KHMER INTELLIGENCE NEWS: Cambodian government to sue Google and US Army

24 October 2010

Cambodians worldwide commemorate Paris Peace Agreements signed exactly 19 years ago (1)
From 22 to 24 October 2010, Cambodian communities all over the world are celebrating the 19^th anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreements on Cambodia on 23 October 1991. They are asking for a full and effective implementation of the international peace treaty. Related events are reported at http://ki-media.blogspot.com/

Three additional signatories to the Paris Agreements on Cambodia (1)

Besides Cambodia, 18 countries signed the Paris Agreements on 23 October 1991. Subsequently, three more countries accepted to take up the obligations stipulated in the Agreements: Poland in 1992, The Netherlands in 1993 and Germany in 1994.

Growing international support for an appeal for the reactivation of the 1991 Paris Agreements on Cambodia (1)

Over the last few weeks, 133 Members of Parliament from all continents have expressed their support for an appeal from their 28 parliamentarian colleagues from Cambodia's opposition Sam Rainsy Party calling for the reactivation of the 1991 Paris Agreements on Cambodia. "In order to put the derailed democratization process back on track and to strengthen mechanisms designed to protect human rights in Cambodia as enshrined in the Agreements, the governments of signatory countries and donor institutions must immediately take adequate measures to ensure the effective respect for all relevant provisions of the Agreements." Read full text of the Appeal in English and French at http://tinyurl.com/2w7fyxo.

Open letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon from Khmer Rouge victims (1)

Before his arrival in Cambodia on 26 October 2010 for a three-day official visit, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon received from plaintiffs at the UN-sponsored Khmer Rouge Tribunal an open letter for "complaint alleging obstruction of justice and improper and unlawful interference with the operations and independence of the Extraordinary Chambers (ECCC) established to administer justice to the perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge genocide. Read full text of the letter at http://tinyurl.com/26cwqqh

Evocation of "K5 Plan" in complaint to UN (1)
Also in relation to Ban Ki-moon's upcoming visit to Cambodia, the same group of plaintiffs at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal lodged a 4-point complaint with the UN describing and documenting an ongoing policy and practice of the current Cambodian government that "amount to the perpetuation and condoning of the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed as part of the Khmer Rouge genocide." The complaint specifies, "This is not the first time that the Government of Cambodia has taken actions that perpetuated and condoned the type of systemic abuses of the civilian population […]. Another example of how the Cambodian Government misused the legal and judicial process to carry out policies that violated core principles of human rights and humanitarian law can be seen in how what was referred to as "The K5 Plan" was developed and carried out by the new government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea after the Khmer Rouge regime was deposed, between 1982 and 1988. Many current government officials, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, were high level officials at that time, and played a major role in the implementation of the K5 Plan." Read full text of the Complaint at http://tinyurl.com/3427tko

Cambodian government to sue Google and US Army (2)
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has been recently sentenced to 10 years in prison partly because the government accuses him of forging a French-era Indochina map showing the border between Cambodia and Vietnam (read official accusation at http://tinyurl.com/2am5pk5). The "forged" map, which is posted on the SRP Website at http://tinyurl.com/yeaoxyf, has a "fraudulent Sam Rainsy-made grid" on it (the government used the French word "carreaux" to describe the grid). Actually, the map posted on the SRP Website is the very one posted on Google at http://sites.google.com/site/cambodiaborder/TrangBang.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1, and Google itself got it from the US Army (read official explanation by US Army about the "fraudulent" grid at http://tinyurl.com/3x6nrc2). Therefore, the Cambodian government will also sue Google and the US Army for "forgery of a public document."

Inter-Parliamentary Union resolution condemns accusations against Sam Rainsy (1)
In its 6 October 2010 "Resolution on the case of Sam Rainsy – Cambodia," the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) "wonders, particularly in the light of the independent expert [Swiss University Professor Régis Caloz] analysis on the border issue in question, what kind of evidence the court adduced to prove the falsification of maps or divulgation of false information, all the more so as the Government reportedly itself conceded that the temporary border markers were not on the legal borderline and officially decided to dismantle them. Read full text of the IPU Resolution at http://tinyurl.com/26vfuky

European Parliament analyses Sam Rainsy's case (1)
In its 21 October 2010 "Resolution on Cambodia, in particular the case of Sam Rainsy," the European Parliament unanimously condemns "all politically motivated sentences against representatives of the opposition and NGOs", in particular those against opposition political leader Sam Rainsy, who has been sentenced to a 12-year prison term. Saying "the strategy of Cambodia's ruling party is to use a politically subservient judiciary to crack down on all government critics" and considering Sam Rainsy's gesture "to be of a symbolic and clearly political nature" and his conviction as "based on an act of civil disobedience," the European Parliament calls on the Cambodian authorities to guarantee free political expression and to engage in political and institutional reforms. The European Parliament also notes that "the uprooting of six wooden temporary border posts at the Vietnamese-Cambodian border, which is still disputed between the two countries [...] took place in support of villagers who claimed to be victims of land-grabbing, saying that the Vietnamese had illegally shifted the posts onto Cambodian soil, in their rice fields, and that their complaints to the local authorities had remained unanswered." Read full text of the Resolution at http://tinyurl.com/34cq5pe

Chea Sim, Hun Sen and Heng Samrin disseminating false information on border situation? (2)

In a tit-for-tat move, the SRP leadership is accusing CPP top three leaders Chea Sim, Hun Sen and Heng Samrin of disseminating false information, a charge that could logically send them to prison based on current laws in Cambodia. In a recent letter to King-Father Norodom Sihanouk, the three CPP leaders claimed, "Not a single Khmer farmer has lost his/her rice field in the ongoing border demarcation process with Vietnam." The case of Prum Chea and Meas Srey, two Cambodian farmers from Svay Rieng province who were recently arrested and jailed for protesting the loss of their rice fields because of border encroachment, are living evidence to the contrary and an irrefutable denial of CPP's claim on the issue. Read related statement at http://tinyurl.com/3x6nrc2

Hun Sen recently failed again in his bid to split Interior Ministry (2)

A few months ago, Hun Sen failed again in his persistent attempt to divide the Interior Ministry into two separate ministries, with the creation of a new ministry called Security Ministry in charge of the Police, the remaining Interior Ministry being only in charge of Provincial Administration. Hun Sen actually wants to weaken current Interior Minister Sar Kheng, a relative and ally to CPP Chairman Chea Sim, and to put all the armed forces -- Army and Police -- under his direct control. In January 2009, Hun Sen already "purged" the Army with the sacking of four-star General Ke Kim Yan, a relative and ally to Sar Kheng and an obstacle to his plan to seize absolute power to the detriment of other CPP leaders. Vietnam has been using her influence to restrain Hun Sen so as to preserve the CPP's unity.

Conflict of interests between Cambodia and Vietnam in airline joint venture (2)
National carrier Cambodia Angkor Air is unwilling to extend regular flights to Preah Sihanouk City which has a newly-extended airport, even though Cambodia's southwestern coastline and islands are considered a vital part of the country's tourism growth strategy. Vietnam Airlines, which operates Cambodia Angkor Air, actually does not want Preah Sihanouk City to seriously compete with nearby Vietnam's Phu Quoc island, which is also a newly-developed destination for international tourism with a brand new airport.

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