Cambodian opposition leader tells supporters to stand firm ahead of party anniversary (2005-Nov-27)
         PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodia's opposition leader, who lives in self-imposed exile in France, called on his supporters Sunday to stand up to government intimidation as the party prepares to mark its 10th anniversary. "We will always uphold our ideals and principles. We will never give in to intimidation and will never sell our soul," Sam Rainsy, leader of the party named after himself, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Sam Rainsy fled to France earlier this year after losing his parliamentary immunity, making him liable to arrest in several politically inspired lawsuits. Cambodia's justice system is widely seen as tainted by politics. His remarks came as his supporters in Cambodia prepared to mark the party's 10th anniversary on Tuesday, despite mounting pressure from the ruling coalition led by Sam Rainsy's archrival, Prime Minister Hun Sen, head of the Cambodian People's Party.
         Sam Rainsy, who is known for his attacks on government corruption and illegal logging, was sued for defamation earlier this year by Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the leader of the CPP's junior coalition partner, the Funcinpec party. Two other Sam Rainsy lawmakers also had their immunity removed, and one is now in jail after being convicted on a controversial charge of trying to form an illegal armed group to overthrow the government. Yet Sam Rainsy said his party is holding together, adding that it represents the "people's hope for change." "I want to congratulate all SRP supporters and leaders for keeping up the good work, which allows the party to continuously grow regardless of difficulties and pressure they encounter," he said.

Sam Rainsy served as Cambodia's finance minister before he was expelled from the Funcinpec party in 1995. He then formed the Khmer Nation Party, which he later renamed after himself. The Sam Rainsy party won 15 National Assembly seats in the 1998 general election, and increased the number to 24 in 2003, when Funcinpec got only 26 seats in the 123-seat legislature. Sam Rainsy said he will return to Cambodia only after his immunity is restored.

CARICATURE : SOK AN AFTER SENATE 'S ENDORSEMENT OF BORDER TREATY

           N.P. : SRP, NGOs, civil societies, mass media should call upon the judgement of the Constitutional Council before the supplemented border treaty go to the King for signature. Moreover, the Cambodian Constitution must be reformed in many aspects : 50%+1 voices for confidence in government, electoral laws, etc.

Thirty years after the killing fields, Pol Pot's deputy is brought to justice (2005-Nov-09)
         By Andrew Williams : The man who served as deputy to Pol Pot has admitted responsibility in part for Cambodia's genocide and is prepared to go before a United Nations tribunal to be questioned about his crimes. Nuon Chea, 78, was the closest comrade of one of the 20th century's most blood-stained dictators for more than 30 years. He was personally responsible for ordering thousands of executions in Cambodia. In a rare interview, he confessed: "Yes, we take responsibility. We do not deny it but there are different types of responsibility: executive, legal, moral. Our mistake was that we did not go out into the country's fields to find what was really happening." A quarter of the population - about two million people - were executed or died of starvation during Cambodia's communist revolution 30 years ago but no one has ever been brought to justice.
         Since Pol Pot died in 1998, the man known as "Brother Two" has lived quietly in the countryside. The Cambodian government has shown little interest in bringing him before a court, although many believe he was one of the chief architects of the policy that led to the killing fields, not least because many senior and middle-ranking figures in national and regional government are former members of the Khmer Rouge. But it now appears the United Nations trial of Nuon Chea and other senior figures will happen after foundering time and again for eight years. International funding has been secured and the UN expects the process to begin early next year.

1) FUNCINPEC Party supports supplemented Cambodia- Vietnam Border Agreement VNA : The Joint Committee of the ruling alliance of Cambodia consisting of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and FUNCINPEC Party have held a quarterly meeting to review the co-operation situation between the two parties.

         Addressing the meeting, General Secretary and group leader of the FUNCINPEC Party, Prince N. Sirivuth affirmed his party's stance on the supplemented Cambodia-Vietnam Border Agreement recently signed by the Prime Ministers of the two countries. He said FUNCINPEC fully supports and appreciates every effort made by Hun Sen in seeking solutions to the border issues between Vietnam and Cambodia.

           M. Preuk : Funcinpec finally shows its true color: it is no more than a puppet of a puppet!

2) Former King Sihanouk Will Not Return to Cambodia

         Reaksmey Heng, Phnom Penh, Cambodia - A Royal palace official said on condition to remain anonymous that former King Sihanouk will not return to Cambodia, but he did not specify the reason. The announcement was made a few days after Prince Norodom Sirivudh, Funcinpec party's secretary general and co-Minister of Interior said Saturday that former King Sihanouk would accompany his son, King Sihamoni who will return to Cambodia on November 6. King Sihamoni left for Beijing on October 25 to visit his King father who is in Beijing for medical treatment. The people who follow the news were happy to hear about the good news thinking this will stop the tension between the border activists and the government on border issues.
         Mr Khieu Kanharith, on Saturday said that the local TV stations would stop their broadcasts of the documents on the history of border issues. He cannot be reached for comment on news that the former King would not return to Cambodia. The Royal palace official said that it seems like the former King does not want to be the mediator in the signing of the Supplemental border treaty with Vietnam. [ VOA ]

Rong Chhun in high spirit in jail (2005-Oct-27)          Samngatki : Rong Chhun, the President of the Cambodia Independent Teachers' Association, currently jailed by order of Prime Minister Hun Sen for daring to criticize the latter on his border policy with Vietnam, is maintaining a high spirit during his detention. From his crowded jail cell, which he is sharing with 11 other inmates, Rong Chhun sent out a message asking his supporters to stay strong on their condemnation of the recent arrests and detention of border critics. He also called on his supporters to continue the fight. Rong Chhun was denied bail by the Phnom Penh municipal court.

Sihanouk a déjà empêché les Khmers de se défendre contre les Vietnamiens (2005-oct-20)
         Le 24 juin 1967 la représentation permanente de la République démocratique du Vietnam du Nord (NVN) est élevée au rang d’ambassade. Ainsi, à partir de cette date, les ressortissants NVN et VC qui auraient maille à partir avec les Autorités locales khmères, pourraient trouver refuge dans des bâtiments couverts par l’immunité diplomatique. Les NVN et VC bénéficient donc au Cambodge d’une double protection : dans les zones frontalières, du statut d’un Etat de refuge officiellement non belligérant qu’était le Cambodge et dans la capitale, de l’immunité attachée à leur résidence diplomatique.
         Mais, redoutant les rapports des observateurs de la CIC (Commission Internationale de Contrôle), qui auraient pu déceler la présence des NVN et VC au Cambodge, N. Sihanouk n’a pas hésité contre toute attente et toute logique (car nous verrons plus tard qu’il voulait aussi, 16 années plus tard, se débarrasser des NVN et VC, mais trop tard) à renvoyer cette commission. Le 9 octobre 1969, il mit fin à la mission de la CIC qui devait impérativement selon son ordre, rapatrier tout son personnel au plus tard le 31 décembre de la même année. Alors, à partir de cette date, les NVN et VC étaient libres de bâtir sur le sol cambodgien des «sanctuaires» militaires à l’abri de tout témoin. Ainsi, les députés et administrateurs khmers en charge de cette région ne pouvaient s’y rendre sans essuyer des coups de feu de semonce. Les Vietnamiens se conduisaient comme s’ils en étaient les maîtres tout puissants et auraient pensé, comme d’habitude, que là où ils se trouvaient, là était leur pays.
         De plus, pour leurs dépenses courantes, ils utilisaient de faux riels imprimés en Chine, dont ils imposaient le cours forcé à la pointe des fusils d’assaut. Ce qui donnait lieu à des incidents assez fréquents. Quand les avions US ou sud-vietnamiens les poursuivaient, ils se refugiaient sous les maisons cambodgiennes sur pilotis, menaçant leurs occupants de pires sévices en cas d’opposition. Là où la milice villageoise, armée de vieux fusils, intervenait, l’incident se terminait par des blessés et aussi des morts. Parfois, les NVN et VC entreprirent des opérations préventives en encerclant par surprise ces milices et étaient arrivés à les désarmer.
         Mis au courant de ces incidents, Sihanouk lançait à la radio, l’ordre au général Lon Nol de désarmer les milices villageoises car, dit-il, celles-ci n’avaient pas de savoir-faire pour garder ces armes… désormais nos villageois seront protégés par des soldats de métier plus à même de les garder. Mais étant donné que pour tout le Cambodge, il n’y avait que 36.000 soldats, les villageois n’étaient nullement protégés d’une éventuelle incursion vietnamienne. Quand Lon Nol tardait à exécuter cet ordre aberrant, Sihanouk revenait maintes fois sur les antennes de la radio nationale pour le presser d’agir. Quand la même intervention du MTV/TC (Maître de toutes vies, trônant sur la tête de chaque Khmer -- SIHANOUK) n’était plus entendue à la radio, nous comprenions que nos milices villageoises étaient, hélas, toutes désarmées.
         A partir de ce moment, les NVN et VC avaient une autre protection, la troisième : les maisons de nos villageois ; ceux d’entre eux qui pouvaient déménager, se retiraient et parfois venaient se plaindre devant leurs députés. Comme il fallait s’y attendre, le moral de nos populations frontalières baissait considérablement. Si, auparavant quand un chien aboyait dans la nuit, les gens sortaient pour aller voir ce qui arrivait dans leur village -- miliciens en tête -- après ce désarmement, ils étaient plutôt prêts à s’enfuir avec leurs maigres baluchons.
         Une société qui n’est plus animée par un réflexe d’auto-défense est une société vaincue avant l’heure.

           DOUC Rasy, ancien député du Sangkum Reastr Niyum

Pen Sovann : Vietnam violated the agreement between the two countries (2005-Oct-13)          M. Preuk : Pen Sovann, the former Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), has declared that Vietnam is the party who always violated the 1979 agreement between the PRK and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV). The violations included the moving of the border poles [into the interior of Cambodia] in Phnom Den, Takeo province; in Tuol Krasaing, Svay Rieng province; in Kampong Cham province, Memot district. At the same time, Vietnam had also sent to Cambodia a large number of settlers. That was why Pen Sovann protested at the time. Furthermore, Pen Sovann said he opposed the formation of K-5, a program in which Cambodian population was forced to clear forests along the borders. Pen Sovann said that this was a criminal act that he ought to oppose. Furthermore, because he ruled without strictly following the communist doctrine, he was then accused of being a traitor to communism. Pen Sovann also accused 90% of the Vietnamese-installed communist Cambodian party which instigated the coup d'état against him, and later his arrest and imprisonment in Hanoi.

Pen Sovann : Camarade! Le Vietnam a toujours violé les accords de 1979! Hun Sèn : Mon pote! Après la guerre de 1978, j'étais un simple réfugié au Vietnam. T'étais déjà commandant bodoï!

         Pen Sovann accused Vietnam of saying one thing on the agreement with Cambodia and acting the opposite way in reality. He met with Le Duc Tho on June 12, 1979 to request the end of the border poles moving and the prevention of illegal border crossing by Vietnamese settlers into Cambodia. But Vietnam still violated the agreement. According to the declaration made by Pen Sovann, it is clear that Vietnam had encroached on Khmer lands. Why is it that some people still claim that Vietnam never encroach on Khmer territories? The Cambodian Watchdog Council (CWC) issued a letter on October 11, 2005, asking workers, students, monks, government workers, teachers, royal family members, the entire Khmer population both inside and outside the country to mourn the serious danger faced by the Cambodian national integrity. CWC is requesting that all members of parliament reject the additional convention to the 1985 border treaty.

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