Internation News

Information Minister U Aung Kyi during the interview at the Myanmar Radio and Television offices in Yangon on Sunday. Photograph: The Myanmar Times
Myanmar Information Minister U Aung Kyi has spoken in support of abolishing the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Law and predicted that daily publishing licences will be issued to the private sector early next year. In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview, his first since being appointed Information Minister, he also stressed that a proposed media law meet international standards, that a planned press council be self-regulating and of the importance of journalists adhering to a code of practice. U Aung Kyi, the former Labour Minister who had also served as the previous military government’s liaison with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi while she was under house arrest, was appointed Information Minister in the reshuffle announced by President U Thein Sein on August 27. U Aung Kyi replaces U Kyaw Hsan, who had been Information Minister since 2002 and was appointed Minister for Cooperatives in the reshuffle. The Editor of the Myanmar edition of The Myanmar Times, Zaw Myint, spoke to U Aung Kyi in Yangon on Sunday. Print media journalists have called for the abolition of the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Law, which provides for publications to be penalised if they breach censorship guidelines. What is your response? I agree that this law should not be retained. I am reviewing the draft of Press Media Law, which includes a provision for the repeal of the 1962 law. It is understood that when the new media law is enacted, the 1962 law will be repealed. Meanwhile, I am considering two courses of action for proceeding with the Press Media Law. One is to submit it to the hluttaw [committee], as originally planned, so it will be enacted as soon as possible. The other is to have it reviewed by journalists and experts to consider possible amendments so that when it is finally enacted it meets international standards. I am yet to make up my mind because I am new to this role and I do not think I should act with haste. That is why I am taking my time.
(Source:PhnomPenhPost)

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Sonando ‘evidence’ from web

Nine witnesses including two defendants who had previously cut immunity deals with the government — took the stand yesterday to testify against Mam Sonando, the jailed Beehive Radio director and president of the rights-education group Association of Democrats. Speaking at the hearing, Lou Rabo, a deputy at the Internal Security Department of the Ministry of Interior, said investigations into Sonando’s activities outside Cambodia had revealed meetings in the US and Thailand with America-based dissenter Sourn Serey Ratha, whose Khmer People Power Movement recently filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court accusing the Cambodian government of crimes against humanity. “I got all the documents on Sourn Serey Ratha through the internet,” Rabo said. “Mam Sonando got the order from Soun Serey Ratha to establish a secessionist area and topple the government.” Rabo cited a five-point statement from Serey Ratha, also found online, calling on Cambodians not to respect the legitimacy of the current government. “These five points can say that they plan to topple the government,” he said. Speaking with a smile on his face, Sonando said he had met with Serey Ratha in his capacity as a journalist because he had wanted to know more about the policies of the Khmer People Power Movement, in particular whether or not it endorsed violence. “If Sourn Serey Ratha’s association is going against the government, why doesn’t the Cambodian government write a letter to the US to close his association?” Sonando asked, maintaining that his relationship with Serey Ratha was purely journalistic. “I went to meet with Sourn Serey Ratha, but we have different ideas.” The independent radio director and three others faces a handful of charges stemming from his alleged masterminding of a so-called “secessionist plot” in Kratie province’s Pro Ma village, which in May was the site of the fatal eviction of hundreds of families involved in a long-running land dispute with the agro-business company Casotim. The government called the villagers’ eviction an “anti-secessionist” raid. Am Sam Ath, a senior investigator for the rights group Licadho who observed the proceedings, emphasised the fact that the police’s investigation of Sonando’s time abroad was simply information garnered from the internet, adding: “If they wanted to know what Mam Sonando said with Sourn Serey Ratha, they should just listen, because he broadcast it publicly.” Cambodian Centre for Human Rights president Ou Virak, who has attended the entire trial, said in a statement that “Not a shred of evidence has been heard that in any way connects Mam Sonando to this alleged secession att-empt in Kratie in May.” The court proceedings will continue tomorrow.
(souce:www.phnompenhpost.com)

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Ieng Thirith to be released

Trial Chamber judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal have ordered the unconditional release from detention of former regime “first lady” Ieng Thirith due to her “likely irreversible” dementia. The crimes against humanity and genocide suspect has had the proceedings in Case 002 against her stayed indefinitely and judges have imposed no judicial conditions on her release, public affairs officer Yuko Maeda told the Post yesterday. “She will have to abide by rule 35 [no interference in the administration of justice] and the judges will continue to undertake enquiry into any medical developments that may help her conditions,” Maeda said. A panel of court-appointed experts two weeks ago found 80-year-old Ieng Thirith suffered from moderate to severe dementia and was unfit to stand trial. Despite contradictory medical findings from the former Minister for Social Action’s Cambodian treating doctor, judges yesterday said in their decision that “there is no prospect that the Accused can be tried in the foreseeable future”. The prosecution had requested six conditions to Ieng Thirith’s release, including that she make herself available for weekly safety checks. However, the judges declined to impose any conditions on the release. “Coercive conditions would in any case be difficult to enforce, given the Accused’s mental capacity,” judges said. Deputy international co-prosecutor William Smith said the prosecution, which has 24 hours to appeal the decision, was reviewing its position. “The Co-Prosecutors are reviewing the decision to determine what, if any, further legal steps need to be taken,” Smith said. The prosecution had agreed that Ieng Thirith was unfit to stand trial and not argued against her release. If no appeal is lodged, Pol Pot’s sister-in-law will be released at 10:30am today. After Trial Chamber judges found Ieng Thirith unfit to stand trial in November last year, prosecutors appealed the decision to the Supreme Court Chamber, which overturned the order and ultimately called for continued medical treatment to improve her condition. Phat Pouv Seang, defence lawyer for Ieng Thirith, called the decision “good news”. “Further steps after she leaves the ECCC is her family’s decision. I think it is still quite confidential whether she will go to stay in Phnom Penh or Pailin,” he said. Civil party lead co-lawyer Elisabeth Simonneau Fort said it was not a desired outcome, but it was a legally right decision. “I think that she is clearly unfit, and the only possibility was to release. “Even if it is difficult for the victims, I think we want to respect international conduct. It’s the right decision,” Simonneau Fort said, adding that it was of paramount importance civil parties clearly understood the reason for the decision. The tribunal should be using their outreach program to explain the decisions to civil parties and the public at large, tribunal monitor Clair Duffy of the Open Society Justice Initiative said. “That is the most important thing. Many people in Cambodia and around the world in the diaspora will want to know why this has happened and that is a very legitimate reaction,” Duffy said. The decision is a positive model of international standards for Cambodian courts, Duffy said. While no security conditions were ordered, Duffy said she had heard no evidene to indicate Ieng Thirith’s safety would be in danger upon her release. Defence lawyers for other Case 002 co-accused similarly applauded the merit of the decision. Brother No. 2 Nuon Chea’s defence lawyer Andrew Ianuzzi called the ruling the “best decision to come out of the court”. Michael Karnavas, lawyer for Ieng Thirith’s husband, Ieng Sary, similarly welcomed the decision. “I think the court got it right,” he said. Former Khmer Rouge Minister for Foreign Affairs Ieng Sary himself has been plagued with ill health, and was admitted to hospital again last week, causing hearings in the landmark Case 002 to be postponed. Both Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary have previously sought rulings on their fitness to stand trial. Rights groups welcomed the decision as a positive example, but noted that problems of fitness would continue to plague the tribunal. “Of course we understand that it will be difficult for victims, but we welcome it from a human rights perspective and the message it is sending the Cambodian courts,” Amnesty International researcher Rupert Abbott said. “It is possible the trial will not be completed because of the fitness issues, but from our perspective, it is better for a trial to be not completed and fair trial rights respected than the other way round.”
(souce:www.phnompenhpost.com)

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Bra factory strikers look to ministry for support

A police officer tells workers from the Top Form garment factory to back away from the road during a protest in Phnom Penh yesterday. Photograph: Phnom Penh Post
About 300 workers entered their sixth day of strikes yesterday at a bra factory in the capital, which manufactures lingerie supplied to Victoria’s Secret and Valentino, but their hopes of a quick resolution were dashed when a Ministry of Social Affairs official admitted he was clueless as to the taxation issue they were striking over. Kae Soksitthiny, the ministry adviser tasked with bringing the strike to a peaceful end through mediation between management and workers, said the strikers claimed their employer was withholding up to $9 per month “tax” from their wages, which are $61 per month before bonuses and overtime. Soksitthiny, however, said he could not resolve the issue because did not know whether the alleged actions of the company were legal or not. “We just received such information for the first time and are unaware under what circumstances a workers’ salary can be taxed by the employer. Therefore, only the Arbitration Council can provide a ruling on this,” he said. Chhum Sokhum, 32, one of the workers’ representatives, said the factory was not only cutting as much as $9 from their monthly wage, it was also deducting an additional 200 riel (US$0.05) each time they worked overtime. “Our base salary is around $60,” she said. “In order to lift it to more than $100 per month, the [workers] have to work overtime every day. We just can’t afford to have money taken out like this,” she said. Workers were also demanding the company improve other working conditions. The strikers, who had gathered at a petrol station near the factory in Russey Keo district, were blocked by police as they marched along National Road 5 towards Phnom Penh City Hall and the residence of Prime Minister Hun Sen. Factory bosses invited five workers’ representatives to negotiate with them, but the workers refused and went home.
(Source:PhnomPenhPost)

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PM Hun Sen chastises RCFA for unprofessionalism

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday blasted unnamed senior military officers for breaking RCAF regulations and urged the Ministry of Defence to improve both its training and its level  of professionalism.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Chinese-Cambodian Friendship Infantry Institution — a new facility at Kampong Speu’s Combined Arms Officer School Thlok Tasek — the premier said there were reports that unqualified officers had bribed their way to higher ranks.
“What we are interested in at the moment is irregularities in the promotion of military officers that were not conducted in a good manner,” he told the gathering of about 1,000 newly graduated soldiers.
The soldiers returned recently from a Chinese military academy. At the new facility in Phnom Sruoch district, young soldiers will receive quality training from Chinese advisers to improve their knowledge and skill so  they can replace retiring officers.
Calling for stricter regulation and enforcement of laws already in place, the premier also suggested the Defence Ministry “conduct a study into the establishment of sub-decrees and Prakases about the training of RCAF to keep them in order and effective.”
“Some senior military officials have not respected the law on the statute of RCAF and general procedure,” Hun Sen said.
His suggestion was given concurrent to a National Assembly debate that took place yesterday over a long-dormant draft law to create an oversight body called the Supreme Council of National Defence.
The council would be given the right to monitor the military and take disciplinary action against officers.
It would also be responsible, more generally, for safeguarding the nation’s territorial integrity and would have the power to evaluate whether to declare a state of emergency.
In the law that passed yesterday – with 85 of 97 lawmakers present voting in its favour – King Norodom Sihamoni would serve as head and Hun Sen as deputy president.
The members of the council – enshrined in the constitution two decades ago – are the minister of Defence, minister of Interior, head of the Council of Ministers, minister of Foreign Affairs, Finance minister, and general-commander of RCAF.
That composition drew the ire of opposition lawmakers, who said during yesterday’s debate they were concerned over the heavy presence of the ruling party on the council.
“We think that the members and deputy president would all be from the CPP, therefore it would not guarantee for the neutrality,” said lawmaker and Sam Rainsy Party spokesman Yim Sovann. “I would request for amendment of the composition and will provide to the power for the King to elect the members.”
Such criticisms, however, did little to sway the vote.
Minister of Interior Sar Kheng, who is also a lawmaker and would be among the members once the law goes into affect, defended the structure during the five-hour debate.
“The law did not name the members, just the title, therefore if another political party comes to take the power in the government, they would sit in this composition,” he argued.
Source: Phnompenhpost.com

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