season like I have never seen before in Kratie province.”
But as reports of AWD continue to come in – three men were said to have died last Friday in Mondulkiri province, and 24 fell ill over the weekend in Pursat – some experts say the wet season might not necessarily lead to a drop in cases, and one noted that it could even make things worse, albeit temporarily.
Dr Nima Asgari, a public health specialist for the World Health Organisation, said there was insufficient information to determine how AWD cases fluctuate with the seasons.
Read More
Monday, June 14, 2010
Arrest made in Koh Kong abuse case
Mom Kunthear and Khoun Leakhana
Phnom Penh Post
A KOH KONG woman accused of beating her 12-year-old stepson was questioned at the provincial court on Friday after her arrest one day earlier, a police official said.
Tat Koynor, the police chief of Khemarak Phoumin town, confirmed Sunday that the woman had been taken into police custody. “This woman did not beat the boy to make him be a good child. She beat him like he was her enemy,” he said.
“I think it is better if this kind of person is sent to prison to make a point that other people should not follow her example.”
The boy’s stepmother forced him to earn money for the family by collecting rubbish and selling the scraps. When he didn’t earn enough money, he was beaten, and when he earned too much, the stepmother also beat him, accusing him of stealing, said Chhin Chamroeun, a provincial monitor for rights group Adhoc.
“It is a good lesson for other mothers not to beat their children seriously,” she said.
Tob Chhun Heng, Koh Kong provincial prosecutor, could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
Meanwhile, in Kampot province’s Kampong Trach district, an Adhoc monitor filed a complaint to police on Tuesday, alleging that a 16-year-old girl has received similar abuse from her aunt since age 10.
“The police, local authorities and I called the girl in so that we could check over her body, and we found more than 20 wounds, both old and new, on her body,” said Sim Sorphea, head of Adhoc’s women’s rights programme in Kampot.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
A KOH KONG woman accused of beating her 12-year-old stepson was questioned at the provincial court on Friday after her arrest one day earlier, a police official said.
Tat Koynor, the police chief of Khemarak Phoumin town, confirmed Sunday that the woman had been taken into police custody. “This woman did not beat the boy to make him be a good child. She beat him like he was her enemy,” he said.
“I think it is better if this kind of person is sent to prison to make a point that other people should not follow her example.”
The boy’s stepmother forced him to earn money for the family by collecting rubbish and selling the scraps. When he didn’t earn enough money, he was beaten, and when he earned too much, the stepmother also beat him, accusing him of stealing, said Chhin Chamroeun, a provincial monitor for rights group Adhoc.
“It is a good lesson for other mothers not to beat their children seriously,” she said.
Tob Chhun Heng, Koh Kong provincial prosecutor, could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
Meanwhile, in Kampot province’s Kampong Trach district, an Adhoc monitor filed a complaint to police on Tuesday, alleging that a 16-year-old girl has received similar abuse from her aunt since age 10.
“The police, local authorities and I called the girl in so that we could check over her body, and we found more than 20 wounds, both old and new, on her body,” said Sim Sorphea, head of Adhoc’s women’s rights programme in Kampot.
Read More
Pair accused of acid plot freed on bail
Mom KUnthear
Phnom Penh Post
TWO women suspected of plotting an acid attack in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district last week have been released on bail, though they are still being investigated on assault charges, a deputy prosecutor at Phnom Penh Municipal Court said Sunday.
Military police arrested Nou Sosineth, 35, and Roeun Mom, 20, on Tuesday, and they were charged with assault on Friday, Heang Sopheak said.
He added that there was insufficient evidence to charge the women – who were in possession of more than a litre of acid at the time of their arrest – in connection with an acid attack plot, despite the fact that one of them reportedly told a military police official last week that they had intended to douse a young woman with acid.
“We have a reason to release the suspects on bail,” Heang Sopheak said. “The suspect did not yet douse the victim, and they have four small children to support, so I discussed the matter with the prosecutor and we decided to release them on bail.”
Thorng Piset, a district military police commander, said last week that Nou Sosineth confessed to planning the attack because she believed the target, a 20-year-old student, was having an affair with her husband.
Nou Sosineth and Roeun Mom began beating the student on Tuesday evening while she was walking alone in Chaktomuk commune. Passersby alerted police after overhearing one of the women order the other to “please bring me acid to pour on her”, Thorng Piset said.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
TWO women suspected of plotting an acid attack in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district last week have been released on bail, though they are still being investigated on assault charges, a deputy prosecutor at Phnom Penh Municipal Court said Sunday.
Military police arrested Nou Sosineth, 35, and Roeun Mom, 20, on Tuesday, and they were charged with assault on Friday, Heang Sopheak said.
He added that there was insufficient evidence to charge the women – who were in possession of more than a litre of acid at the time of their arrest – in connection with an acid attack plot, despite the fact that one of them reportedly told a military police official last week that they had intended to douse a young woman with acid.
“We have a reason to release the suspects on bail,” Heang Sopheak said. “The suspect did not yet douse the victim, and they have four small children to support, so I discussed the matter with the prosecutor and we decided to release them on bail.”
Thorng Piset, a district military police commander, said last week that Nou Sosineth confessed to planning the attack because she believed the target, a 20-year-old student, was having an affair with her husband.
Nou Sosineth and Roeun Mom began beating the student on Tuesday evening while she was walking alone in Chaktomuk commune. Passersby alerted police after overhearing one of the women order the other to “please bring me acid to pour on her”, Thorng Piset said.
Read More
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Illegal border entries closed in crackdown
Thet Sambath
Phnom Penh Post
BETWEEN 30 and 40 illegal border crossings in Banteay Meanchey province have been closed in an attempt to curb the smuggling of pigs, gas, petrol, fruits and expired perishable foods from Thailand to Cambodia, provincial officials said Wednesday.
“We have closed more than 30 illegal border crossing points along the border with Thailand to stop smuggling, and this closure is forever,” Banteay Meanchey deputy governor Im Phoansophal said.
He expressed concern about the smuggling of expired food – including fruits, raw chicken, goat meat and packaged products – that he said had sickened some Cambodians.
The smugglers, he said, “have brought in spoiled foods for people to eat, which is making people’s health deteriorate, and this has caused the state to lose income”.
He declined to provide any figures supporting this claim, though he accused local businessmen of resorting to smuggling in order to evade taxes.
“Businessmen have always used these illegal crossing points to smuggle their goods. They prefer to do things this way because they don’t want to pay tax on items, and they think it will cost less to just bribe local officials,” he said.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
BETWEEN 30 and 40 illegal border crossings in Banteay Meanchey province have been closed in an attempt to curb the smuggling of pigs, gas, petrol, fruits and expired perishable foods from Thailand to Cambodia, provincial officials said Wednesday.
“We have closed more than 30 illegal border crossing points along the border with Thailand to stop smuggling, and this closure is forever,” Banteay Meanchey deputy governor Im Phoansophal said.
He expressed concern about the smuggling of expired food – including fruits, raw chicken, goat meat and packaged products – that he said had sickened some Cambodians.
The smugglers, he said, “have brought in spoiled foods for people to eat, which is making people’s health deteriorate, and this has caused the state to lose income”.
He declined to provide any figures supporting this claim, though he accused local businessmen of resorting to smuggling in order to evade taxes.
“Businessmen have always used these illegal crossing points to smuggle their goods. They prefer to do things this way because they don’t want to pay tax on items, and they think it will cost less to just bribe local officials,” he said.
Read More
Chea Mony reconsiders resignation
Tep Nimol
Phnom Penh Post
CHEA Mony said Wednesday that he was reconsidering plans to step down as president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, saying he had been inundated with requests from members who want him to stand as a candidate in elections scheduled for later this month.
On May 16, Chea Mony announced that he would resign from his position at the end of his current term and would not stand as a candidate in the June 27 elections. He cited health reasons for his decision, and added that a change of leadership could benefit the FTU.
“I want the union to be progressive,” he said. “If we want our country to be progressive we must have a change of leader.”
On Wednesday, Chea Mony said he is still ill and physically weak, but that statements of support he had received had given him “emotional strength”.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
CHEA Mony said Wednesday that he was reconsidering plans to step down as president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, saying he had been inundated with requests from members who want him to stand as a candidate in elections scheduled for later this month.
On May 16, Chea Mony announced that he would resign from his position at the end of his current term and would not stand as a candidate in the June 27 elections. He cited health reasons for his decision, and added that a change of leadership could benefit the FTU.
“I want the union to be progressive,” he said. “If we want our country to be progressive we must have a change of leader.”
On Wednesday, Chea Mony said he is still ill and physically weak, but that statements of support he had received had given him “emotional strength”.
Read More
PM warns on World Cup bets
Vong Sokheng and Cameron Wells
Phnom Penh Post
PRIME Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday warned against placing bets on the upcoming FIFA 2010 World Cup, though he also told police to refrain from making wrongful arrests or demanding bribes during gambling raids.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the National Institute of Education in Phnom Penh, the premier emphasised that the tournament – which begins in South Africa on Friday night and runs through July 11 – should be enjoyed merely as spectacle.
“I would like to take this opportunity to appeal for people not to bet, but to watch the World Cup for fun,” he said. “Don’t make the year of the World
Cup the year of lost money. The winners are in other countries, but the Cambodian people here are the losers.”
He said police should make sure that all people rounded up in raids have actually been gambling, rather than reflexively arresting entire groups gathered to watch football matches. He also warned against the collection of bribes, saying, “It is not good for us to do.”
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
PRIME Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday warned against placing bets on the upcoming FIFA 2010 World Cup, though he also told police to refrain from making wrongful arrests or demanding bribes during gambling raids.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the National Institute of Education in Phnom Penh, the premier emphasised that the tournament – which begins in South Africa on Friday night and runs through July 11 – should be enjoyed merely as spectacle.
“I would like to take this opportunity to appeal for people not to bet, but to watch the World Cup for fun,” he said. “Don’t make the year of the World
Cup the year of lost money. The winners are in other countries, but the Cambodian people here are the losers.”
He said police should make sure that all people rounded up in raids have actually been gambling, rather than reflexively arresting entire groups gathered to watch football matches. He also warned against the collection of bribes, saying, “It is not good for us to do.”
Read More
Migrants: Men’s return from India pushed back
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
The repatriation of eight Cambodian men believed to have been trafficked to India has been delayed after an organisation that has agreed to pay for their return flights requested more documentation, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said Tuesday. Koy Kuong said earlier this week that they were due to return to Cambodia on Wednesday. He said Wednesday, though, that officials in India working for the International Organisation on Migration “need more information”, though he added that he did not expect the delay to be lengthy. “The sponsors for buying the plane tickets for those eight men in India need more information about those people from our embassy in India and the Indian authorities, so they have to suspend their return to Cambodia,” he said. The men are suspected to have struck a deal with a middleman in Cambodia that they thought would lead to jobs in Thailand, only to find themselves being transported to India unexpectedly. Bruno Maltoni, a project coordinator at the IOM in Phnom Penh, said Wednesday that he did not know when the men would be returned.
Phnom Penh Post
The repatriation of eight Cambodian men believed to have been trafficked to India has been delayed after an organisation that has agreed to pay for their return flights requested more documentation, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said Tuesday. Koy Kuong said earlier this week that they were due to return to Cambodia on Wednesday. He said Wednesday, though, that officials in India working for the International Organisation on Migration “need more information”, though he added that he did not expect the delay to be lengthy. “The sponsors for buying the plane tickets for those eight men in India need more information about those people from our embassy in India and the Indian authorities, so they have to suspend their return to Cambodia,” he said. The men are suspected to have struck a deal with a middleman in Cambodia that they thought would lead to jobs in Thailand, only to find themselves being transported to India unexpectedly. Bruno Maltoni, a project coordinator at the IOM in Phnom Penh, said Wednesday that he did not know when the men would be returned.
Women detained after attempted acid attack
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
MILITARY police on Tuesday arrested and detained two women suspected of planning an acid attack in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district, after passersby overheard them plotting the crime and informed authorities, officials said Wednesday.
Thorng Piset, district military police commander, said two women had been caught in possession of more than a litre of acid, which one of the two later admitted was intended for use in an attack.
The target, a 20-year-old student, was walking alone along a road in Daun Penh’s Chaktomuk commune Tuesday evening when she was accosted by the two women, who began to hit her without explanation, Thorng Piset said.
Passersby alerted police after overhearing one of the women, who were still scuffling with the victim, order the other to “please bring acid to me to pour on her”, he said.
“But she was not doused with acid because the villagers helped her in time,” he said, and added that police who had already been in the area arrived to intercept the women, who had gone to collect the acid.
He said one of the suspects later admitted to police that she had planned an acid attack on the student, who she suspected was having an affair with her husband.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
MILITARY police on Tuesday arrested and detained two women suspected of planning an acid attack in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district, after passersby overheard them plotting the crime and informed authorities, officials said Wednesday.
Thorng Piset, district military police commander, said two women had been caught in possession of more than a litre of acid, which one of the two later admitted was intended for use in an attack.
The target, a 20-year-old student, was walking alone along a road in Daun Penh’s Chaktomuk commune Tuesday evening when she was accosted by the two women, who began to hit her without explanation, Thorng Piset said.
Passersby alerted police after overhearing one of the women, who were still scuffling with the victim, order the other to “please bring acid to me to pour on her”, he said.
“But she was not doused with acid because the villagers helped her in time,” he said, and added that police who had already been in the area arrived to intercept the women, who had gone to collect the acid.
He said one of the suspects later admitted to police that she had planned an acid attack on the student, who she suspected was having an affair with her husband.
Read More
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
‘Jungle girl’ not raped: doctors
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
DOCTORS at Ratanakkiri provincial referral hospital have quashed speculation that Rochom P’nhieng, Cambodia’s “jungle girl”, was raped before she fell into a dugout toilet, where she was discovered by a neighbour last Friday.
Sal Lou, who says he is Rochom P’nhieng’s father, said Tuesday that, after performing tests, doctors had ruled out his previous suspicion that she was sexually assaulted before being thrown into the latrine.
“The doctor told me that my daughter is fine, so we can leave hospital,” he said. “My daughter really wants to leave the hospital because she does not like to stay there.”
Hing Phan Sakunthea, the director of the hospital, said Tuesday that Rochom P’nhieng had suffered no serious injuries during her latest ordeal.
“She does not have a big problem with her health; she just has itches on her skin,” he said, but added that he would continue to monitor her health.
Rochom P’nhieng, believed to be 29 years old, was discovered in the wilds of Ratanakkiri in January 2007 and taken in by a family that says she is a daughter who went missing in 1989 while herding buffalo.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
DOCTORS at Ratanakkiri provincial referral hospital have quashed speculation that Rochom P’nhieng, Cambodia’s “jungle girl”, was raped before she fell into a dugout toilet, where she was discovered by a neighbour last Friday.
Sal Lou, who says he is Rochom P’nhieng’s father, said Tuesday that, after performing tests, doctors had ruled out his previous suspicion that she was sexually assaulted before being thrown into the latrine.
“The doctor told me that my daughter is fine, so we can leave hospital,” he said. “My daughter really wants to leave the hospital because she does not like to stay there.”
Hing Phan Sakunthea, the director of the hospital, said Tuesday that Rochom P’nhieng had suffered no serious injuries during her latest ordeal.
“She does not have a big problem with her health; she just has itches on her skin,” he said, but added that he would continue to monitor her health.
Rochom P’nhieng, believed to be 29 years old, was discovered in the wilds of Ratanakkiri in January 2007 and taken in by a family that says she is a daughter who went missing in 1989 while herding buffalo.
Read More
Draft union law is sent out for consultations
Mom Kunther and Tep Nimol
Phnom Penh Post
A WORKING group charged with creating Cambodia’s first-ever law on trade unions has sent a draft to worker and employee representatives, asking for their recommendations in the hope that the legislation can be adopted early next year.
Oum Mean, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Labour, said the initial draft was completed last week.
“We sent the draft law to the factory and worker representatives, in order for them to discuss among themselves whether they agree with the law or not,” he said.
The parties now have roughly one and a half months to examine the draft law and formulate recommendations on how to improve it. Oum Mean said the draft legislation is designed to build on the existing Labour Law, expanding regulations concerning the roles and rights of unions and employers.
“This law is important for the protection of both workers and employers,” he said.
Cambodian Confederation of Unions President Rong Chhun said he thought the draft targeted unions while protecting employers and the government.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
A WORKING group charged with creating Cambodia’s first-ever law on trade unions has sent a draft to worker and employee representatives, asking for their recommendations in the hope that the legislation can be adopted early next year.
Oum Mean, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Labour, said the initial draft was completed last week.
“We sent the draft law to the factory and worker representatives, in order for them to discuss among themselves whether they agree with the law or not,” he said.
The parties now have roughly one and a half months to examine the draft law and formulate recommendations on how to improve it. Oum Mean said the draft legislation is designed to build on the existing Labour Law, expanding regulations concerning the roles and rights of unions and employers.
“This law is important for the protection of both workers and employers,” he said.
Cambodian Confederation of Unions President Rong Chhun said he thought the draft targeted unions while protecting employers and the government.
Read More
Second union warns of strike
Tep Nimol and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
ANOTHER major union is threatening to strike if its wage demands are not met, a labour leader said Tuesday, joining a garment sector union that has already warned it is considering a three-day walkout.
Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association (CITA) and head of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), said he has yet to receive a response to demands made more than a month ago during a Labour Day rally.
At the rally, he asked for reduced work hours for the members of both bodies, a boost to monthly teacher salaries and the creation of a labour court for workers.
“We have not received a response from government officials until now.... If there is no solution for us, then a strike will happen in the very near future,” Rong Chhun said Tuesday, though he declined to give a date for any potential action.
The labour leader said he sent a letter yesterday morning to Prime Minister Hun Sen, reiterating his demands.
“We have not received a response from the authorities more than one month after we raised the issue,” he said. “So I have to send a letter to remind them.”
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
ANOTHER major union is threatening to strike if its wage demands are not met, a labour leader said Tuesday, joining a garment sector union that has already warned it is considering a three-day walkout.
Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association (CITA) and head of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), said he has yet to receive a response to demands made more than a month ago during a Labour Day rally.
At the rally, he asked for reduced work hours for the members of both bodies, a boost to monthly teacher salaries and the creation of a labour court for workers.
“We have not received a response from government officials until now.... If there is no solution for us, then a strike will happen in the very near future,” Rong Chhun said Tuesday, though he declined to give a date for any potential action.
The labour leader said he sent a letter yesterday morning to Prime Minister Hun Sen, reiterating his demands.
“We have not received a response from the authorities more than one month after we raised the issue,” he said. “So I have to send a letter to remind them.”
Read More
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
‘Jungle girl’ sent to Ratanakkiri hospital
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
SO-CALLED “jungle girl” Rochom P’nhieng was transported to the Ratanakkiri provincial hospital on Monday to recover after being trapped at the bottom of a 10-metre-deep dugout toilet, local residents said.
Sal Lou, who has cared for Rochom P’nhieng for the past three years and says he is her father, said Monday that her health appeared to be improving after she received food, a shower and medical treatment.
“The health officials have allowed my daughter to stay in one room and are giving her medicine. My wife and I have stayed to look after her because we are afraid she will pull out her IV [drip],” Sal Lou said.
Rochom P’nhieng was discovered in the Ratanakkiri forest in January 2007. She has since lived with Sal Lou and his family, who say she is their daughter who went missing in 1989 while herding buffalo.
Now believed to be 29 years old, Rochom P’Nhieng had been living peacefully with the family for three and a half years before abruptly tearing off her clothes and escaping into the forest last month. After she had been missing for 10 days, neighbours discovered her stranded last Friday at the bottom of a local latrine.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
SO-CALLED “jungle girl” Rochom P’nhieng was transported to the Ratanakkiri provincial hospital on Monday to recover after being trapped at the bottom of a 10-metre-deep dugout toilet, local residents said.
Sal Lou, who has cared for Rochom P’nhieng for the past three years and says he is her father, said Monday that her health appeared to be improving after she received food, a shower and medical treatment.
“The health officials have allowed my daughter to stay in one room and are giving her medicine. My wife and I have stayed to look after her because we are afraid she will pull out her IV [drip],” Sal Lou said.
Rochom P’nhieng was discovered in the Ratanakkiri forest in January 2007. She has since lived with Sal Lou and his family, who say she is their daughter who went missing in 1989 while herding buffalo.
Now believed to be 29 years old, Rochom P’Nhieng had been living peacefully with the family for three and a half years before abruptly tearing off her clothes and escaping into the forest last month. After she had been missing for 10 days, neighbours discovered her stranded last Friday at the bottom of a local latrine.
Read More
Panel to draft acid law by end of month
Mom Kunthear and Brooke Lewis
Phnom Penh Post
MEMBERS of a government committee charged with drafting a law to curb acid crimes said Monday that they expect to complete the task by the end of the month.
The committee was formed in February after a spate of attacks that began late last year, and committee members originally said they expected a draft law to be completed shortly after Khmer New Year.
Ouk Kimlek, undersecretary of state at the Interior Ministry and the deputy director of the committee, said Monday that he expected – but could not guarantee – that the committee would complete the draft law and submit it to the Council of Ministers for approval by the end of June.
“We are not 100 percent sure that the draft law will reach the Council of Ministers [by the end of the month], but we hope it will because we will try our best to complete it on time,” he said.
Ouk Kimlek said the original deadline for completion of the draft law had not been met because committee members were “busy with other work”.
“It is not so difficult for us to complete it, but we have many tasks to do besides this law,” he said.
Teng Savong, secretary of state at the Interior Ministry and the director of the committee, said a meeting had been held to discuss the draft law on Friday, but declined to elaborate on specific points raised.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
MEMBERS of a government committee charged with drafting a law to curb acid crimes said Monday that they expect to complete the task by the end of the month.
The committee was formed in February after a spate of attacks that began late last year, and committee members originally said they expected a draft law to be completed shortly after Khmer New Year.
Ouk Kimlek, undersecretary of state at the Interior Ministry and the deputy director of the committee, said Monday that he expected – but could not guarantee – that the committee would complete the draft law and submit it to the Council of Ministers for approval by the end of June.
“We are not 100 percent sure that the draft law will reach the Council of Ministers [by the end of the month], but we hope it will because we will try our best to complete it on time,” he said.
Ouk Kimlek said the original deadline for completion of the draft law had not been met because committee members were “busy with other work”.
“It is not so difficult for us to complete it, but we have many tasks to do besides this law,” he said.
Teng Savong, secretary of state at the Interior Ministry and the director of the committee, said a meeting had been held to discuss the draft law on Friday, but declined to elaborate on specific points raised.
Read More
Monday, June 7, 2010
Tuol Kork residents rebuff officials
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Will Baxter
Phnom Penh Post
RESIDENTS of a Tuol Kork district community devastated by a March 8 fire have prevented district authorities from tearing down newly constructed wooden homes, prompting officials to warn that those who are rebuilding homes on the site are breaking the law and could face arrest, villagers and rights groups said.
Sia Phearum, secretariat director of the Housing Rights Task Force (HRTF), said several dozen police arrived in the community, located in Boeung Kak 2 commune, on Saturday with the intent of removing the new structures, and that they were rebuffed by villagers.
“The local authorities told residents they would not be allowed to rebuild their houses; if they try to rebuild, the local authorities will use force to take down the houses,” he said.
A joint statement released the same day by the HRTF and rights groups Licadho and Adhoc said residents had been warned that they would “be arrested and construction equipment and lumber would be confiscated” if they continued building new houses.
Following the blaze, which destroyed 178 houses and 31 dormitory rooms at Neak Von pagoda, local officials told residents that they could rebuild in the commune, provided that they accept 3.92-by-5.5-metre plots of land – a downgrade for many of the families – and leave sufficient space for new access roads.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
RESIDENTS of a Tuol Kork district community devastated by a March 8 fire have prevented district authorities from tearing down newly constructed wooden homes, prompting officials to warn that those who are rebuilding homes on the site are breaking the law and could face arrest, villagers and rights groups said.
Sia Phearum, secretariat director of the Housing Rights Task Force (HRTF), said several dozen police arrived in the community, located in Boeung Kak 2 commune, on Saturday with the intent of removing the new structures, and that they were rebuffed by villagers.
“The local authorities told residents they would not be allowed to rebuild their houses; if they try to rebuild, the local authorities will use force to take down the houses,” he said.
A joint statement released the same day by the HRTF and rights groups Licadho and Adhoc said residents had been warned that they would “be arrested and construction equipment and lumber would be confiscated” if they continued building new houses.
Following the blaze, which destroyed 178 houses and 31 dormitory rooms at Neak Von pagoda, local officials told residents that they could rebuild in the commune, provided that they accept 3.92-by-5.5-metre plots of land – a downgrade for many of the families – and leave sufficient space for new access roads.
Read More
‘Jungle girl’ is located
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
THE saga of Cambodia’s “jungle girl” took another dramatic turn Friday when the Ratanakkiri runaway was reportedly discovered at the bottom of a 10-metre-deep dugout toilet.
Sal Lou, who says he is the father of “jungle girl” Rochom P’nhieng, said his daughter had been discovered on Friday evening by a young neighbour who went to use the outdoor toilet and heard a cry for help from within. Sal Lou and other villagers were summoned to the scene, where they shone torches into the hole and discovered Rochom P’nhieng at the bottom.
“The villagers pulled my daughter out of the toilet, and we cleaned her up, but now she looks pale and weak,” Sal Lou said.
Rochom P’nhieng, believed to be 29 years old, was discovered in the wilds of Ratanakkiri province in January 2007 and taken in by a family who say she is a daughter who went missing in 1989 while herding buffalo.
Family members said she had since lived peacefully with them until last month, when she took off her clothes and fled back into the jungle.
Since being rescued from the toilet, Sal Lou said his daughter appeared to be in poor health.
“She looks pale and has no strength. She has been sleeping all the time in a hammock under the house,” Sal Lou said. A local doctor, he added, had attempted to give Rochom P’nhieng an IV drip to help replenish her strength, but she tore it out and refused other medicine and injections.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
THE saga of Cambodia’s “jungle girl” took another dramatic turn Friday when the Ratanakkiri runaway was reportedly discovered at the bottom of a 10-metre-deep dugout toilet.
Sal Lou, who says he is the father of “jungle girl” Rochom P’nhieng, said his daughter had been discovered on Friday evening by a young neighbour who went to use the outdoor toilet and heard a cry for help from within. Sal Lou and other villagers were summoned to the scene, where they shone torches into the hole and discovered Rochom P’nhieng at the bottom.
“The villagers pulled my daughter out of the toilet, and we cleaned her up, but now she looks pale and weak,” Sal Lou said.
Rochom P’nhieng, believed to be 29 years old, was discovered in the wilds of Ratanakkiri province in January 2007 and taken in by a family who say she is a daughter who went missing in 1989 while herding buffalo.
Family members said she had since lived peacefully with them until last month, when she took off her clothes and fled back into the jungle.
Since being rescued from the toilet, Sal Lou said his daughter appeared to be in poor health.
“She looks pale and has no strength. She has been sleeping all the time in a hammock under the house,” Sal Lou said. A local doctor, he added, had attempted to give Rochom P’nhieng an IV drip to help replenish her strength, but she tore it out and refused other medicine and injections.
Read More
Acid: a weapon close to hand
Mom Kunthear and Brooke Lewis
Phnom Penh Post
Kampong Cham Province
NEARLY three dec-ades after he suffered burns to his face and upper body in an acid attack, Orb Rath, 49, comes into contact with the corrosive liquid on an almost daily basis. Seven years ago, he took a job at the Chrab Rubber Plantation in Da commune, located in Kampong Cham province’s Memot district, where he mixes acid with rubber sap.
“I mix it on-site at the rubber plantation, and then bring the hard rubber to sell to a factory,” he said, and added that 100 litres of sap can be hardened with just 1 litre of diluted acid.
Accidents on the job, he said, are infrequent. “The rubber plantation director usually tells all workers to be careful when using acid, so rubber workers rarely get burned on the rubber plantation,” he said.
The problem, he said, is the easy availability of acid near the plantations, and the fact that it is sometimes used to resolve personal disputes. His own injuries, for instance, came at the hands of an aunt who had an argument with his mother, the subject of which has never been made clear to him.
“The attacks happen at people’s homes when they have violence or argue with each other, for instance like what happened to me,” he said.
The Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity (CASC) has also expressed concern that the concentration of rubber plantations in Kampong Cham – the province has more than any other – has led to an inordinate number of acid accidents and attacks there.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
Kampong Cham Province
NEARLY three dec-ades after he suffered burns to his face and upper body in an acid attack, Orb Rath, 49, comes into contact with the corrosive liquid on an almost daily basis. Seven years ago, he took a job at the Chrab Rubber Plantation in Da commune, located in Kampong Cham province’s Memot district, where he mixes acid with rubber sap.
“I mix it on-site at the rubber plantation, and then bring the hard rubber to sell to a factory,” he said, and added that 100 litres of sap can be hardened with just 1 litre of diluted acid.
Accidents on the job, he said, are infrequent. “The rubber plantation director usually tells all workers to be careful when using acid, so rubber workers rarely get burned on the rubber plantation,” he said.
The problem, he said, is the easy availability of acid near the plantations, and the fact that it is sometimes used to resolve personal disputes. His own injuries, for instance, came at the hands of an aunt who had an argument with his mother, the subject of which has never been made clear to him.
“The attacks happen at people’s homes when they have violence or argue with each other, for instance like what happened to me,” he said.
The Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity (CASC) has also expressed concern that the concentration of rubber plantations in Kampong Cham – the province has more than any other – has led to an inordinate number of acid accidents and attacks there.
Read More
Friday, June 4, 2010
Court backs Mu Sochua verdict
Meas Sokchea and Brooke Lewis
Phnom Penh Post
THE Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed a controversial defamation conviction against opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua, closing the last stage of a highly charged legal battle with Prime Minister Hun Sen that has triggered renewed criticism of the Cambodian judiciary.
The ruling, read out to a packed-to-overflowing courtroom by Judge Khim Pon, also upheld a fine of 16.5 million riels (US$3,975) levied against Mu Sochua by the Municipal Court last August, though the former minister of women’s affairs said afterwards that she would rather go to jail than pay it.
“My stance remains the same,” she told reporters and supporters outside the courthouse gates after the hearing, which ran just under 90 minutes. “I will not pay the fine. I am ready, and I am willing to go to jail, even today.”
During the hearing, Mu Sochua said both the Municipal Court and the Appeal Court – which upheld the initial verdict in October – had erred in their rulings by failing to consider all the available evidence. But Khim Pon dismissed her claims as meritless.
“We understand why the accused said in this hearing that the courts did not consider all the points of her defamation case, but that is not correct because in its decision the courts have raised enough evidence,” he said.
After fielding a handful of questions outside the court, Mu Sochua led a group of about 50 supporters north along Sothearos Boulevard towards the Royal Palace, though they were quickly intercepted by municipal police wielding riot shields and batons.
The officers stopped the group for about five minutes, then allowed the march to resume, walking 5 metres in front as Mu Sochua – leading the group in what she later described as “a patriotic song to defend the spirit and the soul of the nation and of the people”— executed a meandering trail that ended at SRP headquarters.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
THE Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed a controversial defamation conviction against opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua, closing the last stage of a highly charged legal battle with Prime Minister Hun Sen that has triggered renewed criticism of the Cambodian judiciary.
The ruling, read out to a packed-to-overflowing courtroom by Judge Khim Pon, also upheld a fine of 16.5 million riels (US$3,975) levied against Mu Sochua by the Municipal Court last August, though the former minister of women’s affairs said afterwards that she would rather go to jail than pay it.
“My stance remains the same,” she told reporters and supporters outside the courthouse gates after the hearing, which ran just under 90 minutes. “I will not pay the fine. I am ready, and I am willing to go to jail, even today.”
During the hearing, Mu Sochua said both the Municipal Court and the Appeal Court – which upheld the initial verdict in October – had erred in their rulings by failing to consider all the available evidence. But Khim Pon dismissed her claims as meritless.
“We understand why the accused said in this hearing that the courts did not consider all the points of her defamation case, but that is not correct because in its decision the courts have raised enough evidence,” he said.
After fielding a handful of questions outside the court, Mu Sochua led a group of about 50 supporters north along Sothearos Boulevard towards the Royal Palace, though they were quickly intercepted by municipal police wielding riot shields and batons.
The officers stopped the group for about five minutes, then allowed the march to resume, walking 5 metres in front as Mu Sochua – leading the group in what she later described as “a patriotic song to defend the spirit and the soul of the nation and of the people”— executed a meandering trail that ended at SRP headquarters.
Read More
Union leader agrees to postpone strike
TEP NIMOL AND IRWIN LOY
Phnom Penh Post
LABOUR Ministry officials have urged garment workers not to strike, after a prominent union leader threatened to do so as part of a campaign to raise the sector’s minimum wage.
In a letter addressed “to all workers” and sent to the Post Thursday, the ministry’s Labour Advisory Committee warned that union members should consider launching a strike only after attempts at agreeing on a new minimum wage have been exhausted.
“The Labour Advisory Committee would like to call for all workers to practise their rights properly, according to the law,” reads the letter, which was signed by Labour Minister Vong Soth.
The letter comes after Chea Mony, the head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC), threatened to strike if the ministry and an industry association, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), failed to respond to union requests to boost garment workers’ minimum wages to US$70 per month from the current $50.
Union representatives and employers previously agreed to renegotiate minimum-wage standards in garment factories by the end of this year.
But Chea Mony said Thursday that his union’s 86,000 workers can’t afford to wait.
“If we keep waiting for negotiations, one year will be lost uselessly,” said Chea Mony, who called the potential strike his “last achievement in helping workers” before his planned departure from the union at the end of the month.
He said the strike is still a possibility, but that he will wait for a response from GMAC before setting a date.
But it appears not everyone in the Kingdom’s vast labour movement is on the same page.
Tep Kim Vannary, president of the Cambodian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (CFITU), said she would not support a strike because negotiations with employers have yet to begin.
Kong Atith, vice president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU), said that he regards a strike as a “last choice”.
The demands of the CFITU and the CCAWDU also differ from the FTU. Instead of $70 per month, both unions are asking for wages of $93.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
LABOUR Ministry officials have urged garment workers not to strike, after a prominent union leader threatened to do so as part of a campaign to raise the sector’s minimum wage.
In a letter addressed “to all workers” and sent to the Post Thursday, the ministry’s Labour Advisory Committee warned that union members should consider launching a strike only after attempts at agreeing on a new minimum wage have been exhausted.
“The Labour Advisory Committee would like to call for all workers to practise their rights properly, according to the law,” reads the letter, which was signed by Labour Minister Vong Soth.
The letter comes after Chea Mony, the head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC), threatened to strike if the ministry and an industry association, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), failed to respond to union requests to boost garment workers’ minimum wages to US$70 per month from the current $50.
Union representatives and employers previously agreed to renegotiate minimum-wage standards in garment factories by the end of this year.
But Chea Mony said Thursday that his union’s 86,000 workers can’t afford to wait.
“If we keep waiting for negotiations, one year will be lost uselessly,” said Chea Mony, who called the potential strike his “last achievement in helping workers” before his planned departure from the union at the end of the month.
He said the strike is still a possibility, but that he will wait for a response from GMAC before setting a date.
But it appears not everyone in the Kingdom’s vast labour movement is on the same page.
Tep Kim Vannary, president of the Cambodian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (CFITU), said she would not support a strike because negotiations with employers have yet to begin.
Kong Atith, vice president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU), said that he regards a strike as a “last choice”.
The demands of the CFITU and the CCAWDU also differ from the FTU. Instead of $70 per month, both unions are asking for wages of $93.
Read More
From factory to beer garden
Vong Sokheng
Phnom Penh Post
A CROWD of young women lingers at the entrance to a Tuol Kork district beer garden. The hostesses sit in rows waiting for customers. Their dresses are cut short, and their make-up is carefully applied under perfectly sculpted hair.
It is a scene that has long been typical of drinking dens across the city. But some of the women at this establishment – and countless others like it – are new to the entertainment industry.
The global financial crisis saw Cambodia lose more than 75,000 garment factory jobs between September 2008 and October 2009, according to Ministry of Commerce figures. As laid-off employees struggle to find new jobs, some have accepted work as hostesses and promoters in beer gardens, where the country’s informal sex trade thrives in the open.
That’s where Huon Chetra, 26, found herself after the garment factory that employed her shut its doors late last year. Seeing few other options, she soon took a job as a hostess in Tuol Kork.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
A CROWD of young women lingers at the entrance to a Tuol Kork district beer garden. The hostesses sit in rows waiting for customers. Their dresses are cut short, and their make-up is carefully applied under perfectly sculpted hair.
It is a scene that has long been typical of drinking dens across the city. But some of the women at this establishment – and countless others like it – are new to the entertainment industry.
The global financial crisis saw Cambodia lose more than 75,000 garment factory jobs between September 2008 and October 2009, according to Ministry of Commerce figures. As laid-off employees struggle to find new jobs, some have accepted work as hostesses and promoters in beer gardens, where the country’s informal sex trade thrives in the open.
That’s where Huon Chetra, 26, found herself after the garment factory that employed her shut its doors late last year. Seeing few other options, she soon took a job as a hostess in Tuol Kork.
Read More
Svay Rieng school head accused of fraud
Mom Kunthear and Thet Sambath
Phnom Penh Post
TEACHERS at a high school in Svay Rieng province have lodged complaints with education officials against the school’s director, accusing her of corruption and nepotism and demanding that she be removed.
Sek Tikheayo, one of the teachers at Samdech Hun Sen Kraul Hor High School, located in Svay Chhrom district, said complaints against Touch Sothea had been lodged with the Education Ministry, as well as the provincial Department of Education on Monday.
He added that he believes the director is guilty of making false expense claims and pocketing the money, in addition to engaging in unfair hiring practices.
The complaint elaborates that the expenses claims in question were for a fence and clocks that allegedly were never purchased.
“She is immoral, and talks impolitely to us,” he added. “She is rude and has always oppressed us.”
Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association (CITA), said he forwarded the complaint to Education Ministry officials on Wednesday.
He added that CITA suspected the director of committing corruption on a number of instances, and that officials had neglected to take action despite significant evidence.
“Their accusations are correct. The ministry should take action against her and punish her according to their disciplinary rules,” he said.
Touch Sothea could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Kong Saroeun, director of the provincial Department of Education, said Wednesday that he was trying to get teachers and the director to “stop arguing” and to “reach an agreement”.
“I tried to negotiate a compromise between the two parties after I received the complaint on Monday, but no agreement was reached,” he said. He added that one solution to the dispute could be to send the complainants “to teach in remote areas” rather than removing the school director.
Phnom Penh Post
TEACHERS at a high school in Svay Rieng province have lodged complaints with education officials against the school’s director, accusing her of corruption and nepotism and demanding that she be removed.
Sek Tikheayo, one of the teachers at Samdech Hun Sen Kraul Hor High School, located in Svay Chhrom district, said complaints against Touch Sothea had been lodged with the Education Ministry, as well as the provincial Department of Education on Monday.
He added that he believes the director is guilty of making false expense claims and pocketing the money, in addition to engaging in unfair hiring practices.
The complaint elaborates that the expenses claims in question were for a fence and clocks that allegedly were never purchased.
“She is immoral, and talks impolitely to us,” he added. “She is rude and has always oppressed us.”
Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association (CITA), said he forwarded the complaint to Education Ministry officials on Wednesday.
He added that CITA suspected the director of committing corruption on a number of instances, and that officials had neglected to take action despite significant evidence.
“Their accusations are correct. The ministry should take action against her and punish her according to their disciplinary rules,” he said.
Touch Sothea could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Kong Saroeun, director of the provincial Department of Education, said Wednesday that he was trying to get teachers and the director to “stop arguing” and to “reach an agreement”.
“I tried to negotiate a compromise between the two parties after I received the complaint on Monday, but no agreement was reached,” he said. He added that one solution to the dispute could be to send the complainants “to teach in remote areas” rather than removing the school director.
Union delays strike, seeks discussions
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
THE head of a union comprising 86,000 garment workers said he sent a letter Wednesday morning to the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) requesting that a date be set for discussions of a proposed 40 percent increase to the minimum wage.
Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC), had previously said that the union’s members would strike at the end of May if officials from GMAC and the government had not responded to an earlier request for the minimum wage to be raised from US$50 to $70.
On Wednesday, he said he would give GMAC one week to respond to the new letter before sending another letter to the Labour Ministry.
“If the ministry does not reply within a week,” he said, “then I will send a request to the Interior Ministry for permission to hold the strike.”
In 2006, when an agreement was reached to set the minimum wage for garment workers at its current level of $50 per month, the government and industry representatives agreed to discuss wages again in 2010.
Ken Loo, the secretary general of GMAC, said Wednesday that the new letter from Chea Mony had been received, but that he could not confirm its contents because he was out of the office. He said GMAC “remains committed to the agreement” reached in 2006.
He has previously described Chea Mony’s deadline and strike threat as unreasonable and impractical.
Last week, he wrote a letter requesting intervention from the Labour Ministry to stave off a strike, arguing that previous “illegal strikes” have “given Cambodia a bad reputation”.
He said Wednesday that he had been told by the ministry that it would be issuing “an announcement” concerning the issue at some point within “the next few days”.
Ministry officials could not be reached Wednesday.
In a statement Wednesday, the International Labour Organisation urged all parties to “discuss and agree, in a timely and transparent manner, guidelines and timelines for [wage] negotiations”.
Phnom Penh Post
THE head of a union comprising 86,000 garment workers said he sent a letter Wednesday morning to the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) requesting that a date be set for discussions of a proposed 40 percent increase to the minimum wage.
Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC), had previously said that the union’s members would strike at the end of May if officials from GMAC and the government had not responded to an earlier request for the minimum wage to be raised from US$50 to $70.
On Wednesday, he said he would give GMAC one week to respond to the new letter before sending another letter to the Labour Ministry.
“If the ministry does not reply within a week,” he said, “then I will send a request to the Interior Ministry for permission to hold the strike.”
In 2006, when an agreement was reached to set the minimum wage for garment workers at its current level of $50 per month, the government and industry representatives agreed to discuss wages again in 2010.
Ken Loo, the secretary general of GMAC, said Wednesday that the new letter from Chea Mony had been received, but that he could not confirm its contents because he was out of the office. He said GMAC “remains committed to the agreement” reached in 2006.
He has previously described Chea Mony’s deadline and strike threat as unreasonable and impractical.
Last week, he wrote a letter requesting intervention from the Labour Ministry to stave off a strike, arguing that previous “illegal strikes” have “given Cambodia a bad reputation”.
He said Wednesday that he had been told by the ministry that it would be issuing “an announcement” concerning the issue at some point within “the next few days”.
Ministry officials could not be reached Wednesday.
In a statement Wednesday, the International Labour Organisation urged all parties to “discuss and agree, in a timely and transparent manner, guidelines and timelines for [wage] negotiations”.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
