PM vows to step down if he loses in 2013 election

Thursday, 21 January 2010 15:03 Meas Sokchea

Photo by: Khem Sovannara

Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks at the Sixth Asia Economic Forum in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

PRIME Minister Hun Sen said in a speech on Wednesday that he would step down peacefully if he were to lose the 2013 election, conceding that he cannot rule the country forever.
During remarks delivered to delegates of the Sixth Asia Economic Forum in Phnom Penh, the premier also said he would refrain from causing disturbances for any potential new leader.
“In the year 2013, if people do not vote for [me], I only have one choice: I must step down,” he said.
“And at that time, the winner will not have to worry about me going to the Council of Ministers. I will sign over everything to a new leader.”
Hun Sen went on to address criticisms from opposition politicians that his government has at times appeared to be more totalitarian than democratic, emphasising that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party had been democratically elected.
His remarks drew a mixed response from opposition lawmakers.
Sam Rainsy Party spokesman Yim Sovann said Hun Sen’s pledge to step aside in the event of an electoral defeat was insignificant because he had no choice in the matter.
Hun Sen “does not need to call on the Council of Ministers, because when a new prime minister steps into power. They arrange their Council of Ministers, and if anyone refuses to step down, they are breaking the law,” he said.
In the other opposition camp, Human Rights Party spokesman Yem Ponharith said he welcomed Hun Sen’s comments and expressed confidence that they were sincere.
“I am not fearful [of Hun Sen]. It is normal for leaders in democratic countries to change. I do not believe that there will be a problem when the head of the government steps down from office,” he said.
Ou Virak, the executive director of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said Hun Sen likely made the comments because he thinks he will win the next election anyway and wanted to quash criticisms.
“Firstly, he still thinks that he will remain in power and win the 2013 election, and secondly, he is responding to his critics,” he said.
Hun Sen, who is 58, also remarked at one point during his hourlong speech that he could potentially stay in power until he turned 80.

More RCAF soldiers to leave for Africa: PM

Thursday, 21 January 2010 15:01 Sam Rith

Photo by: Tracey Shelton

A Royal Cambodian Armed Forces soldier returns from a mission to Sudan last year.

PRIME Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday announced that Cambodia would send a deployment of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces engineers to Chad and the Central African Republic to supplement a contingent of peacekeepers who departed for the two countries in November.
The announcement came during the premier’s remarks at the opening of the sixth Asia-Economic Forum in the capital.
Sem Sovanny, the director general of the government’s Institute for Peacekeeping Forces, Mines and ERW (explosive remnants of war) Clearance, told the Post on Wednesday that Cambodia is planning to send more than 100 soldiers on the mission, including 10 deminers. Both groups would participate in the construction of roads and bridges, he said.
“We still need to negotiate the memorandum of understanding with the United Nations,” he said, adding that officials from the institute will travel to Africa next week on a scouting mission.
The UN is scheduled to observe the Cambodian forces in March.
Last November, 42 Cambodian peacekeeping soldiers travelled to Chad and the Central African Republic to assist in the relocation of UN personnel and logistics assets, among other projects.

Rights watchdog visits today

Monday, 18 January 2010 15:03 Vong Sokheng and Irwin Loy

Photo by: Photo Supplied

Surya Subedi, the UN’s special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia.

THE UN’s special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia is scheduled to begin his second official mission to the Kingdom today – a visit that marks a pivotal period in the rights watchdog’s relationship with government officials, observers say.
The visit of Surya Subedi is expected to last for nearly two weeks. Whereas his first mission last June was billed as a fact-finding trip intended to re-establish “conditions for a fruitful dialogue with the government on human rights issues”, this second visit will see the special rapporteur examining key state institutions that lead straight to the top of political power in Cambodia.
Subedi “intends to use the visit to examine the functioning of the National Assembly and judiciary, including the Supreme Council of Magistracy and the Constitutional Council”, according to a press statement released by the UN on Friday.
“His objective is to conduct an analysis of how these institutions work and the extent to which they provide citizens recourse and remedy for breaches of their rights.”
One rights advocate called Subedi’s planned visit “crucial” because he is expected to address the issue of judicial independence.
“These are some of the most important institutions in Cambodia,” said Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights.
“Independence of the court has always been a core issue in Cambodia. Until now, unfortunately, it remains a problem area.”
The courts are currently under the direction of the Ministry of Justice, meaning that judicial officials are overseen by government officials, Ou Virak said. “Putting the court under the executive body is not going to help the court achieve independence,” he said.
Other rights advocates said they hoped Subedi would use his visit to hold authorities to account after a year in which critics slammed continued evictions of the poor and a spate of defamation suits against opposition lawmakers.
“We have not seen any progress on human rights in the last year,” said Sok Sam Oeun, executive director of the Cambodian Defenders Project.
“It’s important for Subedi to push the government to strengthen the judicial system.”
Retreading old ground
Subedi’s visit won’t be the first time a UN watchdog has tried to tackle the issue of judicial independence. His predecessor, Kenyan lawyer Yash Ghai, raised questions over a series of judicial appointments in August 2007.
“Recent judicial appointments appear not to have been made in accordance with the constitution, casting doubt on whether the constitutionally guaranteed principle of judicial independence is being fully respected in Cambodia,” read a 2007 statement released on behalf of Ghai, then the special representative of the secretary general for human rights in Cambodia.
Ghai faced public attacks from Cambodian officials for his blunt critiques.
By the time he quit in anger in September 2008, government officials had become outspoken critics of the rights watchdog, and Prime Minister Hun Sen was refusing to meet with him.
During his visit last June, Subedi seemed intent on mending bridges with government officials who had been at the heart of the tense back-and-forth with Ghai.
At the time, Subedi described his first visit as “constructive and cordial”, and Cambodian officials struck an optimistic tone.
Already, however, some cracks in the relationship have appeared.
In October, a lawmaker with the ruling Cambodian People’s Party reacted sternly after Subedi reported to the Human Rights Council in Geneva that Cambodia suffered from a weak rule of law, and that the judiciary was “not as independent as it should be”.
“Based on my observations, Mr Subedi is not different from Yash Ghai,” senior CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap told the Post at the time.
Reached for comment Sunday, Cheam Yeap accused Subedi of listening only to the government’s critics.
“He listened to one-sided information from civil society groups and opposition parties,” said Cheam Yeap.
“We acknowledged that there are loopholes in some small areas of the government’s enforcement of human rights, but we have been … trying to improve.”
Cheam Yeap said he hoped for “fair” treatment this time around.
“I think that [Subedi] should come and collect a fair report,” he said. “He should not listen to just the one side from NGOs and opposition parties.”
Subedi, who has already met twice with Hun Sen, including once during a July visit from the prime minister during a trip to the United Kingdom, is scheduled to meet with him again during this visit, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed Sunday.
This second official mission, then, could be important in setting the tone for his future dealings with the government, Ou Virak said.
“I think he’s walking a very fine line. We don’t know how the government is going to receive him this time,” Ou Virak said.
Subedi, he said, will have to decide how he wants the relationship to proceed.
“Does he build up his credit with the government and then use it in the future to have some impact? It’s one thing to walk a fine line and still have a good relationship. It’s another thing to use your power” as a UN-appointed rights watchdog, Ou Virak said.

Convicted US paedophile faces new child sex charges

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 15:02 Chrann Chamroeun

Photo by: Pha Lina

American Michael James Dodd leaves Phnom Penh Municipal Court after a hearing on Monday. Dodd, who was convicted in a separate case in August, told the court he was not guilty of purchasing child sex.

PHNOM Penh Municipal Court on Monday heard the case of a convicted American paedophile facing a second round of charges of purchasing underage sex, this time based on a complaint from a 12-year-old Cambodian girl.

Michael James Dodd, 60, was arrested last August in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district and charged with purchasing child sex in two separate cases, one involving a 14-year-old Vietnamese girl and the other a 12-year-old Cambodian girl. He was convicted later that month under Article 34 of the Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation. The court sentenced him to 10 years in prison and ordered him to pay 20 million riels (US$4,824) in compensation.

Judge Chhay Kong said Monday that a verdict in the case of the Cambodian girl is expected January 28.

Reporters were barred from attending Monday’s hearing. “We decided to hold a closed-door hearing due to the fact that the girl is 12 years old,” Chhay Kong said.

In interviews after the hearing, however, lawyers for the victim said the court had yet to confirm the victim’s age, a factor that will weigh significantly on the sentence handed down in the case of a guilty verdict.

One of the victim’s lawyers, Peng Maneth, provided by the child protection NGO Action Pour Les Enfants, said judges were relying on a police document stating that the victim is 12, but that other documents indicate she is older.

“Our organisation has found her age to be over 15 years old, as she was born in 1992, according to birth and family documents certified by local authorities,” Peng Maneth said. If the court determines that the victim was older than 15 at the time of the crime, he said, Dodd “will be convicted and sentenced from two to five years in prison if found guilty”.

The victim’s other lawyer, Nuon Phanith, also from APLE, said Dodd claimed he had been friends with the girl but was not guilty of the charges facing him.

The victim, Nuon Phanith said, told the court that Dodd had abused her on two separate occasions at a guesthouse in Daun Penh and a third time at his rented house in Boeung Keng Kang I commune, adding that he had paid her on each occasion.

Dodd’s lawyer, Meng Sotheary, said after the hearing that his client was innocent.

RCAF OK’d to demine locally

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 15:03 Sam Rith and Jacob Gold

Photo by: Tracey Shelton

RCAF de-miners return from participating in a clearance mission in Sudan last year.

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I would imagine that RCAF would give greater support to government priorities.

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A PLATOON of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces mine-clearance specialists has for the first time received accreditation from the Cambodian Mine Action Authority (CMAA) to clear mines within Cambodia, RCAF and CMAA officials confirmed on Monday – a move that could bolster a national clearance effort that the government has said is in danger of falling short of its goals.

The company to which the platoon belongs, Demining Company 315, has already completed demining operations as part of a UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan.

But it had not been formally accredited for domestic humanitarian clearance prior to a CMAA-led review, which was completed in December.

Leng Sochea, permanent deputy secretary general at the CMAA, confirmed on Monday that his organisation had certified the 24 soldiers of the company’s Third Platoon on December 29 of last year.

“From now on, this RCAF platoon has the right to participate in bids for demining projects in Cambodia,” he said.

The troops attributed the speed with which their CMAA certification came through – their review began just at the end of August 2009 – to their level of international training.

“Even though we have our licences from the UN, we also want to be recognised locally,” said Company 315 commanding officer Mey Sophea.

Parties to the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty in November formally approved Cambodia’s request to push back the deadline for clearing all antipersonnel mines by 10 years, though the government’s formal extension request asserted that “current productivity levels will not be sufficient” to meet the revised goal.

“However, with a 38 percent increase of financial resources made available to the sector and a greater involvement of RCAF in addressing the
remaining challenge, productivity rates can be increased,” the request asserted, “which may make completion of clearance of all known minefields within the extension period possible.”

Prum Sophakmonkol, an adviser to the CMAA and director of its regulation department, said Monday that the platoon was seeking funding for demining projects and had no projects planned in the immediate future.

Jamie Franklin, the country programme director for the Mine Action Group, one of three organisations that was already accredited for humanitarian clearance, said he welcomed the contributions the RCAF team could bring to the national clearance effort.

He noted, though, that an RCAF-led clearance operation would be more likely to take its cues from the government.

“I would imagine that RCAF would give greater support to government priorities,” Franklin said.

“There’s a lot of work to be done in Cambodia, but not enough capacity.… The fact that this RCAF unit has been accredited by CMAA means they are clearing at international standards, and that can only be a good thing.”

He added that the heavy participation of militaries in clearance efforts was common in other mine-ridden countries, and that they had been able to accomplish a great deal.

Other responses to the accreditation news were similarly hopeful.

“It is a sign of great progress that Cambodian troops are employing their expertise both here and abroad to help make this a world free from the threat of land mines and explosive remnants of war,” UN Resident Coordinator Douglas Broderick said in a statement. “These indiscriminate weapons that have continued to kill and maim long after hostilities ceased seriously hinder Cambodia’s development. RCAF’s humanitarian demining accreditation is more evidence that the Royal Government is committed to working on this problem until it is solved.”

A Cambodian delegation attending the November summit said clearance efforts for the next 10 years will cost approximately US$330 million.

Revise China pact: Indonesia to ASEAN

Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The China Post (Taiwan)

JAKARTA -- Indonesia notified its partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that it wants the group's free trade agreement with China to be revised, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said.
In a letter to the ASEAN secretariat, the Indonesian government sought to “renegotiate” some parts of the accord, which took effect at the start of the year, Pangestu said. “We have also held some informal communication to get a win-win solution,” she told reporters in Jakarta, without saying when the letter was sent.
China's agreement with the 10 members of ASEAN scrapped tariffs on about 90 percent of goods, and duties must be cut to no more than 50 percent on “highly sensitive” items by 2015. Opposition has been loudest in Indonesia, where industries including textiles, food and electronics said they will suffer from the inflow of cheaper Chinese goods. Indonesia is ASEAN's largest country by geography, population and size of the economy.
China's trade with ASEAN has jumped six fold since 2000 to US$193 billion last year. China's share of Southeast Asia's total commerce has increased to 11.3 percent from 4 percent in that time, whereas the U.S. portion fell to 10.6 percent from 15 percent, ASEAN statistics show.
Indonesian Industry Minister Mohamad Hidayat said Jan. 15 there were 228 items that the government wants to delay from including in the free-trade accord, including steel and textile products. Negotiations within ASEAN might start this month and Indonesia was ready to open previously protected items as a concession, Hidayat said without elaborating.
ASEAN comprises Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Formed in 1967, its members have a combined gross domestic product of more than US$1.1 trillion and a population of about 570 million people.
Revise China pact: Indonesia to ASEAN
JAKARTA -- Indonesia notified its partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that it wants the group's free trade agreement with China to be revised, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said.
In a letter to the ASEAN secretariat, the Indonesian government sought to “renegotiate” some parts of the accord, which took effect at the start of the year, Pangestu said. “We have also held some informal communication to get a win-win solution,” she told reporters in Jakarta, without saying when the letter was sent.
China's agreement with the 10 members of ASEAN scrapped tariffs on about 90 percent of goods, and duties must be cut to no more than 50 percent on “highly sensitive” items by 2015. Opposition has been loudest in Indonesia, where industries including textiles, food and electronics said they will suffer from the inflow of cheaper Chinese goods. Indonesia is ASEAN's largest country by geography, population and size of the economy.
China's trade with ASEAN has jumped six fold since 2000 to US$193 billion last year. China's share of Southeast Asia's total commerce has increased to 11.3 percent from 4 percent in that time, whereas the U.S. portion fell to 10.6 percent from 15 percent, ASEAN statistics show.
Indonesian Industry Minister Mohamad Hidayat said Jan. 15 there were 228 items that the government wants to delay from including in the free-trade accord, including steel and textile products. Negotiations within ASEAN might start this month and Indonesia was ready to open previously protected items as a concession, Hidayat said without elaborating.
ASEAN comprises Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Formed in 1967, its members have a combined gross domestic product of more than US$1.1 trillion and a population of about 570 million people.