DOCSLIB.ORG

Thecambodiadaily

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Thecambodiadaily All the News Without Fear or Favor The Cambodia daily Volume 64 Issue 57 Tuesday, May 24, 2016 2,000 riel/50 cents Private Clinic Shuttered After Man’s Death By Buth kimSay and Janelle retka ThE cambodIa daIly The Ministry of health yesterday ordered the closure of a large pri- vate medical clinic in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kok district, one day af- ter the sudden death of a man who received treatment there, accord- ing to a government statement and the man’s wife. The clinic, Khim Rany Clinic and Maternity in Boeng Kak i com- mune, was ordered to shut down be- cause it “had caused many prob- lems in the past and never obeyed its contract to open the clinic or obeyed the advice of the Ministry of health,” according to a statement signed yesterday by health Minis- ter Mam Bunheng. The statement did not elaborate on how the clinic had erred in the Reuters past or why it was being shut down. US President Barack Obama attends a press conference with Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang at the however, the move came amid Presidential Palace Compound in Hanoi yesterday. widespread local media coverage of the death of a 28-year-old patient, Lim Taokong, who was rushed to Obama Declares End to Vietnam Arms Ban Calmette hospital when he became REUTERS ter in relations between two coun- The decision to lift the arms short of breath after being given an hanoi - The U.S. announced an tries that were at war four decades trade ban, which followed intense injection for back pain at the clinic. end to its embargo on sales of ago. debate within the obama adminis- The man’s wife, Sok Rath Mony, lethal arms to Vietnam yesterday, obama, the third U.S. president tration, suggested such concerns said he went to the clinic with lower a historic step that draws a line un- to visit Vietnam since diplomatic outweighed arguments that Viet- back pain and a headache on Sun- der the two countries’ old enmity relations were restored in 1995, nam had not done enough to im- day and was given an injection by a and underscores their shared con- has made a strategic “rebalance” prove its human rights record and doctor there. about 20 minutes lat- cerns about Beijing’s growing mil- toward asia a centerpiece of his Washington would lose leverage er he began sweating profusely and itary clout. foreign policy. for reforms. struggling to breathe and was sent The move came during U.S. Vietnam, a neighbor of China, is obama said at a joint news con- in an ambulance to Calmette hospi- President Barack obama’s first a key part of that strategy amid ference with Vietnamese Presi- tal, where he was pronounced dead visit to hanoi, which his welcom- worries about Beijing’s assertive- dent Tran Dai Quang that disputes on arrival. ing hosts described as the arrival ness and sovereignty claims to 80 in the South China Sea should be Ms. Rath Mony said that her of a warm spring and a new chap- percent of the South China Sea. Continued on page 2 Continued on page 6 Vigil Dispersed as Third ‘Black Monday’ Ends By Ben Sokhean of about 30 activists as they began a came to destroy our ceremony,” said and GeorGe WriGht ceremony calling for the release of Tep Vanny, a prominent land rights ThE cambodIa daIly four officers for local rights group activist and a leader in the Boeng it wasn’t until the sun set on the adhoc and an election official jailed Kak community. third “Black Monday” yesterday for their alleged role in bribing a “i think they seriously violated that activists calling for the release woman involved in a sex scandal. our rights, and we think the hu- of a group of jailed human rights of- in a video of the incident, Daun man rights situation in Cambodia ficers again scuffled with state se- Penh district guards can be seen now is zero,” she said. curity guards, after the guards de- tearing apart banners and tossing Deputy municipal governor scended on a candlelight vigil be- away lotus flowers and candles as Khuong Sreng declined to com- Phsar Kandal Vendors ing held in Phnom Penh’s Boeng they break up the vigil. ment on the altercation, while City Worried By Construction Talks Kak neighborhood. “We rallied to mourn human hall spokesman Mean Chanyada Page 3 at about 6 p.m., dozens of securi- rights in our community this eve - could not be reached. cambodiadaily.com ty guards descended upon a group ning, but dozens of security guards Continued on page 2 មានដំណឹងបែែសមែួលជាភាសាខ្មែរនៅខាងក្នុង The Daily Newspaper of Record Since 1993 2 The Cambodia daily TUESday, may 24, 2016 ANd AlSo NEWSMAKERS Cast All Your Potholes on Him n LonDon - hollywood actress anGelina Jolie is to join the London having given up hope of local gov- for rain,” so can we ask for divine in- School of Economics as a visiting professor on a new master’s course ernment fixing the potholed roads in tervention in more mundane is- on women, peace and security, the school announced yesterday. The his parish of Xestoso in north west - sues such as road repair, the priest LSE said the course, which starts next year, is the first of its kind globally ern Spain, a local priest has now told journalists who had gathered and will be run by the LSE Center for Women, Peace and Security asked for help from a higher power. for the Mass. which was launched last year by Jolie and Britain’s former Foreign Sec- Luis Roldan Patino celebrated a he added that he believed a so- retary, William hague. “it is vital that we broaden the discussion on how special Mass on Sunday on the road lution from God would “be the only to advance women’s rights and end impunity for crimes that dispropor- near his parish, marking each pot- way” the road would ever get fixed tionately affect women, such as sexual violence in conflict,” Jolie, a spe- hole with a wooden cross and splash - because local authorities had been cial envoy for the UnhCR, said in a statement. “i am looking forward ing the road with holy water, the as- “blind to the situation,” leading his to teaching and to learning from the students, as well as to sharing my sociated Press reported yesterday. congregants to “feel totally aban- own experiences of working alongside governments and the United nations.” (Reuters) “Just like we can pray to the Lord doned,” according to the aP report. The sale of arms, obama said, human rights in Vietnam—and ba- slap down challenges to its monop- Vietnam... would depend on Vietnam’s human sically gotten nothing for it,” he said. oly on power. rights commitments, and would be obama said at the news confer- Though the communist parties continued from paGe 1 made on a case-by-case basis. ence that Washington would con- that run China and Vietnam officially resolved peacefully and not by human Rights Watch reacted tinue to speak out for human rights, have brotherly ties, China’s brink - whoever “throws their weight with dismay to the U.S.’ decision to including citizens’ right to organize manship over the South China Sea around.” But he insisted the arms toss away a critical lever it might through civil society. —where it has been turning remote embargo move was not linked to have had to spur political reform in obama is scheduled to meet with outcrops into islands with runways China. the Communist party-ruled state. a group of activists today. and harbors—has forced Vietnam “The decision to lift the ban was Phil Robertson, the watchdog’s Quang, who actually announced to recalibrate its defense strategy. not based on China or any other asia director, said in a statement the lifting of the U.S. embargo be- Security analysts and regional considerations. it was based on that even as obama was lifting the fore obama could do so, was until military attaches expect Vietnam’s our desire to complete what has arms embargo Vietnamese author- recently minister of public securi- initial wish list of equipment to cov- been a lengthy process of moving ities were arresting a journalist, hu- ty, which activists say harasses er the latest in surveillance radar, towards normalization with Viet- man rights activists and bloggers and arrests dissidents. intelligence and communications nam,” he said. obama later added on the street and in their houses. Dissent was once the domain of technology, allowing them better his visit to a former foe showed “in one fell swoop, President just a few in Vietnam, but while the coverage of the South China Sea “hearts can change and peace is obama has jettisoned what re- party has allowed more open criti- as well as improved integration of possible.” mained of U.S. leverage to improve cism in recent years, it is quick to its growing forces. wave of arrests and legal action said protester ngov nary, who was tum as Cambodians at home and Monday... against government critics in recent also arrested last week. abroad posted pictures of them- months. Senior government officials have selves in black clothing under the continued from paGe 1 “The Pol Pot regime killed the made various threats against the hashtag #BlackMonday. The day began in a decidedly people by hitting them with hoes black-clad protesters, calling such Maina Kiai, the U.n.’s special rap- more peaceful manner, with a lone but the present government kills demonstrations acts of “urban rebel- porteur on rights to freedom of group of activists—some arrested people through violating human lion,” pledging that any protests held peaceful assembly and of associa- during the past two Black Monday rights and land grabbing,” shout- without permission will result in le- tion, posted a picture of himself protests—gathering at about 9 a.m.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Prime Minister Sends Park Packing
    Phnom Penh Post - Prime Minister sends park packing A 2013 Cambodia National Rescue Party at Freedom Park. Vireak Mai Prime Minister sends park packing Wed, 7 December 2016 Lay Samean Freedom Park, the 1-hectare public square in the centre of Phnom Penh that the government in November 2010 designated as the city’s sole authorised zone for protests, is set to be moved next to a petrol warehouse along National Road 5, officials said yesterday. The relocation was first announced in a morning speech by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who said moving the protest zone to the outskirts would help beautify the city. Yet the opposition CNRP, which has made liberal use of the park in the past, criticised the decision. Speaking at the 18th Disabled Persons’ Day at Koh Pich, Hun Sen said he had been in contact with Phnom Penh’s governor about the effort to move Freedom Park somewhere less visible, adding that the relocation would have no impact on freedom of expression. “Recently, I called Pa Soche-atvong, because now we will perhaps not keep Freedom Park in the middle of the capital creating problems. [Interior Minister] Sar Kheng told Pa Socheatvong to look for a new Freedom Park,” Hun Sen told his audience. “It will possibly be on National Road 5, at Kilometre 6, and we will transform that location into a public park,” he said. “The gatherings will not be different from the current ones, since people don’t go to look there, they watch it via broadcasts or Facebook.” City Hall spokesman Mean Chanyada said authorities had not settled on the exact location along National Road 5 for the new Freedom Park but that a large Sokimex gas station not far from the Chroy Changvar bridge was the preferred location.
    [Show full text]
  • Critics Say Nixing of Forest Land Titles Could Create Chaos
    Critics Say Nixing of Forest Land Titles Could Create Chaos Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC Wednesday, 28 December 2011 Photo: AP Cambodia’s land issues cannot be solved by local leaders, who have for a long time exchanged land certification for bribes, said Kem Sokha, leader of Human Rights Party. “No one on any day is paying attention to the laws, but [they are] listening only to the prime minister.” Prime Minister Hun Sen has called for the nullification of land certificates in protected natural areas, but opposition lawmakers and rights groups say the edict will create widespread chaos and demonstrates Cambodia’s inability to follow the rule of law. Land issues have emerged as one of Cambodia’s biggest problems, with disputes over tracts of land across the country leading to protests, violent demonstrations and arrests. “Leadership today has caused anarchy and turmoil in society,” said Kem Sokha, president of the minority opposition Human Rights Party. “They don’t know whether to catch the head or the tail at all, if one just follows orders, follows the word of the prime minister, who acts arbitrarily and disappears. Keeping the issues for the lower levels to pursue, they can’t pursue them.” Cambodia’s land issues cannot be solved by local leaders, who have for a long time exchanged land certification for bribes, he said. An unclear land law and the decentralization of power will startle people when combined with an announcement from the prime minster to nullify land certificates in protected areas, Kem Sokha said. Speaking at a visit to a new hydroelectric dam in Pursat province on Monday, Hun Sen said he wanted to nullify land certificates in protected areas to strengthen conservation and prevent powerful officials from buying land in illegal areas.
    [Show full text]
  • Campaign Season Has Begun, Unofficially, Monitors Note
    Campaign Season Has Begun, Unofficially, Monitors Note 01 June 2013 Sok Khemara, VOA WASHINGTON — Election monitors and analysts say the ruling party and the opposition have begun an unofficial campaign, as a war of words heats up well ahead of the official campaign period. In recent weeks, Prime Minister Hun Sen and top opposition official Kem Sokha have engaged in a public debate, using speeches and the media to attack each other and to push their parties’ agendas. In the latest round, Hun Sen says he supports a demonstration against Kem Sokha, who has become embroiled in a controversy after statements he allegedly made about the Khmer Rouge torture center of Tuol Sleng. Ruling party officials say they have a recording of Kem Sokha, who is the vice president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, claiming that the Vietnamese had staged or exaggerated the atrocities that took place at the Khmer Rouge prison, angering some victims of the regime. The controversy comes ahead of an official campaign period, but election monitors say the most recent spate of verbal attacks marks an unofficial beginning to the election season. It also coincides with the drafting of a ruling party strategy document for the elections in direct response to the opposition. This week, Hun Sen said he would support a demonstration that demands an apology from Kem Sokha over his alleged Tuol Sleng comments. Critics say the prime minister is attempting to discredit the opposition ahead of July’s national elections by stoking anger over the alleged remarks. “A huge demonstration will happen, and not just in Phnom Penh, but in the whole country, if the person doesn’t make an apology,” Hun Sen said at a pagoda inauguration in Kampong Cham Wednesday.
    [Show full text]
  • KRT TRIAL MONITOR Case 002 ! Issue No
    KRT TRIAL MONITOR Case 002 ! Issue No. 41 ! Hearing on Evidence Week 36 ! 22-25 October 2012 Case of Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary Asian International Justice Initiative (AIJI), a project of East-West Center and UC Berkeley War Crimes Studies Center I have been living in the society where I have had a lot of suffering! I had been deprived of all my education, the dreams that I would like to be highly educated. But these dreams were destroyed by the darkest period of the Khmer Rouge. - Yim Sovann, Civil Party * I. OVERVIEW This week, the Trial Chamber heard testimonies from three Civil Parties and two witnesses. The testimonies mainly focused on experiences during the evacuation of Phnom Penh, as well as the tough conditions immediately following the first evacuation. The testimonies also touched on the treatment of Lon Nol soldiers and hospital patients during the first evacuation. The Chamber heard legal arguments and issued two important rulings this week: First, the Court ruled that Civil Parties may state the suffering they endured during the entire Democratic Kampuchea regime, instead of having Civil Parties limit their statements to those relevant to events covered in Trial One of Case 002. Second, the Chamber ruled that Parties may not question witnesses based on expert witness analysis, if that expert has yet to appear before the Court. II. SUMMARY OF CIVIL PARTY AND WITNESS TESTIMONIES The Chamber heard a statement about the suffering of Ms. Yim Sovann, who was examined by Parties the previous week.1 Two new Civil Parties, Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • UAE Envoy's E-Mail Leaks to Strain Regional Ties
    BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 1 India thrash Pakistan in INDEX Champions DOW JONES QE NYMEX QATAR 2-7, 24 COMMENT 22, 23 REGION 8, 9 BUSINESS 1-5, 10-12 Trophy 21,203.00 9,923.60 47.66 ARAB WORLD 9 CLASSIFIED 6-9 Industry bellwethers’ +7100 -15.98 -0.70 INTERNATIONAL 10-21 SPORTS 1-8 +0.34% -0.16% -1.45% listing boost for QSE Latest Figures published in QATAR since 1978 MONDAY Vol. XXXVII No. 10475 June 5, 2017 Ramadan 10, 1438 AH GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals Emir hosts Iftar banquet UAE envoy’s In brief e-mail leaks QATAR | Offi cial Summer work hours in open workplaces The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Aff airs to strain has announced that the implementation of working hours in open workplaces during the summer will take eff ect from June 15 until August 31. The implementation of the ministerial decision No (16) of 2007 determines regional ties HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani hosted an Iftar banquet for the members of the ruling family and dignitaries on the working hours for works done the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan at Al Wajbah Palace yesterday. Page 2 under the sun or open workplaces. he latest e-mail leaks from the ing to Al Jazeera’s correspondent in The decision stipulates that working in Hotmail account of Yousef al- Washington, and the fact that the UAE such places must stop from 11:30am to TOtaiba, the UAE ambassador has permitted itself to evaluate the Qatar, Iraq review ties Qatar condemns 3pm.
    [Show full text]
  • December 10, 2009 H.E. Ambassador Michel Kafando President of the United Nations Security Council Permanent Representative of Bu
    OFFICE OF SENATOR AZUMA KONNO OFFICE OF SENATOR TADASHI INUZUKA December 10, 2009 H.E. Ambassador Michel Kafando President of the United Nations Security Council Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to the United Nations 866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 326/327 A New York, NY 10017, U.S.A Fax: 1(212) 308 4690 H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General of the United Nations United Nations New York, NY 10017, U.S.A Fax: 1(212) 963 2155, 1(212) 963 1185 Via facsimile Your Excellencies, On behalf of 442 Members of Parliament from 29 countries around the world, we are writing to urge the United Nations Security Council to launch an investigation into crimes against humanity committed by the military regime in Burma (Myanmar) and to impose a global arms embargo on that regime. Such action is long overdue. Burma’s military regime has carried out brutal attacks on its own people for decades. According to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), a humanitarian agency providing aid to Burmese refugees and displaced persons for 25 years, through these attacks, the regime has destroyed over 3,500 ethnic minority villages in eastern Burma since 1996. Here, at least 75,000 people were forced to leave their homes during this past year alone, and more than half a million people remain internally displaced. TBBC has described the situation in Burma as being comparable to the situation in Darfur. Furthermore, these crimes against humanity in Burma are well documented by various UN bodies, although none of them have taken effective action.
    [Show full text]
  • KRT TRIAL MONITOR Case 002 ! Issue No
    KRT TRIAL MONITOR Case 002 ! Issue No. 40 ! Hearing on Evidence Week 35 ! 18-19 October 2012 Case of Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary Asian International Justice Initiative (AIJI), a project of East-West Center and UC Berkeley War Crimes Studies Center [Y]ou amended rules governing these hearings, we were not prepared for that! we are not in a trial, we are in a process in which the rights of the Accused are not respected. - Mr. Arthur Vercken, International Counsel for Khieu Samphan, to President Nil Nonn * I. OVERVIEW Returning from the break for the Pchum Ben Festival, the Trial Chamber held scheduled document hearings on Thursday and Friday. The Prosecution continued their presentation of documents from the previous week, and was followed by the Civil Parties. Although only the Nuon Chea Defense elected to present documents, all Defense Teams participated in the proceedings through vigorous objections and submissions, mostly relating to the parameters and purpose of the document hearing. With the document hearing ending sooner than anticipated, the Chamber called Civil Party Yim Sovann to the stand on Friday afternoon. She testified on her experience of the years leading to and during the DK, particularly focusing on her family’s evacuation from Phnom Penh in 1975 and from Kandal Province in 1976. II. Yim Sovann’s Testimony Civil Party, Yim Sovann, offered the first testimony on evacuation in Case 002/1/3 on Friday.1 She testified mainly on her family’s evacuation from Phnom Penh to Kandal Province and, later on, to Pursat Province. Yim Sovann was also examined on her knowledge of executions and the condition of the populace during the DK.
    [Show full text]
  • Thecambodiadaily
    All the News Without Fear or Favor The Cambodia daily Volume 64 issue 76 Wednesday, June 15, 2016 2,000 riel/50 cents Two French Police Killed In Attack by Islamic State ReUTeRS PARiS/leS MuReAux, France - A sus- pected islamist attacker stabbed a French police commander to death outside his home and later killed his companion, a female po- lice officer, in an attack that was claimed by the islamic State group and denounced by the government as “an abject act of terrorism.” The assailant, a 25-year-old French man of Moroccan origin, was jailed in 2013 for helping is- lamist militants go to Pakistan and had been under security service sur- veillance, including wiretaps, at the time of the attack, police sources said. The attacker filmed part of the assault live on Facebook, accord- Siv Channa/The Cambodia Daily ing to David Thom son, a journalist Police relax between training exercises in an empty lot near the CNRP's headquarters in Phnom Penh yesterday. specializing in radical islamists. in his Facebook message, he linked the attack to the euro 2016 football Defiant Kem Sokha Still Free, Still in Hiding tournament now underway in France, saying: “The euros will be By SeK odom property and stopped his wife’s car nation to protect Mr. Sokha’s im- a graveyard.” and alex WillemynS in a failed attempt to arrest him for munity from prosecution as an The attacker, named by police The CamboDia Daily not heeding a court summons for elected lawmaker, and images on and justice sources as larossi Ab- A free man for another night, questioning over a sex scandal.
    [Show full text]
  • Corruption Monitor Issue 9 - August 2008 Clean Monthly Review of Corruption-Related Stories in the Cambodian Media
    FOR DOCUMENTATION her to Fig NOT FOR SALE get ht C To o PURPOSES AMONG g rr n u i p PARTNERS ONLY k t r i o o n W Corruption Monitor Issue 9 - August 2008 Clean Monthly review of corruption-related stories in the Cambodian media THIS MONTH US OFFERS HELP IN INVestigation Ten of the eleven political parties OF MURDERED journalist participating in the Cambodian na- The US Embassy has condemned the nalist, Ngor Srun, a senior member of the tional election on July 27 promised slaying of Sam Rainsy Party-aligned Mo- Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and a civil society beforehand to pass the neaksekar Khmer newspaper reporter secretary of state for the Council of Min- long awaited anti-corruption law and his son and offered their assistance isters, was attacked with acid on Sun- within six months after being in of- in apprehending the murderers, news- day morning as he got into his car after fice. The only party that failed to re- papers reported July 15. having it repaired at a garage in Phnom ply to this request, the CPP, won the “The Federal Bureau of Investigation Penh, according to Koh Santepheap. elections according to the prelimi- (FBI), through the US Embassy, stands “Violent criminal acts such as these nary results with an overwhelming ready to provide assistance if requested can have a chilling effect on the media 73% of all votes, good for 90 seats at by the Cambodian government in inves- and risk undermining citizens’ confi- the National Assembly out of a total tigating the case,” according to a press dence in their ability to fully participate of 123.
    [Show full text]
  • Page 01 Jan 01.Indd
    ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Wednesday 1 January 2014 28 Safar 1435 - Volume 18 Number 5931 Price: QR2 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Burj Al Khalifa welcomes 2014 Exchange houses to remain Civic officials open today; banks closed DOHA: Exchange houses will exchange houses are to remain remain open today, while banks closed today, Qatar News Agency and financial institutions will be (QNA) reported yesterday. seize fake closed to the public to finalise However, at least two major their accounts for 2013. exchange houses told this news- According to an announce- paper they had received circu- ment made by the banking regu- lars from QCB regarding closure lator, Qatar Central Bank (QCB), but had informed the regulator meat brands though, all financial institutions, that they will remain open to the including banks, investment com- public. Four arrested after raids panies, finance companies and THE PENINSULA DOHA: Civic officials have be approached to get him here for unearthed a fake company that trial. was buying unsold meat and According to Mohamed Ahmed refuse from slaughterhouses and Al Sayed, head of the Health Huge response to new IPO meat shops in commercial quan- Control Section at the municipal- tities at throwaway prices and ity, the shady operators bought DOHA: A large number of citizens collected subscription forms packaging them as mutton for unsold meat and refuse from and prospectus for the initial public offering (IPO) of the state- sale to neighbourhood stores. slaughterhouses and meat shops owned Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company (MPHC) that The stores that sold these at very low rates.
    [Show full text]
  • ANALYSIS Cambodian Commune/Sangkat Council Election 3 June, 2012
    ANALYSIS Cambodian Commune/Sangkat Council Election 3 June, 2012 By the Women’s Media Centre of Cambodia (WMC) Table of Contents Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Disclaimer ....................................................................................................................................................................... 1 I. OVERVIEW ON CAMBODIAN POLITICS ................................................................................................................ 2 II. BACKGROUND OF CAMBODIAN ELECTIONS ....................................................................................................... 3 II.A. National Elections ........................................................................................................................................ 3 II.A.1.First Mandate (1993-1998) .......................................................................................................................... 4 II.A.2. Second Mandate (1998-2003) .................................................................................................................... 4 II.A.3.Third Mandate (2003-2008) ......................................................................................................................... 4 II.A.4.Forth Mandate (2008-2013) ........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Justice Still Elusive in Cambodian Grenade Attack
    Justice Still Elusive in Cambodian Grenade Attack 2016-03-30, RFA Sam Rainsy speaks with RFA in Washington, May 14, 2015. RFA Nearly two decades after a deadly grenade attack killed at least 16 and wounded more than 150 people during a pro-democracy rally at Phnom Penh’s Wat Botum Park, victims of the attack and their families are still waiting for justice. The notorious March 30, 1997 attack came after opposition leader Sam Rainsy and his supporters gathered in a park across from the National Assembly in Phnom Penh to denounce the judiciary’s lack of independence and judicial corruption. While Sam Rainsy is thought to have been the target of the attack, the assailants missed him, killing his bodyguard, as well as some protesters and bystanders. The blasts blew the limbs off nearby street vendors. According to eye-witness accounts, the people who threw the grenades ran toward Prime Minister Hun Sen’s riot-gear clad bodyguards, who allowed them to escape. An FBI report declassified in 2009 indicated that Cambodian police possessed prior knowledge of the attack and that there was the possibility that the attackers colluded with Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit. Despite the toll of death and dismemberment, no one has been arrested for the attack, leaving victims and family members still searching for justice. But that hasn’t stopped pro-democracy advocates from remembering the attack. On Wednesday, about 100 people marked the anniversary at the spot of the attack. Pov Heng, who lost a daughter and a niece in the attacks, implored the government to take action.
    [Show full text]