Cambodian war correspondents mourn ex-colleagues

In this photo taken on Thursday, April 22, 2010, Yoko Ishiyama, left, of Japan, weeps during a Buddhist ceremony at a paddy field of Kandoul, in Kampong Speu province, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ishiyama's husband Koki, a former correspondent for the Japanese Kyodo News service, was reportedly missing during the Cambodian conflict. Two dozen aging colleagues on Thursday trekked to this village to mourn and remember dozens of reporters, photographers and cameramen who died covering the five-year war that ended in 1975 with the takeover by the brutal Khmer Rouge. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

KANDOUL, Cambodia — The bodies were dumped in a shallow grave amid the untilled earth of rice paddies: five journalists who had been ambushed by Khmer Rouge and Viet Cong guerrillas on May 31, 1970.

Om Pao, then 12, remembers the stench of decay for days after. He helped his father heap more earth on top of the remains to keep the smell down, the pigs out and the bodies from floating away.

In all, nine journalists — American, Indian, Japanese, French and Cambodian — were attacked that day near this dusty village south of the capital, Phnom Penh. All are believed to have been killed. It was one of the deadliest incidents for reporters in the wars in Vietnam and Cambodia, in a year that remains one of the deadliest anywhere for journalists.

This week, 40 years later, two dozen aging colleagues trekked to Kandoul to mourn and remember. They honored the dozens of reporters, photographers and cameramen who died covering the five-year war, which ended in 1975 with the takeover by the brutal Khmer Rouge.

"It's not only sadness for our colleagues, but also for our Cambodian friends," said Elizabeth Becker, who covered the war for The Washington Post, "but the biggest sadness is that it's taken so long for this country to recover."

Impoverished Cambodia, already roiled by the fighting in neighboring Vietnam, plunged into open war in March 1970 when Gen. Lon Nol overthrew Prince Norodom Sihanouk and seized power in a CIA-backed coup.

Two months later, as Lon Nol's forces battled Khmer Rouge insurgents and their Vietnamese allies, a six-man crew from CBS News was ambushed on the morning of May 31 as the team drove south of Phnom Penh, looking for a battle. Three men from NBC News, rushing after their competitors, were also captured.

According to former CBS cameraman Kurt Volkert, who compiled a detailed reconstruction based on witness accounts, four of the CBS employees were killed instantly. The five others are believed to have been taken to Kandoul in the days after and executed. They had their hands bound and possibly were clubbed to death.

In 1992, Volkert helped a U.S. military forensics team locate the grave just outside Kandoul. Four bodies were recovered and identified as the three NBC employees and one from CBS. The fifth body was never found.

In all, more than three dozen foreign and Cambodian journalists were killed or listed as missing during the 1970-75 war. As many as 26 were killed in the war's first year, according to tallies compiled by former Associated Press correspondents.

Earlier this year, amateur searchers digging northeast of Phnom Penh unearthed what they believe to be the remains of war photographer Sean Flynn — son of Hollywood star Errol Flynn. Sean Flynn went missing nearly two months before the U.S. television crews were ambushed.

After the Khmer Rouge took over in April 1975, dozens of other Cambodian journalists — mainly freelancers for foreign media — were executed or simply disappeared.

On Thursday, reporters, photographers and cameramen who covered Cambodia's upheaval joined throngs of curious villagers, huddling from the scorching heat under an orange and yellow tent in the middle of a rice paddy.

The smell of burning incense and the chants of Buddhist monks mixed with the sound of passing ox carts. Several visitors wept as the names of the dead reporters were read aloud. Children, naked and barefoot, begged for handouts, sipped coconut juice being sold by a vendor and splashed in the nearby puddle where the four bodies had been exhumed in 1992.

"We remember those who have died seeking both truth and reality in Cambodia," said Chhang Song, the minister of information in the Lon Nol government who worked closely with many of the reporters and helped organize the reunion.

Om Pao, whose father's paddy was just yards away from the grave in 1970, said: "To hold a Buddhist ceremony like today is good for dead people, to show the gratitude to the dead and to offer their souls a chance to rest in peace."

Former AP correspondent Carl Robinson said covering Cambodia's turmoil was much more dangerous than Vietnam. Journalists were more often on their own, without the protection of the U.S. military. And, he added, he was troubled by the U.S. role in Cambodia.

"It was nightmarish to cover it all," he said. "It's too hard to look back upon. The whole thing had been a disaster. I left feeling guilty and bitter, as a reporter, as an American, it was just shameful and the Cambodians suffered."

For Jeff Williams, a former correspondent for AP and CBS, the trip was a chance to remember the collegiality of the foreign press corps at the time.

"I don't believe in closure. Maybe it's just me, but nothing ever closes," he said. "You just move ahead."

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BHP chief plays down Cambodia fallout

BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers has effectively pre-empted the findings of two investigations into its Cambodian bribery scandal by saying he expects only modest fallout for the company.

Rather than wait for the findings of an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and an internal report being conducted with the help of a US law company, Mr Kloppers jumped the gun in an interview this week with the Financial Times, said by BHP to have been planned months ago.


BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers has effectively pre-empted the findings of two investigations into its Cambodian bribery scandal by saying he expects only modest fallout for the company.

Rather than wait for the findings of an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and an internal report being conducted with the help of a US law company, Mr Kloppers jumped the gun in an interview this week with the Financial Times, said by BHP to have been planned months ago.

"We think the potential issue we've got in the total scale of the company is very modest," Mr Kloppers is reported to have said.

The report quoted the chief executive as saying the potential wrongdoing needed to be put in context, which he said was why BHP limited its disclosure of the SEC probe and its own investigations to the bottom of its March-quarter exploration report, released on Wednesday.

"If there was any view that this was something that would have had a material impact on the company - and I'm not talking about financial-only terms, I am talking about overall reputational damage, all of the things that we weigh when we look at a disclosable event - you can clearly see we thought of this in one way," he said.

But Mr Kloppers also seemed to want an each-way bet.

"I don't want to detract from the seriousness of these issues at all because there is absolutely nothing more important in life than our reputation, as events at Toyota and Citibank show. So even if there was 50¢ that had changed hands to a government official, it would have been an unbelievably big deal."

BHP has so far refused to disclose where the bribery scandal took place, but nor has it bothered to deny widespread reports that it involved a $US1 million payment by the company to the Cambodian government in 2006 to secure bauxite leases.

There has also been speculation that there could be lingering issues for BHP from an aborted nickel project in the Philippines, with a Catholic Church aid agency saying in 2008 that the company needed to be more careful in picking its local joint-venture partners.

The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development alleged that BHP's Filipino partner in a nickel joint venture had offered bribes to community leaders to buy support for the project and silence opposition to the mining.

CAFOD said that while there was no evidence that BHP was involved, the company had a responsibility to ensure that partners and contractors it had chosen to work with did not partake in bribery or corruption.

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Fired Naga workers issue plea to Hun Sen

The Phnom Penh Post
FORTY workers who were dismissed from their jobs at NagaWorld Hotel and Casino earlier this month appealed to Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday for intervention, and said they also plan to file a complaint with the Ministry of Labour.


The workers’ union, the Cambodia Tourism and Service Workers Federation (CTSWF), said in a statement that NagaWorld had violated labour laws by dismissing the workers without advance notice and providing them with inadequate compensation.

“Tourism Federation leaders and members would like to appeal to Prime Minister Hun Sen … to intervene, and would like all relevant ministries to re-inspect the implementation of labour law and other regulations at NagaWorld to help bring justice to our workforce,” the statement read.

CTSWF Vice President Sok Narith said the dismissed workers planned to file a complaint with the Ministry of Labour through his organisation on
Friday. Of the 40 workers who were dismissed on April 12 and April 13, Sok Narith said, only a handful received compensation. NagaWorld management has attempted to intimidate workers still at the company who have expressed interest in positions as union leaders, he added.

NagaWorld declined to comment on Wednesday.

Sok Narith was one of 14 workers dismissed by NagaWorld in February 2009. NagaWorld subsequently filed suit against the dismissed workers for defamation and incitement, though the case was thrown out by Phnom Penh Municipal Court in October. Ten of those workers have since dropped their complaints, and negotiations are pending for the other four.

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The end of democracy in Thailand?

Thailand’s fledgling democracy is now all but dead; bloodied and battered on the streets of Bangkok. How did this happen?
In 2005 we were in a northern Thai village undertaking field research on local economic and political issues. Our research coincided with the national election held in February that year. Thaksin Shinawatra’s now disbanded “Thais Love Thais” party, backed up by a formidable campaign machine, stormed to victory with strong support in the rural north and northeast. It was Thailand’s most comprehensive election victory ever.

In the country’s rural heartlands Thaksin’s policies of universal health care, infrastructure investment, local economic stimulus, and agricultural debt relief were wildly popular. Even the murders that punctuated his bloody “war on drugs” were applauded by many rural Thais who were fed up with the nightmare of narcotic abuse. To succeed at the ballot box, Thaksin learned to speak the language of rural Thailand in a cadence that alternated between populism and brutality.

In the northern village where we were working, Thaksin’s policies were not embraced uncritically. Vigorous debate about the positive and negative impacts of government action on local livelihoods was an everyday aspect of electoral culture. Many commentators say that rural people don’t care about government corruption. Of course they do, but they have their own ways of weighing up the contentious trade-off between private gain and public benefit.

In 2005, these debates informed a vigorous local tussle between the sitting “Thais Love Thais” candidate and a popular opposition figure who had served the area well in previous governments. This was a very real contest.

On election day the village hall was set-up to meet the strict requirements of Thailand’s electoral laws. Officials, conscripted from the ranks of local school teachers and village leaders, managed the hundreds of voters who came to exercise their franchise. The turnout was more than 80 per cent. Scrutineers nominated by the main candidates amiably watched over proceedings.

At the end of the day, once the lines of voters had fulfilled their obligations, the ballot boxes were sealed with string and wax and then transported, under police guard and with a sizeable escort, to the electorate’s vote-counting centre in the grounds of a provincial high school.

The ballot boxes from far-flung villagers were assembled for the count. Groups from each village waited patiently to empty their ballot box into the huge tub from which the votes were retrieved. College students were enlisted to count the votes and write the growing tallies on results boards.

For those, like us, for whom elections involve a night in front of the television, this was an extraordinarily open and participatory event. It was held, quite literally, in the public gaze. By the end of the night it was clear that Thaksin’s man had won, despite a strong showing from his opponent in many villages.

Thailand’s voters have been through this process twice since then. In 2006 Thaksin called a snap election in response to street protests in Bangkok. The opposition, lead by the current prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, boycotted the election, knowing they had no chance of victory. Thaksin attracted over 60 per cent of the valid votes cast. He was eventually overthrown in the coup of September 2006 and another election was held in December 2007.

Thaksin was in exile, but his political allies won again, falling just short of an absolute majority. But the anti-Thaksin forces could not accept this result either and they managed to manoeuvre Abhisit Vejjaiva into power on the back of the yellow shirt occupation of Bangkok’s international airport and the dissolution of the pro-Thaksin governing party.

The detailed history of the tactics of the red shirts, since they began their current round of protests in Bangkok on March 12 will be written in the coming months and years.

There have been mistakes, miscalculations and some unedifying displays of thuggery and provocation. But the underlying motivation of the protesters is clear: they are fed up with having election results overturned.

They have gone peacefully to the ballot box three times since 2005 and each time elite forces associated with the palace, the military, the judiciary and Abhisit’s Democrat Party, have disregarded their decision. The red shirts have been told that their votes don’t count, that they are uneducated country bumpkins, and that they sell their votes to the highest bidder.

It is unsurprising that many of them were suspicious about Abhisit’s offer to hold yet another election on November 14. There were even more suspicious about the willingness of the forces that back Abhisit to respect its result. The elite’s disregard for electoral processes has opened the door for violent elements on both sides of the political spectrum.

So where to now?

Many in Thailand, including some of the villagers in the north, may be hoping that Thailand’s long-reigning king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, will intervene and talk some royal sense into the combatants as he famously did in May 1992 after more than 40 protesters had been killed on the streets of Bangkok.

But, in 2010, this is unlikely to happen again.

Quite apart from the king’s extremely fragile health, the palace has made it clear since the 2006 coup that it sides with anti-Thaksin forces. When the anti-Thaksin yellow shirts occupied Bangkok’s international airport in November and December 2008, they did so under an explicit royal banner with all of the protections that such palace endorsement implies. By contrast, the prospect of royal intervention to save the red shirts from the wrath of the military is now remote.

In fact, some are starting to wonder out loud if Thailand’s monarchy is now, in fact, part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

Decades of national faith invested in an unelected monarch as the ultimate source of authority and salvation in times of crisis has stunted the development of robust democratic institutions. Thailand has put too many eggs into the royal basket and now lacks the institutional wherewithal to constructively resolve political divisions.

There is considerable truth to the old joke that Thailand is the world’s longest lasting fledgling democracy, and that truth owes much to the fact that the symbolic power of the monarch has overshadowed opportunities for elected politicians to manage national affairs.

When the shooting and burning in Bangkok finally subsides Thailand is going to have to rebuild faith in its basic democratic institutions. Cultivating a more respectful attitude to the political choices of its many rural inhabitants would be a good place to start.

Andrew Walker and Nicholas Farrelly are Southeast Asia specialists in the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific. They are the co-founders of New Mandala, a blog on mainland Southeast Asian politics and societies.

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Prime Minister Hun Sen Fines MP, Mu Sochua

Radio Free Asia

Two fierce political foes in Cambodia clash again.



PHNOM PENH—Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen and a firebrand MP convicted of slandering him appear headed for a public showdown, with the lawmaker facing six months in jail unless she pays a fine upheld by the country's Supreme Court.


"Mu Sochua was in the wrong…. The court has punished her and ordered her to pay a fine, and she must respect the court's decision," Hun Sen's lawyer, Ky Tek, said in an interview Tuesday.

"If she refuses, the prosecutor will take the next step—meaning she will be forced to pay or will go to jail."

But the Kompot province MP Mu Sochua said separately she won't pay the fine and is prepared for jail.

Hun Sen initially sued Mu Sochua for defamation after she accused him of making derogatory remarks about her.

Mu Sochua has called on international donors to scrutinize Cambodia's legal system and could take her case to the Constitutional Council after the country's highest court upheld her conviction for defaming the prime minister.

"I have been found guilty of a crime that I have not committed at all. This is not justice," Mu Sochua, of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party and a former women's minister, told reporters.

She was convicted last year for defaming Hun Sen during an April news conference, in which she announced plans to sue the premier for allegedly insulting her.

The ruling is a "travesty," she said, while refusing to pay a court-ordered U.S. $4,000 fine after losing her final appeal June 2.

"This is justice for sale, and this is justice for powerful people only."

"I reaffirm that I will not pay. My conscience does not allow me to pay a single cent," she said.

"But my conscience is the conscience of the Sam Rainsy Party, which struggles for justice. Just arrest me anytime."

"The lower, appellate, and supreme courts didn't take all elements of facts into their consideration…. This court system isn't credible," she said.

She has appealed to international donors to investigate the Cambodian legal system and to Suriya Subedi, U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, who is visiting the country.

Damaged reputation

Ky Tek, representing Hun Sen, argued in court that Mu Sochua had damaged Hun Sen's reputation.

Chief Judge Khim Pon agreed, upholding lower-court rulings he said were in accordance with Article 114 of the Cambodia's Penal Code.

Mu Sochua's lawyer quit the case and joined the governing party after Cambodia's bar council accused him of malpractice.

The courts dismissed her complaint and the National Assembly voted to lift her parliamentary immunity from prosecution so the prime minister's case could go ahead.

Chan Saveth, from the local human rights group ADHOC, said the court's decisions would damage respect for rule of law in Cambodia.

The Cambodian government has faced sharp criticism from rights groups for launching a number of defamation and disinformation lawsuits against critics and opposition members.

New York-based Human Rights Watch recently accused Hun Sen's government of aiming to silence political opposition and critics with a "campaign of harassment, threats, and unwarranted legal action."

Donors last week pledged a record U.S. $1.1 billion in aid for this year during a two-day conference.

But rights groups say donors should take a tougher stance to weed out corruption and diversion of funds.

Original reporting by Kim Peou for RFA's Khmer service. Translated from the Khmer by Vuthy Huot and Leng Maly. Khmer service director: Sos Kem. Executive producer: Susan Lavery. Written in English by Sarah Jackson-Han.

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Thailand, Cambodia to normalize relations

Source: UPI.COM - Special Reports



BANGKOK, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Tensions eased between Thailand and neighboring Cambodia after the exiled fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra resigned as an economic adviser to Phnom Phen.

Thailand will send back to the Cambodian capital its ambassador, Prasas Prasasvinitchai.

He was summoned back to Thailand in November soon after the Cambodian government of Hun Sen controversially appointed Thaksin, who is a wanted man in Thailand for using his office for personal gain.

"I believe that the normalized relations with the reinstatement of the ambassadors will clear the way for the two countries to more easily resolve all problems," Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.

Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Thaksin's resignation satisfied a Thai condition that he doesn't play a role in the Cambodian government before bilateral ties return to normal. "I would like to thank the Cambodian government for the intention to move forward our relations," he said.

Cambodia also has said it will send back its ambassador, You Aye, to the Thai capital Bangkok, ending the tit-for-tat diplomatic dispute that effectively froze relations between the two countries.

But the Cambodian and Thai governments, as well as Thaksin's lawyer, deny reports that Thaksin was forced to resign as a first step by both countries to normalize relations.

A statement by the Cambodian government said that Thaksin had stepped down "because of personal difficulties" that stopped him from completely fulfilling his role. "The Cambodian government accepts the request by His Excellency Thaksin Shinawatra, with thanks to the contributions that he has made to the Cambodian economy," a statement said.

Thaksin's legal adviser, Noppadon Pattama, said Thaksin's resignation "was voluntary to benefit ties between the two countries," he said. It was Thaksin's intention to quit as an adviser because his overseas business engagements left him no time to work for the Cambodian government, he said.

Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Thaksin's resignation wasn't connected to the Thai-Cambodian border dispute. Thaksin resigned because he was "busy with a lot of work."

Relations between the two countries dipped dramatically immediately after Cambodia announced the appointment of Thaksin. On hearing of the appointment, Thailand's Cabinet threatened to tear up a 2001 memorandum of understanding to end a sensitive maritime boundary dispute in the Gulf of Thailand.

Resolution of the dispute is for the betterment of both countries as it would allow an ordered exploitation of suspected large amounts of natural gas and oil reserves on the ocean floor.

But a much more sensitive issue is a long-simmering land boundary dispute about 300 miles northeast of Bangkok. The military of both countries periodically face each other in the Preah Vihear mountains around an 11th-century Hindu temple of the same name on land, which both countries claim as their territory.

The international court of justice ruled in 1962 that the temple was on Cambodian land. But the only access to the mountaintop building is on the Thai side, which Thai troops sealed off last summer.

Around 2,000 troops from both sides are stationed across from each other on border patrol. Cross-border incidents occasionally flare up, such as in October 2008 when two Cambodian troops died and seven Thai troops were wounded in a gun battle lasting an hour.

The diplomatic row deepened after Thailand formally requested the extradition of Thaksin under an extradition treaty signed by both countries. But the Cambodian government said Phnom Phen cannot send Thaksin to Thailand because they believe his conviction in 2008 was political and not criminal.

Thaksin, 60, was ousted from his job as Thailand's prime minister by a military coup in 2006 and soon after received a 2-year prison sentence for tax fraud. He fled in 2008 rather than serve his sentence, leaving an estimated $2 billion in frozen assets.

The Thai government continues to seek Thaksin whose whereabouts often are unknown. He is wanted most recently for allegedly helping organize the major street protests that continually crippled parts of central Bangkok from February to May, which eventually left 90 people dead and some 2,000 injured.

He has denied the terrorism charges against him and has said he called for peace by the protesters during the demonstrations.

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Cambodian Minister Asks Vietnam 'To Assist' in Maintaining Security in Election

Will the Cambodian Elections Be Open?
By LENG Sovady

Will the general elections on July 27, 2008, for the fourth term of office be fair ? The study of the election legislation and recent events prove people’s choice will be under diverse pressures and intimidations as well as election frauds.

On the past 25th of March, the minister of Defence of the Royal government led by Mr Hun Sen, Mr Tea Banh visited the president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Mr Nguyen Minh Triet. On this occasion, Mr Tea Banh warmly thanked Vietnam for its military support to drive Pol Pot out in 1979. And he asked for a Vietnamese military support to insure law and order during the elections.

The military support in 1979 turned into the occupation of Cambodia, which became Vietnam’s slave as a compensation for the spending. The occupying army looted the rest of the national wealth after Pol Pot’s rule and notably, furniture, precious stones, factories, doors, windows, all things transportable and so on…

And Vietnam uselessly imposed on the Cambodian people the “K5” policy for its military strategy, which caused 200,000 casualties and family disorganizations.
The treaty of Paris signed on October 23, 1991 and the election results in May 1993 under the aegis of UN were needed to get rid of this sturdy military support so praised by Mr Tea Banh.

He certainly knows all those ploys because he is a minister. His approach is disingenuous during the election period, and, moreover, the PPC, this minister’s party, is spreading the rumour that if the elections were lost for him, risks of civil war would be run. As the Cambodians are traumatized by the war, they could change their choice.

For the elections in 2003, Phnom Penh had threatened to use armed forces if protests were uttered like in 1998 against election fraud. This time, the authority is using other means like threatening with the occupation by Vietnamese forces, which reminds the Cambodians of the dark times from 1979 and 1991.

The general elections are organized by the National Election Committee (NEC) nominated by the council of ministers after the Home minister’s advice, according to the new article 13 of the election laws promulgated on December 26, 1997 and renewed on February 7, 2007 during the time when the PPC had absolute power after the collapse of FUNCIPEC following the coup on July 6, 1997. And then, this committee will nominate the local election commissions (new article 18). Eventually, after this commission’s proposition, the national election committee will nominate the election commission in the polling station, composed of a president, a vice-president, a secretary and two members (new article 22).

According to these laws, the election organisms should be neutral. But how could we believe in the neutrality of such organisms nominated by the authority?

This is a difference with the French practice. The political parties that participate in the elections, have only the right to send delegates as observers to the polling station (new article 26) and have not the right to take part in the election process. In France, the political parties may send assessors to participate in the election process from the opening time of the polling station onward and check the registers and electors’ identity.

If the Cambodian election legislation is applied, the election commission in the polling station could easily fraud if they were determined to do it because the party delegates have not the right to check the registers and the electors’ identity.
On these reports, protests in 1998 and 2003 were justified by the gaps in the legislation.

So, the national election committee should amend the present laws by enabling the political parties to send assessors for the voting process, so that the general elections should be really democratic. Otherwise, suspicion towards the committee’s neutrality and voting process transparency will persist.

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Transcript and Original "Statement of Heng Peov"

Heng Pov (Photo: Koh Santepheap)

The following is a transcript of the statement issued anonymously under the name of Heng Pov. A copy of the original statement in PDF format can be found by clicking here (Adobe Acrobat required).

Statement of Heng Peov

Until 27 July 2006, I was the Major General of Ministry of Interior’s Under Secretary of State, and Personal Advisor to Prime Minister Hun Sen. At the same time I retained the position of the Police Commissioner of Phnom Penh until January 2006, a position that he had held since 2001.

On 27 July 2006 whilst I was overseas, my Prime Minister appealed to King Sihamoni to remove me from my position and the King signed the agreement.

I am now in hiding in a neighbouring country and cannot go back to my beloved country Cambodia. My Government has been mounting a propaganda campaign against me since I left Cambodia on 23 July 2006. I have been portrayed by the Cambodian media as a villain and a criminal. My family in Cambodia including my wife who is recovering from cancer and my two year old American born son Pov Justin have been placed under house arrest. They have searched my two houses and confiscated my assets. Most of my staff members have been arrested on trumped up charges. An International Warrant has also been issued for my arrest.

I think it is time to tell the world my story and hopefully by so doing I can clear my already muddied name. I am nothing like what I have been accused of and I have never committed the crimes that they have alleged. I wish to declare to the whole world my innocence. This document is my only means to get my message crossed.

I believe that it was my consistent efforts to eradicate the rampant corruption in Cambodia, my support for the transformation of Cambodia into a democratic society and my position against systemic human rights violations in the country which has resulted in the precarious circumstances I have found myself in. I do not regret what I have done. If I have to die for my beliefs and my country I stand ready and willing to do so.

I was born in Kandal Province on 1 December 1957 and both of my parents were rice farmers. My parents passed away when I was the age of 11.

In 1992, when I was on duty as a police officer in the Anti-Crime Squad in Phnom Penh, I suffered a gunshot injury to my left leg which resulted in my leg being amputated. I lost my left leg for my country.

In 1995, there were wide- spread demonstrations in Cambodia led by Sene Sane for democracy. The Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered to that these demonstrations be quashed. He called for a meeting with Hoc Lundy, General Director of the Police Force. I was invited by Hoc Lundy to the meeting as his friend. (I recall Amson An, Secretary of State of Ministry of Interiors was also at the meeting. The meeting was held at the Prime Minister's residence at Tourle Krarsing, Kandal Province.) At that time, I was the chief of Bureau of Anti Narcotic in Phnom Penh. At the meeting, I heard them saying to do whatever possible to bring to an end the nationwide unrests. I did not know that he would use the grenades at the demonstrators.

The grenades killed over 10 people at the Pagoda. Sene Sane's son was injured by the grenades including 10 other people. I did not know that they would be using the hand grenades against the innocent demonstrators. I was not a party to it. When the grenades exploded, I was at the office of Net Sa Veun talking to him about how Hun Sen had met Hoc Lundy. After that the police were alerted to the explosions and that is when I knew that something bad happened. I only found out that after the grenades exploded. The police were called upon to investigate who was responsible for the bombing, but they did the investigation superficially and were trying to cover the track than to find the person responsible.

During my time at the Anti-Narcotic Bureau, I discovered evidence showing Hun Sen's people being involved in drug trafficking. I went to see Hun Sen with a view to bringing it to his attention. He took me to the cellar of his house which was nicely decorated. Hun Sen asked me whether I knew the names of the people who were into the drugs. I replied that I knew and I told him one name Mon Routy whom I was sure was involved. I suspected other men of Hun Sen were also involved, but I was not 100% sure. Hun Sen did not make any comments. Then Hoc Lundy then arrived with Huy Piseth, Chief of the Hun Sen's bodyguards and distracted my discussion with him. We then talked about the opposition party's protest. Hoc Lundy said to Hun Sen, ' why don't you use hand grenades.' Hun Sen said that it was a good idea... "I can send Seth to do it and he is a good operator." He authorized Hoc Lundy to pay for Huy PiSeth to do the job. Hoc Lundy answered that he would put together the money to pay them. He suggested that I met with Seth. After that, Hoc Lundy ordered me to find the money (US$ 100000) to give to Huy Piseth. The money came from the police.

On 30/3/97, the opposition leader Sam Rainsy led a demonstration calling for the reform of the justice system in Cambodia. The demonstration was held in front of the Assembly of the Nation. I was near the Pro Tom Pagoda and witnessed what happened. My staff took me on his motorbike to see the big protest outside the Assembly. 2-4 minutes after we arrived, I heard a big explosion and people crying and screaming. Then I saw four men running away from the scene. I recognized only two of them that were: Mr Phan Sary Colonel and Mr Ourn Cham Nane Commander; both of them were Hun Sen's men. I did not know the other two. They ran towards the Prime Minister' house. I followed them there to see what they ran away like that for. I talked to General Huy Pheseth and told him that I saw four of his people running away from the scene and that they should not have thrown the grenades. He told me to keep quiet and don't talk to any body. But I was angry and upset. I need to speak to somebody about it. I went to see Hoc Lundy who I considered at the time as my friend. I felt that I had to report to Hoc and could not understand why Hun Sen chose to kill so many people. But he told me the same thing to keep quiet and not to tell anybody about it. Amongst the people who were killed or injured was an American. I understand the American Government sent people to Cambodia to investigate.

In 2003 Phan Sary came to see me in my office. He admitted to me that he was the person who threw the grenades. He said that he was very sad because he killed so many people. He complained that Hun Sen used to pay him money to have things done. When he was in trouble nobody seemed to care about him He said that he did what he did because Hun Sen ordered him and he had to please him. He acknowledged that he killed a lot of people before. He said that he now did not even have money to support his children. I recorded the conversation.

Seizure of 7 tons of cannabis

In 1997, I was the director of anti-narcotic bureau. I seized seven tons of marihuana belonging to Mon Rati's company. Mon Rati was a close friend of Hun Sen. The marihuana was hidden away in two containers and were ready to be shipped to Norway. The seizure occurred at a border port of Siha Nauk Vill, after the seizure, Mr. Ho Sok, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior from the Funcinpec Party asked me to arrest Mon Rati. I could not do it as Mon Rati was associated with Hun Sen and he intervened. Hun Sen announced in the media that if Mon Rati was arrested, he would make sure that Mon Rati would not be touched. I therefore could not do anything about it. After that, the Canadian Embassy invited me to go to Canada to brief the Canadian government on the seizure. The Hun Sen was very angry with Ho Sok. Before I was scheduled to leave for Canada, Hun Sen called me to his residence and asked me to consider not to go to Canada. He asked me to tell the Canadian that I was busy and could not accept the invitation. The story of the seizure became bigger than what it was supposed to be because it involved Hun Sen's people. Hun Sen openly vowed to protect Mon Rati. Hun Sen said that if I were to tell the Canadian about the drug seizure, the international community would exert pressure on the Cambodian Government. He suggested that I stay calm and keep quiet. If I did what he told me to do, I would be given a new car by Mon Rati. Mon Rati then paid me a visit shortly after my meeting with the Prime Minister. Hun Sen also asked me to give a press conference denying the seizure ever occurred and to cover it up.

I was afraid of Hun Sen and he was too powerful. I had no option but to obey. I accepted the car from Mon Rati. It was a 1997 Landcruiser Toyota. My office was given a second hand Hilux for use. it has a logo of Mon Rati's on it. Hun Sen subsequently ordered me to go and arrest another person Chai Sok Kom instead as a scapegoat. Chai worked in the military police belonging to Funcinpec Party

Assassination of Ho Sok

Shortly after the above incident, there was a coup d'etat in July 1997 led by Hun Sen to outlaw the Funcinpec Party. Mr. Ho Sok went to the Singapore Embassy in Phnom Penh for asylum because Hun Sen and Hoc Lundy were trying to arrest him as he was from the Funcipec Party. The asylum was refused and Ho Sok was turned away. Hoc Lundy then apprehended him and ordered his bodyguards to take him to General Ma Seun's office of the PPC. Hoc Lundy then gave me direct order to take Ho Sok to my office. When I arrived there, there were 6 armed men sent by Hoc Lundy waiting for me. I knew the two of them and they were Keov Vichet and Bon Na . They shot Ho Sok outside Ma Seun's office. I questioned them as to the killing. Bon Na replied that Hoc Lundy sent them to kill Ho Sok then and there. Hoc Lundy did not like Ho Sok. I was shocked and rang Hoc Lundy who said that if Ho Sok was alive he would create a lot of trouble for us. He asked me to give Bon Na a car from the police vehicle pool as his reward. I did what I was told and gave Bon Na a Camry 97.

There were five people who witnessed the killing, Ma Seun, Thorn Im and three other people including Thorn Lim (General) and Ine Bora (Colonel), Mow So Vanna (Colonel) and the other anti-crime squad,

The Death of Movie Star Piseth Pilika

In 1999, I was heading the Anti- Crime Bureau as deputy director and was in charge of the investigation of the death of the movie star. I found that before she died, she had an affair with Hoc Lundy. Her husband went overseas frequently, leaving her alone in Cambodia. Hoc Lundy often contacted her and took her to parties and buying her presents etc. In due course, a relationship was developed and she bore a son for Hoc Lundy. Then Hoc Lundy introduced her to Hun Sen. Hun Sen met her. Prior to her meeting Hun Sen, she was not that well off. But afterwards, she made a lot of money. Her bank account in Canada Bank showed a balance of US$30,000 at the time of her death. She was also given a brand new Honda CRV and a villa. She was worried about her safety everyday as Hun Sen's wife found out their secret affairs. Hun Sen's wife blamed Hoc Lundy as he was the matchmaker. Hoc Lundy made peace with her and promised that he would try to separate the movie star from Hun Sen. Soon the movie star was killed. I found out that the killer was one of Hoc Lundy's body guards. I went to question Bon Na and he admitted that he was involved together with Keov Vichet in the killing under the order of Hoc Lundy.

Because the crime involved Hoc Lundy, I could do nothing about it. I made no arrest. I was very upset and there an innocent life killed and I being a police officer could do nothing.

Helping the Opposition Party

In 2000, I got in touch with the opposition parties. I did this because I believed that the Hun Sen government was corrupted and that if there was any hope for Cambodia, it would be through the opposition parties. He had too much blood on his hands having killed too many people. I would like to see a change in the Cambodian Government to bring democracy and Justice to Cambodia. When I heard Hoc Lundy and Hun Sen were conspiring to kill them. I went to alert the opposition leaders in secret by contacting people closer to them and to warn them.

I suggested to them joining forces to get a better chance to be elected in the next election in 2008. I also gave some evidence showing how corrupted Hun Sen was to the opposition leaders so that they may expose it to the public. In late June/July 2006, Hun Sen found out that I was speaking to the opposition giving them suggestions etc. He was not happy with me. He accused me of being not loyal to the PPC.

On 23 July, I left Cambodia to Malaysia to have my leg checked and then to Singapore to see my sons and get a prescription glass done by a friend. Before I left, I asked for permission to go overseas and they granted the permission. On 28 July, I heard from Cambodia and friends that I could not go back anymore because Hun Sen was angry with me accusing me of being a traitor to the PPC. They were trumping up charges against me.

I know his real reasons for my arrest. I know too much about him and about his illegal activities. He saw me as a threat to him and wanted to get rid of me.

Speaking out

With all that I found out about Hun Sen and Hoc Lundy, I was in despair. I was like a lost ship in a vast ocean. I have my principles and ideals but in a corrupted world, I was going nowhere. To survive, I have to keep my eyes closed to many evils that I have witnessed. It was killing me inside. On three separate occasions between 1999, 2000 and 2001, I decided to talk to the Human Rights Watch in Cambodia . I spoke to Ms. Pon Chigate(PHON), Director of the LICADO in Cambodia, Eva of Global Witness in Phnom Penh, Henrick, former UNHCR representative in Phnom Penh, Christopher Peschoux, UNHCR in Geneva, Mr. Paul Grover of the US Anti-Drug Intelligence Service and finally Naly of the LICADO in Cambodia.

Killing of Judge Sok Setha Mony

I read in the foreign press that I have been accused by Hun Sen of being involved in the assassination of Judge Sok Setha Mony. This is a total fabrication on Hun Sen's part to justify his campaign against me.

In 2003, the judge was killed by a terrorist group known as the CFF. The military police in Phnom Penh arrested three people suspected of being involved in the assassination. The arrests were coordinated by Colonel Sim Hong, Military police, who headed the investigations. I had nothing to do with the arrest, because it was military police's job.

The people arrested are Chun Ched Tra, and Moul Made but I cannot remember the other person's name.

I had a great respect for the judge and I had personally known him well. There was no way that I would have arranged for him to be killed.

I believe that this is just one of the many trumped up charges they had against me in order to secure my arrest. I know too much and I have treaded on too many toes.

Seizure of 36 kg Heroine

In 2003, I obtained information from an anonymous tip that Lt Colonel Ngur Sambath who was a man of General Sao Sokkha (three-star) and general Dom Hak (2 star) was involved in heroine trade. Following investigations, we attend his residence at Toul Kork District, in Phnom Penh and seized 36 kg of Heroine. Lt Colonel was arrested on the spot but Dom Hak who was residing there fled the scene. We attempted to chase after him to arrest him, but Hun Sen stopped us, ordering not to arrest Dom Hak nor to investigate, saying that there was no need to arrest Dom Hak. I had to stop chasing and investigating. Instead of punishing him Hun Sen surprisingly promoted him to three star about one month later. Ngur Sambath was found killed in the prison. Hun Sen told me not to be too harsh on drug trade.

Not long after this, there was a function organized by Hoc Lundv for all the general. Sao Sokkha was there and I was also invited. Sau Sokkha praised me a lot at the function and wanted me to be close to him. He said to me that if we united together, we could do anything in Cambodia. He then said that there was only one thing referring to my stance on drug trade. He asked me to stop investigating into the drug trafficking as Narcotic did not cause any trouble to Cambodia. I confronted him saving that I did not agree. He became angry and said to me that if you kept investigating, he would use his own sword to kill me

Other people witnessed it and they came over to us trying to calm us down.

Request for court and justice reform

At the beginning of 2005, I requested to my Prime Minister Hun Sen to reform the court and justice system as it was corrupted. Many judges around the country were not happy with me especially the prosecutor OKsa Voth who was known to be the master of corruption. The Prime Minister supported me and he announced in public to reform the country's justice system. People welcomed the move and to commemorate the occasion, they wrote a song in which my name was mentioned. I told them not to as the Prime Minister would not be happy to see my name being promoted too much. Oksa Voth was unhappy with me as he saw the reform would potentially bring to an end what he could do under the current system.

Mv current circumstances -- a direct result of my position in the government and my open defiance against Hoc Lundv and the Prime Minister

In 2005, Hoc Lundy ordered me to kill the Secretary of the State Nut Sa Ann, because Mr Nut Sa Ann had a conflict with Hoc Lundy over a piece of land owned by the police. Hoc Lundy got very angry with him and ordered to arrange for him to be killed. I refused because I respected the man a lot and would not like to see him killed. I had to find an excuse for myself. I explained to Hoc Lundy that Nut Sa Ann had too many bodyguards and it would not be possible.

In December 2005, Hoc Lundy had a conflict with me because he wanted me to cut the lock to the residence of a Cambodian American lawyer David Chinava and to conduct a search. The reason for the search was that the lawyer was said to be drunken one day and drove into the Hun Sen. Public Garden. He fled the scene and kept quiet. About 10 days later, the police started investigating and found the car in his house which he had deserted. The house was locked and that's was the reason why I was ordered to cut the lock to gain access. I did not obey his order and told Hoc Lundy that it was illegal to do that. Hoc Lundy was upset with me for disobeying his order. He shouted at me questioning why amongst all the policemen and women in the country who all respected him, I was the only one who dared to disobey him. He said that he could not tolerate anybody who disrespected him.

At the beginning of 2005, Hoc Lundy's son Hock Lundao also known as Dy Vichea was divorced from his wife, Hun Chantah, the niece of Hun Sen.

All of the above incidents where I refused to obey to him made him very bitter against me. He bears grudges against me. On 25 December 2005, he invited the police commissioners, governors and other senior officials of seven Districts to a meeting at the Governor of Phnom Penh's residence. Around 400 people were present. I was one of the participants. Hoc Lundy conveyed his dissatisfaction openly with me and vowed that he would do whatever possible to strip me off my title in three months. He said that he would make this his objective and that if he did not achieve this, he would give up two of his own stars. To me, he declared a public war against me. He said that he was the head of the Mafia in Cambodia and that nobody could win him, 'not even the Advisor to the Prime Minister'. I have a recording of his speech which was given to me by another police friend who was at the meeting. The Cambodian newspaper also reported the meeting.

Subsequent to the meeting, I approached the Prime Minister for intervention. The Prime Minister told me not to worry, saying that there would be no way he would let Hoc Lundy remove me from my positions. He said that he himself had issues with Hoc Lundy.

Assassination of a Singaporean man

I have also been accused of killing a Singaporean man. It is absurd and why did I have to do that?

I was certainly not involved in the killing of the Singaporean man, Sim Ping Say. I know him pretty well and regarded him as my friend. Sim was gunned down and killed at the beginning of 2004 . To date nobody had been arrested for the killing.

Sim was a Singaporean businessman. He together with another Singaporean Mr. Kok entered into a joint venture with a Cambodian businessman Bun Hy. That was around 10 years ago. The joint venture was to build a hotel with 300 guest rooms. There were problems after problems associated with the building. The three partners eventually ended up not trusting each other. Because of the nature of the project, the Deputy Prime Minister Sao Ka Heng ordered me to intervene and find a solution to their problems. That's how I met Mr. Sim and Mr. Kok.

I recall during a meeting I convened for the three of them shortly after my appointment, Mr Kok complained to me about Mr Sim cheating money from him etc. Mr Sim was not present at the meeting. Mr. Kok also said that he was afraid of Mr. Sim because he may arrange for him to be killed and did not want to go back to Cambodia. That meeting was held in Singapore. Prior to the meeting, I met Mr. Kok several times and also received a letter Mr. Kok in Cambodia. Mr. Sim lost a lot of his investment in the project and would like to get out of it by selling the building. He proposed to sell the building and shared the proceeds amongst them. An agreement was reached in the form of memorandum of understanding and was sealed by the government. Because of their mistrust for each other, I was made the agent for the sale and advertised my number as the point of contact for the sale. Offers were received but we were not able to achieve a sale because they kept upper the prices offered. This was partly because after Mr. Sim was killed his wife took control and communicated directly with the other two parties. That situation made it impossible for me to sell the building. This tug of war continued until mid 2004 when I gave it up. I had had enough of their problems, and besides I had too much on my plate at that time.

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Vietnamese defence officials address a press conference at the Hotel Intercontinental in the capital yesterday. The delegation was on a two-day visit in advance of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus, to be held in Hanoi from October 11 to 13.

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Information minister rebuts interference allegations

Tuesday, 14 September 2010 15:01 Cheang Sokha

MINISTER of Information Khieu Kanharith yesterday rejected assertions from two international judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal that he and other government officials may have interfered with the work of the court.

In a decision released by the tribunal on Friday, international Pre-Trial Chamber judges Rowan Downing and Catherine Marchi-Uhel said comments made by Khieu Kanharith last year “may amount to an interference or reflect other efforts to prevent the testimony” of six government officials summoned to appear at the court.

They recommended an internal investigation to determine if any interference had in fact occurred, though the three Cambodian judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber sided against them, preventing such an inquest from taking place.

Khieu Kanharith rejected the notion that any interference had taken place at the court.

“If there was interference from the government, would those foreign judges agree to stay on? Would they be under the control of the government?” he said. “I think people talking about this have their own political agenda. They are not working for the court, but have only come here to provoke for some other purpose.”

Khieu Kanharaith said last year that foreign officials at the tribunal could “pack their clothes and return home” if they disagreed with the government’s stated opposition to the summonses for the officials. Prime Minister Hun Sen said at the time that he too opposed the summonses, citing concerns about unfairness for the defendants.

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