Defense of Cambodia’s territorial integrity moves a step forward

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA

January 24, 2010

DEFENSE OF CAMBODIA’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY MOVES A STEP FORWARD

The unprecedented evidence of border encroachment announced in our yesterday’s statement (see below) is now available. It is presented in both Khmer and English. Please click at http://tinyurl.com/yzkd94t

All the alleged border demarcation posts examined in our study (# 184 through #187), including the one Sam Rainsy uprooted last October (# 185), are illegal because they were fraudulently erected well within Cambodia’s territory. The wooden poles were wrongly planted between 300 meters and 500 meters from the legal border as defined in French SGI 1952 1/100,000 maps deposited at the United Nations by the Royal Cambodian Government under then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk in March 1964. The French-drawn maps are corroborated by US Army 1966 1/50,000 maps as far as the international border is concerned in this portion of Cambodia’s Svay Rieng province.

We have got satellite pictures of the border areas and GPS locations/geographic coordinates of all the fraudulent border markers. We have used state-of-the-art computer programs (available upon request) to convert the GPS locations of the fraudulent border markers into UTM coordinates so as to precisely position those fraudulent border markers on the above-mentioned maps.

Any question related to the defense of Cambodia’s territorial integrity can be asked directly to opposition leader Sam Rainsy during the radio call-in show scheduled for tomorrow.

SRP Members of Parliament

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January 23, 2010

EVIDENCE OF BORDER ENCROACHMENT TO BE EXPOSED ON SRP WEB SITE AND DURING RADIO CALL-IN SHOW

On Monday, January 25, two days before his sham trial in Svay Rieng province, opposition leader Sam Rainsy will expose in detail evidence of border encroachments during a radio call-in show (Candle Light program on FM 93.5 MHz, from 18:00 to 19:00).

The evidence consisting of official French-drawn (1952 1/100,000) and American-drawn (1966 1/50,000) maps and most recent satellite pictures with precise geographic coordinates and GPS locations definitely proves that the alleged border stake Sam Rainsy uprooted on October 25 in Svay Rieng province was irrefutably in Cambodia’s territory.

Moreover, using the same scientific techniques, Sam Rainsy – who has been assisted by map engineers, historians and geographers from several countries over the last three months – will prove from Paris that all the “border markers” nearby the one (# 185) he uprooted, were also well within Cambodia’s legal borders.

This might explain why, following the October 25 incident, Vietnamese authorities have removed and taken back to Vietnam those alleged border markers (# 184, 186 and 187).

All the evidence, including satellite pictures, GPS locations, detailed maps and most recent photos of the alleged border markers or what remains of them, will be posted on SRP Web site www.samrainsyparty.org

On behalf of the Cambodian people the SRP will call on all friendly countries and relevant international organizations to examine the above evidence and to see the bad faith and/or incompetence of the current Phnom Penh government.

On January 27, will people be watching Sam Rainsy’s “trial” or that of border encroachers caught red handed along with their weak and complacent Cambodian accomplices?

Does the “trial” concern Sam Rainsy alone or does it actually concern the whole Cambodian people since Cambodia’s territory belongs to all Cambodians. Aren’t we talking about, and dealing with, a national issue, which is Cambodia’s territorial integrity?

Since it involves a border issue between two countries, the “trial” will logically be an international one. Is the Svay Rieng provincial court competent to adjudicate on an international issue?

SRP Members of Parliament