The Prime Minister Said that to Summon More Khmer Rouge Leaders for Questioning Is Fatal
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 641
“The Prime Minister said, ‘Some do take the opportunity to use the Khmer Rouge court again and again… it is a fatal case. I do not interfere in the court affairs, but the court did not put off the war [with the Khmer Rouge]; and be careful, in case the court creates war and division in the society again…’
“This statement was made by Prime Minister Hun Sen again on 3 December 2009 during the 27th International Day of Disabled Persons in Phnom Penh, in relation to the intention of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal to summon more people to testify.
Arroyo now an official bet for Congress
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo became officially a candidate for representative of Pampanga’s second district in the 2010 elections at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The President, who came from a Mass organized by her supporters in her late father’s hometown of Lubao, personally filed her certificate of candidacy at the Commission on Elections office in this capital city.
Arroyo was mobbed by supporters as she arrived at the Comelec office. She was accompanied by her husband, lawyer Jose Miguel Arroyo, and mayors and other officials of Pampanga.
Three Were Arrested for Preventing the Implementation of a Notification to Confiscate Land in Kompong Thom
"The source of this information claimed that there is an association with more than 1,700 families of disabled veterans, living there since 2004, and that the association lives on more than 10,000 hectares of land, where each family was provided with 3 hectares by the head of that community, for housing and for growing different crops, since 2005. But on 14 and 16 November 2009, about 50 armed forces and other authorities came with machinery to remove their houses, and they arrested three people.
Thaksin Shinawatra in Cambodia
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 637 - Sunday, 15.11.2009
Several mails I had received during the week requested what this week's editorial should be about. Agreed. The visit of Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra to Cambodia has more than any other recent event received wide international attention – at the same time it resulted in bringing a range of different and opposing issues to the surface, beyond the straightforward political tensions.
The disparities start with the wording, how the visitor is called in national and international media: the possibilities extend from the fond description of Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra as an “eternal friend” by Prime Minister Hun Sen, to the more neutral description when referring to the “former Thai prime minister ousted by a military coup,” to the references – and this not only in part of the Thai press – to the “convicted fugitive, because of corruption, and who finally violated the bail requirements and fled the country to avoid going to prison.”
Credits, Extradition Agreements, and Reasons for Exemptions
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 635 - Sunday, 25.10.2009
Additional international loans from China and from the Republic of Korea have been agreed upon. As The Mirror quoted from reports this the week, during 2008 and 2009, about US$1 billion were received as loans from China, with an emphasis on infrastructure development. Besides these loans, also a grant was announced during the week of approximately US$15 million - half of it as grant aid, and the other half as a loan with no interest, to help overcome the suffering from recent floods and to restore infrastructure. Relief for the damage caused by the typhoon Ketsana is also forthcoming from the World Bank, Japan, Germany, and maybe from other sources.
In addition, during the visit of the President of the Republic of Korea, an amount of US$200 million in loans were agreed upon.
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Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha Consider the New Demonstration Law as a Constraint on the Power of the People of Cambodia
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 635 - Thursday, 22.10.2009
"The National Assembly has adopted a demonstration law limiting demonstrations to not more than 200 people. This law is considered by the opposition parties as a restriction of the power of the people in Cambodia. However, government representative claimed that this new law helps maintain social stability.
"During the session of the National Assembly yesterday, 21 October 2009, 76 parliamentarians out of 101 raised their hands to adopt this demonstration law, while the parliamentarians from the Sam Rainsy Party and from the Human Rights Party did not.
"Mr. Sam Rainsy told reporters in the morning of 21 October 2009, 'At present the government cares only about cracking down on demonstrations and wants to eliminate the right of citizens who have reasons to protest.' The people will get angry and feel pain when they want to present what they demand, but cannot do it though their demands are right. The government does not solve the citizens needs, but wants to intercept their presention.
The Cambodian Free Trade Union of Workers Said that an Anti-Corruption Law Should Be Created before a Demonstration Law
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 634 - Tuesday, 13.10.2009
“According to the opinion of the president of the Cambodian Free Trade Union of Workers [Mr. Chea Mony], workers demonstrate or strike because of corruption. Therefore an anti-corruption law should be created sooner than a demonstration law, because if corruption can be prevented, workers and citizens in general will not demonstrate or strike.
“Mr. Chea Mony said during an interview with the media yesterday, Monday [12 October 2009], ‘Civil society organizations are concerned about the freedom of the citizens, that is including the freedom of all workers, because demonstrations and strikes are held concerned with freedom by citizens whose benefit is lost, due to corruption and because the powerful always restrict the citizens to express their opinion to demand respect and the implementation of the law, but finally, their rights are restricted.’
Mr. Kem Sokha Encourages Merger between the Human Rights Party and the Sam Rainsy Party
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 633 - Wednesday, 7.10.2009
"Again, the president of the Human Rights Party, Mr. Kem Sokha, encouraged speeding up the merging of the two opposition parties, the Human Rights Party and the Sam Rainsy Party. The president of the Human Rights Party said that the merger should be made as soon as possible, because Khmer people in the country and abroad want to see these two opposition parties of Cambodia to merge to become one strong party to defeat the party with communist tendencies which is ruling the country.
"Mr. Kem Sokha told reporters during a press conference Tuesday evening [6 October 2009] that within half a year (of National Assembly vacations), he had visited Canada, the United States, and Europe. At every place he went to he met Khmer people, and they always asked one most important question: whether democrats can unite or not, and why not. The Human Rights Party responded by telling what this party has done so far.
Dr. Lao Mong Hay Criticized that Mr. Hun Sen Breaks the Constitution by Violating the King’s Powers
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 631 - Saturday, 26.9.2009
“A senior researcher of the Asian Human Rights Commission, based in Hong Kong, Dr. Lao Mong Hay, commented in an article via UPIAsia.com in late October last year, mentioning some points to claim that the Cambodian Prime Minister, Mr. Hun Sen, is abusing the Constitution, the supreme law of Cambodia.
Parliamentarians from the Ruling Party and from the Opposition Parties Argued over Democracy in Cambodia
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 630 - Wednesday, 16.9.2009
"On Tuesday, representatives of the Cambodian People's Party responded and expressed strong disagreement over the comments about the respect for human rights and the implementation of democracy in Cambodia by the president of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, Mr. Sam Rainsy, who claimed, 'Freedom, the respect for human rights, and democracy exist only as an image in Cambodia, but their real essence is not applied.'
"The National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia organized a forum about democracy under the topics of political understanding and tolerance on 15 September 2009, in which also many parliamentarians, ambassadors, and civil society officials attended [see The Mirror of 14.9.2009: Officials of the Opposition Parties and of the Ruling Party Will Discuss Mutual Tolerance in Front of Diplomats]