Politics
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Help sign petition for the freedom and justice for those victims of forced eviction in Cambodia
I think those 30 peaceful protestors have sneaked from the detaining centre for freedom 
already, but reading this petition and the involvement of Amnesty International in Cambodia affair is a sign that Cambodian victims at Borei Keila, Boeung Kak Lake and many other places throughout the country who are suffered by land grabs and forcible evictions, are not alone.
Dear Governor;
Objective: Free forced evictions protesters
I am very concerned at the arrest of 30 peaceful protesters on 11 January, including 24 women and six children, who are now detained at Prey Speu Social Affairs Centre, and call for their immediate release.
I acknowledge the government’s statement that these protesters are not detained; however, protesters report that they are unable to leave, have not been given access to local civil society organisations and are being requested to agree to resettlement documents before release. In my view this constitutes detention and I reiterate the need for their immediate release.
I urge you to conduct a full and independent investigation into the forced eviction of some 300 families living at Borei Keila, Phnom Penh on 3 January, including into why the eviction took place, and the apparent excessive use of force by security forces.
The eight villagers detained on 3 January must be released pending further investigations. The members of the security forces found to be responsible for excessive use of force on this day to be suspended and prosecuted.
Those forcibly evicted must be provided with adequate compensation and suitable alternative accommodation that meets international standards for adequate housing. You are obliged to prevent forced evictions and respect and protect the right to adequate housing, in accordance with international treaties to which Cambodia is a state party.
The political battles continue over the anniversary of January 7
The game of the Khmer Rouge is a zero-sum game for Cambodians and their nation. 33 years have already passed; the Khmer Rouge regime will never come back again as the world is fast moving forwards.
It is a priceless lesson to learn in order to move forward and not dwell in the tragedy of the past, only to learn from it, as it was arranged to be the two crickets fighting against each other.
Click here to read the whole Lift Issue of 104 dated January 11, 2012
Seven January arrived and split
again the political parties
of Cambodia. While the Cambodian
People’s Party (CPP) wouldn’t
hesitate to call January 7 the day of
liberation from the brutal Khmer
Rouge, the opposition Sam Rainsy
Party (SRP) claimed it as the day
Vietnam invaded the Kingdom.
The CPP has never been reluctant
to emphasise the brutality of the
Khmer Rouge regime, painting the
Vietnamese troops as the life-savers
of the Cambodian people. For the
SRP, however, the arrival of the Vietnamese
troops in Cambodia marked
an invasion, as Vietnam violated
both international and domestic
law by crossing the border into the
country.
An article by Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth published by the Asian Human Rights Commission
FOR PUBLICATION
AHRC-ETC-004-2012
January 17, 2012
An article by Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth published by the Asian Human Rights Commission
CAMBODIA: Toppling cambodian dictators is not impossible if we think smart and act smart
My grandson, 12, a seventh grader, read “The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror” (2004), a bestseller by a former Soviet prisoner, Natan Sharansky. He passed the book to me, saying I might be interested in reading it.
I had read about Sharansky, 9 years a prisoner in the Soviet gulag; I hadn’t read his book. I immediately opened the book to pages my grandson had bookmarked: Sharansky’s distinction between “free societies” and “fear societies”; Sharansky’s description of believers, dissenters and the millions of “double thinkers” who don’t speak their thoughts because of fear of arrest, imprisonment and physical harm so they speak with their “eyes” but go through the motion of supporting rulers who are interested only in remaining forever in power.
Sharansky contends that elections are not enough to dub a society free – a free press, an independent judiciary, the rule of law must exist before genuine free elections are held. He became controversial as he blasted conservatives for placing “stability” above human rights in international relations, and liberals for failing to distinguish between struggling democracies and authoritarian regimes that overtly trample human rights. Sharansky advocates the universality of freedom and human rights.
As I browsed through the book, a Khmer saying came to my mind: “Tumpaeng snorng russey,” referring to young bamboo shoots that grow to replace aging bamboo trees – the future is in the making.
Letter (5 November 1906) from the King of Cambodia, H.M. King Sisowath to France
This document is historically and remarkably marvelous for all Koun Khmers to read and conceptualize it. It is a letter by King Sisowath to King Napoleon III to intervene the matter of border encroachment by Siam and Annam. We don’t really understand the whole story that by this letter, French protested the Siam to return back all provinces controlled by Siem to Cambodia. But at least, by the affair of colonialism to delineating its territory and the intellectual crusading for territorial independence of King Sisowath, Cambodia has been maintained its current map and national identity to the world that this greatest kingdom in the past has still remained its heritage and identity….cheer to French and Cambodian nationalist leaders!
Courtesy of Touch B.
Letter (5 November 1906) from the King of Cambodia, H.M. King Sisowath to France
(Source: International Court to Justice, 1962a, Case Concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear. Pleadings, oral arguments, documents. The Hague)
Yours, Bora Touch
………………………
Unoficial translation
Letter from the King of Cambodia, H.M. Sisowath,
to the French Colonial Governor in Cambodia
Kingdom of Cambodia
No. 205
Office of the King
H.M. Preah Bat Samdech Preah SISOWATH Cham-Chakrapong Hakrireach Barminthor Phuvanay Kraykeofa Soulalay Preah Chao Krong Kampuchea Thippadey, King of Cambodia
To the Governor of the French Republic in Cambodia,
Phnom Penh
Mr. Governor,
At a time when France, our benefactor, is busy with the delimitation of the border of Cambodia with the former Cambodian provinces abducted by Siam, I believe that it is my duty to send you the following observations and reservations, and I am also asking you to please let these be known, at an opportune time, to the delimitation Commission which will start its works and submit them to the Government of the (French) Republic. My delegates within this Commission are also in charge of supporting the same demands in front of the Commission.