Mom Kunthear and Will Baxter
Phnom Penh Post
Kandal province
AS a boy, Van Sopheak hoped to be a doctor. When he was in Grade 9, however, the Kampong Cham province native was attacked in his sleep by an unknown assailant who splashed acid over his face and torso.
The reasons for the attack remain unknown, but its effects were both serious and obvious. Fearful of discrimination from his peers, he stopped going to school and has had trouble finding work ever since.
“I wished to be a good doctor when I graduated, but everything failed. My plan melted away,” he said yesterday. “I started to look for a job after my wounds were treated, but I could not find a good one – only as a construction worker.”
Two weeks ago, Van Sopheak, now 27, became the first acid attack victim to sign up for an agriculture livelihoods programme run by the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity. This week, the charity held a two-day workshop in Kandal province where survivors were invited to join the programme, which is intended to foster skills that might otherwise be difficult to acquire because of the social stigma related to their injuries.
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Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Kampot men summoned in land spat
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
TWO villagers involved in a land dispute in Kampot province have been called to answer questions today about attempted murder and defamation allegations lodged against them by the chief of Dop Sralao village, in Teuk Chhou district’s Trapong Pring commune.
Soung Sorn filed a complaint against Chean Sorn and Phan Sareth shortly after a June 16 altercation in which villagers accosted employees of Phnom Penh businesswoman Heav Lon and tried to stop them from clearing 58 hectares of disputed land.
A group of 26 former Khmer Rouge families claim to have lived on the land since 1983 after receiving a concession from the government, but in 2005 Heav Lon accused villagers who were farming the land of destroying her private property.
Chean Sorn said yesterday that he did not know the basis of the complaint against him, but that he had merely gone to the site three days after the altercation to take pictures of the employees clearing the land. “I went down to the land dispute on June 19 to shoot some pictures only,” he said.
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Phnom Penh Post
TWO villagers involved in a land dispute in Kampot province have been called to answer questions today about attempted murder and defamation allegations lodged against them by the chief of Dop Sralao village, in Teuk Chhou district’s Trapong Pring commune.
Soung Sorn filed a complaint against Chean Sorn and Phan Sareth shortly after a June 16 altercation in which villagers accosted employees of Phnom Penh businesswoman Heav Lon and tried to stop them from clearing 58 hectares of disputed land.
A group of 26 former Khmer Rouge families claim to have lived on the land since 1983 after receiving a concession from the government, but in 2005 Heav Lon accused villagers who were farming the land of destroying her private property.
Chean Sorn said yesterday that he did not know the basis of the complaint against him, but that he had merely gone to the site three days after the altercation to take pictures of the employees clearing the land. “I went down to the land dispute on June 19 to shoot some pictures only,” he said.
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CITA head to file report on exam bribery
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
HE head of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association plans to file a report to the Education Ministry on the issue of “corruption during Grade 12 national exams” in physics and mathematics.
Rong Chhun, the president of CITA, said yesterday that the group had received reports from invigilators in Phnom Penh, Kampong Cham, Svay Rieng and Preah Sihanouk provinces that the mathematics exam was leaked on the night before yesterday’s test, and was being sold nationwide yesterday morning.
He added that supervisers and inspectors were still accepting bribes from candidates, some of whom were paying as much as 30,000 riels (US$7) to avoid punishment for cheating and copying.
“According to the education law, the results of these exams should be nullified and students must re-sit the exam if any test has been made public,” he said.
He said that the CITA report would be submitted sometime this weekend.
On Tuesday, Rong Chhun accused the chief inspector at the Hun Sen Saang exam centre in Kandal province of ordering all exam supervisors to take money from students sitting for exams this week.
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Phnom Penh Post
HE head of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association plans to file a report to the Education Ministry on the issue of “corruption during Grade 12 national exams” in physics and mathematics.
Rong Chhun, the president of CITA, said yesterday that the group had received reports from invigilators in Phnom Penh, Kampong Cham, Svay Rieng and Preah Sihanouk provinces that the mathematics exam was leaked on the night before yesterday’s test, and was being sold nationwide yesterday morning.
He added that supervisers and inspectors were still accepting bribes from candidates, some of whom were paying as much as 30,000 riels (US$7) to avoid punishment for cheating and copying.
“According to the education law, the results of these exams should be nullified and students must re-sit the exam if any test has been made public,” he said.
He said that the CITA report would be submitted sometime this weekend.
On Tuesday, Rong Chhun accused the chief inspector at the Hun Sen Saang exam centre in Kandal province of ordering all exam supervisors to take money from students sitting for exams this week.
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Man gets prison for posing as late prince
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A 66-YEAR-OLD man was sentenced to three years in jail at Kampot provincial court on Wednesday for extorting money and gifts from local residents on the pretence that he was the late Prince Norodom Naradipo.
Kampot provincial deputy prosecutor Seang Sok said that although the province had seen similar cases of fraud in the past, appropriating the identity of a member of the royal family was particularly egregious. Prince Naradipo, a son of King Father Norodom Sihanouk and half-brother of King Norodom Sihamoni, was born in 1946 and died under the Khmer Rouge regime.
“This man impersonated the King’s relative in order to cheat the villagers and convince them to give him money,” Seang Sok said. “This could affect the King’s reputation, so the court charged the man with fraud.”
Tep Vanna, head of the Kampot provincial military police, said police had apprehended the suspect, Prum Sokkak, after receiving complaints about him from local residents. Prum Sokkak, who had apparently been running similar schemes throughout the country, was thwarted when his wife arrived and identified him, he added.
Prince Sisowath Thomico, assistant to the King Father, said in an email that Prum Sokkak was “not the first” fraudster to impersonate the late Prince Naradipo.
“The identity problems in Cambodia is in fact a direct and lasting consequence of the Khmer Rouge regime,” Prince Thomico said. “Thousands of people have since changed their names or have taken other persons’ identities. To my knowledge, there is no law to deal with this problem.”
Phnom Penh Post
A 66-YEAR-OLD man was sentenced to three years in jail at Kampot provincial court on Wednesday for extorting money and gifts from local residents on the pretence that he was the late Prince Norodom Naradipo.
Kampot provincial deputy prosecutor Seang Sok said that although the province had seen similar cases of fraud in the past, appropriating the identity of a member of the royal family was particularly egregious. Prince Naradipo, a son of King Father Norodom Sihanouk and half-brother of King Norodom Sihamoni, was born in 1946 and died under the Khmer Rouge regime.
“This man impersonated the King’s relative in order to cheat the villagers and convince them to give him money,” Seang Sok said. “This could affect the King’s reputation, so the court charged the man with fraud.”
Tep Vanna, head of the Kampot provincial military police, said police had apprehended the suspect, Prum Sokkak, after receiving complaints about him from local residents. Prum Sokkak, who had apparently been running similar schemes throughout the country, was thwarted when his wife arrived and identified him, he added.
Prince Sisowath Thomico, assistant to the King Father, said in an email that Prum Sokkak was “not the first” fraudster to impersonate the late Prince Naradipo.
“The identity problems in Cambodia is in fact a direct and lasting consequence of the Khmer Rouge regime,” Prince Thomico said. “Thousands of people have since changed their names or have taken other persons’ identities. To my knowledge, there is no law to deal with this problem.”
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Parents accept cash from labour agency
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
THE parents of a young woman who allegedly died due to poor living conditions at a labour recruitment firm in Phnom Penh said yesterday that they would not pursue a criminal case after accepting 1.2 million riels (US$283) in compensation.
Prim Mao said the VC Manpower Co gave her family the money last week after her daugher, Yun Mab, 21, died at one of its training centres.
“They told us to keep this case quiet and don’t tell anyone about this,” she said.
Yun Mab died in hospital on July 20 after falling ill. She had spent three months at the centre in Sen Sok district.
The woman’s parents say poor living conditions contributed to her death. But company officials and local authorities contend that Yun Mab died from a previously undiagnosed case of leukemia.
Ream Vy, the woman’s father, said the family does not believe the daughter had leukemia because she had been in good health when she started her training course.
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Phnom Penh Post
THE parents of a young woman who allegedly died due to poor living conditions at a labour recruitment firm in Phnom Penh said yesterday that they would not pursue a criminal case after accepting 1.2 million riels (US$283) in compensation.
Prim Mao said the VC Manpower Co gave her family the money last week after her daugher, Yun Mab, 21, died at one of its training centres.
“They told us to keep this case quiet and don’t tell anyone about this,” she said.
Yun Mab died in hospital on July 20 after falling ill. She had spent three months at the centre in Sen Sok district.
The woman’s parents say poor living conditions contributed to her death. But company officials and local authorities contend that Yun Mab died from a previously undiagnosed case of leukemia.
Ream Vy, the woman’s father, said the family does not believe the daughter had leukemia because she had been in good health when she started her training course.
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Monday, July 26, 2010
Union president plans rally despite City Hall’s objection
Mom Kunthear and Tep Nimol
Phnom Penh Post
CITY officials ruled yesterday that a planned rally of garment workers scheduled for this Sunday will not be allowed, a local labour leader said, setting the stage for a confrontation between workers and local authorities.
Ath Thun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union and head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said yesterday that city officials had deemed a planned public forum in Daun Penh district’s Wat Botum Park a threat to “security and social order”. The forum is intended to foster discussion of the newly established minimum wage for garment workers.
Ath Thun, however, pledged to hold the event regardless.
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Phnom Penh Post
CITY officials ruled yesterday that a planned rally of garment workers scheduled for this Sunday will not be allowed, a local labour leader said, setting the stage for a confrontation between workers and local authorities.
Ath Thun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union and head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said yesterday that city officials had deemed a planned public forum in Daun Penh district’s Wat Botum Park a threat to “security and social order”. The forum is intended to foster discussion of the newly established minimum wage for garment workers.
Ath Thun, however, pledged to hold the event regardless.
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Underage girls freed in labour crackdown
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
MORE than 30 girls believed to be underage have been discovered at two government-sanctioned labour-recruitment firms, accused of forcing clients to live in squalid conditions and denying them permission to leave, officials said yesterday.
The father of a 21-year-old woman who died during a training programme run by one of the firms said poor conditions had caused her sudden demise on Tuesday.
Nhem Kimhouy, a Ministry of Labour official, said authorities found 24 of the underage girls during a Tuesday raid on a centre in Sen Sok district run by the VC Manpower Co. Seven other girls were found during a raid last week on a second company, the Champa Manpower Group, he said.
The director of VC Manpower told authorities he had no idea underage workers were employed by his firm, which is licensed to train and send Cambodians to work as domestic helps in Malaysia, Nhem Kimhuoy said. “He said he already checked their forms to make sure they were not underage,” Nhem Kimhuoy said.
Officials at both companies could not be reached yesterday.
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Phnom Penh Post
MORE than 30 girls believed to be underage have been discovered at two government-sanctioned labour-recruitment firms, accused of forcing clients to live in squalid conditions and denying them permission to leave, officials said yesterday.
The father of a 21-year-old woman who died during a training programme run by one of the firms said poor conditions had caused her sudden demise on Tuesday.
Nhem Kimhouy, a Ministry of Labour official, said authorities found 24 of the underage girls during a Tuesday raid on a centre in Sen Sok district run by the VC Manpower Co. Seven other girls were found during a raid last week on a second company, the Champa Manpower Group, he said.
The director of VC Manpower told authorities he had no idea underage workers were employed by his firm, which is licensed to train and send Cambodians to work as domestic helps in Malaysia, Nhem Kimhuoy said. “He said he already checked their forms to make sure they were not underage,” Nhem Kimhuoy said.
Officials at both companies could not be reached yesterday.
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Duch’s neighbours reflect on his life
Sebastian Strangio and May Titthara
Phnom Penh Post
Kampong Thom province
THESE days, life in Chaoyot village, a collection of stilt houses nestled along the banks of the Stoung river, proceeds in much the same way it did 68 years ago, when Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, was born to parents of Khmer-Chinese extraction. It was here, in a small concrete home shaded by bamboo groves and mango trees, that Duch spent his childhood years, cycling each day the short distance to the local primary school.
The rustling palms and rutted village track are worlds away from Tuol Sleng, or S-21, the secret Khmer Rouge facility that Duch moulded into an efficient machine of interrogation, torture and death. As head of the prison, Duch is thought to have overseen the torture and killing of as many as 16,000 people, creating a nihilistic whirlwind from which only 14 or so emerged alive.
As the Khmer Rouge tribunal prepares to deliver its verdict against the 68-year old today – perhaps the only one it will ever issue – the proceedings have not gone unnoticed in Chaoyot. But the desire to see justice served means different things to different residents; whereas some are unsure how to relate Duch’s crimes to the abuses they personally endured during the regime, others seem to feel their effects acutely.
More than six decades since his birth, Duch has left only a faint trace in Chaoyot. His neat family home, currently occupied by his nephew Kim Luon, still stands, surrounded by a well-tended yard that abuts the road. Dy Thy, 63, one of Duch’s old neighbours, said she heard nothing from him during the 1975-1979 rule of the Khmer Rouge, and that she found it hard to square the quiet young student she remembers with the horrors of Tuol Sleng.
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Phnom Penh Post
Kampong Thom province
THESE days, life in Chaoyot village, a collection of stilt houses nestled along the banks of the Stoung river, proceeds in much the same way it did 68 years ago, when Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, was born to parents of Khmer-Chinese extraction. It was here, in a small concrete home shaded by bamboo groves and mango trees, that Duch spent his childhood years, cycling each day the short distance to the local primary school.
The rustling palms and rutted village track are worlds away from Tuol Sleng, or S-21, the secret Khmer Rouge facility that Duch moulded into an efficient machine of interrogation, torture and death. As head of the prison, Duch is thought to have overseen the torture and killing of as many as 16,000 people, creating a nihilistic whirlwind from which only 14 or so emerged alive.
As the Khmer Rouge tribunal prepares to deliver its verdict against the 68-year old today – perhaps the only one it will ever issue – the proceedings have not gone unnoticed in Chaoyot. But the desire to see justice served means different things to different residents; whereas some are unsure how to relate Duch’s crimes to the abuses they personally endured during the regime, others seem to feel their effects acutely.
More than six decades since his birth, Duch has left only a faint trace in Chaoyot. His neat family home, currently occupied by his nephew Kim Luon, still stands, surrounded by a well-tended yard that abuts the road. Dy Thy, 63, one of Duch’s old neighbours, said she heard nothing from him during the 1975-1979 rule of the Khmer Rouge, and that she found it hard to square the quiet young student she remembers with the horrors of Tuol Sleng.
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Garment workers rally over minimum wage
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
HUNDREDS of garment workers took advantage of their day off yesterday to gather in front of the National Assembly to protest against a recent increase in the industry’s minimum wage that they say is inadequate.
The rally, originally scheduled to be held in Daun Penh district’s Wat Botum Park, was moved to the National Assembly after police blocked some workers from entering the park. Organisers estimated that between 3,500 and 4,500 workers attended, though the total number massed in front of the Assembly at any one time did not appear to exceed 1,000.
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Phnom Penh Post
HUNDREDS of garment workers took advantage of their day off yesterday to gather in front of the National Assembly to protest against a recent increase in the industry’s minimum wage that they say is inadequate.
The rally, originally scheduled to be held in Daun Penh district’s Wat Botum Park, was moved to the National Assembly after police blocked some workers from entering the park. Organisers estimated that between 3,500 and 4,500 workers attended, though the total number massed in front of the Assembly at any one time did not appear to exceed 1,000.
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Labour firm to halt recruiting
Irwin Loy and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A LABOUR recruitment firm accused of forcing employees to live in cramped, squalid conditions will be ordered to temporarily stop enlisting new clients, an industry official said yesterday.
An Bunhak, chairman of the Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies, said a Ministry of Labour committee met Monday to discuss the case of the Champa Manpower Group, which has been accussed of corralling 200 would-be migrants into three villas in Russey Keo district.
He said the decision had been reached by officials at the meeting.
“It means the ministry will not allow this company to recruit until inspectors find out they have applied the requirements of the Ministry of Labour and other authorities,” said An Bunhak, whose organisation represents 16 companies.
He added that he believed the decision marked the first time the ministry had taken such an action against a recruitment firm licensed by the government to train and send workers abroad.
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Phnom Penh Post
A LABOUR recruitment firm accused of forcing employees to live in cramped, squalid conditions will be ordered to temporarily stop enlisting new clients, an industry official said yesterday.
An Bunhak, chairman of the Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies, said a Ministry of Labour committee met Monday to discuss the case of the Champa Manpower Group, which has been accussed of corralling 200 would-be migrants into three villas in Russey Keo district.
He said the decision had been reached by officials at the meeting.
“It means the ministry will not allow this company to recruit until inspectors find out they have applied the requirements of the Ministry of Labour and other authorities,” said An Bunhak, whose organisation represents 16 companies.
He added that he believed the decision marked the first time the ministry had taken such an action against a recruitment firm licensed by the government to train and send workers abroad.
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Bail for mum accused of child abuse
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A KOH Kong woman accused of beating her 12-year-old stepson with electrical wire and bamboo has been released on bail and given custody of the boy again, officials said yesterday.
Chhin Chamroeun, a monitor with rights group Adhoc, said the provincial court decided to release the woman on bail on June 23, less than two weeks after she was arrested and charged with battery.
“The woman made a promise with the court and NGOs not to fight her stepson anymore, and she has to look after him carefully,” she said.
Meas Vanthana, Koh Kong provincial court’s deputy director, confirmed that the woman had been released on bail.
Court procedure allows suspects charged with misdemeanour crimes to be released on bail even if an investigation is under way, Meas Vanthana said. No court date has been set in the case.
Chhin Chamroeun said Adhoc staff observed no signs of abuse during a recent visit with the woman and the boy.
“We did not see any more new wounds on the boy’s body, and he has new clothes to wear to school,” she said.
She said she thought the decision to release the mother on bail could be a positive step, allowing the woman to change her behaviour and become a good mother.
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Phnom Penh Post
A KOH Kong woman accused of beating her 12-year-old stepson with electrical wire and bamboo has been released on bail and given custody of the boy again, officials said yesterday.
Chhin Chamroeun, a monitor with rights group Adhoc, said the provincial court decided to release the woman on bail on June 23, less than two weeks after she was arrested and charged with battery.
“The woman made a promise with the court and NGOs not to fight her stepson anymore, and she has to look after him carefully,” she said.
Meas Vanthana, Koh Kong provincial court’s deputy director, confirmed that the woman had been released on bail.
Court procedure allows suspects charged with misdemeanour crimes to be released on bail even if an investigation is under way, Meas Vanthana said. No court date has been set in the case.
Chhin Chamroeun said Adhoc staff observed no signs of abuse during a recent visit with the woman and the boy.
“We did not see any more new wounds on the boy’s body, and he has new clothes to wear to school,” she said.
She said she thought the decision to release the mother on bail could be a positive step, allowing the woman to change her behaviour and become a good mother.
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Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Investigation begins into a second labour agency
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
OFFICIALS have launched an investigation into a labour firm after one of its clients leaped from the second floor of a training centre in Sen Sok district and said she had been held there against her will.
The incident made VC Manpower Co the second firm registered with the Ministry of Labour to face scrutiny in a week.
Leng Sokleap said yesterday that she had tried to escape from the training centre on Sunday because staff members had refused to allow her to visit her family.
“The company owner does not allow anyone in the company to leave because he is afraid the workers won’t come back,” she said.
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Phnom Penh Post
OFFICIALS have launched an investigation into a labour firm after one of its clients leaped from the second floor of a training centre in Sen Sok district and said she had been held there against her will.
The incident made VC Manpower Co the second firm registered with the Ministry of Labour to face scrutiny in a week.
Leng Sokleap said yesterday that she had tried to escape from the training centre on Sunday because staff members had refused to allow her to visit her family.
“The company owner does not allow anyone in the company to leave because he is afraid the workers won’t come back,” she said.
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Monday, July 19, 2010
Migrants freed after deportation
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
STUNG Treng province officials released 19 Cambodians who were deported from Laos last week, and the man accused of attempting to smuggle them into Thailand has been sent to the provincial court for investigation, officials said yesterday.
Sun Leang, chief of the provincial Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Bureau, said the 19 would-be migrant workers, who each paid the broker 50,000 riels (US$11.80) to ensure their safe passage, were re-educated before their release.
He added that a further seven Cambodians remained on the run and had perhaps already made it to Thailand. “Cambodian and Lao authorities are searching for them to bring back to Cambodia,” he said.
He said provincial officials arrested a broker allegedly engaging in similar practices earlier in the month, along with another in May. He added that he believed migrants were increasingly being routed through Laos in response to steeper bribes charged by officials at the Poipet crossing in Banteay Meanchey province.
“Now, most people change their behaviour when crossing the border,” he said. “Before, they travelled through Poipet, but they have to spend more money.”
Hou Sam Ol, provincial monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said the 19 Cambodians likely had no other employment options apart from those
in Thailand, and called on officials to create more jobs in Cambodia.
Phnom Penh Post
STUNG Treng province officials released 19 Cambodians who were deported from Laos last week, and the man accused of attempting to smuggle them into Thailand has been sent to the provincial court for investigation, officials said yesterday.
Sun Leang, chief of the provincial Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Bureau, said the 19 would-be migrant workers, who each paid the broker 50,000 riels (US$11.80) to ensure their safe passage, were re-educated before their release.
He added that a further seven Cambodians remained on the run and had perhaps already made it to Thailand. “Cambodian and Lao authorities are searching for them to bring back to Cambodia,” he said.
He said provincial officials arrested a broker allegedly engaging in similar practices earlier in the month, along with another in May. He added that he believed migrants were increasingly being routed through Laos in response to steeper bribes charged by officials at the Poipet crossing in Banteay Meanchey province.
“Now, most people change their behaviour when crossing the border,” he said. “Before, they travelled through Poipet, but they have to spend more money.”
Hou Sam Ol, provincial monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said the 19 Cambodians likely had no other employment options apart from those
in Thailand, and called on officials to create more jobs in Cambodia.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Garment workers in capital wind up strikes
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
More than 2,000 workers from the United Imperial Cambodia garment factory in Sen Sok district will return to work today following a two-day strike after factory managers reinstated four union leaders fired earlier this month, workers said. “The factory officials fired four of us without any reason,” said Sous Chantha, one of the terminated workers. Around 8,000 workers from at least two factories also restarted work yesterday after striking for two days while demanding increased wages. Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, said he will meet with the Garment Manufacturers’ Association in Cambodia to discuss their concerns today.
Phnom Penh Post
More than 2,000 workers from the United Imperial Cambodia garment factory in Sen Sok district will return to work today following a two-day strike after factory managers reinstated four union leaders fired earlier this month, workers said. “The factory officials fired four of us without any reason,” said Sous Chantha, one of the terminated workers. Around 8,000 workers from at least two factories also restarted work yesterday after striking for two days while demanding increased wages. Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, said he will meet with the Garment Manufacturers’ Association in Cambodia to discuss their concerns today.
Ex-garment workers at risk in sex industry
Daniel Pordes and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
LAID-OFF garment factory workers who have entered the entertainment sector are at increased risk of on-the-job violence, alcohol abuse and HIV/AIDS, according to a new study assessing the impact of the global economic downturn on the Cambodian garment industry.
The study, released yesterday by the International Labour Organisation, is based on interviews with 16 ex-factory workers who were laid off during the economic crisis and took jobs as hostesses and sex workers in Phnom Penh to supplement their income.
“All women interviewed had experienced some form of workplace abuse – ranging from verbal abuse to serious physical and sexual assault,” the report states.
One of the interviewees, identified as Sotha, a 23-year-old from Prey Veng province, said that as a waitress she was threatened at gunpoint by a customer who wanted to have sex with her. Despite this, Sotha said she was not deterred from eventually moving into sex work.
After losing her job in 2009 another woman, 26-year-old Battambang native Phary, found work in a karaoke bar and soon started supplementing her income with prostitution, which allowed her to help pay for her mother’s medical treatment.
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Phnom Penh Post
LAID-OFF garment factory workers who have entered the entertainment sector are at increased risk of on-the-job violence, alcohol abuse and HIV/AIDS, according to a new study assessing the impact of the global economic downturn on the Cambodian garment industry.
The study, released yesterday by the International Labour Organisation, is based on interviews with 16 ex-factory workers who were laid off during the economic crisis and took jobs as hostesses and sex workers in Phnom Penh to supplement their income.
“All women interviewed had experienced some form of workplace abuse – ranging from verbal abuse to serious physical and sexual assault,” the report states.
One of the interviewees, identified as Sotha, a 23-year-old from Prey Veng province, said that as a waitress she was threatened at gunpoint by a customer who wanted to have sex with her. Despite this, Sotha said she was not deterred from eventually moving into sex work.
After losing her job in 2009 another woman, 26-year-old Battambang native Phary, found work in a karaoke bar and soon started supplementing her income with prostitution, which allowed her to help pay for her mother’s medical treatment.
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Thursday, July 15, 2010
Laos repatriated Cambodian pair
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
LAOTIAN authorities have repatriated two Cambodian men who were arrested on suspicion of crossing the border illegally into Laos’s Champasak province and attacking a group of border guards, Cambodian officials said yesterday.
Hang Hau, 29, and Sim Soeun, 34, were detained by Laotian authorities after crossing the border in April. Another man, Preaing Sokha, 27, was shot and killed in the crossing.
Laos arrested four Cambodians in March, also for crossing the border illegally, but they were immediately released.
Stung Treng provincial Governor Loy Sophat said in April that all seven men had committed “an illegal act” by crossing into Laos. “They brought along some illegal drugs and machetes, as well.”
Deputy provincial police Chief Phiv Vongdoeun said yesterday that the two men were sent back to Cambodia in “early June” as a result of negotiations between the two countries.
“Laotian authorities agreed to return the two Cambodian men without receiving any money for sending them back,” he said.
“There are no Cambodian people detained in Laos anymore, and provincial authorities have urged people not to cross the border to cut trees.”
Phnom Penh Post
LAOTIAN authorities have repatriated two Cambodian men who were arrested on suspicion of crossing the border illegally into Laos’s Champasak province and attacking a group of border guards, Cambodian officials said yesterday.
Hang Hau, 29, and Sim Soeun, 34, were detained by Laotian authorities after crossing the border in April. Another man, Preaing Sokha, 27, was shot and killed in the crossing.
Laos arrested four Cambodians in March, also for crossing the border illegally, but they were immediately released.
Stung Treng provincial Governor Loy Sophat said in April that all seven men had committed “an illegal act” by crossing into Laos. “They brought along some illegal drugs and machetes, as well.”
Deputy provincial police Chief Phiv Vongdoeun said yesterday that the two men were sent back to Cambodia in “early June” as a result of negotiations between the two countries.
“Laotian authorities agreed to return the two Cambodian men without receiving any money for sending them back,” he said.
“There are no Cambodian people detained in Laos anymore, and provincial authorities have urged people not to cross the border to cut trees.”
Expansion of labour firm OK’d after raid
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A LABOUR-RECRUITMENT firm that was the target of a raid earlier this week has been given permission to expand in order to better accommodate its clients, officials said yesterday.
Police in Russey Keo district’s Chroy Changvar commune on Monday discovered 232 women and girls crammed into three villas belonging to the Champa Manpower Group.
On Tuesday, Deputy District Governor Ly Rosami called for an investigation of the firm, saying its clients – who had paid to participate in three months of training for jobs as domestic helpers in Malaysia – had been corralled into unsanitary rooms and denied freedom of movement.
A company representative said, however, that only a few women who had threatened to break their contracts had been prohibited from leaving.
Officials from City Hall, the Labour Ministry and the Interior Ministry’s Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau visited the villas yesterday and determined that the company’s facilities were far too small.
“We will give the company owner a chance to make the place bigger, and I will come back to check it again,” said Keo Thea, director of the municipal Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Bureau. “If he does what he’s promised and expands the house, we will not close the company.”
Keo Thea added that the company had a licence to send workers overseas. Workers who decide not to go abroad, he said, will be permitted to leave the villas once they reimburse the company for the expense of securing them visas for Malaysia and feeding them during the training.
Phnom Penh Post
A LABOUR-RECRUITMENT firm that was the target of a raid earlier this week has been given permission to expand in order to better accommodate its clients, officials said yesterday.
Police in Russey Keo district’s Chroy Changvar commune on Monday discovered 232 women and girls crammed into three villas belonging to the Champa Manpower Group.
On Tuesday, Deputy District Governor Ly Rosami called for an investigation of the firm, saying its clients – who had paid to participate in three months of training for jobs as domestic helpers in Malaysia – had been corralled into unsanitary rooms and denied freedom of movement.
A company representative said, however, that only a few women who had threatened to break their contracts had been prohibited from leaving.
Officials from City Hall, the Labour Ministry and the Interior Ministry’s Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau visited the villas yesterday and determined that the company’s facilities were far too small.
“We will give the company owner a chance to make the place bigger, and I will come back to check it again,” said Keo Thea, director of the municipal Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Bureau. “If he does what he’s promised and expands the house, we will not close the company.”
Keo Thea added that the company had a licence to send workers overseas. Workers who decide not to go abroad, he said, will be permitted to leave the villas once they reimburse the company for the expense of securing them visas for Malaysia and feeding them during the training.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Union leader to seek permission for rally
Mom Kunthear and Chrann Chamroeun
Phnom Penh Post
A PROMINENT union leader said yesterday that he would submit an official request to City Hall for permission to hold a large-scale gathering of workers concerned about a recently approved rise in the minimum wage.
Ath Thun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union and head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said the letter would be sent this morning, and that the gathering was expected to take place on July 25 in the park near Wat Botum.
Last Thursday, the Labour Advisory Committee voted to increase the minimum wage of garment workers by US$5 and to incorporate a $6 cost of living supplement into the basic wage, thereby raising it from $50 to $61.
Despite having criticised the decision when it was announced, union leader Chea Mony, who earlier called for a three-day sit-down strike over the minimum wage issue, said on Sunday that he would not organise a strike.
Ath Thun said he planned to distribute 100,000 fliers in advance of the July 25 meeting, which he said he hoped would allow him to gauge how workers felt about the Labour Advisory Committee decision.
If enough of them find the proposed minimum wage insufficient, he will organise a strike himself, he said.
“I haven’t set the date for a strike yet because I don’t know how many of the workers agree and how many don’t agree,” he said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said City Hall is empowered to permit or forbid the proposed large-scale gathering. “If the municipality allows it, our police officials will not have any motive to crack down on a peaceful demonstration,” he said.
Phnom Penh Post
A PROMINENT union leader said yesterday that he would submit an official request to City Hall for permission to hold a large-scale gathering of workers concerned about a recently approved rise in the minimum wage.
Ath Thun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union and head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said the letter would be sent this morning, and that the gathering was expected to take place on July 25 in the park near Wat Botum.
Last Thursday, the Labour Advisory Committee voted to increase the minimum wage of garment workers by US$5 and to incorporate a $6 cost of living supplement into the basic wage, thereby raising it from $50 to $61.
Despite having criticised the decision when it was announced, union leader Chea Mony, who earlier called for a three-day sit-down strike over the minimum wage issue, said on Sunday that he would not organise a strike.
Ath Thun said he planned to distribute 100,000 fliers in advance of the July 25 meeting, which he said he hoped would allow him to gauge how workers felt about the Labour Advisory Committee decision.
If enough of them find the proposed minimum wage insufficient, he will organise a strike himself, he said.
“I haven’t set the date for a strike yet because I don’t know how many of the workers agree and how many don’t agree,” he said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said City Hall is empowered to permit or forbid the proposed large-scale gathering. “If the municipality allows it, our police officials will not have any motive to crack down on a peaceful demonstration,” he said.
Employment firm under scrutiny
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A DISTRICT official said yesterday that she plans to ask City Hall and the Labour Ministry to investigate a company accused of forcing more than 200 would-be migrant workers to live in squalid conditions in Russey Keo district.
Police discovered the 232 women and girls, who were being trained to work as domestic helpers in Malaysia, during a police raid on three villas in Chroy Changvar commune owned by the Champa Manpower Group.
District Deputy Chief Ly Rosami said local authorities were tipped off to the presence of the workers by people living next to the villas, who said they had found a note dropped out of a window by one of the allegedly detained workers. “There were 232 workers locked in the rooms in the three different houses,” Ly Rosami said.
She added that although the company was legally registered to train and send workers to Malaysia, it might have broken the law.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
A DISTRICT official said yesterday that she plans to ask City Hall and the Labour Ministry to investigate a company accused of forcing more than 200 would-be migrant workers to live in squalid conditions in Russey Keo district.
Police discovered the 232 women and girls, who were being trained to work as domestic helpers in Malaysia, during a police raid on three villas in Chroy Changvar commune owned by the Champa Manpower Group.
District Deputy Chief Ly Rosami said local authorities were tipped off to the presence of the workers by people living next to the villas, who said they had found a note dropped out of a window by one of the allegedly detained workers. “There were 232 workers locked in the rooms in the three different houses,” Ly Rosami said.
She added that although the company was legally registered to train and send workers to Malaysia, it might have broken the law.
Read More
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Labour leader calls off strike
Mom Kunthear and Kim Yuthana
Phnom Penh PostLABOUR leader Chea Mony announced yesterday that he was abandoning plans for a three-day strike against a newly approved garment sector minimum wage increase.
In a meeting of 125 worker representatives of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Chea Mony, the union’s president, said the planned strike, which was to start tomorrow, would not go forward.
Last Thursday, he slammed the decision by the Labour Advisory Committee to institute what amounted to an $11 bump in the minimum wage – an increase that some union leaders have said was not enough to meet workers’ needs.
Yesterday, however, he said he found the increase acceptable.
“I agreed with the government’s decision to approve a minimum wage increase for workers,” Chea Mony said Sunday. “My workers can accept this wage as well.”
Read More
Panel puts off delivery of draft acid law
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A GOVERNMENT committee tasked with formulating a law to curb acid crimes decided to delay sending its final draft to the Council of Ministers, its deputy director said yesterday.
Ouk Kimlek, who is also an undersecretary of state at the Interior Ministry, said last month that he expected the committee to finalise the draft law and send it to the Council of Ministers before July 1. Yesterday, however, he said that although the draft had been completed, committee members wanted more time to reconsider specific provisions before sending it off.
In particular, he said the committee wanted to make sure the stiff sentences outlined in the draft – early versions of which called for maximum sentences of life imprisonment for serious acid crimes – were defensible. “To have a good law, we cannot spend a short time to do it because we don’t want to see this law have problems after it is approved, maybe because it lacks some points or it is not a complete law,” he said.
He cited as an example the proposed sentence of 10 years for intentional battery with acid, which is eight years longer than the current baseline sentence for intentional battery.
“Why is this law different from the others when it is the same charge? So that’s why we need to develop good reasons to support our law in order to protect it,” he said.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
A GOVERNMENT committee tasked with formulating a law to curb acid crimes decided to delay sending its final draft to the Council of Ministers, its deputy director said yesterday.
Ouk Kimlek, who is also an undersecretary of state at the Interior Ministry, said last month that he expected the committee to finalise the draft law and send it to the Council of Ministers before July 1. Yesterday, however, he said that although the draft had been completed, committee members wanted more time to reconsider specific provisions before sending it off.
In particular, he said the committee wanted to make sure the stiff sentences outlined in the draft – early versions of which called for maximum sentences of life imprisonment for serious acid crimes – were defensible. “To have a good law, we cannot spend a short time to do it because we don’t want to see this law have problems after it is approved, maybe because it lacks some points or it is not a complete law,” he said.
He cited as an example the proposed sentence of 10 years for intentional battery with acid, which is eight years longer than the current baseline sentence for intentional battery.
“Why is this law different from the others when it is the same charge? So that’s why we need to develop good reasons to support our law in order to protect it,” he said.
Read More
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Minimum wage ruling set to spark garment protests
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
LABOUR officials have voted to boost the monthly minimum wage for garment workers by US$11, a figure that falls far short of what some major unions were demanding – prompting fresh warnings that a large-scale strike will be held next week.
During a meeting of the Labour Advisory Committee on Thursday, a panel of officials, factory representatives and union leaders voted to increase the minimum wage by $5. They also endorsed a plan to meld the existing $6 cost of living supplement into the basic wage, thereby raising the minimum wage from $50 per month to $61.
Labour Minister Vong Soth said the new wage would go into effect in October and remain in place until 2014.
“It was not approved only by the government, but agreed on by employees and unions,” he said.
Going into the meeting, some unionists had demanded wages ranging from $70 to $93. Last month, Chea Mony, head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, threatened to stage a three-day strike starting July 13 if his demand of $70 was not met.
After the decision Thursday, Chea Mony said the strike plan remained in place.
“I cannot accept the $61 that the government approved,” he said. “My stance is the same. I will hold a protest strike on the same day to demand a minimum wage increase to $70.”
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
LABOUR officials have voted to boost the monthly minimum wage for garment workers by US$11, a figure that falls far short of what some major unions were demanding – prompting fresh warnings that a large-scale strike will be held next week.
During a meeting of the Labour Advisory Committee on Thursday, a panel of officials, factory representatives and union leaders voted to increase the minimum wage by $5. They also endorsed a plan to meld the existing $6 cost of living supplement into the basic wage, thereby raising the minimum wage from $50 per month to $61.
Labour Minister Vong Soth said the new wage would go into effect in October and remain in place until 2014.
“It was not approved only by the government, but agreed on by employees and unions,” he said.
Going into the meeting, some unionists had demanded wages ranging from $70 to $93. Last month, Chea Mony, head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, threatened to stage a three-day strike starting July 13 if his demand of $70 was not met.
After the decision Thursday, Chea Mony said the strike plan remained in place.
“I cannot accept the $61 that the government approved,” he said. “My stance is the same. I will hold a protest strike on the same day to demand a minimum wage increase to $70.”
Read More
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Elephants set for travel
Sam Rith
Phnom Penh Post
CAMBODIA is to officially hand over two elephants to South Korea today, a move one official said was intended to express Prime Minister Hun Sen’s appreciation of the two countries’ friendship.
Chheng Kim Sun, director of the Forestry Administration, said the elephants would be given to South Korea during a ceremony at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre in Kandal province.
“This is the first time we have offered elephants to South Korea,” he said, and added that a sign would be displayed at the zoo stating that the pachyderms “are a present from Samdech Hun Sen to South Korea for friendship and for all children”.
Phnom Penh Post
CAMBODIA is to officially hand over two elephants to South Korea today, a move one official said was intended to express Prime Minister Hun Sen’s appreciation of the two countries’ friendship.
Chheng Kim Sun, director of the Forestry Administration, said the elephants would be given to South Korea during a ceremony at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre in Kandal province.
“This is the first time we have offered elephants to South Korea,” he said, and added that a sign would be displayed at the zoo stating that the pachyderms “are a present from Samdech Hun Sen to South Korea for friendship and for all children”.
Six-month Indian ordeal ends for migrant workers
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
EIGHT Cambodian men believed to have been trafficked to India arrived at Phnom Penh International Airport yesterday morning after spending six months in an Indian detention centre.
The workers reportedly left Cambodia last September to find jobs in Thailand, having struck a deal with a broker who promised them fake Thai visas, passage across the border and construction work on the other side.
“I was cheated,” one of the returned workers, 19-year-old Song Pheakdey, said yesterday. “We were kept on the boat in Thailand for 28 days before we were brought illegally to India.”
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Phnom Penh Post
EIGHT Cambodian men believed to have been trafficked to India arrived at Phnom Penh International Airport yesterday morning after spending six months in an Indian detention centre.
The workers reportedly left Cambodia last September to find jobs in Thailand, having struck a deal with a broker who promised them fake Thai visas, passage across the border and construction work on the other side.
“I was cheated,” one of the returned workers, 19-year-old Song Pheakdey, said yesterday. “We were kept on the boat in Thailand for 28 days before we were brought illegally to India.”
Read More
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
VN beautician charged over botched surgery
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
Phnom Penh Municipal Court has charged an unlicensed Vietnamese beautician with intentional battery after one of his clients accused him of botching a skin-whitening procedure, a police official said on Sunday. Huot Chanyaran, the police chief of Tuol Kork district, said 26-year-old Veng Vuththai, who was arrested last week, had been sent to Prey Sar prison after the court processed him. “We sent him to the court last week, and the court already charged him with intentional battery. He has been sent to Prey Sar prison,” he said. The complaint filed by the victim accused Veng Vuththai of giving her injections of “skin-whitening cream” that had caused her face to become swollen and painful. Court officials could not be reached yesterday.
Phnom Penh Post
Phnom Penh Municipal Court has charged an unlicensed Vietnamese beautician with intentional battery after one of his clients accused him of botching a skin-whitening procedure, a police official said on Sunday. Huot Chanyaran, the police chief of Tuol Kork district, said 26-year-old Veng Vuththai, who was arrested last week, had been sent to Prey Sar prison after the court processed him. “We sent him to the court last week, and the court already charged him with intentional battery. He has been sent to Prey Sar prison,” he said. The complaint filed by the victim accused Veng Vuththai of giving her injections of “skin-whitening cream” that had caused her face to become swollen and painful. Court officials could not be reached yesterday.
Factory closes down as workers pass out
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
AUTHORITIES ordered the temporary closure of a garment factory in the capital’s Meanchey district yesterday after 47 of its employees fainted while working.
Tep Bora, the chief of Boeung Tumpun commune, said 22 workers at the Pine Great (Cambodia) Garments factory collapsed on Friday, followed by 25 more on Saturday.
“We have decided to postpone [the operations of] the Pine Great factory for a period until they find the reason those workers fainted,” he said yesterday.
He added that a further 50 workers had reported headaches after shifts at the factory.
Tep Bora said that those who suffered fainting spells recovered after being sent to the Cambodian-Russian Friendship Hospital and were resting at home.
“We do not know for sure whether they fainted because of the chemicals that preserve the clothes, because we are still investigating,” he said.
Pok Vanthat, director of the Occupational Health Department at the Ministry of Labour, said yesterday that his department had yet to investigate the incident, but denied chemicals were a likely cause.
“It could be caused by a variety of different reasons, such as the bad environment in the factory, shock from seeing other workers faint or not eating enough food with enough vitamins,” he said.
Factory managers and affected workers could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Phnom Penh Post
AUTHORITIES ordered the temporary closure of a garment factory in the capital’s Meanchey district yesterday after 47 of its employees fainted while working.
Tep Bora, the chief of Boeung Tumpun commune, said 22 workers at the Pine Great (Cambodia) Garments factory collapsed on Friday, followed by 25 more on Saturday.
“We have decided to postpone [the operations of] the Pine Great factory for a period until they find the reason those workers fainted,” he said yesterday.
He added that a further 50 workers had reported headaches after shifts at the factory.
Tep Bora said that those who suffered fainting spells recovered after being sent to the Cambodian-Russian Friendship Hospital and were resting at home.
“We do not know for sure whether they fainted because of the chemicals that preserve the clothes, because we are still investigating,” he said.
Pok Vanthat, director of the Occupational Health Department at the Ministry of Labour, said yesterday that his department had yet to investigate the incident, but denied chemicals were a likely cause.
“It could be caused by a variety of different reasons, such as the bad environment in the factory, shock from seeing other workers faint or not eating enough food with enough vitamins,” he said.
Factory managers and affected workers could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Film gives Brother Number 2 a voice
James O'Toole
Phnom Penh Post
WHEN did you realise that villagers were being killed?” an elderly Nuon Chea is asked, sitting at his home in Pailin province.
“I can’t really remember the exact moment,” he responds. “I just went on with my work and didn’t jot it down.”
These remarks come in Enemies of the People, a new documentary set to premiere in Cambodia this month, and they are typical of the filmmakers’ interviews with Nuon Chea.
The candour and unapologetic tone with which the former Democratic Kampuchea Brother No 2 discusses his role in the regime are among the most striking elements of the film, and some observers say they may alter the course of proceedings against him in the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s second case.
Enemies of the People has been showing at film festivals around the world for the past few months to critical acclaim, winning the Nestor Almendros Award for courage in filmmaking at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York last month. Cambodian Co-director Thet Sambath, who also works as a senior reporter for the Post, says it is set to premiere at Phnom Penh’s Meta House gallery on July 21, just five days before the reading of the verdict in Case 001, that of Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
WHEN did you realise that villagers were being killed?” an elderly Nuon Chea is asked, sitting at his home in Pailin province.
“I can’t really remember the exact moment,” he responds. “I just went on with my work and didn’t jot it down.”
These remarks come in Enemies of the People, a new documentary set to premiere in Cambodia this month, and they are typical of the filmmakers’ interviews with Nuon Chea.
The candour and unapologetic tone with which the former Democratic Kampuchea Brother No 2 discusses his role in the regime are among the most striking elements of the film, and some observers say they may alter the course of proceedings against him in the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s second case.
Enemies of the People has been showing at film festivals around the world for the past few months to critical acclaim, winning the Nestor Almendros Award for courage in filmmaking at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York last month. Cambodian Co-director Thet Sambath, who also works as a senior reporter for the Post, says it is set to premiere at Phnom Penh’s Meta House gallery on July 21, just five days before the reading of the verdict in Case 001, that of Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav.
Read More
Guards thwart Pursat jailbreak
Mom Kunthear and May Titthara
Phnom Penh Post
A GROUP of 10 inmates has attempted to escape from a new prison in Pursat province that operates a vocational training programme aimed at teaching inmates agricultural skills, its director said Thursday.
Hin Sophal said the incident marked the second escape attempt at Correctional Centre 4 since it opened last year as part of a broader initiative to combat prison overcrowding. In March, the facility – designed to house 2,500 prisoners on 846 hectares of land – began growing sugarcane, rubber trees and potatoes as part of the vocational programme, which has been hailed as a potential model for reducing recidivism.
On Sunday, Hin Sophal said, the 10 prisoners – all of whom are between 19 and 23 and serving sentences for robbery or theft – began “to fight each other without reason” in their shared cell. Prison guards eventually broke up the fight and locked the prisoners in a room together.
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Phnom Penh Post
A GROUP of 10 inmates has attempted to escape from a new prison in Pursat province that operates a vocational training programme aimed at teaching inmates agricultural skills, its director said Thursday.
Hin Sophal said the incident marked the second escape attempt at Correctional Centre 4 since it opened last year as part of a broader initiative to combat prison overcrowding. In March, the facility – designed to house 2,500 prisoners on 846 hectares of land – began growing sugarcane, rubber trees and potatoes as part of the vocational programme, which has been hailed as a potential model for reducing recidivism.
On Sunday, Hin Sophal said, the 10 prisoners – all of whom are between 19 and 23 and serving sentences for robbery or theft – began “to fight each other without reason” in their shared cell. Prison guards eventually broke up the fight and locked the prisoners in a room together.
Read More
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Domestic violence ‘tolerated’: survey
Brooke Lewis and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
MORE than half of Cambodian men and women believe a husband would be justified in shooting, stabbing or throwing acid at his wife if she were disrespectful or argumentative, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
The Violence Against Women: 2009 Follow-up Survey was conducted to assess how the level of awareness of domestic violence issues has changed since a baseline survey was conducted in 2005. The new survey draws from interviews with 3,040 “members of the general public” – a population selected to be nationally representative – as well as 311 police officers and local officials.
Samantha Ferrell, young professional for the promotion of women’s rights at the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), a German-funded aid group that contributed to the survey, said the results pointed to some improvements, but that domestic violence “is still widely accepted, justified and tolerated”.
One particularly encouraging finding, she said, was that “almost all” respondents were aware of the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of Victims. “This is a very big success,” she said.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
MORE than half of Cambodian men and women believe a husband would be justified in shooting, stabbing or throwing acid at his wife if she were disrespectful or argumentative, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
The Violence Against Women: 2009 Follow-up Survey was conducted to assess how the level of awareness of domestic violence issues has changed since a baseline survey was conducted in 2005. The new survey draws from interviews with 3,040 “members of the general public” – a population selected to be nationally representative – as well as 311 police officers and local officials.
Samantha Ferrell, young professional for the promotion of women’s rights at the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), a German-funded aid group that contributed to the survey, said the results pointed to some improvements, but that domestic violence “is still widely accepted, justified and tolerated”.
One particularly encouraging finding, she said, was that “almost all” respondents were aware of the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of Victims. “This is a very big success,” she said.
Read More
Skin Scare: Unlicenced beautician questioned
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A 26-year-old Vietnamese unlicenced beautician was questioned at Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday morning after one of his clients accused him of botching a skin-whitening procedure, a police official said. Sin Bunri, the police chief of Sen Sok district’s Toek Thla commune, said his officers arrested the man on Monday after the woman filed a complaint with them. The complaint said the man had given her injections of “skin-whitening cream”, and that her face had then become swollen and painful. The victim said she had consented to the procedure in the hope of whitening her complexion and concealing a bruise, he added. “When we arrested the man, we found two injection needles, cream and some products on him,” Sun Bunri said. “We asked him what kind of products he used, but he would not tell us because he was afraid that we would copy him and go into business.” In early March, a 23-year-old woman in Banteay Meanchey province died after overusing a skin-whitening cream made in Vietnam. Shorly thereafter, Prime Minister Hun Sen urged women to avoid such products and to preserve their “natural beauty”.
Phnom Penh Post
A 26-year-old Vietnamese unlicenced beautician was questioned at Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday morning after one of his clients accused him of botching a skin-whitening procedure, a police official said. Sin Bunri, the police chief of Sen Sok district’s Toek Thla commune, said his officers arrested the man on Monday after the woman filed a complaint with them. The complaint said the man had given her injections of “skin-whitening cream”, and that her face had then become swollen and painful. The victim said she had consented to the procedure in the hope of whitening her complexion and concealing a bruise, he added. “When we arrested the man, we found two injection needles, cream and some products on him,” Sun Bunri said. “We asked him what kind of products he used, but he would not tell us because he was afraid that we would copy him and go into business.” In early March, a 23-year-old woman in Banteay Meanchey province died after overusing a skin-whitening cream made in Vietnam. Shorly thereafter, Prime Minister Hun Sen urged women to avoid such products and to preserve their “natural beauty”.
Acid Rumour: Police free accused mother
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
Military police in Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet town on Wednesday released a woman who an official said had been wrongly accused of pouring acid on her 2-year-old son. The 36-year-old woman was allowed to return home after being arrested on Tuesday at a market close to the Thai border and detained overnight for questioning by police, said Ork Borin, deputy provincial military police commander. “There was a rumour that the mother had doused acid on her child, but in fact her son had the burn mark from an unrelated injury suffered a year ago,” he said.
Phnom Penh Post
Military police in Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet town on Wednesday released a woman who an official said had been wrongly accused of pouring acid on her 2-year-old son. The 36-year-old woman was allowed to return home after being arrested on Tuesday at a market close to the Thai border and detained overnight for questioning by police, said Ork Borin, deputy provincial military police commander. “There was a rumour that the mother had doused acid on her child, but in fact her son had the burn mark from an unrelated injury suffered a year ago,” he said.
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