Wishes of New Year 2007

News From Cambodia N° 0666-E

WISHES OF NEW YEAR 2007

Khemara Jati
Montréal, Québec
December 31th, 2006

December 25th, 2006 was the 28th anniversary of the vietnamese invasion, since December 25th, 1978. Thirteen years later, December 21st, 1991, two months after the signature of the Paris Agreements, the first peaceful urban Cambodian demonstrations started against the power settled by Hanoi. People and students are part of it. The third day, on December 23rd, 1991 these peaceful demonstrations are flooded in the blood by vietnamese soldiery under the eyes of diplomats and western media. The vietnamese police Dacon fired at point-blank range at the children, the old and the least old, men and women. The family of the victims is summoned to keep silent. A father who wanted to look for the last time at the face of his son killed by the police, was shoots down. The UNO was obliged to appoint hastily in January 9th, 1992, the Japanese Yasushi Akashi to start UNTAC. Because Japan is obliged to pay out more than 2 billions of US dollars for this most expensive UNO operation. Let us call back however that it was the UNTAC soldiers who brought AIDS in Cambodia then quickly spread by the vietnamese prostitutes. Nowadays all about the same men installed by Hanoi are always in the power.

In this threshold of new year 2007, 29th year of the vietnamese communists domination, our thoughts go towards families and children who are obliged to fetch in the domestic garbage's unloading looking for cans, boxes and other saleable objects for few Riels; towards the families who are obliged to sell their children to survive; towards the children who are obliged to sell their body to survive; towards Cambodians' families, expropriated and thrown to the street arbitrarily and who are going to add the number to the underprivileged peoples whom we have just quoted.

There is about 200 000 a year, of Cambodians who died from the ignorance, from the disease and from the misery; according to Rainsy. Cambodia is the highest percentage of the region for the women died of confinement and the infant mortality. The life expectation is the lowest of Asia.

Our thoughts also go to the families of our fellow countrymen who are massacred or killed arbitrarily or for political reasons and who are obliged to keep silent; to those who are arbitrarily imprisoned and to their families and to the families of the victims who are obliged to emigrate in order to escape from the prison or the death.

At the beginning of the New Year 2007, it is the custom to raise the landmarks of the previous year.

§ Cambodians in Cambodia is unanimous to notice that Cambodia always lives under the vietnamese law and Vietnam is moving their borders more and more profoundly into our lands. Landmark borders even new are not immovable. The police and the civil servants are obliged to keep silent or moved away. Our inhabitants on the borders are obliged to move back or to adopt the vietnamese nationality. On our borders, the vietnamese side is prosperous and miserable on the Cambodian side, with communications in very bad conditions. The new factories build on our lands will be fed with energy electricity and gaz from Vietnam. The engineers and the technicians will be all Vietnamese. The products will be exported as made in Vietnam by the port of Saigon. As already on average over million tons of Cambodian rice. Vietnam sells to Cambodia the crack of rice at the good price.

§ 2006 saw an increasing number of Cambodians abroad agree and unite with our fellow countrymen in Cambodia. There is now unanimity to say openly that the main danger of our country in the future is that Cambodia is becoming gradually a vietnamese province. It is an awareness of the first importance.

§ In 2006 our fellow countrymen abroad analyzes the situation of our country by taking into consideration geostrategic interests of the countries who say to help us, as the helps of major powers.

2006 also saw the appearance of the most important first weapons of struggle for the perennity and perpetuity of Cambodian nation.

The most important and the most fundamental struggle which is substantial is consisting to gather and to unite the people :

§ Regarding the cultural and linguistic by the development of the written language in the education from maternal to universities and at the sharpest research laboratories. Educated people never accept a durable foreign domination. People can be educated only in the mother's language. It is curious to notice that our brothers and sisters in Thailand and in Vietnam fight in a very difficult conditions to preserve their language and their culture; to notice that Cambodians, especially abroad accept gaily these fundamental bases of our national cultural identity.

§ In the social and economic point of view by the development of enterprises with cambodian capital or with foreign capital using the Cambodian competence in executives, engineers and technicians of all levels. All these in an objective to develop the economy for the prosperity of the whole people.

§ In the territorial point of view by the construction of asphalted roads and well maintained connecting our cities and villages with the capital. It is necessary that the whole Cambodia becomes the back country of our Kompong Som port. So that our archaeological and other wealth are mainly running from Cambodia. To build factories on our borders without improving the communications towards our port of Kompong Som is to offer our wealth and our lands to our neighbours on a golden tray.

§ In Cambodia, our fellow countrymen know by experience to distinguish the foreign helps and from major powers, those useful and helps in their daily life and to develop the country, of those who help mainly the vietnamese domination, as the roads and the highways towards Vietnam by abandoning the Cambodia internal roads of communication.

On these three imperatives, 2006 saw important realizations:

§ 2006 saw a net awareness of the fundamental importance of the education in general and in particular the education in national language. Certainly there are still rivalries to teach English, either French or Chinese to become the main language at the university. This fact explains that there is a very small number of Cambodians formed in Cambodia having high-level knowledge. This fact is a plan by Hanoi to vietnamise Cambodia and to continue to dominate our country in the future: maintain the Cambodian people in the ignorance as long as possible. In spite of the striking inferiority of our school and university systems with our neighbours, our fellow countrymen manage to remedy to a certain extent this handicap imposed by the regime controlled by Hanoi. At the end of the year 2005, during the Scientific Olympiad organized in Indonesia, Cambodia sent 6 candidates. Six are outdone. One of them obtained the golden medal. Neither Thailand nor Vietnam obtained such a medal. In spite of their weak salary, the majority of professors and teachers have aware of their duty and often give free particular lessons to the best student. On the other hand with the distribution of books, there are more and more self-taught who succeed as the prize-winners of the Olympiads in Indonesia.

§ More and more numerous enterprises are steered by Cambodians. There is cooperation between Cambodians abroad and Cambodians formed on the spot in the enterprises with foreign capital. The Cambodian engineers, technicians at all levels can compete effectively with their Vietnamese or foreign homologues. Moreover many companies look for Cambodian engineers and technicians at all levels, because more in sync with the people. Of course the struggle against the exaggerated monopolies of the vietnamese company Sokimex and the vietnamese bank Canadia is still far from being gained. The struggle is certainly still hard and long, but the road of liberation is now becoming clearer than before.

§ Now it is possible for our fellow countrymen to use the Cambodian language in internet as to write emails for example. On the other hand Google offers a search engine in our language. We wish that Google puts on-line all books in Cambodian as well as documents in French and in English on our history, in particular books and articles of Bernard Philippe Groslier. There are also keyboards in Cambodian. A little more time is needed so that this possibility is generalized.

§ Foreign helps allow us to build roads and bridges to improve the communications inside our country. Our railroads will be modernized. China builds a big hydroelectric dam at Kamchay with 90 % of Cambodian staff. Cambodia is going to have a lot of oil and gas. Everybody knows that the energy is the base of any economic development. Then why delay of building an oil refinery in Cambodia and electric factories by using our petroleum and gas? Is it not a means to keep Cambodia depending more on vietnamese gasoline imported by the vietnamese company which has it monopoly on that ? Is it not a means to feed our border provinces with our electricity ? Is it not a means to lower the energy’s price in our country ? Are we going to undergo the petroleum curse as in Nigeria or Angola ? Why contracts for our wealth's exploitation in hydrocarbons always remain secret ?

§ Our fellow countrymen abroad analyzes the situation of our country by taking into account geostrategic interests of those who say to help us, as the helps of major powers. The question is to know: are the Chinese helps quite bad and the American, quite good ? Or conversely ? The answer is in the criteria on which based the answer. Our fellow countrymen in Cambodia can notice it in the practice. But abroad ?

§ In these multiform struggles against Ignorance, Disease and Misery, Cambodians gained quite a lot of success. There is now cohesion in the cambodian society thanks to the acceleration of the national identity unity based on the development of our written language and in the common struggle to develop our national economy.

Of course the Cambodian's efforts are fundamental, but it is necessary to underline the contributions of the foreign personalities who helped us more than voluntarily by dedicating their life, their talent and their personal wealth to help Cambodians in the domains of their competence. We quote only two:

§ Beat Richner, paediatrician doctor and Swiss cellist, who has just inaugurated his fourth Kantha Bopha hospital. These Hospitals are built, with the helps of some foreign experts, almost totally by Cambodians, architects, enterprises, engineers, technicians and workers. These Hospitals are managed by a staff hundred percent Cambodian administration and medical and technical staff in any kind. Only the deputy director is French, replacing him while he is busy. These Hospitals is free for the Cambodian children's care of all conditions, without the slightest favoritism. Now there are other hospitals for free care also.

§ Ingrid Muan, an American of Swedish origin, died in mysterious conditions in April, 2005. She made a very important contribution to develop our culture generally and in the written culture in particular by managing to obtain subsidies of the important foundations like “Albert Kunstader Family”, “Japan Foundation Asia Center”, “Rockefeller Foundation” and “Toyota Foundation”, to create with her friend Ly Daravuth the cultural group “Reyum”? Thanks to her approaches and methods that Cambodia possesses now modern printing offices with a technical staff to manage and maintain them.

§ Now books, newspapers, magazines etc. in national language develops quickly and run out in the market very well. The booksellers - publishers well earn their life. This fact allows our schools and lycées to be equipped with libraries step by step.

Our Wishes For New Year 2007

At the beginning of this new year 2007, team of Khemara Jati, wishes our friends, our readers and all our fellow countrymen in Cambodia as all around the world a Happy New Year: Health, Happiness and Success in all fields; that our fellow Countrymen in Cambodia and all around the world strengthens their unity of fight in the multiform struggles more and more united together against the ignorance, the disease and the poverty, against the exorbitant monopoly of the vietnamese enterprise Sokimex and the vietnamese Canadia bank, for the National Independence in our Territorial and Maritime Integrity, for the Development of our Cultural, Linguistic Unity, for the Economic development for the whole people, for Democracy and for Freedom.

We wish that our fellow countrymen become aware of the importance of the history, the fundamental inheritance of our ancestors which is necessary to know how to decipher. Because so far our history is mainly written by foreigners.

« Is not the ignorance of the own past, means a big part of oneself, become more and more alienator ? All the troubles which strike Africa today, as well as all the chances happening there, result from uncountable forces propelled by the History. And as well as the evolution of a disease's reconstruction is the first stage of a rational of diagnostic and a therapeutic realization, also the first task of global analysis of this continent is historic. Unless opting for the unconsciousness and of alienation, we would not know how to live without memory, nor with the memory of others. The History is nothing else but the memory of the peoples. » Ki Zerbo, in « Histoire Générale de l’Afrique », Ed Unesco, Paris 1980, 1984, tome I, p. 23. Ki Zerbo left the world on december 4th, 2006.

Now the History of Cambodia is mainly written by foreigners, based on legends, hypotheses and practically without any economic fact. Only Bernard Philippe Groslier, before his premature death, projected to write a History of Cambodia from the prehistory until our days, based on the archaeology, the economy and according to inquiries since the civilizations from the Mediterranean Sea to China by way of India, Ceylon, Burma, Siam and China. It is desirable that our historians look over the angkorian civilization in Siam during Ayuthia era and since the Portuguese's arrival to Malacca in 1511. From that period a history of Southeast Asia and East Asia is changed by the European's intervention.

We wish that a group of Cambodians seriously interested in our history, quickly forms to write at least partially our history freed of the legends and the hypotheses without serious verifications.

Team of Khemara Jati
December 31th, 2006

Note : Cet article est disponible en français sur demande.

Heng Pov Affair, suite and ... end ?

News From Cambodia N° 0663-E

HENG POV AFFAIR, SUITE AND…END ?

Khemara Jati
Montreal, Quebec
December 24th, 2006

We diffuse again, our article News of Cambodia N 0636 on September 4th, 2006 entitle « Heng Pov Affair, funeral in the silence ». The same article was published at the second time on December 4th, 2006. So our predictions confirmed regrettably the facts. Heng Pov is now condemned for the silence or punished into death in a prison of Cambodia. Khemara Jati made everything of its best so that Malaysia allows Heng Pov to leave the country and take refuge in Finland. But in vain. The interests of Major powers and the Malaysia decided according to our predictions.

For great powers the unlimited « Culture of the Impunity » continuation is only the « Sideshow » described by William Shawcross in his book of the same title published in 1979 in New York, at Simon and Schuster and in France, “La tragédie sans importance” at Balland ». So the massacres even recent of prisoners, ordered openly by Hok Lundi, a high official of the regime, at Battambang's prison; monk's murders as that of venerable Sam Bunthoeun; the murders of politicians as Om Radsady, union activists as Chea Vichea, of famous artists as Piseth Pilika and Touch Sunnich; innocents' arbitrary imprisonment for crimes which they have never committed, etc. Families and friends of victims are obliged to live hidden or in exiles. The real authors of these massacres and murders are never worried. All this is that a « Sideshow ». « The Culture of the Impunity » can even lasting infinitely.

Now everybody knows officially that Cambodia has enormous reserves in hydrocarbons: petroleum of a very good quality and gas. Nowadays hydrocarbons are subject of highly strategic importance. Dozens, even billion hundreds dollars are at stake.

Malaysia has many interests in Cambodia. On the other hand, there are enormous pressures of major powers. Hor Nam Hong's anger was intended to warn great powers and Malaysia on a possible Heng Pov's departure to Finland, country without any importance economic interests with Cambodia, thus out of reach possible reprisals of the Phnom Penh's regime.

It is necessary to remind that there are many secret agreements between Hun Sen and major powers as for example contracts between Hun Sen and the giant American Chevron Texaco oil company. It is also necessary to remind that the United States had engaged potential relation with Hun Sen since September 5th, 1990, that is a little more than a year before the Paris Agreements.

Our country is placed, geographically, in the center of the Southeast Asia. More everybody knows now that we have enormous reserves in hydrocarbon. In our previous articles we foresaw that, our maritime port of Kompong Som, our coasts with the charming landscapes, sensibly, leaned in a Channels of Cardamoms, more charming and our green islands, will become in few decades, the biggest high-level industrial, economic and tourist area, of the region. The question is to know if our port, our coast, our islands and our Chain of Cardamoms will remain Cambodian by the populating, by the culture, by the political power and by the managers, by the administrators, by the executives, by the engineers and by the technicians.

Cambodians in Cambodia are the first interested ones then the first ones of all fronts in the multiform struggles against the ignorance, the disease and the poverty, against the multiple exaggerated and inequitable monopolies, of the vietnamese company Sokimex and the vietnamese bank Canadia, for an economic development for all the sectors of society of the people, for the National Independence in the territorial and maritime integrity of the nation, for the Democracy, the Freedom and the Peace.

We Cambodian living abroad, what can we do to help them ? Such is the fundamental question requiring concrete answers, following by the concrete activities which can motivating all of us in a great and general national unity.

We wish to see realizing these concrete activities during the new year of 2007.

Note : Cet article est disponible aussi en français sur demande

NEWS FROM CAMBODIA N° 0655-E
HENG POV’S CASE
the Funeral in the silence ?
(Recapitulation)

Letter to the Malaysian Government

Montréal, le 10 décembre 2006

Mission diplomatique Haut-commissariat de Malaisie60, rue Boteler,
Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada, K1N 8Y7 Téléphone : (613) 241-5182/731-2955/265-4824 (24h) Fax : (613) 241-5214 http://home.istar.ca/~mwottawa - malottawa@kln.gov.my

Je vous prie de bien vouloir faire suivre cette lettre au Gouvernement de la Malaisie

Son Excellence, Monsieur l’ambassadeur,
L'équipe de Khemara Jati (Associations de presses cambodgiennes à l’étranger) et ses amis sont heureux d'apprendre que le gouvernement de Malaisie, de concert avec le gouvernement de la Finlande, vient de permettre à Heng Pov d'obtenir l'asile politique en Finlande.
En cette journée internationale des Droits de l'Homme, nous exprimons nos félicitations et nos remerciements au gouvernement de la Malaisie et au groupe de juristes agissant au nom de la morale et des Droits de l’Homme, pour cette importante décision d'humanité et de justice. Cette importance initiative du gouvernement de Malaisie répond aussi aux souhaits du peuple cambodgien.
Heng Pov est un témoin de première importance concernant de nombreux crimes et massacres commis au Cambodge depuis plus de dix ans. Pour cette raison Heng Pov a été poursuivi et condamné arbitrairement pour des raisons politiques. Sa vie est en danger. Le gouvernement de Malaisie a porté assistance à une personne en danger de mort, en refusant de remettre Heng Pov aux autorités de Phnom Penh. Le Gouvernement de Malaisie a fait preuve de justice et d’humanité en accueillant Heng Pov pendant un certain temps sur son territoire.
Nous tenons à exprimer de nouveau, notre profonde gratitude au Gouvernement de Malaisie, qui a permis la réussite du voyage de Heng Pov à Helsinki.

(Signé)
Prasit Kuoch
Pour Khemara Jati
khemarajati@sympatico.ca
Téléphone : 514-596-0896
Fax : 514-596-1423

Heng Pov's deportation shocks the Malaysian public and upsets the Malaysian Federal court
22 Dec 2006
Court upset by speedy deportation
Rita Jong and Alang Bendahara
New Straits Times (Malaysia)
PUTRAJAYA: Former Cambodian police chief Heng Peo is now in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.He was sent back yesterday, an hour after the Court of Appeal dismissed the High Court's decision on Dec 16 to send him to Singapore, his last point of embarkation. The Court of Appeal also refused counsel N. Sivanathan's oral application for a stay of execution.Sivanathan immediately appealed to the Federal Court, which was prepared to hear it right away, but before it could do so, Heng Peo was escorted into a van and rushed to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Heng Peo was deported in a private plane at 12.30pm. The Federal Court convened at 1.20pm.His deportation not only shocked the public , Sivanathan and co-counsel Abdul Shukor Ahmad but also took the panel of three judges, who sat to hear his appeal, by surprise. The panel, led by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Richard Malanjum, even asked the prosecution at least twice to confirm this."Are you sure he is no longer in Malaysia?" he asked deputy public prosecutor, Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria. Mohamad Hanafiah said yes, but he denied that he knew that counsel was going to appeal and that the Immigration Department was going to deport Heng Peo to Cambodia so soon .Irked by the reply, Malanjum said: "Why did they do that? We are now here to hear his appeal. There is still a court higher than the Court of Appeal."Didn't the counsel ask for a stay of execution? That is common sense (that they will be appealing), isn't it?" he asked.He told Mohamad Hanafiah that the minute Sivanathan filed the appeal, the panel of judges was constituted — in less than five minutes. "Why didn't you advise the Immigration Department to hold him first?" he asked.Mohamad Hanafiah did not reply.Sivanathan then stood up and expressed his disappointment with the Attorney-General's Chambers and the Immigration Department."When the decision was delivered at 11.30am, I asked the director-general of Immigration and he confirmed that a decision was not made as to whether to deport him to Singapore or to his home country. But now this has happened," he said. "I made an oral application for a stay but was refused by the court, after Hanafiah objected."We have also told the prosecution that Heng Peo, whose Cambodian passport was cancelled, had a travel document to Finland. "But, still, the A-G's Chambers had allowed this to happen."Mohamad Hanafiah, who was assisted by DPP Ishak Mohd Yusof, replied that the A-G's Chambers had nothing to do with the fact that Heng Peo was sent back. "If I knew earlier, I would have alerted the Immigration Department."I was only informed through an SMS at 1.15pm," he said.Malanjum then rapped Mohamad Hanafiah."Hanafiah, if it is urgent, you should wait until the court decides. "When the High Court made the order, you appealed. Of course, they would do the same now, won't they?" he asked."Now, nothing much can be done. So, the court will not make any order," Malanjum, who sat with Datuk Hashim Yusoff and Datuk Azmel Maamor, added. Earlier, the Court of Appeal unanimously allowed the prosecution's appeal and set aside the High Court's decision to deport him to the last port of embarkation, which was Singapore.Court of Appeal judges Datuk Zukefli Ahmad Makinudin, Datuk Raus Sharif and Datuk Zainun Ali ruled that the application made by Heng Peo was wrong and in violation of the law. Meanwhile, Heng Peo's wife, Ngin Sotheaby, is appealing to an international human rights body to help her husband.She said she was not given a chance to talk to her husband after yesterday's decision.She said the Immigration Department officers rushed Heng Peo into the van and handed him to the Cambodian government.Ngin Sotheaby said this at the Dang Wangi police headquarters where she lodged a report against the Immigration Department and the A-G's Chambers at 5pm. "I haven't spoken to him for three months. How can they do such things?"On Dec 15, High Court judge Datuk Abdul Kadir Musa allowed Heng Peo's application to be sent to Singapore on the condition that he was able to bear all the expenses incurred during his stay in Malaysia. Since Heng Peo's arrest on Oct 3 for overstaying, Ngin Sotheaby had, on his behalf, sought asylum in many countries.Heng Peo fled Cambodia after a Phnom Penh court started proceedings against him and several others for the murder of a judge and other crimes. Following his arrest, Ngin Sotheaby applied for a writ of habeas corpus on Oct 5 to prevent the Immigration Department from deporting him to Cambodia on the grounds that she feared for her husband's safety because he would be tortured if sent home. Following the High Court's order, Sivanathan and Abdul Shukor withdrew their client's habeas corpus application.

Khemara Jati
khemarajati@sympatico.ca

[1] Cambodge Soir of 29 August 2006 : Ron Abney : J'ai retiré ma plainte pour aider Kem Sokha et Sam Rainsy
[2] The Cambodia Daily of 10 August 2006.
[3] Cambodge Soir of 29 August 2006 : Sam Rainsy appelle ses militants à la réserve.

The Power of the National Language

News From Cambodia N° 0662-E

THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE, THE FUNDAMENTAL WEAPON TO RELEASE OUR COUNTRY FROM ANY FOREIGN DOMINATION

Khemara Jati
Montreal, Quebec
December 21, 2006

“Aksar rolaot cheat roleay
Aksar ponnareay cheat thlai thla ”
- If letter disappears, the nation disappears
If letter is brilliant, the nation is excellent -

The cultural identity is an anthropological concept which indicates a historic moment during which a community, people recognizes each other by precise values in her practices, her concepts, her thoughts, her faiths, her art etc.

The language of people is a tool in the service of these people to hand on some thought. As for any transmission there is a broadcast function and a reception function : a language allows people to express and to understand each other among themselves. It is a part of our cultural patrimony.

The language of a people is a legacy of more or less remote past. Each word, each expression encloses a load of meaning, feeling bequeathed by the history which is difficult to translate in another language. It is necessary to note it in the translation of the sentence bequeathed by our ancestors, reproduced above. The differences of nuance and sense between the original text and its translation can be understood only by a person who knows perfectly both languages. Moreover this difficulty which made that one says translating is betraying.

Every word of a language has a history, even if the speaker does not know it. The words bequeathed by our ancestors forge the way of thought of people. Certainly the meaning of each word evolves with the society; still it remains always understandable for the constituents of this society. French of Quebec evolved differently from French of France. Accents are not any more the same. Fortunately nowadays the opportunities of the communications in any kinds and human and cultural relations allow easing these divergent evolutions.

The language is the cultural identity's support. The paper or the writing gives a living language in continuance; it is the history's support. The concept of the history was born with the writing. The paper is thus the base of our cultural identity, the base of our cultural unity.

To protect her culture and her identity, a nation owes to value her language. The language of people is her most precious patrimony. Losing her language is losing the whole identity, her past then deforms her history until incomprehensible.

Our fellow countrymen in Cambodia well understood this importance of our written language. The first “Dictionary of the Ancient Khmer” (translated into contemporary Cambodian language) was published in 2000 by Professor Long Seam, financed by the Foundation Toyota of Japan. It is desirable that Cambodians who want to the sources of our language and our writing acquires this Dictionary. It costs only 25 US dollars. They can then compare the old writing and the language of our ancestors (VIth century) with the writing and the language of nowadays. It is this language and this writing, which protected until nowadays our national cultural identity.

Also let us memorize that thanks to regretted Ingrid Muan, an American of Swedish origin, Cambodia has now modern printing offices. Books, magazines, newspapers and other papers in good quality national language are now available in prosperous bookshops.

We reproduce below two articles published in Cambodge Soir of December 21st, 2006.

« ‘Les ordinateurs savent parler khmer’ - Computers know how to speak cambodian.
« ‘Avec l’émergence du khmer en informatique, les cracks de la saisie’ » - With the emergence of the cambodian in data processing, the cracks of the input”. (Unofficial translation by Khemara Jati)

There are thus Cambodians who knows well our language, our writing and the data processing who collaborated years to arrive at this extremely mattering result to allow our fellow countrymen to communicate worldwide and also to make easier the input of texts in Cambodian.

Note : Cet article est disponible aussi en français sur demande.

Cambodge Soir
Le 21 décembre 2006
(Traduction non-officielle par Khemara Jati)
Computers know how to speak cambodian
The governmental organization NIDA and the Wordforge foundation launched in 2004 a project intended to allow the not English-speaking Cambodians to use the computer tool in their own language, the Khmer. The first stage of this " Khmer Software Initiative » ( KhmerOS) consisted in integrating the Khmer into the system unicode, an international standard of codification of the characters (types), useful on most of the platforms and the navigators Web, after a fast and simple installation. Standard Khmer keyboards, worked out by the DIDA, began to be distributed in the administrations and are henceforth available in the business.
KhmerOS also developed in term of two years a set of computer tools in cambodia language. Then OpenOffice 2.0, including office software (with the function similar to those Word, Excel, Access and Power Point of the Pack Office of Microsoft), was adapted in its entirety in Khmer. From free source (and thus exploitable and modifiable at leisure), it presents a great advantage: it is free! Also, the other software, such an administrator of forwarding messenger, Moyoura, and a navigator Web, Mekhala, were developed in Khmer and are gracefully given to Internet users.
Information and downloading free on http://www.khmeros.info/

Cambodge Soir
Le 21 décembre 2006
(Unofficial translation made by Khemara Jati)
With The Emergence Of The Cambodian In Data Processing, The Cracks Of The Input
Tuon Samân types fast and without smudge, and even won a price for it. This young professor, who teaches the data processing in an orphanage of the NGO ASPECA at Sihanoukville, was crowned as the fastest man of Cambodia, on Monday, at the finale of the very first national competition of inputting texts in Khmer Unicode and the creation of office documents with Khmer language software.
After a first series of tests organized for four weeks in seventeen provinces, in which about 1 000 participators, 37 competitors were selected and were in confrontation in Phnom Penh in finale, on Monday, in front of computer screens. The purpose of the competition: to type as quickly as possible a text in Khmer Unicode then to save as fast as possible an office automation document model by using the continuation of free software of right and in Khmer language OpenOffice.
Five prize-winners showed all their dexterity. The champion, Tuon Samân, works for Aspeca since 2000, since the opening of the first computer workshops in this NGO for child's assistance. He is a secretary of the school of formative of this association, which manages up to now, for the same numerous activities, 15 computer workshops in which participating by about 400 pupils.
Proof that in this domain the value does not wait for the number of the years [in school], for the vice-champion of this competition, Eng Titya, student of the high school Net Yang of Battambang, is only twelve years old. The following three prices were awarded to two students of the royal University of Phnom Penh (URPP) and to a student of Kompong Cham.
Organized under the leadership of the national Authority for the development of information technologies and communication (NIDA), assisted by the foundation Wordforge (an organization of the “threatened languages numerically's defence”) and with the support of InWent (a German company specialized in the international cooperation), this demonstration especially had the merit to prove that using a computer in Khmer language is not henceforth any more a puzzle reserved for the only ones “nerds” (young people booged by data processing). Tools developed within the framework of the KhmerOS project allow henceforth any khmerspeaking (khmerophone) user to do the office automation or to navigate Internet without any language other than khmer. « With tools developed by KhmerOS, one is not compulsory any more to manage english, underlines Jean-Yves Fusil, coordinator of the Aspeca computer workshops. In the beginning, students of our workshops began the courses at the age of 14ans. Today, children begin to learn to use a computer at about 10 years. » A children's game!
Laurent Le Gouanvic

Published by Khemara Jati
Montreal, Quebec
December 21th, 2006

"Indochinese Triangle" Plan : Another Opinion

News From Cambodia N° 0661-E

ANOTHER OPINION ON THE « Indochinese Triangle » PLAN

Khemara Jati
Montréal, Québec
Décember 18, 2006

We reproduce below another opinion relating to the vietnamese plan transforming our provinces of the Northeast as back country for the vietnamese ports on South China Sea.

The democracy it is the dialogue between different opinions on the same subject. So our readers can find a better idea on the subject.

The author of the article below, entitled quite rightly « The “Triangle” of new conflicts » by Dy Kareth. This article is worth with our article « News of Cambodia N 0647 - The road of liberation of Cambodia from the Vietnamese domination » to qualify that this project tends to annex our provinces of the Northeast by Hanoi.

The article raises, on the other hand, information of major power's helps. The problem is to know how to consider as good or bad for Cambodia and Cambodians, the helps of major powers and even of Vietnam ? We know by experience that any major power, any country what so ever helps us only to defend its geostrategic interests (1). Never lose and mislead this essential point of view for our future. Then on which bases the major power's helps can be judged or evaluated ? Are the helps of such or such major power 100 % bad or 100 % maids for us? On what bases judging them ?

For that purpose, should not we evaluate our needs to unit Cambodians first. But how to unit our fellow countrymen ? Simply by calling for the gathering ? Can Union / Unity be made without at least certain number of public or at least convergent interests ? In all developed country such as South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia or Vietnam for example, national unity is based on the following criterions :

A/ The common cultural identity based on the same language a/. spoken, b/. written and c/. printed for the whole people and taught from maternal up to university, with the second foreign language from a certain level.

B/ The economic development and the prosperity for the whole people. For that purpose, factories are needed to make and develop any kinds of utilitarian products and a certain level of technologist going to high-technology industries with strong added values. It is also necessary to clarify that an important part of these factories has to be in the hands of Cambodians: capital and manpower at all levels.

In these conditions a better social climate will be established gradually.

C/ A permanent improvement of the communications inside Cambodia, with the specific aim of allowing the fast movement of the persons and the goods then transforming our whole country into a real back country to develop our port of Kompong Som.

The strategic base of all these objectives is the forming most quickly in big number of engineers, technicians in any kind, doctors, historians, archaeologists, philosophers of higher level possible to work in these factories more and more high technologies as well as in laboratory research in any kind. The education and the research are the employments of tomorrow, the guarantor of our national independence.

In another article we shall examine in detail the major power's helps, their utilities for us, according to the criteria mentioned above.

Notes : Cet article est disponible aussi en français sur demande.

(1) « The treaty of San Francisco is also the occasion to fix the mode of payments in term of the war damages. The system adopted by Japan in the Asian countries victims of destruction opts for a payment in kind or in the form of public loans, or private. This principle turns out very favorable to the Japanese interests, because Japan needs to open new markets considering the fact that the American market of the time cannot absorb its products little adapted to the American domestic demand. The capacities taken in 1952 thus offer on a silver tray of the Asian markets and uncountable infrastructures to build. » In « Japon – Vietnam, History of a relation under influences » by Guy Faure and Laurent Schwab, Ed. IRASEC, Paris – Bangkok 2004, page 42.

CFC/CBC Newsletter December 9, 2006
NOTES :
THE “TRIANGLE” OF NEW CONFLICTS

According to Vietnam, the “development Triangle” or “Indochinese Triangle” is a vast area of high plateaus and virgin forests covering approximately 120,400 square kilometers, encompassing ten Cambodian, Lao, and Vietnamese (CLV) border provinces, and it forms the sparsely populated center of French former-Indochina (1). The “official” creation of this Triangle was announced in 1999 in Hanoi by the “brotherhood” of Cambodian, Lao and Vietnamese prime ministers, and it was solemnly proclaimed in Vientiane (Laos) in November 2004, during the ASEAN 10th meeting. At the 2004 proclamation, a “Master Plan” for the Triangle was adopted. Between then and now, lands belonging to “Montagnards” of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, were brutally looted through one mean or another, by the governmental authorities, the former dispossessed owners are driven out to other insalubrious areas, if they are not killed yet (2).

Japan which is solicited by Hanoi to become that largest “funding provider” for Vietnam, lended its “support” to this creation, however, until now, it only promised a small amount of 2 billion Yen (US$ 17.3 million) of aid for “some mini-projects,” in contrast to the Vietnamese minimum demand of US$ 300 million for social and educational projects. For two years, without sufficient funding, the Triangle Master Plan has a hard time to be implemented, with the exception of the “common safety and defense” portion. Nevertheless, quite to the contrary, the project was not abandoned. With its “new role in the region,” anointed by its new alliance with the USA – an alliance which became official during the APEC summit in Hanoi last November – Vietnam immediately summoned a new “summit” meeting (held on December 4-6, 2006, in Da Lat, Vietnam) with the other two countries which are engaged in the Triangle, as well as the chiefs of the provinces involved, and Japan.

Priority and special policies
The joint declaration, at the end of the past December 5 “summit” of three CLV prime ministers, is largely a repeat of the 2004 “Vientiane” summit, it includes the needs to “mobilize funding sources for development projects already agreed upon,” each of the three countries must reserve a “priority” share of its national budget for the development of the Triangle. In Da Lat, it was determined that there is a “necessity to establish common priority and special policies in favor of the Triangle in order to create a favorable investment and business environment, aiming at attracting investors from the three countries, as well as, from third party countries, to this Triangle.”

In fact, since the Vientiane summit, the mobilization of funding sources and its responsibility placed upon Cambodia and Laos, was not actually be coordinated by Hanoi. Laos which is closed up by the Vientiane dictators under the framework of their “special relationships” with Hanoi, lives a stagnant economy for the past 30 years. Receiving only a small amount of contribution from the International Community, and even less from foreign investments, the Lao economy had long been dependent on Hanoi’s goodwill. However, with the resumption of the relationships between Laos and mainland China in 1988, the economic exchanges between the two countries had also multiplied. China, becoming rich, provided to Laos (and its leaders) important financial and technical “assistance,” in particular for the construction of roads, bridges, hydroelectric dams in Western Laos, with the obvious aim at attracting Laos into its sphere of influence. Laos, in spite of its marvelous promises to Hanoi, did not have the means to finance its portion of the development in the Indochinese Triangle.

Thus Hun Sen’s Cambodia is left to contribute to this Triangle because, for some times now, Hun Sen received more than US$1 billion in international aids and low interest loans, as well as foreign investment projects worth several hundreds of million of dollar. However, Hun Sen does not look like he is able to find available funding means for the development of the “Master Plan” in Cambodia provinces. Even with “an average economic growth of 8.2% from 1994 to 2005, and of 13.5% in 2005,” according to his own words, Mr. Hun Sen is unable to increase between 10 to 20% the meager salaries of government employees which amount to an average of US$ 40 per month – a salary which is unchanged for a decade long. Only corruption, which is estimated by economists to be more than $600 million in 2005, is amplified with these economic growths, thereby digging a deeper gap between the rich and the poor. Next to these no-interest loans and “uncontrolled” aid, which Mr. Hun Sen is pleased to cite for his own self-gratification, mainland China is becoming the largest foreign investor (US$ 448 million in 2005, and almost the same amount in 2006) in Cambodia, taking the lead over from Japan, South Korea and Malaysia. China is now everywhere in the country with its capitals, its buildings, its roads, its factories, its construction fields, its workers, from Stung Treng and Mondulkiri to Kampot and Sihanoukville – where Mr. Hun Sen just allows China to “co-create” with him a modest special economic zone (costing US$ 100 million) in front of the future Cambodian oil fields.

However, Vietnam which oversees an even larger economic boom, and which is receiving for several years now, billions of dollars in aid and foreign investment, could also not mobilize one portion of its capitals for the socio-economic development of the Triangle, with the exception of several “private” coffee, tea, rubber plantations, and a small dam along the Sesan river. Hanoi’s grandiose idea which was expressed in 2004 and recently confirmed in Da Lat, is to set in motion the “common Coordination committee (which must) meet yearly – at the level of governments and at the level of provinces involved – to develop common and special priority policies for this Triangle, and to call for the three countries, third party countries, and international organizations to invest in it.” In other words, Vietnam will progressively forced its two “partners,” especially Cambodia, to submit beforehand all their decisions, as well as their budgeted expenses, and the administration of international aids and the authorization of foreign investments in their respective countries. From now on, Vietnam is doing all it can to closely manage the development of Cambodia and Laos’ economy to be in tune with the demands of that of Vietnam. Mr. Hun Sen will then have to review the options of his economic “policy”, at least those options related to the Chinese investments in Cambodia.

An eminently strategic position
Up to now, the Triangle was only “frequented” by army troops, and by Lao, Cambodian, and Vietnamese anti-government rebels. Nobody really thought about improving the livelihood of the indigenous tribes which populate this area, and which serve as auxiliary forces to one fighting group or another. Given the geography and the demography of the region, its development would represent a real financial abyss which no one dares dream for a profit in return, even in the long run (3). But, it constitutes nevertheless, a new colonization space for Vietnam which, with its 85 million of population and a population growth rate of 2% per year, is facing insurmountable demographic problems and severe socio-economic crises, which could constantly undermine its internal stability. In terms of policies, according to Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, the Triangle must “contribute in an active portion to the strengthening of the relationships of cooperation in traditional friendship between the three peoples … The leaders of the three countries (are) determined to bring the relationships between the three countries to a new height of traditional brotherhood, integral cooperation, understanding, and reciprocal confidence.” Nguyen Tan Dung, the new prime minister, just like his predecessor, sees in it “a new basis for the consolidation of peace, stability, integration, and development of the Mekong sub-region, and of the region.” The Triangle will then serve to eliminate a good portion of the Vietnamese crisis.

Now, to Hanoi’s leaders, the major factor of instability in Laos, and, most of all, in Cambodia, is the increasing influence of Beijing in these countries. The current Chinese presence is even visible in the Cambodian side of the Triangle with Chinese road constructions in Stung Treng, forest exploitations in Mondulkiri, and mining exploration units in Ratanakkiri, etc…, which also cause conflicts with local populations. In Vietnam’s opinion, these Chinese investments threaten the “stability” of the Triangle, and those of the three “Indochinese” countries. China also represents a “danger” for the entire region, that was why Mr. Nong Duc Manh, the chief of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), while receiving Mr. George W. Bush in November, was encouraging the US to strongly invest in Vietnam again, and to “put aside the past and look at the future,” in order “to establish a complete cooperation” between the two countries, including the military sector.

Furthermore, at the military level, no one knows the Triangle area better that Hanoi’s generals who have constantly used this area during and after the two Indochinese wars. The Triangle occupies “an eminently strategic position on the political, economical, social, environmental and ecological levels…” (Mr. Phan Van Khai, January 2002), for the control of Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam by Hanoi. Currently, thanks to the eventual financial – and possibly military – aids by Japan and the USA, Hanoi would again be able to impose its views on the economical and political choices to Vientiane and Phnom Penh, and thus be able “to cut” the land road of the Chinese advance towards the Gulf of Siam. At the same time, Vietnam would consolidate its colonization of Laos and Cambodia (4) and would be even successful in integrating these two countries in its Indochinese Federation which is so desired by the CPV, but this time, with the full blessing of western countries.

In front of such political objectives embedded in the Triangle project, the problem of the latter’s economic development becomes more haphazard than anywhere else in the world. However, in this project, Vietnam already engages itself to develop, at various levels with Laos and Cambodia, hotbeds of new conflicts out of which, it will come out as the major winner … this presumes that China, Vietnam’s major current competitor, will be willing to withdraw itself out of the “game” quickly enough.
_____________________
(1) These are the provinces of Gia Lay, Kon Tum, Dac Lac and Dac Nông (in Vietnam); Attapeu, Sekong and Saravan (in Laos);Stung Treng, Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri (in Cambodia).
(2) Dy Kareth, The expansionist “Development Triangle”, Published by CFC-CBC, Paris, August 22, 2005.
(3) According to AKP, after returning from Da Lat, Mr. Hun Sen and his ministers call on “private companies to invest in the Northeast region of Cambodia, included in the CLV development Triangle, in order to turn it into a 4th economic region by 2015, following the development of the Phnom-Penh, Sihanoukville and Siemreap economic regions.”
(4) In 2003, the number of Vietnamese “immigrants” in Cambodia since 1979 had already reached 4.5 million for a total population of 13 million in Cambodia.

December 9, 2006

Dy Kareth
Vice-President
Cambodia's Borders Committee : http://www.cfcambodge.org/ ( http://www.cfcambodge.org/ ) Email : secretariat@cfcambodge.org ( mailto:secretariat@cfcambodge.org )

Cambodian maps with archeological sites

News From Cambodia N° 0660-E

PUBLICATIONS OF CAMBODIA MAPS WITH ALL ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES

Khemara Jati
Montreal, Quebec
December 13, 2006

We are happy to reproduce below an article from Cambodge Soir of Tuesday, December 12th, 2006, raising an inventory of Cambodia archeological sites. Bernard Philippe Groslier said that the archaeology is the history. It is even the part of our ancestor’s testimony, the least altered by the subjectivity of the written texts. We shall come back with B. P. Groslier concerning the legends of the angkorian civilization development. We shall be back also on this question with the discovery of a boat’s wreck during XVIth century, castaway off our coasts with its invaluable load of merchandise.

Our congratulations go to Bruno Bruguier who achieved this inventory with the financial support of the Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient – Far-East French School (Efeo).

We wish that the same census and the recording will made in the whole of territory occupied by the Khmer Empire at the zenith of her expansion, which is in Thailand, in Laos and in Vietnam, with the ancient names of places given by Cambodians of the time. Indeed Louis Malleret was able to determine the site of Oc Ev thanks to the indications given by Cambodian inhabitants of the region.

It is important to notice that the concentration of the inhabitants in the region of Angkor is not the same nature of nowadays and of the Angkor era. Indeed Angkor was the capital of Cambodia and also the centre of agricultural production. Nowadays, the human concentration is recent and the inhabitants live mainly on the tourism. The agricultural production is then unimportant.

Does not this observation ask for an explanation ? For it should not necessary to return to the explanations given by B.P. Groslier in the article « The Hydraulic Town Of Angkor: Exploitation or Overexploitation of the Land? »? (Bulletin of Efeo, 1979, LXVI, pages 181 - 202; we also find this article in « Mixtures on the Archaeology of Cambodia », Bernard Philippe Groslier, Ed. Reprinting of Efeo N ° 10, Paris 1998; also let us indicate an interesting biography of B.P. Groslier in « Honoring to Bernard Philippe Groslier », supervised by Georges Condominas, Editions of the School of the High Studies in Social Sciences, Paris 1992).

It is desirable that anyone who is interested in the History of Cambodia, need to read and read again this article to understand the inevitable end of the Angkor civilization. On the other hand ask also questions on Ayuthia agricultural production. Nowadays, the future of a nation does not lie in the development of its economy, in particular in the industries with high added values ? That is in the investments in the education and the research ?

Note : Cet article est aussi disponible en français sur demande.

Cambodge Soir
Tuesday, December 12th, 2006
Archaeological patrimony of Cambodia
Provincial maps to value the archaeological variety of the kingdom
(Translation unofficially by Khemara Jati)
Started more than a decade ago, the immense inventory work of the archeological sites of the kingdom launched by the Far East French School - l'École française d'Extrême-Orient - (Efeo) in association with the Ministry of Culture is finished today. More than 4 000 sites were listed, described and mapped, a painstaking job intended for the researchers and for the authorities on which Efeo decided to present to the public in general. From today, an archaeological map of the whole country is available at Carnets d'Asie and in all the good bookshops. Before the end of the year, six provincial maps (Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Kompong Chhnang, Kampot, and the zone of the Mekong's pond) will be on sale, nine others will be on the market on next April (Oddar Meanchey, Siem Reap, Pursat, Preah Vihear, Takéo, Phnom Penh-Kandal, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng and Kompong Cham). The general map showing a global sight of the density of sites, without distinction of times, is a priori intended for the scientific community for which it will constitute a precious tool to understand the logics of activity of the territory in the course of the centuries.
Just a look allows moreover to notice that it overlaps almost perfectly with a contemporary map of the population density. “Therefore some exceptions for the province of Preah Vihear, very rich in an archaeological point of view but totally depopulated. It is a part of interesting cases to be studied”, explains Bruno Bruguier, responsible for the project “inventory” in Efeo. Do the provincial maps show more evident practical interest for the layman. For any province, all the known sites - from major temples to the simple hillocks - are localized in a exhaustive way, most complexes (Banteay Chmar, Sambor Prey Kuk, Koh Ker, Preah Vihear...) being the object of a “zoom”, a plan of an extreme precision realized from air photos. Then these maps can also guide the amateurs of old stones in zones the most underestimated by the realm, even if we can regret that only main roads are indicated.
These first by-products of the Efeo's inventory provide multiple interests. First, they supply to the authorities and to the actors the management tool of the patrimony development, up to there incomplete, even non-existent. Also the World Bank already sought the Efeo's expertise in order to appreciate the archaeological patrimony of zones aimed by several construction sites as of the RN6 construction or still the installation of high-tension lines between Laos and Stung Treng. Matched by the air plans, maps will allow the authorities to develop the tourist potential of certain sites by taking into consideration their environment, which can be useful when it will be a question of building an access road in complex set of temples. Finally, the distribution of these tools to the public at large aims at opening to the tourist development the variety of the provincial patrimony, when the efforts of the decision-makers and the interest of the general public concern essentially on Angkor (read below). Soren Seelow

Angkor and the Cambodian archaeological “desert”
The Efeo’s inventory has for objective to value the spatial wealth, and chronological, the Khmer archaeological patrimony when this one amounts very often to the only angkorian complex and to the period which is associated to it. “There is today an enormous hiatus between the focalisation on the Angkor's site and the works dedicated to the rest of the provincial patrimony”, explains Bruno Bruguier, responsible for the program Efeo's “inventory”. “This inventory invites the angkorian myth to get out for the benefit of a spatial approach of the Khmer civilization's development.”
In 1991, when the main lines of the conservation of the patrimony's policy were outlined, the efforts quite naturally concerned first and foremost to Angkor, cultural jewel which it was necessary to protect at all costs because of its intrinsic wealth and which the rest of the patrimony was still largely inaccessible. Fifteen years later, this focalisation on Angkor and some big sites is always of current events, threatening to relegate whole pieces of the Khmer architectural history in the forgetfulness research and of the tourism, warns the researcher. “Angkor, which does not need money, continues to receive from it, while more threatened secondary sites receive nothing because they are not rather profitable or not enough informed. This hyperfocalisation is made to the detriment of the variety of the patrimony and the human sciences in Cambodia: the history, the ethnology, the anthropology are abandoned... There is hardly only the archaeology, and still, the angkorian archaeology”, he regrets.
A fast comparison between two regions mapped by Efeo underlines the importance which there is to protect and to study archaeological zones not presenting an evident tourist interest. “In Svay Rieng, we knew in 2001 only 25 sites. The inventory allowed bringing to light new 250, among which only two manifest a tourist interest. At Preah Vihear, to 156 known sites added 150, among which 63 give a potential for the tourism. The province of Svay Rieng is thus very poor from the architectural point of view, but it is an element very important for the knowledge of ancient Cambodia former because it represents the geographic origin of the Khmer civilization”, explains Bruno Bruguier.
If this detailed knowledge of the patrimony is necessary for the secondary sites, it is as much as for sites which having a tourist potential, he estimates : “the economic development of sites as Koh Ker is made today without taking into account researches realized in the past. We reproduced a western model of management of the patrimony which privileges a fast tourist development to the detriment of the study. It would be more logical to base the plans of development on detailed studies, of course for the research, but also to assure a minimum of coherence in the tourist exploitation of these sites”.

Cambodge Soir
Tuesday, December 12th, 2006

Clinton politic

News From Cambodia N° 0659-EF

The Cambodia Daily
Phnom Penh, Friday, December 8, 2006
Opinion / Letter to the Editor

Cambodia’s Children Need More Than Clinton’s HIV/AIDS Outreach

While Bill Clinton was a much better than current US President George W. Bush, his visit to Cambodia still merits thoughtful review, (“Clinton Offers Drugs for 3,000 Kids With HIV,”Tuesday, page 1).

The Clinton Foundation provid­ed drugs for children infected with HIV and equipment for blood testing. This is laud­able and his foun­dation intends to offer much more than anti-retroviral treatment. These children deserve every­thing possible to help ensure they can have a normal, healthy and fulfilling life.

But Clinton, as always, continues to play to the camera and not the issues. Yes, this is politics, but in Cambodia there is an additional twist. Recent statistics show that 33,400 children under five die per year. This is equivalent to one town the size of Prey Veng being wiped off the map every year.

Cambodian children are dying from malnutrition, neonatal causes and common childhood illnesses. Over half of these children die of ill­nesses that are treatable or ­preventable with cheap and easily available interventions.

The 37 percent of the children who survive are chronically malnourished, condemning them to a life where they will never reach their educational or economic potential. Where is the support for these chi1dren?

Cambodia is not ravaged with AIDS like southern Africa. Multi­tudes of children are not dying from AIDS. While Phnom Penh re­ceives new blood testing equip­ment for HIV testing, hospitals and health centers in the countryside cannot do lab gram stain tests for bacterial infection and prescribe unnecessary IV fluids for general illness. Where is the support for these health providers?

Cambodia is a success story in confronting HIV / AIDS and all these involved deserve great praise and respect. But attentions need to focus on the causes of child mortality and malnutrition, if we are inter­ested in improving conditions for Cambodia's children.

Robert Johnston,
Phnom Penh

Published by Khemara Jati
Montreal, Quebec
December 8th, 2006

google.kh

News From Cambodia N° 0658-EF

GOOGLE.KH

The Cambodia Daily
Phnom Penh, Friday, December 8, 2006
Opinion / Letter to the Editor

Globalization At Hand, Thanks To Google.kh

The news about Google's Khmer-language search engine greatly impresses me, (“Google Launches Khmer-Language Version of Site,” Mon­day, page 23.) Cambodia will now be able to further expand its expos­ure to globalization, thanks to Google. We have always been alleged to be a country lost on the world map, but not any more. Google's appearance in the Khmer language is extremely pos­itive.

Lay Vicheka,
Community Legal Education Center,
PhnomPenh

Published by Khemara Jati
Montreal, Quebec
December 8, 2006

Heng Pov's Visa

News From Cambodia N° 0657-EF

The Cambodia Daily
Phnom Penh, Friday, December 8, 2006
Opinion / Letter to the Editor

Minister Blasts Finland Over Heng Pov Visa
By PRAK CHAN TIWL AND DOUGLAS GILLISON, THE CAMBODIA DAILY

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Thursday strongly condemned Finland for its decision to grant an entry visa to disgraced former Phnom Penh police chief Heng Pov and accused the Funnish gov­ernment of harbouring common criminals.

In a letter to Finnish Foreign Affairs Minister Erkki Tuomioja released by Cambodia's Foreign Ministry, Hor Namhong des:ribed the derision as “very regrettab1e.”

“It is very regrettab1e indeed that criminals who fabricated claims against the Royal Government of Cambodia to [mask) their actua1 crimes have gained protection from Finland,” the letter states.

“Therefore, in the future, it is futi1e to ta1k on various frameworks about cooperation to combat and prevent organized crimes, but instead we should talk about how to nurture them,” Hor Namhong wrote.

Heng Pov's lawyers announced Wednesday that after two months of negotiation and an independent review by the Finnish government, they received written notification of the decision the same day and exhibited it at Malaysia's High Court.

Since his Oct 3 arrest for over­staying his entry pass in Malaysia, Heng Pov has been fighting depor­tation to Cambodia, where he was convicted in September of the 2003 murder of municipal court judge Sok Sethamony and is wanted for a host of crimes. Heng Pov is seek­ing political asylum and has made counter-allegations of corruption and murder at the highest levels of the Cambodian government.

At a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hor Namhong accused Finland of again protecting a wanted Cam­bodian criminal.

“Doing this means Finland feeds and cares for criminals,” he said. “We have a lot of criminals in our prisons and if Finland agrees to take them, we will agree to send them,” he said.

Hor Namhong said he has also forwarded to Tuomioja copies of an arrest warrant and an Aug 4 Interpol “Red Notice” for Heng Pov, and has asked Finland to reconsider its decision.

Hor Namhong claimed in his letter that both SRP activist Sok Yoeun, who was convicted of a 1998 assassination attempt on Prime Minister Hun Sen and later given asylum in Finland, and Heng Pov had gained sympathy by besmirching Cambodia's good name. Human Rights groups have long maintained that the case against Sok Yoeun, a member of the Sam Rainsy Party, was political1y motivated.

Finland's Ambassador to Ma­1aysia Lauri Korpinen said by tele­phone from Kuala Lumpur that the decision to grant Heng Pov's visa was made after an ordinary applica­tion process, adding that human rights concerns expressed by Heng Pov's lawyers and unnamed NGOs had been a “major mctor” in , Finland's decision.

Korpinen denied that Finland was taking sides in the dispute between Heng Pov and the Cambodian government._

“We are outsiders,” he said. “We are not taking any stance on this. We were worried based on the information received from [Heng Pov's] lawyers and from the NGOs.”

Korpinen said the visa has not yet been issued but confirmed that Finland has agreed to offer one, which will be valid for 90 days and only within Finland. The visa's issuance depends on the outcome of Heng Pov's court case in Malaysia, which is scheduled to resume Dec 13, he said.

Korpinen said he understood NGOs had approached other European countries on behalf of Heng Pov as well as the European Parliament but declined to give fur­ther details.

“There is wider activity in Europe conceming this case,” he added.

SRP lawmaker Son Chhay declined to say whether he ap­proved of Finland's decision but described Hor Namhong's re­marks to the Fnnish government as intemperate.

"I believe he is overreacting on this decision of Finland,” Son Chhay said, referring to Hor Namhong's offer to deport an Cambodian convicts. “This was just a childish thing to say or to
do,” be added.

“We have become accustomed now to our government reacting to many decisions of the international community with a kind of unprofessional way.”

The SRP was particu1arly grateful to Finland for sheltering Sok Yoeun, Son Cbhay said, adding that the SRP activist had been falsely convicted of the 1998 rocket attack on Hun Sen in Siem Reap province. The attack left the prime minister unscathed but killed an innocent bystander.

“It was a very difficult circum­stance,” Son Chhay said. “No other country was willing to help this old man stay out of danger and Finland had the courage to do so.”

In addition to Sok Yoeun, Fin­land in 2004 also accepted Chea Kimny, wife of slain Free Trade Union President Chea Vichea, who was gunned down in January of that year.

In 2005, Finland also gave political asylum to Roeun Yarann, the wife of FTU representative Ros Sovannareth, who was also gunned down in 2004, short1y after the assassination of Chea Vichea.

Published by Khemara Jati
Montreal, Quebec
December 8th, 2006

Heng Pov Affair (suite)

News From Cambodia N° 0657-E

HENG POV AFFAIR (suite)

Khemara Jati
Montreal, Quebec
December 8th, 2006

We reproduce below articles in The Cambodia Daily and Cambodge Soir of December 7th, 2006, concerning Heng Pov. These articles show that 24 hours after the arrival of Heng Pov to Helsinki, The Cambodia Daily and Cambodge Soir still remain in the vagueness about this piece of news. Because these newspapers think that no country would dare to give the political asylum to Heng Pov then defy on major power's ban.

Finland was a country among the poorest one of Europe 30 years ago. Since then, by investing massively in the education in the Finnish and Swedish national languages, according to the language of the family, with English mainly as second language and in the scientific and technical research, Finland is now becoming one of the most prosperous countries of Europe. It is also the country which respects scrupulously the rights of the foreigners.

Cambodians who live there are encouraged to develop their national culture. Finnish cultural organizations with the Finnish government are ready of helping to develop the Cambodian language by translations and publications of the chief works of the world culture. There just has to apply a demand on behalf of our fellow countrymen.

« About the education in Finland, let us remind that PISA tests (Program for International Student Assessment), aiming to supply a measuring instrument allowing a comparison of performances of the school systems on an international scale, in this particular case in all the countries of the OECD, (Organization of Cooperation and Economic Development including around thirty), in the year 2000, classified that the Finnish pupils are the best of the world. The principal base of the Finnish system is the unique school, free and compulsory for all until 16 years. The children begin school at 7 years old and frequent the public school in the proportion of 97 %. Only 2 % of students drop out before the end of their secondary education. About 80 % of 3 000 the Finnish schools has less than 300 pupils. And the relatives (parents) hold it. »

Cambodge Soir,
Phnom Penh, le 7 décembre 2006

Heng Poeuv aurait obtenu l’asile politique en Finlande

Le feuilleton de Heng Poeuv toucherait-il à son terme ? Selon une rumeur insistance circulant hier, l’ancien commissaire municipal poursuivi dans le cadre de plusieurs affaires de meurtres et détenu en Malaisie depuis le 3 octobre, aurait obtenu l’asile en Finlande, échappant définitivement à ses ennuis judiciaires dans le royaume. L’information émanant selon plusieurs sources du cabinet du PSR, a été prise hier par Radio Free Asia, et largement colportée tout au long de la journée par différents interlocuteurs. Mais rares étaient ceux qui se risquaient à la confirmer.

Le porte-parole du gouvernement Khieu Kanharith a reconnu avoir entendu cette nouvelle et s’apprêtait à la commenter avant de déclarer qu’il préférait finalement attendre une confirmation officielle du ministre de l’Intérieur. Le directeur d’Interpol au Cambodge, Keo Vanthan, s’est quant à lui dit dans l’impossibilité de faire des commentaires au motif qu’il était enn réunion. « Si vous voulez parler de Heng Poeuv, venez demain dans mon bureau ». La présidente de Licadho Kek Galabru a également entendu la nouvelle et rappelle que plusieurs opposants cambodgiens ont trouvé asile en Finlande ces dernières années, à commencer par la femme de Chea Vichea, le président du Siorc assassiné en janvier 2003, la famille de son défunt collègue Ros Sovannareth ou encore Sok Yoeun.

Sam Rainsy, dont le parti était cité par RFA comme à l’origine de cette information, a assuré hier soir ne pas pouvoir la confirmer : « Des journalistes m’ont appelé pour m’annoncer la nouvelle et me demander de commentaires, ce que j’ai fait. Mais je ne suis pas la source. Je ne peux ni confirmer ni infirmer cette information », a-t-il déclaré en début de soirée. Kéo Rémy, député du PSR, n’était lui au courant de rien, mais précisait n’être pas surpris. « C’était prévisible. Je savais que la justice malaisienne ne renverrait pas Heng Peouv au Cambodge où il risque d’être torturé. C’est une bonne nouvelle. J’invite les Cambodgiens à l’étranger à en profiter à chercher des informations sur différents sujets et le FBI à relancer l’enquête sur l’attentant à la grenade de mars 1997 ». Soren Seelow

The Cambodia Daily
Thursday, December 7, 2006

Lawyers: Finland Issues Visa For Fugitive Cop
BY DOUGLAS GILLISON AND PRAK CHAN THUL, THE CAMBODIA DAILY

Phnom Penh's fugitive former police chief Heng Pov has received an entry visa from the government of Finland, his lawyers said Wednesday.

After two months of negotiation and an independent review by the Finnish government, Heng Pov’s lega1 team received written notifica­tion of the decision Wednesday and exhibited it in Malaysia's High Court on the saime day, lawyer N. Sivananthan said.

“They have offered him a visa to enter into Finland,” Sivananthan said by telephone from Kuala Lumpur, when Heng Pov is cur­rently being detained.

Since his Oct 3 arrest for over­staying his entIy pass in Malaysia, Heng Pov has been fighting deportation to Cambodia, where he was convicted in September of the 2003 murder of Municipal Court Judge Sok Sethamony and stands ac­cused of a host of other crimes.

Heng Pov is seeking political asy­1um and has made detailed counter allegations of corruption and mur­der at the highest levels of Cam­bodian government.

Cambodian officials have dis­missed his accusations as groundless.

Svananthan said Finland's deci­sion significantly increased Heng Pov's chances of avoiding deporta­tion to Cambodia.

“In view of the fact that a visa has been granted to [Heng Pov], the government may be compelled to let him go,” he added. “Previously, when we wanted to seek a deportation order to Singa­pore, the question was ‘once he's in Singapore, what happens then?’” Sivananthan said. “Now we have a very compelling reason for us to ask for an order for him to be deported to Singapore because then he can continue to Helsinki.”

Finnish officials could not be con­tacted Wednesday as Finland's embassies in Malaysia and Bang­kok were closed for the country's Independence Day.

Heng Pov's wife, Ngin Sotheavy, as she pleaded for Heng Pov's release in front of reporters at a Wednesday press conference in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian news Web site Sun2surf reported.

“I hope the Malaysian govern­ment will release my husband so he can go,” she was quoted as say­ing. “If my husband is deported to Cambodia he will be tortured and killed,” she said.

Ahmad Shukor, a Malaysian attorney also representing Heng Pov, said the legal team understood that the visa would allow Heng Pov to apply for political asylum once in Finland.

“The Finnish Embassy is not tel1ing us but from what we gather it is basically for him to go to Finland, then they will investigate his claim for asylum,” Shukor said

He added that it was unclear for how long the visa would be valid.

Government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said he was to busy to speak to a reporter and Om Yen­tieng, an advisor to Prime Minister Hun Sen, declined comment on the case.

However, Interior Ministry spokesman lieutenant General Khieu Sopheak said that if the lawyers' reports were true, Finland would be welcoming a criminal.

“We regret this because Heng Pov has been sentenced to 18 years in prison in Cambodia,” he said.

“If it’s true, it’s not the first time,” he added. “Finland always provides political asylum to those Cam­bodians who have been opposed to the government”.

In 2004, Finland offered asylum to Chea Kimny, wife of slain Free Trade Union leader Chea Vichea, and to SRP activist Sok Yoeun, whom Cambodian authorities had blamed for a 1998 rocket attack on Hun Sen's motarcade in Siem Reap province.

It was unclear when Heng Pov could be allowed to leave Malaysia, but a departure before the end of the week is not impossible, Siva­nanthan said.

William Chik, first secretary at the Singaporean Embassy, de­clined to comment on the case, while a Malaysian Embassy spokesman could not be reached.

Finland's offer to temporarily take Heng Pov will likely give him the freedom to reveal more about recent political crimes in Cam­bodia, SRP leader Sam Rainsy said.

“It is important to protect the freedom of speech of a witness as important as Heng Pov,” Sam Rainsy said, adding that he felt Heng Pov has further important things to say about the 2004 mur­der of Chea Vichea and a 1997 grenade attack that killed more than a dozen people outside the National Assembly.

But Municipal Court Judge Ke Sakhorn, who in September sen­tenced Heng Pov to 18 years in absentia for the murder of Sok Sethamony, said he was bewil­dered by Finland's decision.

“He is guilty but that country sup­ports him? I don't know what to do,” he said. “If they take a criminal to their own country, what will be the result?”

Kek Galabru, president of local rights group Licadho, said Finland has long been good to Cambodians in fight.

“Don't say I admire the case of Heng Pov but I really admire and respect Finland,” she said.

“A lot of Cambodians arrested in Cambodia now live in Finland. Even Chea Vichea's wife got a visa in Bangkok after only 10 days.” /.

Heng Pov in Finland

News From Cambodia N° 0656-E

HENG POV IN FINLAND, A SUCCESS OF THE RUSE AND THE SECRET OPERATION

Khemara Jati
Montreal, Quebec
December 7th, 2006

Finally all Cambodians and a big part of the international opinion learnt with enjoyment the arrival of Heng Pov in Finland. We express our deep gratitude to the Finnish government for having agreed to give political asylum to Heng Pov, to the government of Malaysia for refusing to send Heng Pov back to Cambodia as well as to all those, Cambodians and foreigners, who allowed the success of this operation wished by the unanimity of Cambodians around the planet.

The opinions of the UNO representatives of Human Right Protection in Cambodia like Professor Leuprecht and more recently Yash Gai show also that the international community is more and more worried by the violations more and more violent in Cambodia. On the other hand the abuses are more and more opened on the most fundamental rights of the Human Rights as the detention of innocents for the murder of the union leader Chea Vichea and the recent massacre of prisoners and the hostages at the prison of Battambang, ordered openly by the criminal multirecidivist Hok Lundy. Can the international community remain eternally silent in front of such crimes openly ordered by the regime in place ? Can the « Culture of the Impunity » last infinitely and openly ordered?

The Heng Pov affair is also a unique occasion to know finally the identities of the throwers of grenades against the demonstrators of March 30th, 1997, wounding the American Ron Abney, the murderer of Piseth Pilika, the murderer of Chea Vichea etc. and their sleeping partner. With Heng Pov revelations, we hope that at least a secret of claimed mysteries of the « Culture of the Impunity » is revealed.

But the interests of the major powers are at stake. Ron Abney knows something about this question. It was thus necessary to resort to trickery to get Heng Pov out of Southeast Asia. No any major power agrees to grant the political refugee's quality to Heng Pov. Especially since Cambodia has now important reserves in hydrocarbons. Only certain small countries having few strategic interests in our region can do it. But still it is necessary to cunning methods with the complicity of the Malaysia.

Since the time memorial, from the first hunters, the man knows that the ruse and the secret are fundamental keys of the success. 2 500 years ago, Sun Tzu is the first strategist to record it in a famous entitled treaty « The Art of War », chapter 1:

« All warfare is based on deception. » (Stance N° 16).
« Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; » (stance N° 17).
« When we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. » (Stance N°17).

Let us call back however that, in our popular tales, it is thanks to the guile that snails overcame the hare in the running journey around a pond. It is thanks to the guile that the blind and the paralytic overcame the ogre who terrorizes the village. The Thun Chey's guiles are also always in the memory of all Cambodians.

In the case of Heng Pov, it is a question of life or death of Hok Lundy-Hun Sen's clan : to preserve the power. We saw that Hun Sen had come specially deliberately in France just for trying to keep Sylvaine Pasquier and L'Express silent about Heng Pov affair. For the regime in Phnom Penh, it is necessary to prevent at all costs Heng Pov from leaving Malaysia. The Vietnamese secret service thus sends to Malaysia, a troup of army of its best agents for this purpose. On the other hand we know that major powers also have no interest to change the Hok Lundy-Hun Sen's clan from the power in Cambodia. The American Ron Abney learns from his expenses.

On the other hand, to oblige Heng Pov to return to Cambodia is against any international morality, means it is against the assistance right of a person in danger. It is thus necessary to find a government which would agree to grant the asylum's right to Heng Pov, and make Heng Pov leaving discreetly of Malaysia. It was thus necessary to make diversion to deceive the Vietnamese secret agents's surveillance. Thus the choice proceeds to Canada, country which refused to participate in the war of Iraq with the United States. It was necessary to make the maximum of noise with the maximum of credibility. Do not we attend the siege of the Canadian embassy in Malaysia by the journalists? During this time Heng Pov took discreetly the plane for Helsinki.

All this happens while Hun Sen is in Dalat in Vietnam to build in the facts the Indo-Chinese Federation under the vietnamese domination. In this purpose the Cambodian provinces of the Northeast and the Laotian provinces of the South will serve as back country for the vietnamese port of Nha Trang. A hotel of big luxury for billionaires is already built at Nha Trang and hotels managed by Vietnamese already took place in Kratie and Stung Treng in Cambodia. Japan takes care of the financial support of those works. The vietnamese companies build highways West-East, of Cambodia towards the Vietnamese ports. The vietnamese companies are building hydroelectric dams and electric factories on Cambodian territory. These electric factories will be exploited by the Vietnamese who will sell the electricity to Cambodians. It is only the beginning. Already in Laos, the young Laotians are obliged to learn the vietnamese language since the maternal. Later they will study in vietnamese in universities. It will be the case in Cambodia, if we have no project to use the Cambodian language in our universities and to accelerate the translation in Cambodian the fundamental works of the world, in particular philosophic and scientific culture.

So, Cambodians wish and hope that Heng Pov affair contributes to raise a corner of the lead screed which covers massacres and crimes of the « Culture of the Impunity ». Necessary condition to introduce a little of morality in the Cambodian society.

In conclusion, we are again expressing our profound gratitude to the authorities of Malaysia, Finland, to the organizations and the personalities (who helped discreetly), as well as to the national and international opinion who allowed the success of Heng Pov’s journey in Finland.

Note : Cet article est aussi disponible en français sur demande.

Affaire Heng Pov Affair (suite)

NEWS FROM CAMBODIA / NOUVELLES DU CAMBODGE / N° 0654-EF

AFFAIRE HENG POV AFFAIR (suite)

Kemara Jati diffuses the following text from:
Antoine Phirun Pich, LL.B., LL.M. Courrier électronique / E-mail: antoine.pich@justice.gc.ca

Khemara Jati and friends is happy to learn that a group of high-level jurists, with the agreement of the Canadian government, intervenes to allow Heng Pov to obtain a political asylum in Canada. We express our congratulations and our thanks to the Canadian government and to the group of jurists acting in the name of the Cambodian community in Canada, for this important initiative for the justice in Cambodia, first step to the end of the “Impunity Culture”. This important initiative of the government replies also to the Cambodian people’s wish.

To the attention of Mtre N. Sivananthan, lawyer.On behalf of the Cambodian community of Canada, we wish to inform you that after consultation with its members, the community unanimously passed a resolution to offer its support to your client, Mr Heng Pov. As appears from the enclosed public notice (French version), the Canadian Cambodians have had the opportunity, in the course of November 2006, to express their concerns regarding this matter.Please take note, in addition, that talks are currently underway with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Canada in preparation for a Canadian intervention in this file as well as a possible request for political asylum. We ask the media receiving the present letter to pass on the information to the public and via their respective contacts.
Please communicate with the undersigned in the event that further information is desired.



Kemara Jati diffuse le texte suivant en provenance de :
Antoine Phirun Pich, LL.B., LL.M. Courrier électronique / E-mail: antoine.pich@justice.gc.ca

L'équipe de Khemara Jati et ses amis sont heureux d'apprendre qu'un groupe de juristes de haut niveau, avec l'accord du gouvernement canadien, intervienne pour permettre à Heng Pov d'obtenir un asile politique au Canada. Nous exprimons nos félicitations et nos remerciements au gouvernement canadien et au groupe de juristes agissant au nom de la communauté cambodgienne au Canada, pour cette importante initiative pour la justice au Cambodge, premier pas pour mettre fin à la « Culture de l'Impunité ». Cette importance initiative du gouvernement canadien répond aussi aux souhaits du peuple cambodgien.

À l'attention de Maître N. Sivananthan, avocat.
Au nom de la communauté cambodgienne du Canada, nous vous informons qu'après concertation auprès de ses membres, la communauté a résolu à l'unanimité d'offrir son soutien à votre client, monsieur Heng Pov. Tel qu'il appert du communiqué ci-annexé, les Cambodgiens du Canada ont pu exprimer, lors de maints échanges au cours du mois de novembre 2006, leurs inquiétudes face au déroulement de cette affaire.
Veuillez prendre note, par ailleurs, que des pourparlers sont actuellement en cours avec le ministère des Affaires étrangères du Canada en vue d'une intervention canadienne dans ce dossier ainsi que d'une éventuelle demande d'asile politique. Nous prions les médias qui recevront les présentes de bien vouloir communiquer l'information au public via leurs contacts respectifs.Veuillez communiquer avec le soussigné pour toute question.Antoine Phirun Pich, LL.B., LL.M.Groupe du notariat/Notarial GroupDirection du droit commercial/Commercial Law directorateBureau régional du Québec/Quebec regional OfficeMinistère de la Justice du Canada/Department of Justice Canada284, rue Wellington / 284, Wellington StreetBureau TSA-6006 / Suite SAT-6006Ottawa (Ontario) K1A 0H8, CANADATéléphone / Telephone: (613) 952-3702Télécopieur / Fax: (613) 952-6006Courrier électronique / E-mail: antoine.pich@justice.gc.ca

Heng Pov Affair (suite)

NEWS FROM CAMBODIA N° 0655-E

HENG POV’S CASE
The Funeral in the silence ?
(Recapitulation)

Khemara Jati
Montreal, Quebec
December 04, 2006

The Heng Pov's allegations are very important. The secret services of great powers know perfectly that the big parts of that are exact. However these revelations are only a part of the reality of the facts. Heng Pov cannot reveal for example the Hanoi direct interventions of during the coup d'état of July, 1997. Heng Pov can reveal it only indirectly as the undeniable fact that Hun Sen was in Vietnam during this coup d'état. Then he says that he does not want to be judged either in Cambodia nor in Vietnam. But these revelations have the merit to make the world know why and how the « Culture of Impunity » was able to continue until nowadays. Until when? Major powers will have more and more difficult to hide their support and assistances to the bloodthirsty, criminal and corrupted Hok Lundy-Hun Sen clan.

Heng Pov does not dare to reveal for example the fact that Ho Sok became the man to be shooting down by the Vietnamese, because he has had very good relations with a certain number of the CPP army officers. Ho Sok knew about movements of the CPP army units. Unfortunately the politicians of Funcinpec do not know how to keep in secret and make in public the confidential information given by Ho Sok. Ho Sok did not foresee either the whole Popular Army of Vietnam (PAV) unit intervention during the coup d'état of July, 1997. This intervention came to surprise the whole Funcinpec's generals. Fortunately the bitter and sharp defeat of the PAV best units of shock of O Smach front saved the honor of the Cambodian weapons. This direct intervention of the PAV is confirmed in private by Cambodian personalities of the civil servant who were present in Cambodia in that time and also by foreign personalities who ask to remain anonymous. It would be surprised that the intelligence services of major powers can ignore these facts.

The Heng Pov's allegations are so clear that make Ron Abney changed decision. We diffuse below the reasons of this motive of Ron Abney's position relating to his complaint with FBI about the massacre of March 30th, 1997 in which he was injured. Ron Abney at the same occasion informs us that he dropped his complaint in order to allow Rainsy and Kem Sokha to work normally in Cambodia. By doing so Ron Abney is only confirming our opinion concerning the major power’s arrangements with Hun Sen allowing Rainsy to return to Cambodia. But with Heng Pov's revelations, Ron Abney calls to reopen the file. It is what torments and enrages Hok Lundy-Hun Sen clan. We reproduce below the reaction of its spokesman:

«Unlike Ron Abney, who considers Heng Pov as a “eyewitness” of the first importance, the Minister of the information and the spokesman of the government Khieu Kanharith considered that nothing justified the reopening of the investigation.

« He (Ron Abney) thinks that Heng Pœuv's statements constitute a new element, while they are only charges without proof. He forces on a door which is already opened. He wants to teach the crocodile to swim: at the FBI, all are professionals », he declared before denying the explanation according to which the complaint withdrawal was politically motivated. « The justice is the justice. It is not as in the United States where any sentences can be negotiated. In Cambodia, there is not the case. We are not politicizing the justice », he explained before concluding that Ron Abney was a « damn pest »[1].

In the same statement, Khieu Kanharith offended and attacked openly the justice of the United States after qualifying Ron Abney as « damn pest ». No any reaction from the American authorities. Still the FBI does not make public its inquiry results on the massacre of March 30th, 1997, after more than 9 years later, as mentioned Chea Vannath, former President of Center for Social Development[2]. This Chea Vannath's opinion is shared by all Cambodians. For what reasons does the USA government stubbornly refuse to make public this essential document in order to understand a part of what took place in Cambodia since 1991? That in spite of Heng Pov's revelations? Again by reintroducing a complaint with FBI, did Ron Abney also become a « damn pest » for the United States government?

In these conditions, Rainsy is obliged to call his activists to stay away from Heng Pov troubles[3]. But Rainsy qualified Heng Pov Affair as « squaring of account between criminals ». Why do not use this « squaring of account between criminals » to settle our account against Hok Lundy-Hun Sen clan who undersells our lands and our continental shelf with our reserves in hydrocarbons, for the benefit of Vietnam and also of Thailand? The Hok Lundy-Hun Sen clan did not always use and instigate the conflicts between Cambodians, at their need, by the massacres, the murders and the corruption, in order to sit solidly their dictatorship over Cambodians ?

During the recent adoption by parliament of the law forcing parliamentarians to make autocensorship, the SRP members of parliament participated in this vote. Is it not the beginning of the work to divide within the SRP as Hok Lundy-Hun Sen clan has already made within Funcinpec with the result that we all known? There is also an adoption of a law against the adultery. With the current judicial system totally controlled by the clan in the power, will not this law be mainly used against those who are considered unwanted by the clan ? As so well noticed the civil servant ? While the law on the corruption always remains in wait ? By so doing what the SRP parliamentarians are doing ? Is it the beginning of self-destruction as it was already the case of Funcinpec? Is it understood the call to order recently launched by Rainsy ?

After Ho Sok's murder, Singapore does not dare to oblige Heng Pov to return in Cambodia. Presently Heng Pov is in Malaysia. There are now negotiations between Malaysia and Hok Lundy-Hun Sen clan to find solution which would oblige Heng Pov to keep silent. Because, as we mentioned from our first article diffused on August 6th, 2006, all the major powers have interest to keep Hok Lundy-Hun Sen clan in power. Let us notice that any international media did not speak about this Heng Pov Affair, in the only one exception of L'Express. Is it a hazard ? These media which are under the full control of the very powerful financial groups of the planet ?

Khemara Jati has a rare chance to be in Canada, an unique country where the freedom of expression is the most liberal. We express our profound gratitude to Canadian authorities for this freedom which we enjoy the most.

Then what is the most consistent solution for the major powers interests ? To return Heng Pov to Phnom Penh ? Heng Pov tortured or / and killed in the gaols of Hok Lundy-Hun Sen clan would make too much noises. Heng Pov judged at the corrupted court in Phnom Penh ? There will be certainly a presence of national and international media. Heng Pov can reveal other crimes even worst. This time, it is more difficult to suffocate the crimes committed by Hok Lundy-Hun Sen clan.

The only solution is to send Heng Pov somewhere else with the obligation to keep quiet. It is the funeral of the affair in the silence hoping that the forgetness will eventually wash hands stained of blood of the Hok Lundy-Hun Sen clan.

We diffuse below both articles of Cambodge Soir of August 29th, 2006 on the change of Ron Abney's idea and on Rainsy's position on this Heng Pov's Affair.

In a next article we shall try to place this « Heng Pov's Case » in the context of the struggle more and more united of the Cambodian people against the ignorance, the disease and the misery for the national Independence in our territorial and maritime integrity, against the economic and financial monopolies of the vietnamese company Sokimex and the vietnamese bank Canadia, for the economic development for all fellow countrywomen/countrymen, for the liberation of our dear homeland of the vietnamese domination, for democracy and freedom.

Note : Cet article est disponible en français sur demande.
http://khemara-jati.blogspot.com/2006/09/hng-pov-enterrement-dans-le-silence.html

Annexes :

Cambodge Soir
29 août 2006
Unofficial translated from French by Khemara Jati
Sam Rainsy calls his activists to the reserve

Sam Rainsy, now on a tour in the US where he meets his sympathizers of across the Atlantic, called the activists of SRP of Florida and Canada to take distances from Heng Pœuv's affair which he qualified as « internal conflict inside the CPP ». He asks his overseas troops to pay their attention on the management of the country [governing] by the Prime Minister and not allow to be obsessed by the former municipal police commissioner's statement.

« All this history is only a squaring of accounts between criminals. We do not have to get involved in it », declared Sam Rainsy whose comments were aired by Radio Free Asia. Arriving to the US around August 17th to attend the SRP congress of across the Atlantic, he called American radios in Khmer to be interested in all evolutions of the Cambodian political life beyond the only Heng Poeuv's affair. « The SRP is only following the progress of this file like the others because it is about an internal problem within the CPP: we do not have to put the nose inside [it]. »

Sam Rainsy calls nevertheless the friendly countries and the United Nations which want to help Cambodia to verify the information moved by Heng Pœuv to understand the way which are managing the affairs in the kingdom, the extent of the maffioso power, and the crimes related to it. « When we speak about these crimes, they blame some of the others. It is a squaring of accounts between criminals », he beat.

This call to the reserve was not however passed on to the SRP activists of the kingdom, precises the General Secretary of interim of the party Meng Rita. « Since the beginning we refuse to interfere in this history. We already know that Heng Pœuv is a criminal among many others in this country », he explained.

According to Kéo Vanthan, vice-leader of Interpol in Cambodia, Heng Pœuv would indeed be always in Singapore because his visa expired last week. According to his lawyer, the former municipal police commissioner always tries to obtain the asylum in a third country. The progovernmental press wondered at least on Sunday about the moment when the fugitive would be arrested and repatriated in Cambodia. Just like other newspapers of the same political tendency, Rasmey Kampuchea considers that the country which will welcome Heng Pœuv « will make collusive of crimes, will encourage the criminal and will put obstacle to the action of justice ».

Cambodge Soir
29 août 2006

Ron Abney : « I drop my lawsuit to help Kem Sokha and Sam Rainsy »

Tuesday, August 29, 2006By Soren SeelowCambodge SoirTranslated from French by Luc Sâr

Ron Abney, a former employee of the US organization International Republican Institute (IRI) who was wounded during the grenade attack on March 30, 1997 in Phnom Penh, is trying for almost 10 years to shed some light on this event which was never clarified in Cambodia (the FBI investigation was never made public in its integral form). Notably, Ron Abney filed a complaint in the US against an unknown person under the framework of the Alien Tort Law, a law which allows US citizens attacked overseas to bring their case to US court. Nevertheless, last December, Ron Abney decided against all expectations, to drop the lawsuit. A new turn of even took place in mid-August when Ron Abney wrote to the FBI this time, to request for the reopening of the investigation taking into consideration the recent declarations made by Heng Pov implicating the prime minister and the chief of the national police (read Cambodge Soir, August 24 edition).Asked by email on these seemingly contradictions, Ron Abney explained the circumstances leading to his decision to drop his lawsuit a few month earlier. "That lawsuit was a real concern for Hun Sen. It meant that the FBI investigation must be made available to the US court system, and thus making it available to everyone. Hun Sen did not want this to happen. I decided to withdraw my lawsuit when I was conscious to the fact that human rights defenders [jailed last year for criticizing the border treaty with Vietnam], such as Kem Sokha, and Sam Rainsy [who was in exile in France for one year and who returned back home in February] could have been more concerned if I did not drop the lawsuit. I thought that Sam Ranisy should return back home to pursue his political activities and that it would have release some pressure which weighted on him. It was me who took the decision," Ron Abney detailed. Finally, he explained that the lawsuit was only a mean to reopen the case, and that he is pursuing it through other official means.Unlike Ron Abney who considered Heng Pov as a first class "eyewitness," Khieu Kanharith, the government spokesman, believes that nothing justify the reopening of the investigation."He (Ron Abney) thinks that the declarations made by Heng Pov bring in something new, whereas they are only accusations without any proof. He forces on a door that is already opened. He wants to teach crocodiles to swim: the FBI personnel are professionals," Khieu Kanharith declared before denying that the lawsuit drop (by Ron Abney) was politically motivated. "Justice is justice. It is not like in the US where one can bargain for lighter sentences. In Cambodia, we don't have that. We are not politicizing the justice," Khieu Kanharith explained before concluding that Ron Abney was a "pest" ("emmerdeur" in French has a stronger connotation than "pest").The IRI representative in Cambodia believes that Ron Abney's steps are his "personal" initiative, so does the US embassy spokesman (in Cambodia) to whom this affair has "nothing to do with politics." Son Chhay, the SRP MP declined to comment on Ron Abney's declarations, and Sam Rainsy who is currently in the US, cannot be contacted yesterday. Soren Seelow

The Cambodia Daily
OPINION
Friday, August 25, 2006

Government Should Properly Reply to Heng POV’s Allegations

Letter to the Editor

The allegations made over recent weeks by disgrac­ed former Municipal Po­lice Commissioner Heng Pov need to be properly answered by the Royal Gov­ernment of Cam­bodia if it does not wish to see its credibility further eroded and the international image of Cambo­dia tarnished even more.

Until now, the responses given by government spokesmen Khieu Kanharith and Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Soph­eak have not been serious and could be construed even as being irresponsible.

In this regard, such crimes as the grenade attack against a peaceful rally in Phnom Penh March 30, 1997, and the execu­tions of a number of Funcinpec generals and senior officials dur­ing the July 1997 coup constitute crimes against humanity.

The people of Cambodia would be right in demanding that these crimes be added onto the list of crimes against humanity to be in­vestigated by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

These crimes are not unlike those committed by Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge and should thus not be treated differently.

Take for instance the execution of Interior Secretary of State Ho Sok.

According to a confidential US Embassy report, released to me by the US State Department under that country's freedom of in­formation legislation, on July 23, 1997, the then-US Ambassador to Cambodia. Kenneth Quinn, met with Sar Kheng, the deputy prime minister and minister of interior, to discuss events following the July 1997 uprising.

Sar Kheng told Ambassador Quinn that he “was sure that Ho Sok had been executed” and that as of that day (July 23, 1997), he had established a committee to conduct an investigation of the case.

Furthermore, Sar Kheng also commented that he had “Sus­pended the person from the Inte­rior Ministry who he considered most responsible for that action.”

The result of that investigation was never made public and the person suspended was soon reinstated on Prime Minister Hun Sen's instructions.

Similarly, Sar Kheng told the US ambassador that he was not sure if the other Funcinpec gen­erals had been killed while en­gaged in battle, or arrested and then executed. He agreed that all these cases needed to be investi­gated.

Until such time as the result of investigations on these atrocities are made public and those persons found guilty are punished accordingly, Cambodia, I am afraid, will not enjoy national reconciliation and stability and its government shall not be respect­ed by international public opinion.

Ambassador Julio Jeldres.
Chairman, Khmer Institute of Democracy,
Australia

Heng Pov granted Finnish visa
Ex-Cambodian top cop granted Finnish visaSun2Surf (Malaysia)
PETALING JAYA (Dec 6, 2006): Former Cambodian national police chief Heng Peo, who is battling repatriation, has been granted a visa and a one-way ticket to Helsinki by the Finnish government."I hope the Malaysian government will release my husband so he can go," pleaded a sobbing Ngin Sotheavy, the 38-year-old wife of Heng Peo."If my husband is deported to Cambodia, he will be tortured and killed," Sotheavy said in a press conference convened by her at a hotel here today. She was accompanied by her husband's lawyers, N. Sivananthan and Abdul Shukor Ahmad.Sotheavy came with her 23-year-old daughter, while the remaining five children, aged between two and 25, are now in Singapore.Sivananthan said they will be writing to Wisma Putra to inform the government about the visa obtained by Heng Peo, adding that the Finnish ambassador here who signed the travel document will do likewise.In the Kuala Lumpur High Court today, Heng Peo's writ of habeas corpus hearing was postponed to Dec 13, after Sivananthan informed the court about the visa issuance to his client.Heng Peo, 49, was arrested on Oct 3 in Bandar Sunway for overstaying his visa after entering the country through Singapore.He has also filed for asylum with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees here after his passport was cancelled by the Cambodian government.
[1] Cambodge Soir of 29 August 2006 : Ron Abney : J'ai retiré ma plainte pour aider Kem Sokha et Sam Rainsy
[2] The Cambodia Daily of 10 August 2006.
[3] Cambodge Soir of 29 August 2006 : Sam Rainsy appelle ses militants à la réserve.