from IRIN They even bet on the weather in Cambodia. This story profiles the country's unregulated gambiling indusrty. - KalePOI PET - In a dimly lit room in a frontier town along the Thai-Cambodian border, a man slaps down a card on the table, having bet all his daily earnings as a motorbike taxi driver.He loses the US$4 he earned that day. To quell his anger, he sniffs a bowl of glue - a daily habit to boost his stamina to work through the oppressive heat."How am I going to pay off the police tomorrow?!" he exclaims in a flurry of curses, referring to the daily cuts demanded by the border officers.Gambling addiction poses a huge problem in Southeast Asia's second-poorest nation, and those afflicted can rarely find help. In a country where 33 percent of the population live on 50 cents a...
Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers Honored at AIDS Conference
The Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW) is the recipient of the 2008 international Award for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Human Rights Watch announced today. The award, which recognizes outstanding individuals and organizations that protect the rights and dignity of people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, was presented in Mexico City on August 6, 2008, at the XVII International AIDS Conference....
from the New York Times As cities expand in Cambodia, the government forces outlying colony's out of their homes. - KaleBy SETH MYDANSANDONG, Cambodia — When the monsoon rain pours through Mao Sein’s torn thatch roof, she pulls a straw sleeping mat over herself and her three small children and waits until it stops.She and her children sit on a low table as floodwater rises, bringing with it the sewage that runs along the mud paths outside their shack.Ms. Mao Sein, 34, was resettled by the government here in an empty field two years ago, when the police raided the squatters’ colony where she lived in Phnom Penh, the capital, 12 miles away.She is a widow and a scavenger. The area where she lives has no clean water or electricity, no paved roads or permanent buildings. But there is...
Unequal Media Access Hampers Opposition Parties
As Cambodians head to the polls on July 27, 2008, conditions are not in place for free and fair elections, Human Rights Watch said today. The near-monopoly on broadcast media for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party’s (CPP), bias within the electoral apparatus, and harassment, intimidation, and coerced defections of opposition party members undermines the credibility of the national elections....
Rights Group Honors Defenders of Independent Media in Cambodia
Two young Cambodian journalists, Chheang Bopha and Duong Sokha, are among a diverse group of 34 writers from 19 countries to receive the prestigious Hellman/Hammett writer’s award, which recognizes courage in the face of political persecution, Human Rights Watch said today....
Son Also Killed in Attack Amid Intense Ruling Party Pressure on Opposition
With less than two weeks before Cambodia’s National Assembly elections on July 27, the political climate has sharply deteriorated, highlighted by the killing of opposition journalist Khim Sambo and his son in a drive-by shooting on July 11 in Phnom Penh, Human Rights Watch said today....
Armed Conflict and Schooling: Long-term Evidence from Cambodia and Rwanda (World Bank, May 2008) [text]
Building a Europe of Asylum: UNHCR's Recommendations to France for its European Union Presidency (UNHCR, June 2008) [text]
Critical Review Instead of Complacency: Amnesty International's Ten-Point Human Rights Programme for the French Presidency of the European Union
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Journalists and Opposition Members Under Attack as Elections Near
The Cambodian government should release a jailed opposition newspaper editor and candidate, and end its intimidation of journalists and opposition party candidates in the lead-up to National Assembly elections in July, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today....
TAKE ACTION: Dam construction must not damn opportunity for protection of one of Asia's last intact, fully functional natural ecosystems.
The Cardamom Mountains [search] in Southwest Cambodia -- one of the worlds priceless ecological treasures -- contain the region's last true wilderness with untouched rivers cascading to the Gulf of Thailand. This is one of Asia's last unbroken, large primary forest expanses with wild waterways linking mountain-top and ocean, containing still intact extensive tracts of lowland evergreen forest, and holding over 40 globally threatened species. The Cambodian government is preparing to dam and flood the Cardamom Mountains' riverways with a dubious hydroelectric scheme. There are many better-suited dam sites in the Cardamom landscape than the...
TAKE ACTION: Dam construction must not damn opportunity for protection of one of Asia's last intact, fully functional natural ecosystems.
The Cardamom Mountains [search] in Southwest Cambodia -- one of the worlds priceless ecological treasures -- contain the region's last true wilderness with untouched rivers cascading to the Gulf of Thailand. This is one of Asia's last unbroken, large primary forest expanses with wild waterways linking mountain-top and ocean, containing still intact extensive tracts of lowland evergreen forest, and holding over 40 globally threatened species. The Cambodian government is preparing to dam and flood the Cardamom Mountains' riverways with a dubious hydroelectric scheme. There are many better-suited dam sites in the Cardamom landscape than the Areng...
Suspension Undercuts Credibility of ASEAN Initiative on Burma Cyclone
The Cambodian government should stop protecting Burma’s junta from foreign press scrutiny by lifting the ban on copies of the Burma Daily, a new English-language insert in the Cambodia Daily newspaper, Human Rights Watch said today....
Just a few thoughts about this date in history.Probably few folks remember the significance of this date in SE Asia. During the month of April, most Americans were following the end stages of the war in Vietnam - watching the helicopters lifting people off the roof of the US Embassy to the audience of desperate colleagues in the surrounding streets, trying to get themselves or their children through the gates. Finally, on 30 April, the Vietnam War ended. The war years ended earlier in Cambodia. After five years of severe fighting - and after thirty years of conflict - the Khmer Rouge soldiers marched into Phnom Penh on 17 April. Everyone in Phnom Penh were happy to see the skinny young men in black peasant clothing entering the city. It meant the end of the fighting - and people gave food...
FBI Should Revive Probe of Alleged Perpetrators Promoted by Hun Sen
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) should reopen its long-stalled investigation into the grisly grenade attack on an opposition party rally in Phnom Penh 11 years ago that left at least 16 dead and more than 150 injured, Human Rights Watch said today. The FBI investigation, which made significant progress in 1997, has been effectively abandoned....
Government Campaign to Coerce Defections to Ruling Party
Politically motivated criminal charges against at least three opposition party officials are part of a ruling party campaign to weaken political rivals prior to national elections in July 2008, Human Rights Watch said today....
from The Pittsburgh Post GazetteBy Chris Gray, The Philadelphia InquirerSIEM REAP, Cambodia -- Let's be honest: It was the specter of tigers, temples and tom yam soup that led my husband and me to honeymoon in Southeast Asia. We wanted an adventure to remember, on a continent where neither of us had been.But as I researched our trip, I realized that we should spend at least a little time practicing "voluntourism," giving back to people who are still struggling for the basics after decades of war and poverty.We found a way to have it all in Siem Reap, Cambodia, home of the ancient temple complex Angkor Wat -- and Ponheary Ly, a tour guide who considers it her mission to help educate as many Cambodian children as possible.I found Ly, a Siem Reap native and survivor of dictator Pol Pot's...
Four Years On, Still No Justice in Killing of Chea Vichea
Four years after the murder of Cambodia’s most prominent labor union leader, Chea Vichea, six leading international human rights organizations and the world’s largest trade union federation called on the Cambodian authorities to exonerate and free the two men unfairly convicted for the crime....
Prosecute Police Involved in ‘Burma-Style’ Crackdown
The Cambodian government should ensure the safety of Buddhist monks whom police attacked during a peaceful protest, Human Rights Watch said today....
Five leading international human rights organizations today called upon the Cambodian government to respect its international human rights commitments as well as United Nations officials mandated to monitor them....
from The San Luis Obispo County WebsiteBy LES BLUMENTHALMcClatchy NewspapersWASHINGTON --Two hours south of the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, down a dusty dirt road, sits Sam Rong, a small rural village of one-room houses made of bits of wood and dried palm leaves built on stilts above green rice paddies.Water buffalo and oxen till the fields as the occasional motorcycle with live chickens tied on back passes by. Fishermen cast their nets in rivers, and hand-powered machines using centuries-old techniques crush the rice.Hot and tropical, Cambodia is one of the poorest nations in the world. Mosquito-born dengue fever remains a threat, e-coli and lead can lace the brackish water supplies, and nightmares of Pol Pot and the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge linger.Extreme poverty is a...
from Yahoo NewsPHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The vast majority of Cambodians continue to live in poverty and lack choices for their future despite their country's rapid economic growth, according to a government report released Thursday.Widening inequalities in incomes, child malnourishment, children dropping out of school at an early age, high maternal mortality rates and rising land conflicts are among the hardships of the rural poor, according to the Cambodia Human Development Report 2007 released on Thursday.At the same time, the Cambodian economy has been one of the fastest growing in Asia, expanding at 11.4 percent in each of the past three years.But "further beneath the surface of double-digit growth rates, potentially serious imbalances and challenges to recent achievements are...
from The FX Street MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said its five-year strategy to help reduce poverty in Cambodia remains relevant but needs improvements to enhance its effectiveness, according to a midterm program review."Persistent high levels of rural poverty have implications for the program's strategic thrust," Arjun Goswami, country director of ADB's Cambodia Resident Mission said in a special report.ADB's assistance for the remainder of the plan period should increasingly have an agricultural and rural focus, including rural development projects, fostering rural infrastructure, enhancing access to credit, and decentralized registration of businesses in rural areas, he explained.The initiative also needs to place emphasis on private sector-led growth,...
The power just went off so until my wireless computer card runs out of money, I'll post a few pictures from past travels. This was one of my favorite shots.On 16 June, I played tourist around the Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom complexes. While the original sites were for the worship of Hindu Gods, many of the terraces house Buddha images. This picture is taken in front of the Bayon, the temple with enigmatic faces of ++++ the VII....
Banning of Forest Report Mocks Commitments to Human Rights
Cambodia’s international donors should not accept any more empty promises from the Cambodian government on human rights, the rule of law and good governance, Human Rights Watch said today. The annual Consultative Group meeting of donors is scheduled to take place in Phnom Penh on June 19-20, and donors are expected to pledge more than US$600 million in additional aid for the next year....
For anyone living in Massachusetts, this performance sounds like it will be wonderful. Where Elephants Weep. It's the first Cambodian rock opera ever and tells the story of the recent history of Cambodia, weaving in an ancient Khmer love story about Tum Teav (said to be the Cambodian 'Romeo and Juliet' story).There's a wonderful audio-slide show in the article. One of the slides shows Arn Chorn-Pond, an incredible person. To say that he suffered during the Khmer Rouge years doesn't capture what happened to him and what he had to do. He became a counselor and worked with trouble kids while in Lowell. I met him in Cambodia in 2001 when he first came to explore the possibilities of setting up a performing arts project in Cambodia. The program, Cambodia Living Arts, is doing very...
A few links about Where Elephants Weep:NPR story which has samples of the music in the background. The music sounds wonderful. The story mentioned that it will be performed in Phnom Penh in 2008.Amrita Performing Arts website - this is interesting for me because they list events in Cambodia.Story on Yahoo EventsAndy Brouwer's blog has an interesting series of entries, some personal reflections from trips to Cambodia and links to articles on current issues in Cambodia, such as a Cambodia illustrator living in Sustralia and the continuing extinction of the Cyclo.From the reviews I read, the show sounded successful. Hopefully, they'll take it on tour to other cities where refugees resettled, but I can't find any announcements of where it will be performed next. With the performances in...
from The Guardian Cambodia welcomes its oil wealth, but will it do more harm than good?Aid workers fear resource bonanza offers new potential for corruptionIan MacKinnon in SihanoukvilleBehind the tall fences and taller cranes of Cambodia's sole deep-water port lurks a compound filled with rusty pipes and drilling equipment. Unlikely as it seems, this collection of shipping containers represents the best hope in years for the impoverished country still recovering from decades of war.The base in sleepy Sihanoukville is US oil giant Chevron's springboard for operations 100 miles off shore. It struck "significant" oil and gas deposits, and is confirming the discovery's scale. The initial find, estimated by the World Bank and United Nations' Development Programme to be 400m to 500m barrels...
Six Major Human Rights and Trade Union Groups Condemn Recent Killing
The Cambodian government must ensure that the killing of trade unionist Hy Vuthy is thoroughly and independently investigated and that all persons responsible are brought to justice in accordance with international standards of fairness, a group of leading human rights and trade union organizations said today....
Cambodian Artist Vann Nath Honored with Prestigious Hellman/Hammett Prize
Cambodian writer and artist Vann Nath is among a diverse group of writers from 22 countries to receive the prestigious Hellman/Hammett award, which recognizes courage in the face of political persecution, Human Rights Watch said today. He is the ninth Cambodian to win the award since 1992....
Donors Should Recognize How Government Tactics Threaten Entire Process
The Cambodian government must end its interference in the mixed national and international tribunal set up to prosecute crimes by senior Khmer Rouge leaders and others most responsible for Khmer Rouge crimes, Human Rights Watch said today....
Donors Should Not Let Government Ignore Commitments
Cambodia’s international donors must hold the country’s government to its commitments to protect human rights, fight corruption, and ensure the protection of land and natural resources, a group of five leading international organizations from Asia, Europe and the United States said in a statement today....