HIV infections decrease

There is excellent news on the battle against new HIV infections in Cambodia. The infection rate decreased by half in 2006. It shows that the education programmes being run by many national and international organisation are successful. The message that condoms are essential to the prevention of new infections is getting through.

Cambodia gained 70,000 AIDS-infected people in 2006, which decreased by half from the figure in 2003, a senior health official said on Thursday.

Cambodia is very proud of this result, said Mom Bun Heng, secretary of State of the Cambodian Ministry of Health, while addressing an AIDS seminar in Phnom Penh.

The Cambodian government could now provide the delaying-life medicine for 20,000 AIDS-infected people, including 2,000 children, he said.

The government's budget for AIDS prevention in 2007 stands two times higher than 2006, while the disease is spreading from urban areas to rural areas.

Cambodia is one of the worst-hit countries in the region in the field of AIDS spread. In 1997, its infection rate ran at 3.3 percent of its population. (Source)

Advocacy work is an important part of the strategy. Educating people on the disease and its modes of transmission greatly help to reduce the discrimination that HIV positive people face every day. It is wonderful to hear such a positive story when most days all we hear is corruption this and killing that.

No one does it better

Thou art so leaky that we must leave thee to thy sinking.
- Anthony and Cleopatra

Check out the Shakespeare insult generator - kept me amused for hours!

Repairing a flat tire

This morning I discovered that I had a flat tire on the way to work and I brought my moto to a roadside repairman. He checked the tube and there was a fairly major rip and a new tube was required. Now I'd been to this particular repairman before and he had overcharged me to the tune of three time the regular price. It was my first tube change so I didn't know the price.

Ever since then I went elsewhere and got the regular price of $3. There were no questions asked in all the other places I went. It was always $3.

Getting back to today... this particular repairman was the only one between my house and my work and I was late to work so I thought I could negotiate with him, now that I know the correct price.

He cut the tube so there was no chance for just blowing it up for the 50 metres to my work and while getting it off the stand, managed to break one of the shock stabiliser. I was livid. He and the motodops gathered around laughed. I pushed it to work and the guards and drivers looked at it.

These guys were terrific. They bought me a tube and stabiliser, installed everything and wouldn't take a penny above cost. I am buying them presents for sure. My bike is now in perfect working order again.

It's amazing how often things like this happen. You get pissed off with a motodop or repairman for ripping you off even though you know the score and then somebody will come along and be so generous and giving. It keeps you off balance a little. Now all I have to decide on is what present to get!

Dying to be white?

In Cambodia, one has to search very hard to find creams / shaving lotion / deodorant without whitening cream. The elite have very light skin and the poor have darker skin. I'm generalising, of course, but for the majority it is true. Many Cambodians, especially young women, use whitening cream to attain the whiteness of the elite. However the creams and treatments they use are not great for one's skin.

Then there’s hydroquinone, a chemical used in photo processing that has become a common active ingredient in skin whiteners. Extended exposure to hydroquinone can backfire, leaving large dark patches of skin, or possibly worse: It has been shown to cause cancer in lab animals. In 2005, a pair of Dutch researchers referred to the widespread use of hydroquinone in skin whiteners as “a potential time bomb.” Accordingly, the chemical is banned for cosmetic use in the European Union, but is widely available elsewhere, especially in Asia. Hydroquinone is legal in concentrations of up to 2 percent in the United States, but the FDA is considering banning its use altogether in over-the-counter skin products. (Source)

Some of these young woman are literally dying to be white. White is seen as wealthy and desirable. They wear long sleeved gloves outside and walk with umbrellas to protect their skin from the sun. They gaze in astonishment at expats lying sunbathing, expats that are trying to tan. Culture clash.

Urban legends - plastic bottles

As a regular reader of Snopes I was well aware this one but it's amazing that such ignorance is still being propagated over the internet.

hi friend,

this is info i got fr my friend

Just Info please get more information from your Doctor for confirmation!!!!!!!

Hi ladies, just wanted to let you know some
VERY important information!
This information was given to me by my husband and I
know all the ladies in my life should know and please forward it to all
the ladies in your life.

My husband has a friend whose mother recently got diagnosed with
breast cancer. The doctor told her women should not drink bottled water
that has been left in a car. The doctor said that the heat and the
plastic of the bottle have certain chemicals that can lead to Breast
Cancer. So please be careful and do not drink that water bottle that has
been left in a car and pass this on to all the women in your life.

This information is the kind we need to know and be
aware and just might save us!!!!

Such rumours stuff up inboxes and cause panics. If I was to listen to every rumour I would not drink bottled water for fear of breast cancer, gallstones and everything else that is attributed to toxins. But on the other hand if I drink tap water I risk giardia, gastro-intestinal distress, worms, typhoid and the classic, arsenic poisoning. Now while is it true that tap water in Cambodia contains arsenic, the levels are much lower than in Bangladesh for example. Sometimes you just have to have a glass of water. I'd be grateful not to receive such spam again.

Who needs 2nd gear?

It's not as difficult, as I imagined, to navigate on a motorbike without 2nd gear. Although, it is the best gear for turning corner and snooping on the unsuspecting, it is possible to do without it.

I have been working with 1st and 3rd and it's fine with a bit of practise. Having said that, I'm considering getting the bike fixed just in case 3rd decides to throw in the towel - 1st to 4th would be more of a challenge that 1st to 3rd. Here's to finding a mechanic that wouldn't rip me off!

Donor's pledge $690 million in aid

Cambodia's international donors pledged $690 million in aid for 2007 on Wednesday, a 15 percent increase on the previous year that reflected recognition of government and economic reforms, a Cambodian official said. (Source)

International donors pledged $689 million in aid Wednesday, a 15 percent increase from last year, despite pressure from rights groups that aid be tied to better governance... Donors called for the passage of a long-stalled anti-corruption law and said they expected reforms to move faster with the added money... The aid was tied to conditions pushing the government to pass an anti-corruption law that has been stagnant for years. (Source)

At least the donor nations have the sense to attach conditions to the aid money, considering that so many millions get siphoned off into Swiss bank accounts. Yet in the past benchmarks have been set and ignored by the government and the donors that it is a tad difficult to believe that the donors will stick to their guns.

Despite the impunity that government officials enjoy, the adopting of the anti-corruption law would certainly be a step forward. Unfortunately until now there has been no impetus to adopt until now. Perhaps $690 million might be the tipping point.

Staff of the Cambodge Soir fight back

The editorial staff of the Cambodge Soir is fighting back. If you don't know the backstory, click here. They have launched a new blog to keep readers informed and to get their side of the story out to the general public.

Le quotidien cambodgien francophone et khmérophone Cambodge Soir est encore absent des kiosques ce lundi, et le sera encore mardi... Le site www.cambodgesoir.info est toujours bloqué par la direction. La rédaction continue de se rendre sur son lieu de travail, chaque jour, seule, sans directrice adjointe ni directeur, ni personnel administratif.

Nous avons besoin encore et encore de votre soutien : messages envoyés à notre collectif (collectifcs@gmail.com), pétitions, courriers adressés aux administrateurs de Cambodge Soir, aux associations de journalistes, à la Francophonie... Toutes les aides sont les bienvenues !
Merci encore !
La rédaction (Source)

The francophone newspaper Cambodge Soir is absent once more from newsagents today and will be again tomorrow. The website www.cambodgesoir.info has been blocked by management. The editorial staff are present work each day, whereas the manager, deputy manager and administration staff are not.

We need your support more and more - send emails to us (collectifcs@gmail.com), sign petitions, send letters to the management of the Cambodge Soir, journalists' organisations, French speaking organisations and businesses... All help is welcome.
Thank you again
The editorial staff (My translation)

The story needs to get out so feel free to email your support in English, French or Khmer. The editorial staff have been treated very badly by management and the newspaper has been in circulation for the past twelve years. It is of good journalistic standard. Personally I miss reading it in the morning.

Press not so free

Well the notion of freedom of the press in Cambodia is being stripped away threat by threat. Yet another reporter has gone into hiding following a death threat. According to Reporters without borders, Cambodia ranks 108 out of 168 for press freedom.

The second Radio Free Asia reporter in as many months has gone into hiding, this time following a death threat by telephone for reporting on illegal logging.

Lim Viseth, who was investigating reports of illegal logging outlined in a Global Witness report earlier this month, was hiding along the Thai border, where he spoke to VOA Khmer Monday.

"I'm concerned about my safety," Lim Viseth said.

He criticized Prime Minister Hun Sen for remarks in May aimed at another RFA reporter, Keo Nimuol, who also went into hiding.

Lim Viseth said he received a phone call Saturday, in which an unnamed caller told him, "Don't be nasty about the illegal forest report."

"Be careful," the caller said. (Source)

Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Cambodia is a party, states that everyone has "the right to freedom of opinion and expression" and also the right to "seek, receive and impart" information and ideas "regardless of frontiers." It does not appear that the government is fulfilling its duties with regard to this issue

What is interesting is that there are three indices for measuring how free the press is in a certain country. For example, Cambodia is classified as "not free" by Freedom in the World, "mostly free" by Index of Economic Freedom, and "difficult situation" by Worldwide Press Freedom Index. There is no consensus on the freedom of the press in this country, but when reporters receive death threats then I think it is safe to say that the press is not free.

The seven wonders of the modern world

Has everyone cast their vote for the new seven wonders of the world? There are only 17 days left to do so. From the Acropolis of Athens to Timbuktu, and Angkor Wat to Neuschwanstein Castle many cultures are represented. So will you pick Machu Picchu, the Statue of Liberty or the Sydney Opera House? Perhaps you prefer your wonders ancient in which case you can choose between Petra, Stonehenge, the Colosseum or the Great Wall of China. It is such a educational and democratic process that I recommend you to look it up even if it is just to see how many of the nominees you have visited or know of!

One of the aims of the competition to to draw attention to the destruction of cultural heritage that is taking place all over the world. Highlight you willingness to preserve the wonders of this world through your vote.

You Tube - getting the truth out there

"YouTube is indeed proving to be a useful new weapon. Cell phones and the internet are also very important. But any Montagnards caught with cell phones or video recorders are likely to be detained, put under surveillance, tortured or worse," [Scott Johnson] said.

"We had video footage of the 2004 Easter prayer vigil which showed many Montagnards being beaten and even killed, but the film was confiscated by police."

The descendants of America's so-called "forgotten allies" are still paying with their lives, but thanks to YouTube their stories are not dying in the jungle with them. (Source)

The majority of those who seek asylum in Cambodia are members of the hill tribes in Vietnam. They are persecuted by the government because they are Christan, they have valuable land and they helped the CIA during the Vietnam/American War.

The Montagnards are subject to violence, intimidation and many have fled, seeking asylum anywhere they can. Human rights monitors are not permitted to monitor their situation but now YouTube is functioning as their voice to a wider world.

You can see the videos here and here. Some parts contain graphic violence so be warned.

Cambodia Atlas

Check this out. It brings GIS data layers from Save Cambodia's Wildlife's superb atlas. Here's just some of what it does.

• View and pint of geographical maps (GIS layers) of Cambodia at incremental scales
• View and print of geographical maps and social, economic and natural resource data by provinces, districts and communes
• The "Search" tool provide a quick way of finding the location of a specific commune (in future also district)
• The "Identifier" tool provide an overview of the basic data of the selected commune
• The "Query" tool is a innovative data analytical search tool in which the user can:

1. Search 140 data set of all communes and print related maps and data
2. Export selected maps and data for reporting purposes and/or further analysis.

Very useful methinks!

And on a much lighter note... dating in Phnom Penh

Cross posted on Expat Advisory. Just a bit of light hearted fun, really...

The desperate and dateless situation for the females in Phnom Penh really hit hard on Valentine's day this year. This single gal assessed her options... I could have gone speed dating at the FCC but the idea of giving a kiss, hug or cross to a man I already know, work with, is married, or will invariably run into at 'The Shop' on Saturday morning didn't really appeal.

I could have put in a bid at the Bachelor Auction but decided that things really were getting desperate if I had to pay for a date...

So, unfortunately did a Bridget Jones and went along to the FCC as a non-participant, drank copious amounts of red wine, danced with the girls, ate some chocolates given to me by a girlfriend (my only Valentine) and by 11pm was singing Johnny Paul Young's 'Love is in the Air' VERY loudly... Oh well, just another Wednesday (Or was that Friday?) night in Phnom Penh...eek! - Cassie

Behold the lament of single girls in Phnom Penh. Sure there are plenty of boys around the city, but once you've ruled out Cambodian, married or faithful to girlfriend, gay or sexpat, there are few left.

Talking about the single boys, Cambodia has a glut of professional single women and a paucity of eligible men.

Identify and target the eligible boys, is the name of the game whether you play for laughs or to win. Genya said, Did I find someone I like? A couple but they were all taken within a matter of minutes!

So already there are few single boys and of those few there are, to quote Bridget Jones, alcoholics, workoholics, peeping toms, megalomaniacs, emotional fuckwits, or perverts, and so the pool gets shallower.

Often the question arises from those in couples dispensing helpful advice to people who are happier than they are, of why expat girls don't date Cambodian boys. Well some brave girls do until they are left for a previously undisclosed marriage or a marriage-to-be. As one girl said the cultural differences are such that the power imbalance would be considerable for the average Cambodian male. The girls I know who do date Cambodians had to teach them how to kiss, which bodes ill for having a fun time.

I'm not sure if the word disaster covers the dating situation that single girls find themselves in when they arrive in country, so I asked the girls for their perspective

'A lost cause' is how I would describe the dating here. - K

Dating in Cambodia sucks... I have been here for a year now and have yet to go on a date and it's not due to the lack of propositioning. - B

A date in Cambodia? It's like snow in the Sahara! - Genya

A vision of the Sahara desert comes to mind - dry, barren and rough. - X

It's not that I never meet anyone, I mean I don't, but I don't want a backpacker, an intern, a bi-both ways, a guy only after Khmer girls or a married guy! Just simply a normal guy with a job and some kind of goals in life! Yet it seems I'm asking too much! - K

I might be pessimistic, though I see it as being realistic. I'm basically not ever, not even through naiveté, going to sleep with a man that's into the commercial sex scene, even if this means being completely devoid of any sexual activity... and damn am I going crazy! - B

It sucks to be straight and single in this town but what about the gay girls? What's the scene like? The rumours are that the straight girls have started dating gay girls because the boys are just not present.

What is the scene like - great if you're a lesbian - they seem to get loads of sex, apparently from all the frustrated straight girls too! - Genya

As a gay girl in Phnom Penh, attempting to 'hook up' is not really the question, avoiding becoming the subject of gossip and rumours, is. Still, with people leaving and new ones arriving, the scene hopefully rotates enough to make it sustainable fun.

One interesting facet of the scene is that there are an inordinate number of 'straight' women dancing in the same space, possibly due to the scarcity of available chaps... or at least, that's how the story goes... - English Girl

So those are our options, find the rarest of the rare - a single boy capable of social interaction, sexpats, girl on girl or masturbation. But is there an often untapped resource? Straight girls, listen up, there are boys out there.

If you want to get laid, think backpackers! Now granted they can be a little smelly and you really don't want to hear how meditation changed their life, or the funny story with the syphilis, but showers, oral sex and condoms will fix all the issues.

Shagging backpackers is the new black. Of course it is the definition of a one night stand but at least you can be fairly sure that you won't be the subject of the latest Phnom Penh gossip. Upon close observation, the habitat of the vir backpackerus cambodi appears to be concentrated in lakeside. There is cheap drinking up there too.

I have a friend who was seriously dicked over by a male expat here. I still recall the text she sent me that said "I think I just have to go to the lake and meet a backpacker." So I took her to the lake that evening. She eyed one guy who was sitting at a table near us at the Flying Elephant... My friend got exactly what she wanted, finding a cute guy who she danced and made out with. - Liz

I'm just going to stick with the ol' back packers! - B

In a community where there are so many more female expats than males, and so many of the males already have significant others, sometimes you just gotta go to the lake and hook up with a backpacker.

I've heard a number of expat females who have gone backpacker one lonely night. The guy(s) really go for the whole expat thing and think it's awesome you live here. If one is trying to hook up with a backpacker, taking them to heart of darkness is a MUST. - - Liz

So, girls, if you are lonely and/or horny and there is zero possibility of going out with an expat, then head up to the lake where you can find company for the evening. Just remember to use plenty of soap and the entire box of condoms.

The demise of the Cambodge Soir

The Global Witness report has certainly caused a furore here in the Penh. Last week the Minister of Information said,

...he said that the government would not take action against newspapers that continue to publish the entire content of the report. (Source)

Because the Cambodian government respects the freedom of the press and death threats are funny! Despite this magnanimous gesture of not taking action against newspapers for doing their jobs, he

... issued an order to all newspapers to stop the publication of the Global Witness report... Minister of Information wrote in his statement sent to all newspaper editors to stop the integral publication of the Global Witness report. He said that if the publication continues, he will take legal action. On Sunday, Khieu Kanharith told The Cambodia Daily by phone that newspapers can publish reference to the report, but that they cannot publish the entire report. (Source)

So the government said that it's acceptable to reference the report but not to publish it. Obviously by banning the report, the government guaranteed a wide readership, but at least internet connections in Cambodia are still operational!

Then last week Soren Seelow was fired from the Cambodge Soir for publishing portions of the report. It was not the government but CS management. Indeed the position of shareholder Philippe Monin may have played a role in the affair.

Monin, who is also employed by the French Development Agency (AFD) to act as a adviser for the Cambodian agriculture ministry, told Seelow that his article would upset the authorities and put him in a difficult position... The story did not please Monin and the newspaper’s managing editor, who summoned Seelow on 10 June and told him he was fired. (Source)

In protest at the treatment of their colleague, the editorial staff went on strike on Monday, and on Tuesday, Societé des Editions du Mekong, who publish the Cambodge Soir announced the end of the paper, ostensibly due to financial difficulties.

Reporters without Borders notes that

A Cambodia-based journalist who spoke to Reporters Without Borders on condition of anonymity claimed that the new managing editor hired by Cambodge Soir’s board last September had been given the job of "sabotaging" the newspaper.

If that is the case, he could not have wished for a better success. The paper is gone and its reputation for independence is damaged. After 12 years, it's time to pack up and go home.

KRT update

It's amazing but it's done - the Khmer Rouge tribunal has adopted the internal rules. In ten days they come into effect and actual investigations can begin.

Click here for more

Dengue fever

Officials in a Cambodian province close to the capital said Wednesday that seven children had died of dengue fever in one village in recent weeks and they were bracing for more deaths as the rainy season set in. (Source)

With the rainy season comes Dengue fever which is a mosquito-borne disease. There is no vaccine and there are four subtypes, one of which kills. There have been more cases this year in the dry season so the infection rate with the rains is expected to reach record highs.

So protect yourself

• remain in well-screened or completely enclosed, air-conditioned areas;
• wear light-coloured clothing with full-length pant legs and sleeves;
• use insect repellent on exposed skin.
• get rid of stagnant water in your house

And that's pretty much all you can do. Here's to a disease-free wet season.

Acid attack

Police still have no suspects in Thursday morning's acid attack that left a high school student critically injured... "Our police were not immediately aware of the attack because acid attacks make no sound", Touth Naruth said of the dousing of sulphuric acid over Kiri Chariya as she walked home on a busy street from Wat Koh High School at 11am. (Source: Cambodia Daily)

Acid attacks are violent retribution normally against women for perceived crimes. In Cambodia, it is often the mistresses of married men who are doused. Other victims include girlfriends whose partners accuse of infidelity, or women who refuse to marry or refuse sexual advances. Such attacks are rare against school girls but again are not unheard of.

The police are treating the motive as revenge. Two youths on a motorcycle poured a litre of sulphuric acid over Chariya's head. She is now in critical condition in hospital. Why was she attacked? If it was revenge, it was probably revenge for a refusal. She may have refused to date her attacker. She may have refused to have sex with her attacker. She may have made her attacker wait or insulted him, or any other action that could perceivably have caused offense or loss of face in this prideful society.

Here, sex is taboo unless you are a man, married and have a mistress or visit brothels. They call it being MBA (married but available). Women have none of this freedom. They save their virginity until marriage because the alternatives are just too severe. In some cases, this leads to sulphuric acid in the face. She is probably blind and disabled for life because an adolescent male got into a snit about his entitlements. No real motive for the attack has been given but going on the statistics and situation it is most likely that Chariya refused sexual advances.

The teenage girls at her school are fearful of more attacks. One girl intimated that since they are students and not singers who have love affairs there is no cause of such attacks. But it is so easy to procure sulfuric acid. And it is so easy to get offended and it is so easy to blind, disfigure and disable someone and it is so easy get off scot free.

There is a law pertaining to acid attacks. It was drawn up in 2002 but there have been precious few convictions. It allows the sentence of 5 to 10 years if convicted. However, rich perpetrators do not spend time in prison. The case of Tat Marina is a case in point. According to Licadho:

The six attacks that led to convictions, and the perpetrators’ sentences, are:

• A woman who threw acid on her drunk and abusive husband, blinding him in one eye, during one of his many beatings of her: 4 years imprisonment.
• A woman who threw acid on her husband, blinding him in both eyes, because he was divorcing her: 15 years imprisonment;
• A man who threw acid on his wife because she left him to go and live with another man: 9 months imprisonment;
• A woman who threw acid on her husband’s second wife, seriously injuring her: 6 years imprisonment for attempted murder.
• A woman who killed a woman and injured her two sons with acid because she suspected the victim of having a relationship with her former husband: 18 years imprisonment (two accomplices were also convicted and sentenced, although one escaped);
• A woman who threw acid on her husband’s second wife, seriously mutilating her, and kidnapped the victim’s baby: a 2 years suspended sentence (so the perpetrator spent no time in prison).

What it boils down to is that the perpetrator did what he could because he could. Chances are he will not go to prison for his crime. The consequences are that an 18 year old woman is fighting for her life, a life she will live blind, disfigured and disabled, because he would not take no for an answer.

Preah Vihear as World Heritage

Sources: KI Media and Wikipedia

Phnom Penh (dpa) - The Cambodian government has renewed efforts to have Unesco classify the ancient Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith confirmed Monday.

Kanharith confirmed reports in the Khmer-language Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper that the important 11th to 12th century temple, which lies in the far north of the country perched on the Thai border, should be recognised as a World Heritage monument to help assure its continued preservation.

Royal decrees passed by Cambodia with guidance from Unesco since 2002 have helped the Cambodidan government model ways to better manage and preserve the remote and partially ruined temple, assisting its current chances of finally being granted World Heritage listing. Read more...

Positive governmental intervention with regard to Cambodia's heritage is a rare occurrence but definitely to be lauded. As a World Heritage site, Preah Vihear temple may be able to secure funding towards its maintenance but more importantly it will be protected.

No more of that kinda of thing

Khieu Kanharith said that stories of the (Global Witness) report has been published for one week already and that should be enough. (Source)

Yes please be so kind as to ignore the disturbing allegations of corruption and illegal logging by the ruling classes. Sure it's not even news any more. How could you possibly trust an organisation that is not 100% supported by the ruling junta? Besides it's become publish and perish as opposed to the more usual publish or perish. Pass the electric kool aid please...

Is breaking heads the best way to deal with the GW report?

The row between the Cambodian government and Global Witness continues. Hun Nenh is in favour of breaking heads -

"If they [Global Witness] come to Cambodia, I will hit them until their heads are broken," was how the prime minister's brother and provincial governor, Hun Neng, responded to accusations that he and his wife were involved in the illicit trade. (Source)

Breaking heads might be personally satisfying for the governor but it is hardly a worthy response of a government. The response of this government is denial -

The report has enraged government officials, who call it "fiction," and prompted the information ministry to ban it. (Source)

After its little temper tantrum, the government declared its intention to investigate the allegations and clear its name. It has not stated that it will use any means necessary but it is probably a given. It accuses Global Witness of a personal vendetta against the Cambodian government because of GW's expulsion from the country. Some entities have a tendency to accuse others of what they themselves are guilty of and perhaps this is the case here. The government takes any slights, perceived or otherwise, badly and overreacts. GW is saying what people have suspected for a long time.

Someone should try any prevent the governor from breaking too many heads before the legal right to "freedom of expression" bites back.

Everyone is connected II

From KI Media. Click the picture to see the detail.

Bridget Gray's poetry

I know in the beginning I was down to work my hips, but I was tricked. Seduced by your beat. You had me for three minutes and forty-six seconds I was suspended in time, but when I snapped out of it I had to ask "Did I hear what I thought I did in that last rhyme?" Now forgive me, maybe I'm getting old or maybe I'm just slow, but I didn't even know you could say "bitch" on the radio, yet I was entranced by your beat I heard somewhere before, oh, I remember that was the original score. Now unless I'm dreaming I could have swore, right after you called me a "bitch" you called someone else a whore, and at this point I'm trying to process a few things. - Bridget Gray

Do yourself a favour and listen to the whole poem. Thanks to Terry for the link.

Oops there goes the environment

World Environment Day was yesterday, well today in some parts of the world. I read this article a few weeks ago and was saving it for WE day. The article details the sea of plastics in the Pacific ocean.

It began with a line of plastic bags ghosting the surface, followed by an ugly tangle of junk: nets and ropes and bottles, motor-oil jugs and cracked bath toys, a mangled tarp. Tires. A traffic cone. Moore could not believe his eyes. Out here in this desolate place, the water was a stew of plastic crap. It was as though someone had taken the pristine seascape of his youth and swapped it for a landfill.

How did all the plastic end up here? How did this trash tsunami begin? What did it mean? If the questions seemed overwhelming, Moore would soon learn that the answers were even more so, and that his discovery had dire implications for human—and planetary—health. As Alguita glided through the area that scientists now refer to as the “Eastern Garbage Patch,” Moore realized that the trail of plastic went on for hundreds of miles. Depressed and stunned, he sailed for a week through bobbing, toxic debris trapped in a purgatory of circling currents. To his horror, he had stumbled across the 21st-century Leviathan. It had no head, no tail. Just an endless body.

“Every one of us has this huge body burden,” Moore says. “You could take your serum to a lab now, and they’d find at least 100 industrial chemicals that weren’t around in 1950.” The fact that these toxins don’t cause violent and immediate reactions does not mean they’re benign: Scientists are just beginning to research the long-term ways in which the chemicals used to make plastic interact with our own biochemistry.

The oceans are choking and humanity is producing more and more plastic and only a tiny percentage is being recycled. This is not just killing the planet but it is killing ourselves. It is said that in the future we will not be producing plastic because the price of oil will be too high. Well now is not the time to be sitting around twiddling our thumbs.

Click here for environmental information from UNEP.

PM's 1000 year plan

If I live for another 1,000 years, I will never want to see you. You enjoy your rights, and so do I mine. As a prime minister, I bear no obligation to see that guy, he said. (Source)

In an orgy of hyperbole, the PM just cannot stop. He must reply to every remark with more grandiose claims. The claim that not even in a 1000 years will he meet Yash Ghai is disturbing - is the PM really planning to be in power that long. He declared recently that he only intends another 30 years, and this new claim of 1000 years has disconcerted the expat / development / NGO community. They will have to throw out the 30 year plan and work on something a little more long term.

Various theories have surfaced regarding his means of remaining in power for so long. One reliable source claims that his life is being sustained not by the blood of the innocent as previously thought, but by the timber of illegal logging. if this proves true, it is worrying for the party considering that Cambodia has a finite supply of forest.

However hope remains. It might possible to rig up some cryogenic suspension fueled by the comments on NGOs and UN envoys which when mixed with the PM's brainwaves product a combustible fuel. The fuel could provide a link with a communicator that can spew vitriol to the entire Kingdom.

With modern technology, there is little that the political elite can accomplish and there is a possibility that the PM may be prepared to meet Yash Ghai on 6 June 3007 although it is entirely possible that the UN may send a different envoy.

Unacceptable and unrealistic

"The writer only saw the bleak aspects. If the writer saw white, he will write white, and if the writer saw black, he will write black. He only sees black and not white; it always rains, and there is no blue sky" - Khieu Sopheak, spokesman of the Ministry of Interior, ranting about UN Envoy Yash Ghai's scathing report on human rights condition in Cambodia

The Cambodian government said Friday a UN human rights report was "unacceptable" and unrealistic, at the end of a three-day visit from the UN rights envoy Yash Ghai.

The report calls human rights abuses in Cambodia "intentional and systematic acts of the government in maintaining power," the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The report "does not reflect the reality" and "overlooked" efforts by government agencies to curb rights abuses, the statement said.

Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said the report should not be submitted without consensus from the Cambodian government. (Source)

Yes indeedy. The Cambodia Government did not like that so the report must be deemed unacceptable. I do wonder what would be acceptable. Perhaps Ghai should follow the example of other agencies and not ask and not tell? That may indeed appease the government but what hope for human rights in Cambodia without the bright lights of an open investigation?

Global Witness reveals...

The Cambodian government on Sunday banned circulation of a report by London-based environmental watchdog Global Witness connecting high-ranking politicians to illegal logging, claiming it was politically motivated.

A statement signed by government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said the government had found that the report issued Friday was unfounded, and had been written in retribution for the group being banned from the country in 2005. (Source)

Yes because an NGO like Global Witness has nothing better to do than exact retribution from third world governments. The PM has declared that Global Witness is finished in Cambodia. All hard copies of the report have been banned and one government official is calling for a block of the site. The report is available here for now anyway.

Top officials in Cambodia are involved in illegal logging and helping to strip the nation of its natural assets, an international watchdog has said.

Global Witness claims that legitimate land concessions are being used as a cover for criminal activity.

The London-based organisation has also accused international donors of failing to act to stop the trade.

The Cambodian authorities, as well as officials named in the report, have dismissed the allegations.

Forestry Administration director Ty Sokhun, one of the officials accused, described Global Witness as "insane, unprofessional people" with no knowledge of forestry.

A company director also named in the report described the charges as "unacceptable".

Global Witness accuses ministers, business people and relatives closely linked to Prime Minister Hun Sen, as well as the military and police, of involvement in the alleged asset stripping.

"Logging is part of a massive asset stripping for the benefit of a small kleptocratic elite," Simon Taylor, Global Witness director, said.

"The forests of Cambodia have been ransacked over the past decade by this mafia with little or no benefit flowing down to the ordinary people," he added. (Source)

This comes as little surprise to us on the ground. The organisations working in development are in a don't ask, don't tell situation with the government. Everybody knows that the dice are loaded... everybody knows that the fight was fixed, the poor stay poor, the rich get rich, that's how it goes, everybody knows.

It's hard to miss the ravaged former forest in Ratanakiri and the impingement on the rights of ethnic minorities. It's hard to miss the constant and consistent land grabbing. It's hard to miss the bodyguards of the children of the elite in the Heart of Darkness. It's hard to miss the two Lamborghinis that belong the a son of a high ranking politician.

What is amazing are the denials and the need to counter any report or statement originating outside the party. It's probably due to a need to save face. However, the international community finds such denials... dubious.

International Children's Day

Today is International Children's Day - "a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children" - which is wonderful. But perhaps it is more useful to think about children's rights and promoting adherence to child related conventions.

Six of the eight Millennium Development Goals relate directly to children. Children are living in poverty, embroiled in armed conflict, trafficked as slaves and sex workers, working in the worst conditions, living in shantytowns, addicted to drugs by the age of four, deprived of education, health, orphaned by AIDS and other diseases including those with treatment and a host of other situations that global civil society must work on and ameliorate for all the children in the world. As trite as it sounds - they are the future.

In Cambodia, children sell flowers, shoeshines, jasmine and newspapers on the streets. The expats do not buy from them because there is always a man on a motorbike to take the money and whisk them to the next restaurant, bar etc. It is very hard to say no but the rule is never buy from or give to children. ChildSafe Cambodia is an organisation that protects children and has a network of service people to watch for abuse. Their advice is clear

Do not buy anything from children on the streets:
- Many tourists and expatriates feel pity for the children selling various products. By buying products/services from children, you support a business that puts children at high risk; children are out at night until late and are working in hazardous places
- Most of the children are forced into work and racketed for the money they earn. All have an adult waiting for them outside and could do the job themselves without involving children
- By providing them with an income, it hinders organizations that work with these families to encourage alternative and safe sources of income.
- Children might say that they work to pay for their studies: surveys show that this is something to say to make a sale.
- What to do: Refrain from buying with a smile. If you want to help, support the Cambodian social workers that work with these children
- Giving them food has the same results as it maintains children on the streets

So we comply and refuse to buy and it must seem so unfair. The rich barang (foreigners) are eating, drinking and enjoying life in Cambodia and they won't spare 1000 riel ($0.25).

There is a lovely flower girl who works Riverside at night that a couple of my friends took to the waterpark and the zoo. She sells roses to people in bars but she is approaching an age that will make her vulnerable to prostitution and rape. It is heart-breaking but there's nothing we can do except support the child protection agencies. I recommend Rithy Panh's film Paper Cannot Wrap Up Embers for more information.

I have blogged before on the six year old boy I met who was in rehab for drugs and on Seila a victim of child trafficking. I found this press release from Legal Aid of Cambodia on pre-trial detention for children.

June 1 is International Children’s Day. On that day many accused children are awaiting their trials at the CC2 Prison in Phnom Penh and other prisons throughout the country. Most of them are being held in beyond the legal limits of pre-trial detention and they often wonder who is responsible for their excessive pretrial detention.

The juveniles are between 13 to 18 years old on the date of the accused crime. Nearly all of their clients are held in pre-trial detention in various provincial prisons and CC2 Prison. The excessive pre-trial detention period regarding these cases, range from 15 days up to 70 days or more. This can be considered as a broad violation of children's rights and leads to the situation that these juveniles are being deprived of receiving education, living with their families and enjoying social events even before it has been decided whether they are guilty or not. (Press release from Legal Aid of Cambodia)

Think about it this way, a child innocent of a crime gets locked away for maybe 70 days, over two months. Although it doesn't really matter whether the child is guilty of the crime or not. It is a violation of children's rights, a violation on the Convention on the Rights of the Child of which Cambodia is a signatory.

There is also the fact that child can be charged as adults here depending on the severity of the alleged crime or the status of the victim. There was a story not long ago of a teenager who cursed down the phone to the wife of a CPP official. He thought he was speaking to someone else. He is now in jail, waiting to be tried as an adult. He is in jail due to a mis-dialed number and very bad luck. (I will try to find the newspaper article and provide sources.)

They are just some of the stories from Cambodia. There are other stories, happier stories. There are children who get a great education and play without a care in the world. There are children who get English lessons and play football and meet foreign children. All childhoods are represented.