East Asian Times » Cambodia

Killer Asia floods swallow children who can’t swim

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:55:03 +0000

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — It took only a second for the murky floodwaters swamping parts of Asia to swallow Nguyen Phuoc Hien’s baby. His 3-year-old daughter had been playing happily while her aunt studied, but somehow, the girl slipped quietly outside the family home deep in Vietnam’s southern Mekong Delta.

When Hien’s wife returned to the shack from feeding the pigs and realized her youngest child was missing, “she was in a panic looking around,” he recalled. “Our neighbors helped us look for her. Her body was found an hour later in the canal near the house.”

Children make up around a quarter of the nearly 800 deaths reported since July across Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines, according to the United Nations. The region has been ravaged by some of the worst flooding in decades, but drownings are a huge unreported epidemic in Asia. Every year, an estimated 240,000 children up to 17 years old die — mostly because the majority of kids simply never learn to swim.

That annual number is roughly equal to the total deaths from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, but day-to-day water deaths rarely get attention.

“Those (in the tsunami) were counted because they drowned in a space of six to eight hours in the region, and everyone was just stunned because the number was enormous,” said Michael Linnan, technical director of the U.S.-based Alliance for Safe Children in Bangkok, who has studied child drowning. “But the reality is that in that the 364 days before that, an equal number of mothers and children had drowned as well. But they drown one at a time and not in a disaster setting, so they weren’t counted.”

During excessive flooding, it’s easy for children to accidentally get in over their heads while playing or wading in filthy water where it’s impossible to see what dangers lurk beneath each step. Some fall into fast-moving canals or streams in their yards or villages, while others lose their footing on porches or windows, falling into waters surrounding their houses — sometimes at night. Often their disappearance goes unnoticed because parents are busy trying to salvage livestock, crops or meager belongings vital to the family’s survival.

“You have very little dry land and you have massive population movements,” Linnan said. “It doesn’t take very long for a child to slip away from an already harried mother or older sibling who are trying to schlep all the belongings. It takes only two or three minutes for a child to drown.”

Monster seasonal monsoon rains have overwhelmed swollen rivers, dams and canals in the region, and back-to-back typhoons and tropical storms have hammered the Philippines, China and Vietnam. Some 4 million acres of Thailand have been inundated in the country’s worst flooding in a half century, and the waters are creeping deeper into Bangkok, an anxious capital city of 9 million barricaded behind walls of sandbags.

UN urges Cambodia not to meddle with K. Rouge court

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 22:06:54 +0000

The United Nations on Thursday “strongly urged” the Cambodian government not to meddle in the work of a UN-backed Khmer Rouge court after a judge quit citing political opposition to two new cases.

“The Legal Counsel strongly urged the royal government of Cambodia to refrain from statements opposing the progress of cases 003 and 004 and to refrain from interfering in any way whatsoever with the judicial process,” said UN under-secretary general for legal affairs Patricia O’Brien in a statement.

The high-ranking UN official was speaking after meeting Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An in the capital Phnom Penh amid mounting concern over political pressure on the tribunal.

German judge Siegfried Blunk resigned on October 9 claiming repeated government statements opposing two possible new cases linked to the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime effectively made his position untenable.

The shock departure of Blunk, one of two judges responsible for issuing indictments, has rocked the court and prompted observers to call for UN action against long-standing allegations of government meddling.

Phnom Penh has strongly denied interfering but Prime Minister Hun Sen — himself a former cadre — has made it clear he wants the court’s work to end with the current second trial, even saying further cases were “not allowed”.

Court monitor Randle DeFalco, a legal advisor to the Documentation Centre of Cambodia which researches Khmer Rouge atrocities, cautiously welcomed O’Brien’s comments, the UN’s strongest reaction yet to the court controversy.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” he said.

“But an inquiry still appears necessary to restore public confidence in the court,” he added, noting that Blunk’s resignation raised questions over whether the court’s investigating office has been properly carrying out its duties.

In a press release after the meeting with O’Brien, the government said both parties had “reiterated their strong support” for the Khmer Rouge tribunal, which has cost more than $100 million so far.

Sok An also urged both sides not “to be distracted by intense speculation, pressure and interference from the media and other outside parties,” it said.

The tribunal’s controversial third and fourth cases involve five ex-regime members who are accused of an array of crimes including mass killings and forced labour.

Their cases are officially still under consideration but critics said Blunk and his Cambodian counterpart were failing to investigate them fully in the face of government objections and they are widely expected to be dismissed.

The court, made up of Cambodian and international legal officials, was set up in 2006 to provide some justice for the nation traumatised by the deaths of up to two million people under the communist movement’s reign of terror.

It has so far completed just one trial — jailing Kaing Guek Eav, a former Khmer Rouge prison chief, last year for 30 years for overseeing the deaths of some 15,000 people. The case is now under appeal.

A second trial involving the regime’s four most senior surviving leaders — including “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea — is expected to start hearing testimony next month.

A lawyer for one of the accused in that case, ex-social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, told the court on Thursday that her client suffers from dementia and should not have to face trial.

Judges are expected to rule on the elderly woman’s mental fitness in the coming weeks.

Led by “Brother Number One” Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge wiped out nearly a quarter of the population through starvation, overwork or execution in a bid to create an agrarian utopia. — AFP

K. Rouge genocide defendant unfit for trial: lawyer

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 22:04:12 +0000

The only female Khmer Rouge leader charged with genocide at Cambodia’s UN-backed war crimes court has dementia and should not have to go on trial, her lawyer said Thursday.

“Ieng Thirith is unfit to stand trial and the proceedings against her should be discontinued,” said Diana Ellis after medical experts told the court that the 79-year-old suffers from memory loss and probably has Alzheimer’s disease.

The former social affairs minister would have “considerable difficulty” following the legal proceedings against her, one of the court-appointed doctors said during a public hearing on her mental fitness.

Alongside three other senior regime members — including her husband Ieng Sary — the elderly woman faces charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity over the deaths of up to two million people in the late 1970s.

Amid fears that not all of the accused, aged 79 to 85, will live to see a verdict, the court last month divided their complex case into a series of smaller trials to speed up proceedings.

The first trial will focus on the forced movement of population and the related charges of crimes against humanity. It is scheduled to hear opening statements on November 21.

To avoid more delays, the defence teams for Ieng Thirith, Ieng Sary and “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea said on Thursday they would be in favour of separating the ailing woman’s case from the others.

This would allow the court to ponder her fitness while moving forward with the long-awaited trial against the remaining three.

Prosecutors argued against such a move, saying her presence was “vital” to court proceedings.

The fourth accused, one-time head of state Khieu Samphan, chose not to take part in the two-day fitness hearing.

Questions have long been raised over the mental state of the regime’s “First Lady”, who famously lost her cool during a 2009 court appearance, telling her accusers they would be “cursed to the seventh circle of hell”.

The report by four psychiatric experts presented this week largely confirmed the findings of a geriatrics specialist who told judges in August that Ieng Thirith’s memory impairment could affect her fair trial rights.

In its historic first case, the tribunal sentenced former prison chief Kaing Guek Eav to 30 years in jail last year for overseeing the deaths of 15,000 people. The case is now under appeal. — AFP

Three men jailed for border espionage

admin — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:29:35 +0000

Cambodian, Vietnamese authorities set to appeal

A Thai provincial court has sentenced a Thai, a Cambodian and a Vietnamese to two years in jail for espionage along the Thai-Cambodian border in June.

The court in Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket province yesterday announced the sentences of Suchart Muhammad, a 32-year-old Thai, Cambodian citizen Ung Kimtai, 43, and Nguyen Teng Dang, 37, a Vietnamese national.

Suchart, who drove a pickup for the alleged spies, and Ung also received additional jail terms of four months and three months respectively because they had drugs in their possession.

The jail sentences were halved from eight months and six months, respectively, due to their confessions.

The three men were arrested in the border district of Kantharalak, Si Sa Ket, on the evening of June 7. Their alleged Cambodian spymaster, identified as Wichai or Ya Pao, 48, managed to flee.

Man Wanna, Cambodian consul in Thailand, and Pham Minh Tuan, secretary to the Vietnamese ambassador to Thailand, were present at the ruling along with Thai soldiers and police.

Relatives of the three men also were also present. Some of them burst into tears after the ruling. They saw off the three men from the court as they were escorted to a prison in Kantharalak district.

The Cambodian and Vietnamese authorities will appeal against the verdict.

Meanwhile, Thai Defence Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa said he planned to visit Cambodia on Sept 23 and 24 and has asked if his Cambodian counterpart Tea Banh would be available for a meeting.

The minister said he had to inform his Cambodian counterpart that the Thai cabinet and parliament had to approve in advance the framework for negotiations for the next meeting of the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee.

Source : Bangkok Post
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Govt vows to investigate ’secret’ oil, gas talks

admin — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 02:01:41 +0000

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has asked the Foreign Ministry to investigate alleged secret talks about oil and gas interests in an overlapping marine area with Cambodia during the tenure of the Democrat-led government.

Ms Yingluck wants the ministry to look into talks involving Suthep Thaugsuban, deputy prime minister in the last government, said government spokeswoman Thitima Chaisaeng.

On Tuesday, the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority said the Cambodian government would welcome a resumption of negotiations with Thailand on resolving claims to the 27,000 square kilometre stretch of seabed considered to be rich in oil and gas.

The authority, under the supervision of Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, said Bangkok and Phnom Penh had held secret talks to try to reach a deal.

Mr Suthep, now a Democrat Party MP from Surat Thani, denied he met Cambodian authorities secretly to talk about oil and gas interests.

He conceded he had met Sok An, who oversees energy affairs, in Hong Kong, for informal talks at the Cambodian minister’s request. He did not say what was on the agenda of the Hong Kong talks.

Ms Yingluck has expressed concern over the matter and fears it might affect relations between the two countries, which are showing signs of improvement, Ms Thitima said.

The government spokeswoman said the Pheu Thai-led government would hold negotiations on any issues in a transparent manner and would protect the country’s interests.

Noppadon Pattama, close aide and legal adviser to deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, yesterday urged former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to come clean on the talks.

He said Mr Abhisit must tell the public why Mr Suthep visited Cambodia in July last year and why he had to hold secret talks with Cambodian officials.

Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said he would write to Cambodia asking for clarification about any secret talks that may have taken place.

“The Yingluck government will discuss this issue with Cambodia straightforwardly and will not hold any secret talks so as not to create a false impression that there are conflicts of interest,” Mr Surapong said.

He said he was not worried about a conflict of interest arising if the two countries could agree openly.

He added that negotiations on the overlapping maritime zone in the Gulf of Thailand during the Thaksin Shinawatra government had taken place under a 2001 memorandum of understanding that was put in place during the Chuan Leekpai government.

“The Abhisit government announced its intent to revoke the 2001 MoU without informing Cambodia, but it reappointed Mr Suthep as the head of a delegation to negotiate this issue with Cambodia again,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung said he would visit Cambodia to seek the release of Thai Patriots Network coordinator Veera Somkwamkid and his secretary Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, who were jailed for espionage in the neighbouring country.

He plans to make the request after Ms Yingluck visits Cambodia.

Source : Bangkok Post
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Abhisit warns govt on aiding Thaksin

admin — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 02:24:18 +0000

Former PM may discuss oil, gas with Cambodia

Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has cautioned the Yingluck Shinawatra government to tread carefully in dealing with fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and to put the national interest before the interest of a single person.

As it moves into office, the Pheu Thai-led government has been criticised for pandering to Thaksin, the elder brother of Prime Minister Yingluck.

Reports have emerged that the Foreign Ministry has attempted to return Thaksin’s diplomatic passport.

Foreign Minister Surapong Towijakchaikul also admitted he had asked the Japanese government to grant Thaksin special permission to visit Japan, prompting the Democrat Party to consider legal action against him for helping a fugitive.

Mr Abhisit yesterday called on the government to safeguard the national interest following reports that Thaksin would visit Cambodia for talks on joint development of oil resources in the Gulf of Thailand.

The visit has not been confirmed.

There are reports that Thaksin, along with other businessmen and investors, will travel to Phnom Penh on a three-day junket beginning today to meet Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and its Defence Minister Tea Banh.

They will discuss a plan to jointly explore and develop petroleum resources in the overlapping maritime boundary between Thailand and Cambodia.

Mr Abhisit said the government must ensure that negotiations with Cambodia about disputed land and maritime boundaries are free of conflicts of interest.

Mr Abhisit said there had been talk that the country’s maritime interests had become “interwoven” with the business interests of someone close to the government.

Ms Yingluck yesterday dismissed suggestions that Thaksin would travel to Cambodia on behalf of the government.

“It may be a personal trip,” Ms Yingluck said.

It is speculated that the trip could be an opportunity for Thaksin, who formerly served a brief stint as an economic adviser to Cambodia, to discuss energy concerns.

Defence Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa yesterday said the government had nothing to do with Thaksin’s supposed visit to Cambodia.

Gen Yutthasak said the Defence Ministry is duty-bound to fully protect national interests in the overlapping maritime area.

A memorandum of understanding on an overlapping maritime border area, which is rich in oil and gas, was signed in June 2001 when Thaksin was prime minister.

The main goal of the pact is for the two countries to demarcate territorial waters and jointly explore and develop natural gas and oil reserves in the overlapping area.

On Nov 6, 2009, the previous Democrat-led government revoked the MoU in protest after the appointment of Thaksin as personal adviser to Hun Sen and economic adviser to his government.

State-run news agency MCOT cited an unnamed Pheu Thai party source as saying Thaksin would help the Cambodian government negotiate a plan for the joint development of a petroleum venture in the gulf.

Thailand and Cambodia have long been embroiled in a disagreement over the division of oil and gas resources in the Gulf of Thailand and experts believe the election of the Pheu Thai Party has made a solution to the disputed zone more likely.

But despite the reports of Thaksin’s plans, many in Phnom Penh were unaware of the reported visit from Thaksin, according to the Phnom Penh Post.

Prak Sokhon, an adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong both could not confirm the visit.

Thaksin could visit Cambodia any time he wanted, Koy Kuong said.

Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, said “Thaksin is rushing to show the world that he is the de facto prime minister of Thailand. He will be in Japan this week, again, to show that he has been a legitimate leader.”

Meanwhile, Thaworn Senneam, a Democrat MP from Songkhla, said the party’s lawyers planned to file a complaint against state authorities involved in assisting Thaksin.

They could face charges of dereliction of duty if they fail to enforce the law in bringing Thaksin back to face justice, Mr Thaworn said.

Source : Bangkok Post
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Rice exporters feel threatened

admin — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:21:51 +0000

Cheaper neighbours’ supplies may be tapped

Thai rice exporters are already looking for alternative supplies from Vietnam and Cambodia in case the new government makes the price too dear for export, which could halve volume to only 5 million tonnes next year for a revenue loss of 60-70 billion baht.

The Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA) has been crying foul for a while now regarding Pheu Thai’s announced policy to allow farmers to mortgage their entire harvest at 15,000 baht a tonne for white rice and 20,000 baht for fragrant or Hom Mali rice.

Even though the party has said purchases would not start until November, rice prices have been rising each week since before the July 3 general election (see table).

Thai rice prices, the benchmark for Asia, rose by 0.7% yesterday from a week earlier on optimism the new government will buy the grain at above-market rates, said the TREA after its weekly price-setting meeting.

It said the price of 100% grade-B white rice reached $567 a tonne, while 25% broken rice rose to $506 a tonne from $502 last week.

Vice-president Charoen Laothamatas said that if the mortgage programme returns, the free-on-board price of Hom Mali would reach US$1,400 a tonne, making it difficult to market.

“If Thai exporters cannot buy such expensive rice for export, they may opt for much cheaper rice from Vietnam, Cambodia or Burma, as they must maintain their market bases and customers. With the Asean free-trade agreement, such an alternative would be possible,” he said.

Some rice exporters and millers have already established trading firms or representative offices in Cambodia and Vietnam to purchase rice for export to foreign customers.

“We have to accept that Vietnam’s rice quality has improved a lot. Fragrant rice in Vietnam is $400 to $500 a tonne cheaper than Thai Hom Mali rice and $150 to $200 lower than Thai Pathum Thani rice,” said Mr Charoen.

He said competition from Vietnam had resulted in Thai Hom Mali’s share of traditional markets such as Hong Kong dropping to only 50% from 85% normally.

Thailand is also at disadvantage in terms of logistics, as the cost for shipping a 20-foot container to the US is $1,700 to $1,800 from Thailand but only $1,350 from Vietnam. Under Pheu Thai’s proposed scheme, rice exports to China would be $220 more than the $100 cost of shipments from Vietnam.

Chookiat Ophaswongse, the TREA honorary president, predicts exports could be cut in half if the government has no measures to assist exporters.

That means export revenue losses of 60-70 billion baht based on this year’s expected 10 million tonnes.

“The government must have measures to support exporters such as offering the government’s stockpile at special price or open bidding for the stocks rather than asking only some exporters to offer prices,” he said.

TREA president Korbsook Iamsuri said that while exports should be able to meet this year’s target of 10 million tonnes, three areas of concern remain.

They are the government’s rice mortgage policy jacking up prices; the baht appreciating further, also making Thai rice more expensive; and India’s plan to export at least one million tonnes of rice from next month, as its price beats Thailand’s by $100 a tonne.

As well, India’s stockpile, normally about 20 million tonnes, is now unusually high at 60 million tonnes.

Thailand exported 6.3 million tonnes of rice in the first half of this year, up by 58.3% year-on-year.

source : Bangkok Post

US praises Laos for suspending Mekong dam project

admin — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:53:32 +0000

BALI, Indonesia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton praised Laos as taking a “forward-leaning position” after the tiny, land-locked nation said it had no immediate plans to resume work on a dam across the Mekong River.

The project Laos was considering would be the first dam across the river as it meanders through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. China has dammed its upper reaches, but the 3,000-mile (4,900-kilometer) river otherwise runs free.

Opponents say construction in Laos could open the way for 10 more dams downstream. That would affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people.

“This is a serious issue for all the countries that share the Mekong River,” Clinton said at a meeting of ministers from affected nations Friday.

“Because if any of you build a dam, all of you will feel the consequences in environmental degradation, challenges to food security, and impacts on communities.”

Laos announced in May that it would defer building the $3.5 billion Xayaburi dam until an expert review was done. Hydropower is one of Laos’ few major resources, and the country had hoped revenue from the dam would spur economic and social development.

It said Friday the suspension would continue, said Kurt Campbell, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia, though he provided no details.

Laos has said the dam would not significantly impact the Mekong mainstream, but activists, scientists and officials in other countries say it would cause irreversible damage.

“I want to urge all parties to pause on any considerations to build new dams until we are able to do a better assessment of the likely consequences,” Clinton said. — AP

Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge tribunal in crisis

admin — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:03:26 +0000

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – It was supposed to be a model for international justice and national reconciliation: a U.N.-backed tribunal to hold trials on one of the 20th century’s grimmest chapters — the Khmer Rouge’s murderous 1970s regime in Cambodia.

Eight years after its creation, however, the multinational panel is riven by suspicion, infighting and angry resignations over whether to try more Khmer Rouge defendants on war crimes charges, in addition to the jailer already convicted and four top officials scheduled for trial June 27.

Critics fear the panel is caving to pressure from Cambodia’s strongman prime minister — himself a former Khmer Rouge cadre — to quash any further indictments, or that the United Nations’ resolve to continue the trials may be waning.

The tussle raises questions about whether the panel can find full justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who were killed, starved, worked to death or died of disease in the “Killing Fields” of the Khmer Rouge’s savage 1975-1979 rule.

“The integrity of the (tribunal) hangs in the balance,” warned former U.S. war crimes ambassador David Scheffer, who helped establish the court.

One of five panel employees who recently quit in frustration, London-based researcher Stephen Heder, chastised investigative judges in his resignation letter for what he described as closing the case on the additional suspects “effectively without investigation.”

Heder also cited the “toxic atmosphere of mutual distrust” at what he called “a professionally dysfunctional office” of the tribunal’s investigating judges, according to a copy of the letter obtained this week by The Associated Press.

The United Nations weighed in Tuesday, with the chief spokesman for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon strongly supporting the panel and its impartiality.

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government sought the United Nations’ help in the late 1990s to create the tribunal. But he didn’t want a fully international court, like for the former Yugoslavia.

Despite misgivings from negotiators, the final agreement in 2003 set up a hybrid system, with Cambodian and international judges and prosecutors working with Cambodian and international laws, under French-style rules.

“I did not want … the U.N. emblem to be given to an entity that did not, shall we say, represent the highest international standards,” Hans Corell, the chief U.N. negotiator at the time, told AP. “But of course what we predicted seems to have developed into the problem that we were concerned would occur.”

Prosecutors have compiled substantial evidence for so-called Cases 003 and 004, which include two top military commanders who also were top officials in Cambodia’s post-Khmer Rouge military, according to confidential court documents obtained by AP. The documents allege both took part in purges that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.

The government, however, has openly stonewalled. Hun Sen told Ban last year that new cases would “not be allowed.”

He has warned that new cases could spark renewed civil war, though his opposition likely stems from the many Khmer Rouge officials, like himself, who are now in government and who fear investigators could dredge up new evidence of war crimes.

“The Cambodian government has been forthright all along that there would be no new cases,” said Anne Heindel, legal adviser to the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which researches the Khmer Rouge. “It’s the failure of the United Nations to act that’s been surprising.”

Scrutiny recently has focused on the two investigating judges who, under the French-style rules, are primarily responsible pretrial investigations. Separate seven-judge panels try the cases.

Many had hoped that German investigating judge Siegfried Blunk would pursue the new cases despite objections of his Cambodian counterpart.

Instead, the judges’ office has made a series of controversial rulings that many observers say are without legal basis and appear intended to pre-empt at least one of the cases.

British co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley has fought the rulings and released new details about the investigation, prompting a harsh rebuke from the judges, which Cayley slammed as “abusive,” “unreasonable,” “capricious,” unprecedented.”

Tensions among some court employees and U.N. legal advisers reached a boiling point last month when several employees sent an angry letter to Ban complaining about Blunk, according to two officials who have seen the letter, but asked to remain anonymous in order to discuss the court’s internal matters. Blunk also sent a letter to Ban, though its contents are unclear.

At least five employees have resigned in protest over Blunk’s actions, including Heder, a consultant who compiled extensive evidence about new suspects.

Blunk was also the focus of Cambodian rights activist Ou Virak, who complained that his conduct was “a matter of utmost concern” and suggested that the U.N. had acquiesced to Cambodia’s government.

Blunk declined to answer questions from AP, but issued a statement through a court spokesman: “The co-investigating judges have worked independently from outside interference, and are resolved to defend their independence against all interference wherever it may come from.”

The feud, and concerns about public perception, prompted officials from the court’s main donors, which includes the United States, Australia and others, to intervene directly with Blunk and Cayley multiple times — by phone and in person.

“I believe in the good faith in each of the good people that I’m talking with. They have very good reason for doing what they’re doing,” the current U.S. war crimes ambassador, Stephen Rapp, said in an interview with AP. “Reasonable people can disagree, but people need to see that this is an issue that this is being decided on the law not on the basis of political pressure.”

Ban’s chief spokesman Martin Nesirky in a statement released Tuesday denied speculation that it was pushing judges to close cases 003 and 004.

“The judges and prosecutors must be allowed to function free from external interference by the Royal Government of Cambodia, the United Nations, donor States, and civil society,” he said. “It follows that the United Nations categorically rejects media speculation that we have instructed the (judges) to dismiss Case 003.”

Clair Duffy, who monitors the tribunal for the Open Society Justice Initiative, said the damage the court has suffered could be mitigated by how the upcoming trial — which includes the man who was second only to the infamous Pol Pot — plays out, “and in particular whether it was able to withstand political pressure from the Cambodian government.”

But the final judgment will rest with Cambodians and whether they embrace the court’s decisions as model justice or political charade. — AP

Cambodian PM accuses Thais of war mongering

admin — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 10:26:16 +0000

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Cambodia’s leader accused Thailand on Wednesday of loving war and said he wants to talk peace with his Thai counterpart at an upcoming regional meeting.

In his first comments since border fighting began last Friday, Prime Minister Hun Sen said he welcomes talks with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at the meeting in Indonesia early next month.

The two countries traded fire for a sixth day Wednesday, after the death of a Thai civilian a day earlier brought the toll to 14. Tens of thousands of civilians on both sides have been forced to flee their homes.

“The current Thai leader likes war, provokes war,” Hun Sen said in a speech to a women’s group. “I have never met any Thai leader in the past who had bad behavior like Abhisit.”

Both sides have accused the other of starting the fighting.

“Cambodia is a small, poor country and has fewer forces (than Thailand), but don’t you forget that an ant can make an elephant not get any sleep,” Hun Sen said. “Cambodian’s weaponry is not just slingshots.”

Cambodia employed truck-mounted rocket launchers for the first time Tuesday, in what Hun Sen said was retaliation for Thailand’s use of heavy weapons.

Abhisit, meanwhile, said his government is not willing to have a meeting of the two countries’ defense ministers unless there is a cease-fire first.

“If they want to talk, the easiest way is to stop the firing,” Abhisit told Parliament after visiting injured civilians in Surin province in the northeast.

Talks with Cambodia have apparently become a divisive issue within the Thai government, with the military dragging its feet while Abhisit takes a more conciliatory position.

On Tuesday it appeared that Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan would meet his Cambodian counterpart in Phnom Penh, but Thai army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd then said the trip was canceled because Cambodian media had allegedly said it was to negotiate terms for a Thai surrender.

Abhisit, however, said the trip could not take place because Prawit had an engagement in China.

The army has already stymied a plan to station Indonesian military observers along the border. Hun Sen said Wednesday that Cambodia would welcome them on its side of the border regardless of any delays by Thailand.

Indonesia, which currently chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, offered to provide the observers after four days of border fighting in February.

“Why is Thailand afraid of accepting the observers? That is because you are committing aggressive acts against Cambodia,” Hun Sen said.

The conflict involves small swaths of land along the border that have been disputed for more than half a century. Fierce clashes have broken out several times since 2008, when Cambodia’s 11th-century Preah Vihear temple was given U.N. World Heritage status over Thailand’s objections.

The Thai army has been flexing its muscles domestically in recent weeks, raising political tensions. It has staged several high-profile maneuvers inside the country, accompanied by statements by the top brass declaring their dedication to protecting the monarchy.

There is speculation that the military disagrees with Abhisit’s plan to hold elections by early July. It is believed to fear the return to power of allies of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whom it deposed in a 2006 coup over accusations of corruption and disrespect for King Bhumibol Adulyadej. — AP