How to rebuild Cambodia

Rebuilding Cambodia: Cultivating a New Generation of Women Leaders

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Cambodian intellectual property law to draw drug firms: govt official

PHNOM PENH, Aug 25, 2009 (Xinhua) -- A senior Cambodian Commerce Ministry official said he hopes a draft law easing intellectual property restrictions on imports and exports of essential medicines will encourage major manufacturers of generic drugs to set up operations in Cambodia, local media reported on Wednesday.

The Law on Compulsory Licensing for Public Health will be submitted to the Council of Ministers "soon" and is expected to be passed by the National Assembly by the end of this year, Var Rath San, director of the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Intellectual Property Rights, which drafted the law, was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.

The law would bring Cambodia into line with the World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations allowing developing countries to bypass patents when importing and exporting drugs used to treat serious diseases such as malaria and HIV.

"Hopefully, foreign investors and large foreign pharmaceutical firms that are not eligible to produce generic drugs at home will come to set up factories to produce generic drugs for local and overseas pharmaceutical markets," Var Rath San said.

The WTO's 1995 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) allows developing countries to issue a compulsory license to drug manufacturers, allowing them to produce a patented drug without the consent of the patent owner.

A "proper fee" must be paid to the patent holder, but the fee is determined by the government according to its ability to pay.

Ministry of Health Secretary of State Chou Yin Sim said the law will help expand the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector in Cambodia.

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Rebuilding Cambodia: Cultivating a New Generation of Women Leaders

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If Thailand reserves the rights to PV listing, Cambodia also has reserved rights on Thai occupied Khmer-provinces

PM: Govt to Reserve Rights on Opposition to Preah Vihear's World Heritage

30 June 2009
Thai ASEAN News Network

The Prime Minister reaffirmed that the Thai Government's stance is to preserve its right to disagree with the unilateral registration of Preah Vihear Temple as the World Heritage site and commented that a third party is trying to manipulate messages to create a border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva gave an interview at the Civil Service Commission Office yesterday, clarifying the Deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban's interview with regard to his meeting with Cambodia's PM Hun Sen, in which the Deputy Prime Minister commented that the Preah Vihear Temple controversy is like a nightmare between the two countries.

The PM said that the dispute must not become an issue that affects the collaboration between the two countries now or in the future.

He added that the mechanisms of this settlement are based on each party's standpoint, which stem from past actions.

Abhisit also mentioned that during Suthep's visit to Phnom Penh, there were no discussions regarding the Preah Vihear Temple, as both the Thai and Cambodia government have acknowledged past disputes and feel that they should not affect current and future actions.

The PM reiterated that the settlement would continue peacefully and according to the agreements made in the Memorandum of Understanding signed at the Joint Boundary Commission. He warned that, therefore, we should not fall victim to those who are trying to create conflict.

When asked if this means that Thailand will drop the issue and concede to Cambodian wishes, the PM said that his standpoint remains the same, which is preventing UNESCO and other countries from getting involved in land disputes between Thailand and Cambodia.

He said that he believes that a third party is trying to exacerbate the conflict, adding that despite this, there is an understanding between the countries and two countries still maintain good relationship.

He reaffirmed that Thailand remains firm in its position of preserving its rights to oppose the registration of the Preah Vihear Temple.

The PM said that there was no plan to use force in the area and believes that cautious actions should be taken regarding this controversy because it is a sensitive case.

The Natural Resource and Environment Minister, Suwit Khunkitti has been assigned to deliver a petition to the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization asking for a revision on the matter, as the organization's decision could jeopardize the peace and relationship between Thailand and Cambodia.

Suwit is expected to report to the PM when he returns. In the mean time, the World Heritage Committee is well aware of the situation and have agreed to reconsider the procedures; but the process has been postponed to the beginning of 2010.

Further, the PM also said that there has been no report that the Thai military force will withdraw from the Thai-Cambodia border, however, the act was created under a negotiation framework that has been discussed by many related committees.

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Khmer Rouge jail survivor 'tortured'

Chum Mey

June 30, 2009
AFP

A rare survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime's main jail says torturers ripped out his toenails and gave him electric shocks to try to make him confess to being a CIA agent.

Former mechanic Chum Mey told Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal how he pleaded for his life as he was tortured for 12 days and nights at the 1975-1979 communist movement's Tuol Sleng detention centre.

The 63-year-old is the second survivor to give evidence at the trial of prison chief Duch, who is accused of overseeing the torture and extermination of 15,000 people who passed through the facility.

Chum Mey said he had been working at a sewing machine factory in 1978 when he was brought to Tuol Sleng to be tortured on suspicion of espionage.

"While I was walking inside I said (to a guard), 'Brother, please look after my family.' Then the person kicked me on to the ground," Chum Mey said, adding the man swore at him and told him he would be "smashed".

Chum Mey told judges he was photographed, stripped, handcuffed and yanked by his earlobes to interrogators.

"They asked me to tell them the truth - how many of us joined the KGB and CIA," Chum Mey said, referring to the Soviet and US intelligence agencies.

"I told them I did not know any CIA or KGB. Truly, I did not know those terms."

He went on to describe how interrogators beat him as he pleaded for his life, and proceeded to torture him for 12 days and nights.

He trembled in pain after they removed his toenails and heard "some sort of sound" after they electrocuted him, he said.

"The method used was always hot. It was never cold, as Duch has said," Chum Mey said, describing degrees of torture.

Earlier in his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, the 66-year-old Duch begged forgiveness from the victims after accepting responsibility for his role in governing the jail.

But he has consistently rejected claims by prosecutors that he had a central role in the Khmer Rouge's iron-fisted rule and says he never personally executed anyone.

Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998, and many believe the tribunal is the last chance to find justice for victims of the communist regime, which killed up to two million people.

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Remembering the Rights of Cambodia's Children

Distribution of advocacy material during the Kompong Cham concert
Minor prisoners at Takmao prison on June 1st

June 30, 2009
Licadho
I get up at 5:30 a.m. so I can let the dogs out of the house. Then I clean the dog droppings, wash the dishes, and prepare food for the dogs. At around 8 a.m., I have to leave the house to work at the private school that my employer runs. I also bring clothes which need cleaning with me so I can hand-wash them. After I arrive at the school, I have to go to the market, help with the cooking, and prepare lunch for my employer. Then, I do the washing-up and clean the school building and the clothes. In the afternoon I also have to tend to the bikes of the students who study at the school.

At about 7 p.m., I return to the house. I cook dinner and do the washing-up. Sometimes, I have to clean the remaining clothes. Frequently, I am not able to go to sleep until 11 p.m. or later. Sometimes my employer's son goes out at night, so I have to wait up to open the door for him at 2 a.m.

Sometimes, when the dogs bark at night and wake my employer, he blames me for it, saying that I am unable to control them. He shouts at me, insults me, and also slaps me. My work is like this every day of the week.

This is the story of a 16-year-old domestic worker and the conditions she works and lives in. Her story is shared by thousands of exploited children across Cambodia. A 2007 study commissioned by LICADHO and World Vision Cambodia estimates that there are 21,000 child domestic workers, mostly girls, in Phnom Penh and Cambodia's three largest provinces (Kompong Cham, Battambang, and Siem Reap) alone.

World Day Against Child Labor

To celebrate World Day Against Child Labor on June 12th, LICADHO in collaboration with World Vision Cambodia organized a large public concert at Kompong Cham Stadium in Kompong Cham Province. The purpose of the concert was to raise awareness about the dangers facing children engaged in domestic labor. The event focused on the need for children's education, healthcare, and protection from physical, psychological, and sexual abuse and exploitation.

In Cambodia child domestic labor is largely the result of poverty. Poor families often resort to removing their children from school and sending them out into the workforce to earn money or offer their services as payment for debt. For child domestic workers, working conditions can resemble slave labor. Children may work 16-hour days cooking and cleaning, and are vulnerable to physical, sexual and psychological abuse. In many cases, child domestic workers have no access to education and medical care, and many are not even paid for their work.

The World Day Against Child Labor concert was hosted by two local personalities and featured performances by pop singers Khem Maraksereymun and Meas Soksophea, quiz games for children on stage, a drama performance by LICADHO Child Protection Groups (CPGs), recitals of traditional Chapey Dong Veng music, an educational performance by comedian Neay Kbeb, and an audio recording of a child domestic worker recounting her experience working in hazardous conditions. Over 10,000 people attended the concert, which was the fifth advocacy event organized by LICADHO and World Vision Cambodia under the theme of 'I protect children, do you?' since 2007.

International Children's Day

In celebration of International Children's Day on June 1st, LICADHO held public advocacy events in Siem Reap and Sihanoukville that provided educational entertainment while promoting children's rights. The events were held at two public schools, Phum Thnol Primary School and Steung Hav High School, and were organized in cooperation with local authorities, police, school directors, teachers, students, parents, and CPGs. Approximately 1,000 people attended each of the events.

The events included drama performances about child trafficking and child rights performed by students, as well as songs performed by CPG members and professional singers. Children attending the event participated in games, quizzes, and dances. 10 bicycles were donated to Phum Thnol Primary School students and 12 bicycles to Steung Hav High School students.

Not forgetting the plight of children living in prison, LICADHO also distributed food and essential materials (soap, detergent, combs, toothbrushes and toothpaste) to over 1,200 people within 14 prisons across Cambodia. Recipients of the donations were minor prisoners, pregnant women, children living with their incarcerated mothers, and the children of prison officials. LICADHO's distribution of basic supplies aimed to draw attention to the appalling living conditions of children in prison.

Women, children, and men in Cambodia's prisons are maintained on a budget of USD $0.38 per day, which must pay for two meals a day, sanitation, cooking fuel, water, electricity, and transportation. Unfortunately, this amount is barely adequate, and prisoners are continually faced with malnutrition as well as poor sanitation and hygiene. Prison is no place for a child to grow up, but Cambodia's lack of a juvenile justice system throws children into adult courts and adult prisons.

LICADHO strongly urges the Cambodian government to take action to reform the many systemic problems within the Cambodian prisons system, and in particular the need to provide prisoners with adequate access to food, water, sanitation, and legal representation. LICADHO also advocates for the implementation of a juvenile justice system.

LICADHO also strongly appeals to the public not to employ children under the minimum legal working age (15 years old - Labor Law Article 177) to work as domestic laborers. Furthermore, any work undertaken by children should not be harmful to their health, safety, morals and development and should not stop them from receiving an education or vocational training. Employers need to guarantee that children can enjoy their rights to a childhood.

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Cambodia: 40% of children between 7-17 involved in child labor

Keeping children in school and out of work: putting a stop to child labour in Cambodia

11 Jun 2009
Source: ChildFund Australia
Website: http://www.childfund.org.au

In Cambodia, 40% of all children aged between 7-17 years are engaged in some form of child labour - work that is defined as undesirable for children or potentially injurious to their wellbeing.

While Cambodia has enjoyed a period of economic growth during the last ten years, poverty remains widespread, and many families must supplement their household income through the earnings of their children. The global financial crisis has exacerbated the problem with even more families forced to rely on earnings from their children.

Over one-third of families are still forced to survive on less than one dollar a day, and most children in Cambodia suffer some level of malnutrition, enough to cause at least moderate stunting of their growth. Improved economic conditions have also created greater inequalities in society - widening the gap between the rich and poor.

ChildFund Australia CEO Nigel Spence says: "For most families, sending a child out to work is not a voluntary choice - parents regret having to remove their children from school, and worry about the dangers they face. But the additional income is often the key to survival for the whole family."

While the majority of Cambodian children living in rural areas perform agricultural tasks on the family farm, or participate in household duties, children involved in child labour face much greater risks. The salt production industry, fishing sector, brick factories and plantation work are environments where children are known to be subject to abuse and exploitation.

ChildFund Cambodia country director Carol Mortensen adds: "The use of children from rural areas as extremely poorly paid domestic servants in provincial towns and cities is common. Some receive no pay at all, but are simply given shelter and food. This form of labour can be very risky due to the vulnerability of such children to various forms of abuse, including violence and sexual exploitation."

Preventing child labour

ChildFund is tackling the incidence of child labour with preventative strategies. The central goal of ChildFund's programs is to encourage school attendance for as long as possible.

Carol explains: "Most Cambodian children really want to attend school, at least to primary school level. And those attending school are, by definition, unavailable for child labour. The longer children remain at school and the higher the level of formal education they reach, the greater their chances of avoiding exploitative labour and finding decent employment in their adult life."

In Svay Rieng, ChildFund Cambodia is addressing the child labour problem through its Voices of our Children project. This increases attendance at school by improving the quality and accessibility of schools, ensuring schools are safe places to learn, improving play and recreation facilities and increasing the relevance of curriculum and learning through teacher training.

ChildFund also recognises that young people not in school are particularly vulnerable to exploitative forms of child labour. ChildFund's Youth for Development programs are teaching practical lifeskills, providing small business training and assistance in establishing livelihoods such as fish farming, improved rice growing, animal husbandry and ceramic pot making.

Girls and boys participating in the project learn about money management and business planning, take out micro loans and establish small businesses which will assist their families and build their own confidence and skills as decision-makers.

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Cambodia asked America to cancel $300 million debts

MP Cheam Yeap (L) and MP Sik Bun Hok (R).

Source: Khmer Sthapana newspaper
Reported in English by Khmerization

A delegation of the Cambodian members of parliament has asked the U.S government to forfeit $300 million of debts that Cambodia owed since the early 1970s, reports Khmer Sthapana.

A delegation led by Mr. Cheam Yeap, an MP from the ruling Cambodian People's Party, visited America from 30th May t0 8th June and has asked the officials from the U.S State Department to cancel the debts which were owed by the Lon Nol regime since 1972. The U.S officials have told them that the request will be passed on to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for consideration.

Mr. Cheam Yeap said that the original debt was $160 million but due to compounded interests for the last 37 years, the debts have doubled to $300 million.

During the 1980s, under the Heng Samrin regime, Cambodia had borrowed about $1,000 million from Russia. Cambodia had already asked Russia to cancel that debt, but so far has not received an answer from the Russian government yet.

Cambodia was said to be heavily in debted to China as the Khmer Rouge regime was said to have borrowed heavily from the Chinese government during their 3 year-rule in the 1970s.

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Israel sends first economic attaché to Cambodia

Mission to facilitate economic cooperation between Israel, Southeast Asian country

05.12.09
Navit Zomer
Israel Money

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor has opened Israel's first economic mission in Cambodia's capital of Phnom Penh, under the charge of the economic attaché in Thailand, Tzahi Selzer.
During May a first Israeli delegation of telecommunications companies visited the Southeastern Asian country. Some 15 companies took part in the delegation, including such high profile names as ECI, Gilat and Comverse, whose representatives met with top local government officials.

Simultaneously, a Cambodian agricultural delegation came to Israel last week to participate in the Agritech agricultural exhibition in Tel Aviv.

According to Selzer, Cambodia is mainly interested in Israeli companies involved in irrigation technologies, agriculture, infrastructure and medical devices.

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$4 million from Japan to sustain corruption at the Cambodian side of the ECCC

Japan donates $4 million to Khmer Rouge tribunal

Friday, May 01, 2009
By SOPHENG CHEANG

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Japan has donated $4.17 million to the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal trying former Khmer Rouge leaders on war crimes charges, just as the troubled court was running out of funding, a court official said Friday.
The money will be used to offset a salary shortfall for 251 court staffers until at least the end of the year, tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said. The court has been troubled by political wrangling and allegations that some Cambodian officials were demanding kickbacks from people trying to secure jobs with it.

The tribunal is tasked with seeking justice for atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge during their four years in power in the late 1970s. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died under the radically communist regime from forced labor, starvation, medical neglect and executions.

"The donation arrived on time since the Cambodian side of the court was running out of budget. We really appreciate what the Japanese government has done," Reach Sambath said.

The donation comes as Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, is being tried by the tribunal for crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture.

The 66-year-old Duch (pronounced Doik) commanded the Phnom Penh prison, where as many as 16,000 men, women and children are believed to have been tortured before being sent to their deaths. Only a handful survived.

Four other former Khmer Rouge leaders, aging and infirm, are being held for trial on charges of crimes against humanity and war atrocities. The are likely to be tried in the next year or two.

The tribunal operates under the joint administration of Cambodia and the U.N., which have separate budgets. In January, Japan gave $21 million to the U.N. side of the operation.

In March, Japan donated $200,000 to the Cambodian side for that month's payroll.

"Japan places a great emphasis on the progress of the Khmer Rouge tribunal, as it believes that this process will promote peace, democracy, the rule of law and good governance in Cambodia," a statement from the Japanese Embassy said.

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As Losses Mount, Plans To Help Economy Emerge [-Where's that loud mouth PM who said that Cambodia will not be affected by the economic crisis?]

Kong Chandararoth, president of the Cambodian Institute of Economic Study and Development.

By VOA Khmer, Reporters
Reports from Phnom Penh & Washington
28 April 2009

Cambodia’s four main economic drivers have sustained multi-million dollar losses so far this year, despite insulation from the financial markets, a leading economist said Monday.A report released by the International Labor Organization released Monday shows losses of $280 million in garments, $260 million in tourism, $180 million in agriculture and $45 million in construction.

Despite those losses, Cambodia remains somewhat insulated from the global financial crisis, said Kong Chandararoth, president of the Cambodian Institute of Economic Study and Development.

“Our country is not close to the financial market, so that does not have an impact as serious as other countries,” he said, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

Cambodia’s agriculture has also made the global financial downturn easier that industrialized countries, he said.

Organizations like the International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank have warned that Cambodia’s economy will shrink this year, thanks to the financial crisis.

However, Kong Chandararoth said such predictions were “too dark about Cambodia,” and he predicted economic growth around 5 percent for 2009.

Cambodia’s situation is further different from other countries, he said, because it does not have a stock exchange or other financial markets, which have been hard-hit by the collapse of the US financial market.

Meanwhile, the government has prepared a package to restore the economy, including tax exemptions, tourism promotion, and help for construction, agriculture, garment factories and other investments.

The government announced Tuesday it will release $25 million to the agriculture and garment sectors, in an effort to mitigate the effects of the global downturn.

The money—$18 million to agriculture and $7 million to garments—will be used to increase farm production and help train people who have lost their jobs thanks to the slowdown.

Government officials made the announcement during the semi-annual donors meeting on Tuesday.

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Barun Roy: Tale of two Asias

Business Standard

Unlike Cambodia and China, the sub-continent hasn't managed to rise above its old conflicts

Barun Roy / New Delhi March 12, 2009

Unlike countries like Cambodia and China, the sub-continent hasn't managed to rise above its old conflicts.

The beginning, last month, in Cambodia, of a process to bring former Khmer Rouge leaders to trial for their role in a reign of genocide in the 1970s that left at least 1.7 million people dead, is meant to formally close a chapter of Cambodian history that nobody wants to remember.Cambodia has outlived its fractious past and is moving convincingly towards a future of common economic well-being with the rest of Southeast Asia. Vietnam, once a hated intruder, is no longer an enemy, and friendly relations with Thailand, Laos, and China have produced a surge in investments, tourism, and trade. Growth averaged 9.4 per cent annually through the last decade and per capita GDP doubled between 1998 and 2007.

Two things have made Cambodia’s current economic success possible: Peace and political stability. Just the two things that are behind Vietnam’s success, too, whose political tolerance and economic realism, setting aside decades of bloody ideological enmities, have surprised the entire world and paved the way for the emergence of Asia’s next China.

In fact, peace and political stability have marked the recent history of a part of Asia — north, northeast, and southeast — that also happens to be its wealthiest. There’s a connection and it shouldn’t be forgotten. Malaysia hasn’t let May 1969 return to haunt it again. Ominous clouds of civil war no longer hang over the Philippines, where Muslim Mindanao has found a way to live within a mainly Christian nation. China, born again in 1979 when it opened out to the world and much wiser after the misadventures of the Cultural Revolution, has steadfastly refused to let social and political upheavals come in its way. Tienanmen Square and Tibet were but over-publicised local disturbances that were in no position to topple the Chinese applecart.

Preserving conditions for peaceful, undisturbed economic growth has been so uppermost in China’s mind, that it has done everything to avoid a physical confrontation with Taiwan, despite all kinds of provocations from across the straits. Hong Kong and Macau have been annexed but not swallowed. India has been left alone and spared even of threats and postures. Closer links have been forged with Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam to create a credible climate of confidence and goodwill. One can no longer deny that China, with its policy of positive accommodation with its neighbours, has played a key role in the continuance of economic prosperity in a large part of the Asian region.

On the other hand, look at South Asia, a sub-region ridden with deep conflicts and, not surprisingly, deep poverty. Bangladesh began as a killing field and remains so after 40 years. Nepal, having ousted its king, is struggling to find its political feet and a Constitution good enough to overcome all local dissensions. Pakistan is on the verge of ruin brought on by its own misguided politics. Sri Lanka is trapped in a deadly, long-running civil war that has left at least 70,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands more homeless, and even if it ends after the government’s last-ditch, almost genocidal, push against pro-independence Tamil rebels, will Sri Lanka have the peace and stability to grow?

India is not in any better shape either. Its political stability is more apparent than real, and now that it has begun to appear on terrorists’ radar screens, it can lose its peace, too. The only reason India is still able to absorb the shocks and maintain a healthy rate of growth is its vast size. Because of it, even major disturbances look, in popular perception, like isolated local events. But the way discontent is spreading across the country and politics, stripped of basic decencies and broad ideals, is getting fractured around narrow groups, vested interests, petty loyalties, and local dissatisfaction, that won’t be the case anymore. Intolerance keeps growing and mutinies multiply. Fires are rising one after another and one can already feel the heat.

In a situation like this, attention is bound to be distracted from development, and development is bound to lose its focus. India has done very little since independence to find the causes of its many domestic mutinies and douse them. It has done even less to build bridges to its neighbours or remove the causes of their apprehensions. The result is we still have vast segments of our society trapped in the deprivation they’ve always known, in angers and frustrations they increasingly feel. We’ve Kandhamals and Mangalores and Godhras and Guwahatis that make us wonder if our nation is indeed one. And we’ve neighbours with whom we only have a relationship of mutual distrust.

We had no reason to become a target of terrorism. We could have been a China to South Asia, leading its climb to success. Instead, we’re victims ourselves, being helplessly sucked into the vortex of our own failures.

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