No action on temple before [Thai] PM's visit

A plan for troop withdrawal from the Preah Vihear temple would be discussed in the National Security Council (NSC) and the Cabinet soon - but not before the visit to Cambodia of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday, Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul said.

In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Thailand and Cambodia to withdraw their military personnel from the court-determined demilitarised zone adjacent to the temple, pending interpretation of the 1962 judgement.

Cambodia announced it would fully comply with the court order but only when Indonesia dispatched its observer team to assess the situation and monitor the troop withdrawal.

Thailand, since the previous government under Abhisit Vejjajiva, has not made any decision on whether or how it would comply with the court's injunction.

Prime Minister Yingluck briefed Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during her visit to Jakarta on Monday that her government needed to be clear on the domestic legal process before making any decision on the matter, according to Surapong.

It remained unclear whether the troop withdrawal in accordance with the ICJ ruling required the Parliament's approval.

Yingluck will visit Cambodia on Thursday and the Preah Vihear issue will be among various topics to be discussed with Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen, a government official said.

Thailand and Cambodia have been at loggerheads over the temple for a long time, but the recent conflict erupted when Cambodia managed to list the Preah Vihear as a world heritage site in 2008.

The Preah Vihear, as ruled by the ICJ in 1962, is situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia but Thailand argued its vicinity belongs to Thailand. Cambodia asked the court in April to clarify the 1962 judgement. The interpretation process is now going on.

Tension between the two countries eased after the victory of the Pheu Thai party in the July election which brought Yingluck to office.

The opposition Democrat Party yesterday demanded the government announce a clear stand over the border disputed area adjacent to the Preah Vihear, and in the Gulf of Thailand, before the visit to Cambodia of Prime Minister Yingluck.

No matter how good personal relations of Prime Minister Yingluck and her brother Thaksin Shinawatra with Cambodia, the government has to make clear that such relations would be useful for the national rather than personal interest, Democrat MP Attaporn Palabutr said.

Cambodia seeking royal pardon for Veera, Ratri [-Pardon for Thai citizens because of Hun Xen's link to the Shinawatras???]

Veera Somkwamkid

September 14, 2011
The Nation

The Cambodian government is seeking a royal pardon for the two Thai activists arrested and detained for illegal entry and spying.

A high-ranking source in the Cambodian government said Veera Somkwamkid and Ratri Pipattanaopaiboon should be released soon. Veera and Ratri, who are linked to the yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy, were arrested at the Thai-Cambodian border early this year.

It is believed that they will be released during Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's visit to Cambodia tomorrow and are likely to return home as part of her entourage, the source said. [KI-Media: So much for Hun Xen's vow to keep them in jail for 2/3 of the sentence!]

Analysts See New Page in Upcoming Thai Visits

Thailand's first female Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra arrives for the first cabinet meeting at the Government House in Bangkok August 11, 2011. (Photo: Reuters)

Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“I think Thaksin chose the same week as his sister’s visit to put himself in the limelight once again.”

The dual visits this week of Thailand’s new prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, and her brother, Thaksin, who was ousted from that position in 2006, could create an amicable environment for talks on a range of issues, analysts said Tuesday.

Yingluck, who was elected in July, is scheduled to arrive on Thursday, with Thaksin preparing for a weeklong trip starting Friday.

Between the two, talks over an ongoing military border stand-off, on maritime petroleum resources and on the release of two jailed Thai activists could all take place, analysts said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday he would not be holding political talks with Thaksin, a politically divisive figure who remains in exile from Thailand to avoid corruption charges there. However, his coming signals improved engagement with the new Thai government, which is led by his sister and former supporters.

Official talks are scheduled between Hun Sen and Yingluck only.

“First, I think talks will focus on reconciliation,” said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a policy and strategy analyst at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Such talks would likely focus on reconciliation of the border dispute near Preah Vihear temple, which flared in July 2008 and has cost a number of lives on both sides in skirmishes over the years.

“Second, the two sides could talk about shared development in the disputed maritime territories,” he said. “However, Yingluck will have to make sure that this process is transparent and will not be for the benefit of anyone in particular.”

“Third, it could mean the release of two Thais jailed last year in Cambodia,” he said, referring to the cases of Veera Somkwamkid and Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, activists of the Thailand Patriot Network, who were allegedly caught on the Cambodian side of the border and charged with spying.

“I think this is a positive visit, and I believe that a positive outcome will come from these trips,” he said. “I think this is a new beginning of Thailand and Cambodia’s relationship.”

As for Thaksin’s visit, he said, “We will never know what kind of discussions there may be.” But he said Thaksin is fond of Cambodia, as it is close to his home, and that he may want to prove himself a “legitimate” leader for the Thais.

“I think Thaksin chose the same week as his sister’s visit to put himself in the limelight once again,” he said. “On the positive side, it seems that bilateral ties between the two countries are on the mend.”

Chheang Vannarith, executive director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, said the two visits will create a “multiplying effect.”

He too said top agenda items will be the border, maritime boundaries and the two jailed activists.

A more peaceful border will mean the return of “trade, tourism and investment,” he said. “This is a new page in Cambodian and Thai history.”

However, he warned caution in talks over oil in gas. “For Cambodia, we want an agreement, particularly in maritime issues, so that we can extract oil resources at the end of next year,” he said.

Land for victims granted to landgrabber while 100 residents cut out of deal ; INJUSTICE under Hun Xen

A Boeung Kak lake resident stokes a fire of burning tyres during a protest yesterday at the lakeside. Photo by: Meng Kimlong

Shukaku snaps up titles in relocation site

Tuesday, 13 September 2011 15:03
Khouth Sophak Chakrya The Phnom Penh Post

More than 20 plots of land within a relocation site at the Boeung Kak area awarded as compensation to villagers set to be evicted have been granted to the same company that is displacing them, owned by ruling party Senator Lao Meng Khin.

Authorities at the Srah Chak commune office revealed yesterday that the Senator’s Shukaku Inc had been granted land titles for 21 plots in a 12.44 hectare area awarded for the on-site relocation of 794 families in a sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on August 11.

But no land titles were issued yesterday to villagers affected by Shukaku’s 114.41 hectare development project, stirring outrage amongst some 70 families who protested over the decision of authorities to cut them out of the on-site relocation deal.

Heng Mom, 54, from village 22 of Daun Penh’s Srak Chork commune, said the hypocrisy of awarding land titles to Shukaku within the on-site relocation area while excluding villagers was intolerable and corrupt.

“Twenty-one papers for land titles only located in village 22 were issued to the Shukaku company owned by Lao Meng Khin and [his wife] Ching Sopheap, while 70 affected families including my own were brushed aside out of the land titling project,” she said.

The land titling process, which was overseen by the Urbanisation Committee and Daun Penh district authorities was “embedded with corruption”, exploiting affected residents, she added.

Villagers living on the 21 plots have previously said Shukaku effectively forced them to sell their land for US$8,490, an amount Phnom Penh City Hall ruled as one form of acceptable compensation before the on-site relocation offer was announced.

Shukaku, they alleged, threatening them that if they did not take the money they would be evicted with nothing and then gave them contracts for sale of the land, not compensation.

Representatives of Shukaku could not be reached for comment yesterday but Srah Chak deputy commune chief In Saphon said she regretted decisions to cut 70 families out of the on-site relocation area.

“In fact, we, the subordinates of local authorities, wanted to issue land titles for each family but it is not our responsibility,” she said, adding the final say lay with the municipality. She declined to explain why some 100 families had been cut out of the 12.44 hectare relocation area since the deal was made public on August 18, following a World Bank decision to suspend all funding for new projects in Cambodia until the dispute was adequately solved.

Boeung Kak representative Tep Vanny said the process of granting land titles had lacked transparency ever since the relocation deal was made public last month.

"The DC-Cam circus spins around" - Op-Ed by Anonymous

The circus is spinning at DC-CAM: after sitting down Him Huy, one of the brutal KR guards at S-21, with Tuol Sleng survivors at a reconciliation dinner, Chhang Youk, DC-CAM director, now issues a decree on the reconciliation between the children of the victims and children of the executioners. On 13 September 2011, DC-CAM organized a Pchum Ben meeting between Norng Chen Kimty, the daughter of former S-21 child survivor, and Huy Senghul, the daughter of S-21 prison guard.

By allowing DC-CAM to take these unbearable actions and by supporting it, the United States, through its massive funding for DC-CAM, is playing a very dangerous game indeed!

Norng Chen Kimty, the daughter of S-21 child survivor, and Huy Senghul, the daughter of S-21 prison guard, are seen praying together at a Pchum Ben event organized by DC-CAM on 13 Sept 2011 (Photo: DC-CAM)

Huy Senghul and Norng Chen Kimty seen leaving the event together (Photo: DC-CAM)

Who could be their fathers?

Him Huy, one of the KR torturer in S-21 (Photo: Seth Mydans, IHT)

Brothers Norng Channy and Norng Chanphal were child-survivors of S-21

Youth denied their constitutional rights in Phnom Penh

Register to Vote: Newsletter Two 
Monday 12 September 2011

Youth denied their constitutional rights in Phnom Penh
Every capable Cambodian citizen 18 years or older has the right to vote in elections. This is ensured in our constitution.
However, Cambodian youth have a challenge when taking voter registration information door-to-door to their peers, in the city of Phnom Penh on the 2nd week of the registration period. Local commune chiefs, district officials trailed by police prevented the youth and Mu Sochua of the Sam Rainsy party, an elected MP from providing information to voters, accusing them of unlawful activities and disturbing peace and security in the commune.

SRP youth president Soung Sophoan handing out voter information cards at the pagoda.

Sophoan and MP Mu Sochua confronted by local authorities minutes later for their actions.

Voter information cards were snatched and confiscated by the local authorities who went door to door, creating an atmosphere of fear. Such a violation of voters' rights, including right to information and political rights is part of the fear tactics of the ruling party through the use of local officials.
The Cambodia Daily newspaper reported on the 13th September 2011, “There were almost as many authorities as SRP members, which came in handy when the information card distribution began because it meant the authorities could grab back the cards as quickly as they were distributed to the public”.

A fan?  No, a member of the local authority taking pictures in an act of intimidation and harassment. He was part of the authority convoy trailing the party youth.

Voter registration is the first step to guaranty protection of voters' right to vote. The EU Electoral Observation Mission noted in its 2008 general election report that 19 per cent of polling stations reported voters complaints due to errors on the register on election-day. Domestic observers concurred with this finding, stating in their reports that incorrect voter registration was one of the key problems of the 2008 election process.
The Sam Rainsy Party is taking no chances by waiting for electoral reforms to take place. During the 45-day registration period, the SRP youth and all the party machinery is being used nationwide to ensure that the newly illegible voters have their right to vote.

The youth will not be intimidated and they continue to exercise their constitutional right to hand out the voter information cards

Training youth to go door-to-door is a must and a good exercise to train our youth to enter the field of politics and to defend our people's political rights. Any form of threat and intimidation must be stopped in order to ensure free and fair elections.

haksin to visit Cambodia on Friday: Hun Sen

Thaksin running to the embrace of Hun Xen?

Tuesday, Sep 13, 2011
The Nation/Asia News Network

THAILAND - Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will visit Cambodia on Friday to attend a conference on the Asian economy - not to negotiate petroleum resources in the countries' overlapping claims area in the Gulf of Thailand as speculated, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday.

"Thaksin's visit to Cambodia was scheduled before the official visit of newly elected Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who will visit Cambodia on [Thursday]," he said during a graduation ceremony of 4,100 students at the National University of Management in Phnom Penh.

"But the visit of Thaksin on [Friday] until Sept 24 is to join the Asian Economic Future Conference, organised by the Royal Academy of Cambodia, not to talk with Cambodia on oil and gas issues," Hun Sen was quoted as saying by China's state-owned Xinhua news agency.