Thailand expels Khmer Krom asylum seekers: rights groups

Friday, 20 March 2009
Written by Brendan Brady and Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

Rights workers say group was trucked out of Thailand after UN officials previously intervened to secure release of others

FOLLOWING the release Monday of 19 Khmer Krom refugees from a Bangkok prison, the seven remaining in detention were abruptly expelled from the country under suspicious circumstances, according to local rights activists.
Ang Chanrith, head of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Human Rights Organization, said seven Khmer Krom political refugees were shuttled to the Poipet border crossing in Banteay Meanchey province in the middle of the night Thursday.

The original group of 19 Khmer Krom, who hold refugee documents from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), were released after the UN office petitioned Thai officials to recognise them as legitimate asylum seekers, he said. Ang Chanrith has been working on the case with UN officials in Bangkok and Phnom Penh.

Members of the group released Monday had contacted him early Thursday morning to warn of the departure of the seven left in detention, who were recent arrivals to Bangkok and therefore had not yet been registered with the UNHCR, he said.

"We are concerned they could be taken back to Vietnam," he said.

Escaping the past

Ang Chanrith said all 26 people had fled Vietnam after they feared imprisonment at the hands of authorities there following public demonstrations against limits on their freedom of culture, religion and speech.

Rights groups and Khmer Krom activists have accused the Vietnamese and Cambodian governments of engaging in a persistent and often violent campaign to stifle the rights and distinct identity of the Khmer ethnic group originating from what is now Vietnam's southern Delta.

Hun Hean, provincial police chief of Banteay Meanchey, said he had not heard about the incident, adding that between 100 and 200 illegal Khmer immigrants were turned over by Thai authorities at the border each day.

Suong Sopheap, a program officer with the Cambodian Women's Crisis Centre in Banteay Meanchey, said his staff had attempted to track the whereabouts of the group without success.

"We have staff remaining in Poipet who are continuing to monitor the situation," he said.

Christophe Peschoux, head of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights in Phnom Penh, said his office was following the case but had not been in contact with the group.

"It's a very tricky situation for Khmer Krom in Cambodia," he said. "Even if the government gives them citizenship, if they agitate from Cambodia it could create tension between the Cambodian and Vietnamese governments; and Cambodia could be pressured to prevent it or hand them over to Vietnamese authorities."

The government has said all Khmer Krom are entitled to Cambodian citizenship, but Khmer Krom activists and rights groups say their status as Cambodians is ambiguous and can be stricken at the whim of the state.

KPNLF commemoration

Prince Norodom Ranariddh inspects a monument to KPNLF resistance fighters Thursday in Kandal province. (Photo by: BRENDAN BRADY)
Son Soubert (left), son of the Front's founder, prays as Ranariddh lays a wreath on a monument to the movement's fallen soldiers. (Photo by: Brendan Brady)

Friday, 06 March 2009
Written by Brendan Brady and Kouth Sophak Chakrya
The Phnom Penh Post

"Vietnamese troops did not invade Cambodia ... They came to help Cambodia from the Pol Pot regime - we should be thankful to the Vietnamese." - CPP MP "Chom Chea Yap" aka "Cheam Yeap"

Former border resistance leaders stand by antagonism towards Vietnamese.

A WHO'S who of anti-Vietnamese leaders of the 1980s gathered at a stupa in Kandal province Thursday to commemorate resistance fighters who had died as part of the movement's effort to expel the foreign power.

The Khmer National Liberation Front (KPNLF) was one of the main resistance groups to emerge along the Thai border following the fall of the
Khmer Rouge by Vietnamese forces and their subsequent administrative takeover of Cambodia.
Former KPNLF army and political leaders inaugurated a monument with inscriptions of the names of resistance fighters who died between 1979 and 1991 at a ceremony in Kien Svay district.

Chuor Kim Meng, who had been a lieutenant general for the movement's military wing, said the resistance helped push the Vietnamese out and forced the local officials it had installed to accept multiparty democracy.

"If not for these fighters, Vietnam may have continued to occupy Cambodia," he said.

Dien Del, former chief of staff of the group's army, said the event "preserve the memory of those who died expelling the Vietnamese occupiers".

Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the guest of honour, praised the resistance. "I have never forgotten its fighters who died," he said. He, too, described the Vietnamese troops in Cambodia at that time as "invaders" and "occupiers".

While there was no official condemnation from the government, the commemoration should have proved controversial as the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) evolved from the People's Revolutionary Party of Kampuchea (PRPK), the regime that governed Cambodia under the control of Vietnamese forces.

KR alliance necessary

Son Soubert, son of Son Sann, founder and former president of the KPNLF and himself a participant in the movement's administration, said he had sent a letter of invitation to Prime Minister Hun Sen, Senate President Chea Sim and Deputy Prime Minister Sok An. Only Chea Sim responded, saying he had other obligations.

Cheam Yeap, a senior CPP lawmaker, criticised the KPNLF for characterizing the Vietnamese as enemies.

"Vietnamese troops did not invade Cambodia," he told the Post by phone. "They came to help Cambodia from the Pol Pot regime - we should be thankful to the Vietnamese."

The exit of Vietnamese forces in 1989 came about not from resistance pressure from the border but because the PRPK was ready to rule on its own, he contended.

Opposition party representatives present at the ceremony, however, insisted the Front's cause was righteous and attributed the exit of Vietnam to its efforts.

"They fought for our freedom and sovereignty - that represents Khmer nationalism at its purest," said Human Rights Party President Kem Sokha.

Sam Rainsy Party spokesman Son Chhay had been the KPNLF's representative in southern Australia, where he was based then. "Without the resistance from the border, we would not have had the Paris Peace Accords," he said.

Nationalism first

The KPNLF started in 1979, recruiting some of the hundreds of thousands of Cambodian refugees seeking sanctuary along the border with Thailand.

Its key figures had held prominent positions in the administrations of Sihanouk and right-wing general Lon Nol, and were unified in their opposition to communism and to the presence of Vietnamese forces in the country.

The Front was seen by the US and other Western allies as the most reliably anti-communist and pro-Western group in Cambodia.

In its effort to drive out the Vietnamese, the Front struck an awkward alliance with remnants of the Khmer Rouge. In 1982 the KPNLF entered the tripartite Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea.

The new coalition included the Party of Democratic Kampuchea, a splinter group of the defeated Khmer Rouge led by Khieu Samphan, and the royalist resistance movement known as Funcinpec, and represented Cambodia at the United Nations.

For the former leaders of the Front, the alliance with their ideological counterparts was a necessary evil.

"Son Sann always said the country is more important than the party or faction," said Pol Ham, who had been the Front's Information Minister.

"We hated the Khmer Rouge, but at that time we had to prioritise - and the foreign occupiers were the first enemy. We formed a coalition but kept our own identity."

Son Soubert was adamant the Front had never "joined" the Khmer Rouge.

"We were forced to enter a temporary coalition to achieve our goals," he said.

Funcinpec Senator Sabu Bacha, a former general of the Front's army, said the dire circumstances required divisions among Cambodians be put aside "so first we could expel foreign troops from our soil".

Judging the Khmer Rouge Tribunal dress

Amputed former soldier's pastime

Cambodian legs amputee Pov, 48, smokes marijuana at his home in Prey Tapork village, Kandal province, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, March 2, 2009. Pov was amputee in 1994 while he was a soldier fighting with Khmer Rouge. Cambodia’s genocide tribunal is scheduled to hold its full trial on March 30, 2009, of Kaing Guek Eav alias Duch, over the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime more than three decades ago. (Photo: Heng Sinith)

King Father of Cambodian

King Father's bequeathal of documents to France shows lack of trust

(Photo: AFP/File/Tang Chhin Sothy)

Without Immunity, Sam Rainsy Flies To Europe

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
03 March 2009

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy left the country Tuesday, to visit family and report on the suspension of his National Assembly immunity to the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Switzerland.

Sam Rainsy has been without immunity since a Feb. 26 vote to revoke it by the National Assembly’s Permanent Committee, after he failed to pay campaigning fines to the National Election Committee.

He has since paid the $2,500 in fines, which were levied for allegedly disparaging remarks made about the leaders of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party during election campaigning last year. However, his immunity remains in suspension.

Sam Rainsy said on Tuesday he would discuss the incident with European representatives of the IPU, an international body of parliamentarians.

The tortured ghosts of Phnom Penh photo

One of only three remaining survivors of S21 pointing at a photo of himself taken with the other survivors shortly after the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

Borei Sontapheap stands by his makeshift

Borei Sontapheap stands by his makeshift dwelling at a site near Phnom Penh, after being evicted from his home in the city centre. Jared Ferrie / The National

Poor boy looking at the photographer

Poor boy looking at the photographer with his style of dirty clothes.

Tribunal Courts Hold Meeting on Rules

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
02 March 2009

Judges and prosecutors of the Khmer Rouge tribunal began discussions Monday over amendments to the internal rules of the courts, aiming improve the process for trying jailed leaders of the regime.

A weeklong “plenary” session is held by tribunal officials every six months, and a statement from the courts said this one, their fifth, would look at a “significant number of proposed amendments” to the rules.“Many of these relate to pressing issues that need to be finalized to enable the court to fulfill its functions effectively,” Judge Kong Srim, president of the Supreme Court Chamber of the tribunal, said in opening remarks. “This plenary session is entrusted with a number of specific agenda items to discuss and decide as urgent matters.”

The rules were aimed at ensuring tribunal judges and prosecutors “extend justice fairly and skillfully,” Judge Silvia Cartwright, a Pre-Trial Chamber judge and deputy president of the plenary session, said in her remarks. They “will not allow corruption to interfere with the tribunal’s delivery of justice for the people of Cambodia.”

The plenary session opened amid media reports Monday that lawyers for Nuon Chea had requested the tribunal interview Prime Minister Hun Sen and former king Norodom Sihanouk, while requesting the testimony of Senate President Chea Sim and National Assembly President Heng Samrin for their service to the regime in the late 1970s.

Some Remain Skeptical of Tribunal Corruption [resolution]

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
02 March 2009

Amid heavy allegations of corruption that are risking further funding for the joint UN-Cambodia Khmer Rouge tribunal, officials have now established a mechanism to tackle future charges. But in the eyes of some US observers, this procedure remains ambiguous and inadequate.

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia have struggled under allegations that staff paid kickbacks to work at the tribunal, as well as mismanagement, in what worried observers claim could jeopardize justice for the victims of the Khmer Rouge.It took two meetings between the UN’s assistant secretary-general for legal affairs, Peter Taksoe-Jensen, and Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who is in charge of the tribunal, to establish two parallel complaints procedures—one international, one local—for handling further allegations. The UN and Cambodia will meet again before March 23 to finalize the agreement, officials said.

However, John Hall, an associate professor at Chapman University of Law, in Orange, Calif., said he was not encouraged by the new mechanism.

“The choice before the tribunal is quite clear: to proceed with the trials without adequately addressing the allegations of corruption and political influence risks tainting the entire process and casting a shadow over the trials,” he told VOA Khmer in a telephone interview. “The people of Cambodia deserve more; they deserve a court operating to international standards.”

Hall said it was “hard to say” say whether the new procedures would help the tribunal gain credibility.

“This may be the best that the UN is able to negotiate with the Cambodian government at this point, and donors will have to decide whether this new mechanism, however flawed, is adequate enough to justify greater funding,” Hall said. “I think the donors are eager for the tribunal to proceed, so will be looking for a justification to fund the trials. Should they, without a better complaints mechanism? Probably not.”

Although Cambodian officials at the Extraordinary Chambers have denied corruption exists and say the Cambodian side will not fall short on funding, donors have proven hesitant to forward money for a process perceived as flawed.

Hall made four suggestions for improving the tribunal’s credibility.

“First, limit opportunities for political interference in judicial decision-making, specifically, be open to the possibility of investigating additional suspects, not limit the number to the five defendants already named,” he said. “Second, create an independent investigation mechanism for accusations of wrongdoing. Third, ensure that human rights monitors, NGOs and reporters will be allowed to keep their whistleblower sources confidential. And fourth, ensure adequate whistleblower protections for those reporting wrongdoing.”

Only five aging leaders of the regime are so far in custody—Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Kaing Kev Iev—30 years after the fall of the regime.

Peter Maguire, author of "Facing Death in Cambodia," who has taught law and the theory of war, told VOA Khmer by telephone that the courts are operating under a shadow of doubt, thanks to a lack of transparency and basic budgetary accountability.

Meanwhile, continued delays could lead to the deaths of regime leaders before they go through trial, much like Slobodan Milosevic, the ex-Serbian leader who died in detention of a war crimes tribunal in 2006.

“If this court doesn’t move with a bit more urgency, they run the risk of becoming the Milosevic case No. 2,” Maguire said. “What good is procedural perfection if the defendants don’t live to see their trials? Perhaps that’s [Prime Minister] Hun Sen’s objective. Only time will tell.”

Mounting costs are hampering the credibility of the courts, along with unanswered questions over corruption, he said.

“Those in charge of the Khmer Rouge tribunal have already blown giant holes in their budget, yet expect the international community to keep writing checks,” Maguire said. “Releasing the UN’s report on corruption would be a good start [to gaining credibility], but it is already too late. Corruption, nepotism and graft are common in Cambodia. Why should the Khmer Rouge tribunal be any different?”

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath declined to comment on the corruption issue, referring questions to Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, headed by Sok An.

“There have been four or five times for national and international inspection, but no evidence of corruption found,” Phay Siphan said. He also said the new procedures agreed on late last month will not impact the process of the courts, and he denied political interference in court proceedings.

The senior UN legal affairs official, Taksoe-Jensen, speaking by phone from New York following negotiations in Cambodia over corruption reporting, said there had been some misconception and criticism over the new mechanism, but he said the goal was to address corruption and keep the process moving forward.

The “bottom line,” he told VOA Khmer, was “to create a mechanism whereby all the members of the staff can put forward the complaint about corruption” without fear of retaliation from the court. “It’s up to the donors to decide when the situation has been established whereby funds can be sent to the court again.”

Preparations Begin for April Border Meeting

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
02 March 2009

Officials for Thai and Cambodian border committees opened a two-day meeting in Phnom Penh Monday to organize an agenda for dialogue between the two countries in April.“We only prepared some documents for the border secretariat committee…meeting which will take place next month,” Neang Phat, secretary of state for the Ministry of Defense, told reporters after the meeting.

The meeting was closed to the press following brief opening remarks by officials early Monday.

The April meeting will include finding a joint compromise for the Preah Vihear standoff, following the meeting between both prime ministers last month, Neang Phat said. “We want to avoid clashes between the two militaries.”

Cambodian and Thailand each have soldiers deployed along the border near Preah Vihear temple, in a standoff that has led to several skirmishes and the deaths of at least four soldiers.

Last month, Cambodia lambasted Thailand for firing rockets over the border, in what Thai military officials said was an accident.

Cambodia to host ASEAN-EU ministerial meeting in May

PHNOM PENH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia will host an ASEAN-EU foreign ministers' meeting from May 4 to 6 to push forward the cooperation between the two regional bodies, Chinese-language daily newspaper the Commercial News said on Monday.Representatives from over 40 countries will join the meeting to be held in tourism province of Siem Reap to find ways to strengthen the friendly cooperative ties between the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the EU (European Union), the paper quoted Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh as saying here on Sunday upon his return from the 14 ASEAN Summit in Thailand.

The United States will also send delegates to the meeting, he added.

Meanwhile on the same occasion, Hor Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told reporters that the ASEAN and the EU are now preparing to sign an agreement of friendly cooperation.

He didn't give details of the agreement.

Cambodia used to maintain good trade relationship with the EU, which was the second largest importer of its garment products.

22 unacceptable attacks against journalists in Cambodia

22 attacks conducted against journalists in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-two cases of violence against journalists were recorded in the second half of 2008 and the first two months of 2009 in Cambodia, said English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post on Monday.These included cases in which journalists were detained and cases in which threats or accusations were made against them "by individuals, groups, authorities and court institutions," the paper quoted a press release from the Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) as saying.

Meanwhile, the CCJ decried unprofessional behavior on the part of some journalists, who accepted bribes or used unethical means to advance the aims of the groups that they supported.

The press release also urged the Ministry of Information to use more discretion in issuing press cards.

"Some media pass holders are not journalists," said CCJ secretary general Prach Sim.

Over 300 newspapers are registered with the ministry, but only 10 are publishing daily and 30 can get printed on regular basis.

Only 4 parties to join local election of Cambodia in May

PHNOM PENH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Only 4 political parties became eligible to participate in the local election of Cambodia in May, as the registration process has come to its end, said English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post on Monday.They are the major ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), the major opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), the co-ruling Funcinpec Party and the opposition Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), the paper quoted Tep Nytha, secretary general of the National Election Committee (NEC), as saying.

The 4 parties have registered themselves with NEC for the election in accordance with relevant regulations, while dozens of other small parties haven't responded yet, he added.

On May 17, Cambodia will hold the polling for positions of district, provincial and municipal councils as part of the government's drive to transfer more decision-making powers to the local level.

NEC has set altogether 193 temporary offices all over the country to serve the process, and the government plans to deploy 27,133 police force nationwide to guarantee safety and order.

Resolution of border dispute near for Cambodia, Thailand

PHNOM PENH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to resolve their long-running border dispute by using a memorandum of understanding signed in 2000, said English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post on Monday.Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Thai counterpart Abhisit Vejjajiva agreed to do so during their meeting on Friday, the paper quoted Hor Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, as saying here on Sunday upon his return from the 14 ASEAN Summit in Thailand.

"I think if Thailand has a clear stance and is willing to use the 2000 MoU, there will be no further difficulties in the future," he said, adding that "we decided to resolve the (border) issue peacefully."

The MoU states that the Joint Border Committee (JBC) of the two countries should use maps drafted in 1904 and 1907, which was ratified by Siam (as Thailand was then known) and France, Cambodia's former colonial power, to delineate the common border.

Tension between Thailand and Cambodia ratcheted higher in 2008, when troops from both countries clashed near the Preah Vihear temple at the border area and soldiers on both sides died in their fighting in October. An uneasy peace was restored days later.

Another blow to rights record

DECISION NOT TO INDICT SIX OFFICERS FOR KRUE SE MOSQUE ATTACK ANGERS JUSTICE GROUP

The Working Group on Justice for Peace has condemed a decision by the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) not to charge six security officers with the murder of 32 people in 2004 at the Krue Se mosque.

The OAG decided against indicting them on Feb 10.

It has now informed the working group, led by Angkhana Neelaphaijit, wife of the missing Muslim lawyer Somchai, of its decision.

Mrs Angkhana's working group cited an International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) report to express concern that no legal action had been taken against security authorities.

They are accused of serious human rights violations and extrajudicial killings of suspected drug traffickers and suspected insurgent militants in the deep South.

The ICCPR said in a recent report on Thailand's human rights situation that state authorities violated the human rights of criminal suspects. The report said that victims of human rights violations in this country would not receive any assistance from the state.

Pol Sgt-Maj Adinan Kasetkala, SM1 Decha Phalaharn, SM1 Choosak Darunpim, Sgt Chidchai Ontoh, Pvt Surachai Silanan and Col Manas Kongpan are among those accused of being involved in the killing of 32 suspected insurgents during the April 28, 2004, military attack at Pattani's Krue Se mosque.

The working group also cited a report by an independent panel which investigated the Krue Se mosque case, headed by Sujinda Yongsunthorn.

The report said the attack by security authorities on suspected insurgents at the mosque was inappropriate, as they could have used non-violent means to end the confrontation.

The government is in the process of reviewing its handling of the violence in the South.

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14th ASEAN Summit ends in Thailand

HUA HIN, Thailand, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit closed here Sunday after leaders of ten member states ended their annual discussions on a series of issues including the economic crisis and signed the declaration on the roadmap for an ASEAN Community.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, whose country currently holds ASEAN's rotating chair, said after the conclusion of the summit that the leaders had a very productive meeting on a series of issues which matter not only to the region but to the international community as a whole.

During the two-day summit, leaders of the ASEAN member states focused their discussions on economic crisis, human rights body, ASEAN integration, and other regional issues like Myanmar and immigration.

On economic crisis, ASEAN leaders said that while ASEAN's economic fundamental remain sound, the deepening global economic downturn, coupled with heightened risk aversion in financial markets, have adversely impacted trade and investment in the region.

The leaders stressed the necessity of proactive and decisive actions to restore market confidence and ensure continued financial stability to promote sustainable regional economic growth.

They also agreed to stand firm against protectionism and to refrain from introducing and raising new barriers.

On ASEAN integration, the leaders signed Cha-am Hua Hin Declaration on the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community (2009-2015), setting out the guidelines for the creation of a single free trade area for the region of 800 million people by 2015.

According to the declaration, the ASEAN leaders emphasized that "narrowing the development gap shall remain an important task to ensure the benefits of ASEAN integration are fully realized through effective implementation of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration and other sub-regional framework."

A total of 24 ASEAN related documents were signed or adopted by ASEAN leaders, foreign ministers and economic ministers. These documents include, among others, the issues relating to the ASEAN community building, trade and investment, sub-regional economic cooperation, food and petroleum security.

ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

If only you can read their minds( from Ki-media)

Abhisit speaking in Thai to his wife: Honey, you remember the bloody Khmer Rouge ruler of Cambodia I talked to you about last night before we went to sleep, here's he is!
Pimpen Vejjajiva to Hun Sen: Ah, Dr. Hun Sen! My husband was praising you so much last night!
Hun Sen to Nguyen Tan Dung: Hi Boss! You saw how I barred that pesky Cambodian civil society activist from attending?
Nguyen Tan Dung: Ma, good job, Hoon Xen boy!

-----
Top: Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) is greeted by Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his wife Pimpen at the gala dinner for the 14th ASEAN Summit in Cha-am February 28, 2009. REUTERS/Udo Weitz/Pool

Bottom: Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L-R) raise a toast after a signing ceremony of ASEAN Summit outcome documents in the seaside resort town of Hua Hin, some 200km (125 miles) south of Bangkok, March 1, 2009. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash

Emerging trends threaten health gains

Written by Robbie Corey-Boulet

Friday, 27 February 2009

Though the Kingdom has made progress since the health-related development goals were adopted, officials must now combat emergent trends as well as problems that persist Photo by: AFP An HIV-positive woman lies in her wooden house in central Phnom Penh. Despite impressive progress in reducing HIV rates in Cambodia, the Kingdom may still not meet its Millennium Development Goals for health. WHEN Mony Pen discovered five years ago that she was HIV-positive, the list of things she did not know about the disease included how she got it, how she could treat it and how long she could live with it. "People told me I was probably going to die very soon," said the 28-year-old Phnom Penh native, who learned of her status only when her husband, a policeman, died of full-blown Aids two years after they married. These days, Mony Pen, now an adviser to the Cambodian Community of Women Living with HIV/Aids (CCW), knows all about transmission and treatment, and can discuss in detail everything from antiretroviral drugs to the threats posed by opportunistic infection. She also knows this expertise sets her apart from the majority of Cambodian women, particularly those outside Phnom Penh. The 2005 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS) found, for example, that 67 percent of women in Mondulkiri and Ratanakkiri provinces believed HIV/Aids could be transmitted by a mosquito bite and 56 percent believed it could be spread "by supernatural means". Mony Pen said she believes this lack of knowledge could fuel a resurgence of the disease that might erase the much-touted gains made against it in recent years. This concern is not hers alone. UNAIDS Country Director Tony Lisle told the Post this week that several trends - in particular, the rise in so-called indirect sex work performed in beer halls and karaoke bars - could trigger an increase in new infections that might even "set the scene for a second-wave epidemic". In this regard, Cambodia's fight against HIV/Aids resembles its broader effort to meet targets under the three health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). With some exceptions, notably in the area of maternal health, available data shows that Cambodia met or exceeded targets for 2005 and is likely to do the same in 2010 and 2015. But certain recent trends have muddied the picture, reinforcing the fact that progress is not inevitable. Speaking in reference to HIV/Aids, Lisle captured a widely held view of the general health picture in the Kingdom, one articulated in recent interviews by doctors, NGO workers and government officials: "Yes, Cambodia, you've done a fabulous job," he said. "But it's not over." Child mortality Photo by: SOVANN PHILONG An HIV-positive three-year-old child plays at home in Phnom Penh after receiving treatment at a Phnom Penh hospital. A FOUR-PART LOOK AT CAMBODIA'S MDGS Last year marked the midway point for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, benchmarks for developing countries established in 2000 that cover everything from poverty to environmental sustainability. Last year also marked the five-year anniversary of the adoption of Cambodia's Millennium Development Goals, the localised versions of the global goals. In a four-part series, the Post looks at the progress made and the challenges that remain in achieving targets set for 2010 and 2015, drawing on government data as well as interviews with officials, NGO workers and Cambodians who stand to benefit from the effort. Part Two looks at the goals for child mortality, maternal health and diseases such as HIV/Aids. A recent survey assessing the impact of rising food prices on child health underscored the tenuous nature of progress made in pursuit of MDG No 4: to reduce child mortality. The Cambodian Anthropometric Survey, findings of which were made public last week, found that the percentage of children classified as acutely malnourished - the number of which had fallen by half between 2000 and 2005 - increased from 8.4 percent in 2005 to 8.9 percent in 2008. The strong link between child malnutrition and child mortality - noted, among other places, in the 2005 assessment of MDG targets published by the Ministry of Planning - suggests that, in light of the survey results, Cambodia might have trouble meeting its 2015 target mortality rate for children younger than five: 65 deaths per 1,000 live births. The survey results run counter to Cambodia's recent performance in the area of child health. Between 1998 and 2005, the under-five child mortality rate fell from 124 per 1,000 live births to 82, far surpassing the target of 105. Viorica Berdaga, chief of child survival at Unicef, said via email that this decline could be attributed to factors including better access to safe water and the promotion of breastfeeding, which provides children with disease-fighting antibodies. But Berdaga also noted that the mortality decline was in part due to a lowered fertility rate, which calls into question Cambodia's ability to reduce child mortality even further. In its 2005 assessment, the Ministry of Planning noted that fertility declines have had a similar effect on child mortality in other developing countries but that, in most cases, "the initial positive impact" was "not enough to sustain continued improvement in child mortality due to underlying causal factors". Berdaga said this assessment could be applied to Cambodia as well. Asked to predict whether Cambodia would meet the 2015 child mortality target, Berdaga could say only that the Kingdom "has a chance". Maternal health If current trends continue, several experts said, Cambodia has little, if any, chance of achieving targets set under the fifth MDG: to improve maternal health. The most recent reliable data shows that the maternal health situation has worsened as of late. The Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS) found that the maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births had increased from 437 in 1997 to 472 in 2005. The interim target for that year was 343. In a recent email interview, however, Pen Sophanara, a communications associate for the United Nations Population Fund, emphasised the "promising signs" she said could potentially reverse the trend, including higher rates of deliberate birth- spacing. She echoed the conclusion presented in the 2005 Ministry of Planning assessment that officials could significantly lower the maternal mortality rate by providing more family planning resources, which allow women to allot sufficient time between pregnancies. Longer gaps between pregnancies tend to result in smoother pregnancies and healthier infants. On top of limited family planning, Pen Sophanara said efforts to improve maternal health continued to be hindered by a shortage of midwives and skilled birth attendants. She said the Ministry of Health was aiming to have one midwife stationed at each of the Kingdom's health centres by the end of the year. In addition to bolstering recruitment, she said, officials will need to distribute resources to rural health centres to ensure midwives can be effective. Kek Galabru, president of the rights group Licadho, said midwives should be able to take blood samples, conduct ultrasounds and screen for potential delivery complications. She also stressed that midwives should be adequately paid so they do not collect informal fees, a practice that prevents very poor women from accessing health services. Pen Sophanara said midwife recruitment and other efforts in place could potentially yield a drop in the maternal mortality rate, pushing it closer to the goal of 140 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2015. "Nobody wants to see women die giving lives," she said. "If these figures continue to be positive, maternal death will be lowered." The HIV/Aids fight Photo by: ROBBIE COREY-BOULET Mony Pen, whose late husband gave her HIV, works to give women access to HIV/Aids information.

One target already surpassed is that pertaining to HIV/Aids infection, a leading indicator of progress made in achieving the sixth MDG: to combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases.

Meeting the target resulted in part because of a statistical error that caused the rate of infection in the late-1990s - which was used as a base in establishing benchmarks through 2015 - to be artificially inflated when the MDGs were adopted. Because of the adjustment that occurred when better data became available, current rates of infection are already lower than the targets.

For example, the estimated prevalence among Cambodian adults in 2006 was 0.9 percent, lower than the 2005 target (2.3 percent), the 2010 target (2 percent) and even the 2015 target (1.8 percent).

According to a 2008 UNAIDS report, however, Cambodia's prevalence rate is the second-highest among all countries in South and Southeast Asia (only Thailand's is higher). And, while acknowledging progress, Lisle and other experts cited a range of persistent problems.

Mony Pen said she has concluded from her own observations that discrimination against those infected with the disease remains high.

Sou Sina, 29, who is from Sihanoukville and now works at CCW in Phnom Penh, said she encountered this very obstacle when she tested positive at the age of 20.

"At the time, my family took care of me, but they were afraid," she said. "They didn't understand the disease. And that broke my heart."
Like Mony Pen, Sou Sina learned of her status only when her husband died. She also found out then that her son had been infected through mother-to-child transmission, but she did not know how to obtain treatment for him. He died two years later - at the age of four - of tuberculosis.

Lisle said it is common for women to become infected by their husbands unwittingly. In addition, he pointed to data suggesting that programs designed to prevent mother-to-child transmission have been ineffective.

Data from 2008 indicated a mother-to-child transmission rate for HIV-positive pregnant women of 35 percent.

Lisle said Cambodia has traditionally "led the region" in the fight against HIV/Aids, adding that he has every reason to believe this will continue. But a failure to respond to these emergent trends, he said, could quickly render the Kingdom's recent progress aberrational.

In Cambodia, Lisle cautioned, there exists the threat of "a second epidemic waiting right around the corner".

Ieng Sary ill; hearing postponed

Written by Georgia Wilkins
Friday, 27 February 2009

In his absence, lawyers argue for his release

DETAINED former Khmer Rouge minister Ieng Sary's bail hearing was postponed to April 2 after he was deemed unfit by doctors to attend the Khmer Rouge tribunal for the scheduled hearing on Thursday.

The 83-year-old was admitted to hospital Monday after doctors found blood in his urine. He was discharged Wednesday.

Lawyers for the accused octogenarian continued to press for his release in his absence on the basis that insufficient medical care was available at the court's detention centre.

"Pre-trial detention is not a form of punishment," co-lawyer Michael Karnavas told the court.

"One cannot discuss the health issue if one does not know what the heath issue is," he added on the issue of getting doctors to provide information as "experts" to the case.

It was also debated whether or not the court could have a hearing in his absence, with civil party lawyers arguing that a video link to the former leader's jail cell could be set up.

This was dismissed by defence lawyers, who claimed it would give a false sense of justice and strip Ieng Sary's right to participate in his trial.

In a press conference after the hearing, Karnavas criticised the pace of decisions at the UN-backed tribunal.

"When it takes 11 months to make a decision, it is unacceptable," he added, calling the chamber a "black hole".

However Cambodian co-prosecutor Tan Senarong said, "We don't intend any delay of the hearing but unfortunately, as you know, Ieng Sary's health is not good."

Tribunal graft charges spread

Written by Cat Barton

Friday, 27 February 2009

German delegation exposes results of secret UN probe; staff concur Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN Monks file into the Extraordinary Chambers on the opening day of Duch's trial on February 17. IT became a monthly ritual: Employees on the Cambodian side of the Khmer Rouge tribunal would get paid, and then they would - somewhat grudgingly - hand over some of their salaries to their supervisors. "You get paid in full, but when you [collect] it, you put it in an envelope and give it to the collector," a former employee at the UN-backed court told the Post in an interview late last year, describing how many of those working at the court were forced to hand over a percentage of their paychecks to higher-placed officials.

"In front of people, you're told to say, ‘No one is taking away my money,' [and] the money transferred into your account is the full amount, but then you have to ... give over the percentage," the employee said.

These kickback allegations are at the heart of a corruption scandal that has plagued the tribunal since they first came to light in 2006.

Despite denials from Cambodian court officials, the accusations were of enough concern to spark a review by the UN - the results of which have never been made public.

But a report from a German parliamentary delegation, written in November after its members met with the tribunal's deputy director of administration, Knut Rosandhaug, has shed some light on the graft allegations, detailing a bleak assessment of the court's corruption problems.

"A serious problem is the grave corruption which impedes on the work of the hybrid court," the report cites Rosandhaug as saying.

"Cambodian employees are required to pay kickbacks in order to be able to work," the report says, with the authors - members of the Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid Committee of the German parliament - using the German term schutzgelder, which literally means protection money.

Rosandhaug told the Post Thursday that he had no comment, as the “document referred to is issued by an entity outside the UN and the ECCC.”

“It is now for the Germans to comment,” he added.

The report had been available on the Bundestag website but was unavailable Thursday afternoon with no explanation. Rainer Buescher, the delegation’s press officer, did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

The report’s findings, however, support accounts given by tribunal staffers and the concerns of lawyers for Brother No 2, Nuon Chea, who have sought to launch a criminal investigation into the alleged graft.

“It certainly confirms some of our worst suspicions,” Andrew Ianuzzi, a legal consultant for Nuon Chea’s defence team, said Thursday.

One court staffer explained in a series of interviews conducted with the Post how the kickback operation worked.

“For the first four months [of my contract], I paid 70 percent [of my salary in kickbacks], then it went down to 10 percent,” said the employee, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution.

“Let’s say you are the supervisor. You have 30 people under you, so the people under you know to give their envelope [containing the kickback] to you, and you hand it to Sean Visoth,” the employee said, referring to Cambodia’s top court administrator who is implicated in the Bundestag report. “In all the sections, it’s the same thing.”

The scheme was deeply unpopular – “Would you like it if you got paid, then your money got taken away?” the employee asked – but was maintained by a climate of fear.

“I’m afraid, if they know I talk to you, they’re not going to take a gun and shoot me in my face, but they will find some way [to fire me] … or they [will hurt] my kids,” the employee said.

“I can tell you until the day you close the door, the corruption will still go on,” the employee added.

“Anyone who speaks, they will be terminated.... They will set up their committee and find a way to get rid of that person who has talked, and that is why up to now” no information has come out.

Included in the Bundestag report are details of last July’s UN probe.

“It is deeply troubling – everyone had been placing blame for corruption on the Cambodian government, but now it seems like someone or some officials with the UN are involved in a potential coverup,” Ianuzzi said.

“It is very damaging for the credibility of the tribunal. Why are international officers protecting corrupt Cambodian officials?” he added.

The report cites Rosandhaug as saying that “the United Nations should withdraw from the tribunal, in case the national government continues to object following up on the corruption allegations”.

“Until today, the government categorically denies the existence of that problem. The United Nations would suffer from a loss of credibility if they’d support a tribunal which is characterised by corruption,” he said, according to the report.

In January, the Nuon Chea defence team filed a complaint to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, claiming unresolved graft allegations threatened the legitimacy of the tribunal and violated their client’s right to a fair trial. The lawyers accused Sean Visoth and the court’s former chief of personnel, Keo Thyvuth, of violating criminal law by “perpetrating, facilitating, aiding and/or abetting an organised regime of institutional corruption at the ECCC during the pending judicial investigation”. They also demanded the results of the UN investigation be released.

The complaint prompted a criminal investigation, but this was abruptly dropped in February.

Sean Visoth has been on sick leave since November, and the head of the court’s public affairs department, Helen Jarvis, said she knew of no date for his planned return to work.

“As far as I know, the UN does not have authority to conduct investigations into Cambodian staffers,” she said Thursday, adding that she knew nothing about the report and could not comment on it.

Sean Visoth could not be reached Thursday, but a woman answering his phone said he was too busy to speak to a reporter.

“It is unclear from the [German] report what exactly the UN found Visoth to be guilty of – did he pay money from his position? Or did he demand money from others? From our perspective ... the latter is more complicated, as it suggests more ECCC officials may be involved,” Ianuzzi said.

“We have some information that the UN has a sectional list” of officials involved in corruption, he added.

The team says this is troubling, as the office of administration is responsible for nine sections of the court, including court management and victim support.

“If everyone in the office of administration is paying kickbacks, everyone is compromised,” Ianuzzi said.

He said the defence team now planned to write a follow-up letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and forward a copy of the delegation’s report to the Phnom Penh Court of Appeal’s prosecutor general in a bid to reopenthe criminal investigation.

In addition, the delegation’s report quotes Rosandhaug as saying the Cambodian government “tries to interfere in the work of the tribunal”.

“The government of Cambodia has already signalled that it will not allow for additional criminal investigations to be opened,” the report says.

The court’s international co-prosecutor, Robert Petit, has sought to try an additional six suspects, but his Cambodian counterpart, Chea Leang, has voiced opposition.

The key question now, however, is what the response – other than further hushing up of the issue – will come from the UN, Ianuzzi said.

“There is a lot of momentum. Things are moving forward. The Duch hearing last week was a success, [and] many people are emotionally and professionally invested in the tribunal, and they want to see it succeed,” he said.

“But everyone needs to take a long hard look at what are the allegations, [and] I hope Knut makes a comment. What this institution really needs is leadership, and no one is leading the ECCC at the moment.”