KHMER INTELLIGENCE

Khmer Intelligence (KI) is a non-government organisation whose objective is to collect sensitive information from non-easily accessible sources to help Khmer and foreign observers better follow and understand the situation in Cambodia. KI finds out what is behind the latest news and news to come. For security reasons KI must preserve anonymity for its informants. Information is classified according to five levels of reliability: Official or Semi-Official (1), Very Reliable (2), Reliable (3), Insistent Rumour (4), Rumour (5).
News compiled by KI are posted on www.khmerintelligence.org
For any further information, please contact samngat@khmerintelligence.org
There is a KI Yahoo Group whose members will receive all news by email as soon as they are posted on KI website. 
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22 May 2003

King defends parliamentarian Cheam Channy (1)
In a May 21 letter from Beijing to National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh, King Norodom Sihanouk wrote: “To my humble opinion, stripping a National Assembly member of his parliamentary immunity is a very serious case. A National Assembly member is stripped of his immunity only when the concerned parliamentarian has committed a fault pertaining to a crime, or has betrayed the nation. The action deployed [by Cheam Channy] in defending a group of citizens is not a crime.”  
In December 2002, SRP parliamentarian Cheam Channy helped a group of villagers in Kompong Chhnang province resist land grabbing. To crackdown on the protesters who denounced “abuse” and “corruption”, the local authority accused one of their leaders, Moeun Mel, of “defamation”. Moeun Mel was summoned to the court and could have been given a jail sentence. Cheam Channy then led a group of villagers to support Moeun Mel, and subsequently freed him from the court, after the judge and other officials had run away, out of fear. Cheam Channy is now accused of “obstructing court proceedings” and could face prosecution, after a possible lifting of his parliamentary immunity. 

Prince Ranariddh stops making personal attacks against Sam Rainsy (1)
Until last month, Funcinpec President Prince Norodom Ranariddh used to make frequent personal attacks against opposition leader Sam Rainsy by alleging that the latter’s father, Sam Sary, was a stern opponent to His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk, some fifty years ago. But after a series of statements by the King, earlier this month, about the fight for national independence (1953), the Geneva conference (1954) and the beginning of the Sangkum Reastr Nyium (1955), in which the Monarch recalled the prominent role played by his assistant Sam Sary, Prince Ranariddh has noticeably stopped attacking Sam Rainsy on personal grounds.

20 May 2003

Dramatic increase in crime rate (2)
Government officials and non governmental organizations have noticed a dramatic increase in crime rate over the past twelve months: murders, kidnappings for ransoms, acts of banditry, robberies, rapes, violent aggressions. Popular newspapers (Rasmei Kampuchea, Koh Santepheap) everyday give a dominant portion of their front pages to heinous crimes reaching all levels of society. A killer can easily be hired in Phnom Penh for 50, 000 Riels ($12). The increase in crime is apparently associated with the aggravation of landlessness, unemployment and poverty. Thirty six percent of Cambodians officially live with less than $0.50 per day.

Parliamentarian Sam Sun Doeun keeps changing his mind (2)
Over the last three weeks, former CPP Youth Movement leader and former SRP parliamentarian Sam Sun Doeun has been making drastic decisions:
- 30 April: signed a statement pledging continuous allegiance to SRP, while discussions were under way to select opposition candidates for the forthcoming elections.
- 7 May: joined Funcinpec, because SRP had not given him a “good enough” position on the lists of opposition candidates.
- 16 May: resigned from Funcinpec, because his name was nowhere on the lists of candidates representing the royalist party. Expressed his disappointment with Funcinpec.
- 20 May: returned to Funcinpec, after being given position # 5 on the list of Funcinpec candidates for Kandal province. Prince Ranariddh has reportedly just signed a request to the National Election Committee to modify Funcinpec lists of candidates (see KI, 18 May 2003, about Khan Savoeun).      

19 May 2003

Law on domestic violence will not be adopted before the July elections (2)
In spite of the support of Funcinpec and SRP parliamentarians, the law on domestic violence has been stalled at the National Assembly because the CPP is blocking its adoption under the pretext that the new law would “jeopardize Khmer culture and traditions”. In fact, the CPP is afraid of some fundamental provisions of the law, such as the one which allows a third party to file a lawsuit against a violent husband or father even though the victims (wife, children, mistress) agree not to complain to the court.
Many prominent government officials have mistresses, which often leads to attacks by legitimate wives on mistresses (Tat Marina, Piseth Pilika). The criminalisation of domestic violence by the law, the extension of the notion of family to mistresses, and the possibility for a third party to file a lawsuit, make many powerful Cambodian men behaving in the “traditional way” so far with total impunity, fear they could be liable to prosecution.

18 May 2003

Candidates’ profile (1)
On average, CPP candidates for the upcoming elections are older and include fewer women, compared to candidates for the two other main political parties: Funcinpec and Sam Rainsy Party.

                                                                     Top candidates for the three main parties 

Funcinpec asks NEC to modify its list of candidates (2)
After submitting its list of candidates to the National Election Committee on May 15 (the deadline was May 17), Funcinpec faces an internal problem associated with the case of General Khan Savoeun, whose name has been erased by his arch-rival You Hokcry from position # 3 on the royalist party’s list of candidates for Kompong Cham province. You Hockry himself occupies position # 2 on the list. Prince Ranariddh is trying to put Khan Savoeun as candidate # 2 for Siem Reap province, behind Pou Sothearak (see line # 17 on the chart above). But Pou Sothearak is viewed as a “traitor” by many former fighters because he joined “puppet” first prime minister Ung Huot following the July 5-6, 1997 coup, while the “Resistants” were fighting Hun Sen’s forces from the “free zones” bordering Thailand. Pou Sothearak has allegedly bought his # 1 position from Prince Ranariddh.

6 May 2003

Large portions of Cambodia’s economy controlled by Hun Sen’s relatives (2)
- After the demise of Cambodia’s flag carrier “Royal Air Cambodge”, the newly formed “Mekong Airlines” is a joint venture between an Australian group (50%) and Neth Savoeun (50%), who is a nephew-in-law of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Deputy Director of the National Police.
- Cambodia’s second but soon-to-be first oil distribution company “Tela” is owned by Moeung Sopheak, a son of General Moeung Samphan, Head of the Army Procurement Department, who has married Hun Sen’s eldest daughter. “Tela” is engaged in large-scale oil smuggling, which deprives the State of millions of dollars every month. With “Sokimex”, a dominant pro-CPP conglomerate, “Tela” is the exclusive petroleum products supplier to the Cambodian army and civil administration. 

SRP parliamentarian Sam Sun Doeun to join Funcinpec (3)
Opposition National Assembly member Sam Sun Doeun will defect tomorrow to Funcinpec, after bargaining hard until the last day and losing any hope to have a top-of-the-list position on the Sam Rainsy Party’s list of candidates for Kandal province for the July’s elections. A former head of the Communist Youth Movement in the 1980’s, Sam Sun Doeun was not trusted by many of his colleagues from the anti-communist Resistance.

5 May 2003

Confiscation of voter cards (2)
Over the last few weeks, the CPP has been confiscating voter cards from a large number of citizens suspected of sympathy for the opposition.
- Village chiefs in numerous villages all over the country have confiscated voter cards from villagers by using different methods. Card collection can be based on pure intimidation (without any explanation), on the alleged necessity of “administrative control”, or can be conducted in exchange for handouts (food, clothes, money). Sometimes, village chiefs tell villagers their voter cards will be kept in safe custody and will be given back to them before voting day (this method was already used in some places before the February 3, 2002 commune council election, but the confiscated cards were given back only after the end of voting operations).  
- Rank-and-file soldiers and policemen have been forced by army and police officers to surrender their voter cards.
- In several villages in Kompong Cham province, for instance in Chup commune, rubber plantations workers have been forced to hand their voter cards over to their village chiefs while State-owned rubber plantations managers have warned workers not to complain to anybody about the confiscation of their voter cards if their want to keep their jobs. There are some 40,000 rubber plantations workers all over the country.

27 April 2003

King Sihanouk considers abdicating and going into exile in France (1)
In an April 26 message from Beijing, King Norodom Sihanouk wrote: “In a few months, I will probably find myself in France (in exile) (...). If I must, in a few months, go to France (in Paris) to live there as a self-exiled man, I will be obliged to have recourse to H.E. President Jacques Chirac of the French Republic and his Government to get from them a small annual pension in my capacity as “Grand-Croix de la Légion d’Honneur” and former Captain (reservist officer) of the French Army (...).” 

King Sihanouk clears Sam Sary’s past (1)
In an April 26 “clarification” from Beijing, King Norodom Sihanouk wrote: “I fully approve Mr. Ruom Ritt who today renders full justice to H.E. Sam Sary, a great and pure patriot who had, at my side, rendered eminent services to our Fatherland in those crucial years of my first Reign, and at the beginning of the Sangkum Reastr Niyum.” Sam Sary is opposition leader Sam Rainsy’s father.
In an April 24 letter to Sam Rainsy, Ruom Ritt, who presents himself as a close friend to the King, recalled Sam Sary’s role in helping the King gain independence for Cambodia in 1952-1953, in helping the newly-independent Cambodia avoid partition at the Geneva conference (1954), and in helping the King found the Sangkum Reastr Niyum (1955 onwards).
These two most recent statements by Ruom Ritt and the King about Sam Rainsy’s family background are perceived by some observers as a royal contribution to redress any damage that might be caused by frequent personal attacks from Funcinpec President Prince Norodom Ranariddh on Sam Rainsy.

26 April 2003

Defectors have different motives (2)
Following a series of defections from one party to another, the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) on April 25 issued a statement to show that:
-Those who have left Funcinpec for SRP had expressed their discontentment with their party line and announced their intention to join the opposition several months before actually making their decision. Until the last minute, Funcinpec President Prince Norodom Ranariddh tried to retain them by promising them higher positions in the future, but to no avail.
-Those who have left SRP for Funcinpec had never expressed any discontentment with their party line and waited until the party congress on March 28 to see whether they would be given a “safe” seat at the upcoming elections. They expressed personal frustration only after being officially notified they had not been selected to represent the party. Because they did not qualify, SRP President Sam Rainsy did not try to retain them, and instead wished them good luck.

25 April 2003 

Thai-built road status unclear (2)
On 4 March 2003, the Bangkok Post reported: “Thai soldiers have finished building a 153 km road from [Cham Yeam border checkpoint, Bak Khlong commune, in] Koh Kong, a Cambodian province opposite Thailand’s Trat province, to Sre Ambel [a small city port linked to Road number 4 from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville]. Lt-Gen Thanadet Pathumrat, head of the [Thai] army’s engineering department, will today hand over the road to Gen Tea Banh, Cambodia’s defence minister. The road was built under a two-year project co-financed by Thailand and Cambodia.”
The legal status of the road and the precise arrangement for its financing remain unclear: BOT, or loan  with or without a grant component from the Thai side? In any case, the elected representatives of the people have not been consulted, which is a violation of the Constitution that requires that any financial commitment by the Government be approved by the National Assembly.
In Koh Kong province, the road is presented by the authorities as a donation from Thailand, but local residents are upset because they have to pay a heavy toll for the use of a Thai-built bridge from Bak Khlong commune to Dang Tung commune. 

Government corruption in the implementation of road building projects (2)
Over the last few years the ruling CPP and its officials have managed to make a lot of money for themselves through the award of many road-building or road-repairing contracts to the Army’s Engineering Corps controlled by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cronies, instead of going through open tender and competitive bidding procedures as legally required. This is a subtle form of corruption to which donor representatives in Phnom Penh have turned a blind eye. The most obvious examples implying the largest amounts of public funds are Road number 5 (Phnom Penh – Battambang – Poipet) and a large portion of Road number 6 (Phnom Penh – Kompong Thom – Siem Reap – Sisophon). For any given project, the price paid by the State has reportedly been inflated up to five times the price that would have been derived from a fair competition between private companies. In addition, the quality of the works is very poor, with no proper technical supervision and control, as evidenced by the frequent repair works that need to be conducted on the above-mentioned roads: once every three to six months.
Funds used for public works are often borrowed from international organizations or from China, and will have to be reimbursed by the future generation, in twenty to thirty years. This form of corruption has been intensifying over the last few months because the CPP needs money to intensify its patronage policy prior to the next July’s elections.
The National Audit Authority sponsored by the Asian Development Bank has not yet considered looking at any of the controversial projects. 

King Sihanouk asks Sirivudh and Vicheara to quit Funcinpec (3)
A few months ago, King Norodom Sihanouk reportedly asked his half-brother Prince Norodom Sirivudh, who is Funcinpec Secretary General, and his half-sister Princess Norodom Vicheara, who is President of the National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affairs, to quit Funcinpec in order to “preserve the dignity of the Royal Family”, and come to work instead as advisers to the monarch at the Royal Palace. 

Homage to Global Witness (2)
The respected London-based forest monitoring organization Global Witness was effectively expelled from Cambodia by the Hun Sen government on April 22. Because it has continuously and courageously exposed forestry crimes committed with the participation or the support of top-ranking government officials, Global Witness has always been a thorn in Hun Sen’s eye.
At a most important donor Consultative Group meeting in Tokyo in February 1999, Prime Minister Hun Sen solemnly promised the international community he would put an end to the catastrophic and broadly-decried deforestation in Cambodia within two years [i.e. not later than February 2001]. Otherwise – he also solemnly promised – he would resign from his position, as a matter of honor. Cambodia received a record amount of pledges ($ 470 million) at the Tokyo meeting, and has since continued to receive even larger amounts of assistance every year.
The problem with Global Witness is that they have continued to expose evidence of massive deforestation until the very last day of their presence in Cambodia. This in turn leads to a problem for Hun Sen, who would have to resign if he were to keep his promise, more than two years after the deadline he had set himself in front of all the donors. But the most serious problem lies in the attitude of the donors themselves, who have showed at best leniency and at worst cowardice and irresponsibility by not being able to preserve the crucial mission of Global Witness and by giving in to Hun Sen’s threat and attempt to hide facts illustrating a disastrous situation.    

8 April 2003

SRP presents its platform (1)
On March 29, the SRP congress adopted an updated version of the party’s political platform in the form of 100 concrete measures. Some of the measures can be summarized as follows.  

To promote an effective government:
- Ensuring a clear separation between the State and the ruling party, and preventing State revenues from being diverted into the ruling party's coffers. 

To fight against corruption: 
- Adopting an anti-corruption law, and establishing a national counter corruption commission.
- Imposing a declaration of assets and their sources by all high-ranking government officials.
- Re-examining all public contracts in view of ensuring legality and protecting national interest.
- Investigating all parcels of land of 100 hectares and over to verify legitimacy of acquisitions.
- Pursuing to recover and return to the Khmer people all stolen State funds transferred overseas by corrupt government officials. 

To help improve living conditions:
- Providing modern health care to all the poor, free of charge, to help cut the currently appalling death rate.
- Setting up a minimum salary of 400,000 riels (or $100) per month for all public servants.
- Raising the minimum wage for factory workers and company employees to 280,000 riels (or $70) per month for a 44-hour week.  
- Reducing the current petrol retail price of 2,500 riels per litre to 1,500 riels (same level as in Thailand). 

To reduce the gap between the rich and the poor:
- Establishing a wealth tax system.  

To defend farmers:
- Prohibiting confiscation of land, or removal from land that has been occupied for more than five years.
- Reviewing thoroughly land confiscation in any form since 1989 up to now. If the confiscation is deemed illegal and unjust, the land will be returned to its rightful owner.
- Issuing land titles, free of charge, to all farmers who have no documents in order to certify their ownership of the land they are living on.

  To promote democracy and justice:
- Requesting the United Nations to immediately create a Khmer Rouge Tribunal outside Cambodia.
- Redistributing frequencies for radio and television broadcasts without bias.
- Granting Khmer citizens living overseas the right to vote, like their counterparts at home, by providing voting facilities abroad. 

To protect the environment:
- Revising or canceling all forest concessions, and taking further initiatives to end deforestation. 

To fight criminal or immoral activities 
- Stopping the construction of casinos and the development of the gambling industry controlled by the Mafia. 

To defend Cambodia’s territorial integrity:
- Abolishing border treaties the previous regime signed with Vietnam in 1979, 1982, 1983, and 1985.
- Requesting the Paris Peace Conference to reconvene in order to demand a respect for the 1991 Paris Agreements in relation to Cambodia's territorial integrity.

No representative from Cambodia at IPU conference in Santiago (1)
There is currently no representative from Cambodia at the ongoing Inter-Parliamentary Union conference in Santiago (Chili). Last week, at the last minute, National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh cancelled his plan to lead the Cambodian parliamentary delegation to the IPU conference that is taking place from 5 to 12 April. The official reason put forward for canceling the trip is “fear of contracting SARS”. But the real reason seems to be Prince Ranariddh’s fear of being blamed by the IPU for his weak stance regarding the respect for the human rights of Cambodian parliamentarians. Many prominent parliamentarians from several countries intended to ask Prince Ranariddh embarrassing questions during the IPU conference about his alleged attempt to expel Funcinpec National Assembly members who have been critical of his leadership (in particular Keo Remy), and his alleged support for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s plan to arrest opposition leader Sam Rainsy and Funcinpec dissident parliamentarian Princess Norodom Vacheara under fallacious pretexts last February.  

Sam Rainsy stuck in Toronto (2)
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who is undertaking a 10-day journey in North America to visit Cambodian communities and meet with US officials, was stuck the whole day of April 6 in Canada by a freezing rain and a mass of snow, which prevented planes from taking off from Toronto airport. Sam Rainsy missed an important fund-raising party in Lowell (Massachusetts) that day.

1st April 2003

CPP starts to buy votes (2)
Reports from Battambang, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng and Takeo provinces indicate that, less than four months ahead of election day (July 27), the ruling CPP has started a massive vote-buying campaign at a time when poverty has been worsening and adult illiteracy rate has been increasing, especially in the countryside (see the latest UNDP Human Development Report).
Poor and hungry villagers are being offered 20,000 Riels to 50,000 Riels ($5.0 to $12.5) and forced to swear in a ritual ceremony that they will vote for the CPP at the forthcoming election. The traditional swearing ceremony is presided over by the CPP-appointed village chief and involves lighting incense sticks like in a religious (Buddhist) ceremony, pronouncing loyalty vows, and drinking some supposedly sacred water prepared by some religious people. After taking part in such a ceremony, most people believe that they would die prematurely if they broke their vows.  

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