UN Envoy to Gauge Progress of Rights, Reforms in Cambodia

 
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya Subedi, will visit the country next week to assess the government’s progress in improving human rights and democratic and land reforms, his office said Wednesday.

During the 10-day fact-finding mission, beginning June 15, Subedi will meet with senior members of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s administration, as well as with representatives of civil society organizations, the business community, the U.N. country team and international donors, a statement said.

Subedi is also expected to undertake field visits to gather first-hand information on the status of human rights in Cambodia during his 11th official trip to the country.

“As a follow-up to my last mission in January this year, the focus of this mission will be to further explore the progress made by the Royal Government of Cambodia towards establishing independent human rights institutions,” Subedi said.

“I also intend to use this visit to assess progress on the implementation of the recommendations made in my previous reports dealing with judiciary, parliamentary, electoral and land reform in Cambodia.”

Since his appointment in March 2009, Subedi has presented six reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council. He will present his next report to the body at its September 2014 session.

The Special Rapporteur is scheduled to hold a press conference at the end of his visit, on June 24 at the U.N. Human Rights Office in Phnom Penh.

Subedi’s last mission to Cambodia came just after security forces shot and killed at least four people in a Jan. 3 crackdown on opposition-supported strikes by garment workers demanding a higher minimum wage.

The rights envoy said then that the government action had “cast doubt” on any expectations that democracy in the country was maturing.the end of 2013, his assessment of progress on human rights in Cambodia had been “generally positive,” but the government’s suppression of protests, including the crackdown, were threatening this evaluation, he said at the time.

He had also urged Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) to end a political deadlock following disputed elections in July.

The CPP was declared the victor in the polls despite widespread allegations of fraud, resulting in a boycott of parliament by the elected CNRP lawmakers.

Renewed talks

The standoff is now in its 10th month following meetings between the two sides in which the CNRP demanded a shake-up of the body that organizes elections and other reforms.

Hopes for a compromise, however, were renewed Tuesday when Hun Sen agreed to opposition demands to enshrine the mandate of the government-appointed National Election Commission (NEC) in the country’s constitution.

He also agreed to grant the CNRP a license for a television station—a long-standing demand by the opposition. All stations currently operating in Cambodia are either directly or indirectly controlled by the government or ruling party.

The prime minister did not address opposition calls for an early election. In negotiations, Hun Sen has said that if the CNRP ends its boycott of parliament, he is willing to hold the next election in February 2018—five months ahead of schedule.

Three representatives from each of the two parties will meet Thursday at the Senate building in the capital Phnom Penh to further hash out Hun Sen’s proposals, CNRP lawmaker Kuy Bunroeun told RFA’s Khmer Service on Wednesday.

“The teams will work to draft an agreement in the form of a written statement,” he said.

Kuy Bunroeun welcomed Hun Sen’s statement, which party leader Sam Rainsy had called “a political turn that could end the deadlock,” but cautioned that the prime minister’s words alone would not guarantee the opposition’s return to parliament.

“As long as there is no confirmation or guarantee of an agreement between the two parties, we can’t participate in the National Assembly,” he said.

“[We won’t join] unless we have an agreement through a written statement and a political solution.”

Judicial draft laws

According to a report by the Phnom Penh Post, the opposition boycott of parliament will include the senate session Thursday at which CPP lawmakers are expected to debate three controversial judicial draft laws that passed through the lower house unopposed last month.

If passed, the bills would give the Justice Ministry and legislature greater power over the courts, including appointing officials.

Six Killed, Two Injured in Fresh Xinjiang Clashes

 
Police shot dead five ethnic minority Uyghurs and lost one of their own in fresh clashes in China’s restive northwestern Xinjiang region amid stepped up security checks in an anti-terror clampdown imposed after deadly attacks in the capital, according to police.

Four of the men were shot in Kashgar prefecture’s Konasheher (in Chinese, Shufu) county in a confrontation triggered when local officials lifted a woman’s veil during a house check in her village a week ago, police there said.

The men, armed with knives and sticks, killed a policeman, also a Uyghur, before they succumbed to gunshots in the June 4 clash while two village officials were injured, the local police said.

In a separate incident a week earlier, a man was shot dead in neighboring Aksu prefecture’s Awat county while fleeing from authorities pursuing him for alleged involvement in a “social stability” crime, police said.

The clashes come amid stepped up house-to-house security checks and mass sentencings announced in Xinjiang -- home to the mostly Muslim Uyghurs who complain of heavy-handed rule and ethnic discrimination under Chinese rule -- since authorities launched an anti-terror drive last month.

In the Konasheher incident, the woman’s two brothers were angered by the lifting of her veil and attacked the Salayqong village officials with sticks and knives, an officer at the Lenger township police station told RFA’s Uyghur Service.

“It happened because of a confrontation between the village cadres and the homeowners … over the veil,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

As they fled the village officials called in the police, who got in a fatal confrontation with the brothers and two other men who were in the house, he said.

Two of the men were shot dead early in the clash, one was shot and died later at the hospital, and the fourth died after being shot from behind while running away from police.

The dead policeman was identified as Tursun Ablimit, according to the source.

The others Uyghurs killed were Turaji Obulqasim, Dawut Zunun, Tursunjan Hoseyin, and Hoseyin’s older brother, he said.

'Plotting terrorist activities'

Police have said the four men were suspected of “plotting terrorist activities” together, he said, without providing details.

Two of the men were from outside the village, he added.

Chinese authorities discourage the wearing of veils, headscarves, and other forms of Islamic dress in Xinjiang, where Uyghur Muslims complain of eroding religious rights.

Uyghur exile rights groups have blamed invasive security measures in Xinjiang for contributing to violence in the region, saying house-to-house security checks targeting Uyghur neighborhoods have been responsible for frequent clashes between Uyghurs and police.

Konasheher county was also the scene of bloody violence in December, when 14 Uyghurs were shot dead by police in Saybagh village in an incident state media said had been perpetrated by a “terror gang but exile Uyghur groups characterized as state violence against peaceful demonstrators.

Awat incident

In Aksu prefecture, authorities in Awat county are searching for the alleged accomplice of the man shot and killed on May 29, police said.

The two men were riding together on a motorcycle when Besheriq village police who had been instructed to pursue them caught up with them in Towekoktala village, opening fire and killing one of the men, police said.

Besheriq police station chief Enver Molla told RFA that police had been disappointed they had not caught both men alive.

Besheriq policeman Ahmetjan Rozi said the two men had been fleeing from a “social stability” crime they allegedly committed in neighboring Yenqieriq county, but police had been given little information about what the two were suspected of doing.

“We were told that the suspects had some petroleum. It could have been used to start a fire and it was deemed a tool for violence,” he said.

Xinjiang authorities declared a one-year crackdown on “violent terrorist activities” last month following a May 22 bombing at a market in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi that killed 43 people including the four attackers.

Since then, Xinjiang authorities have issued a flurry of announcements citing more than 300 arrests and scores of rapid prosecutions resulting in stiff sentences including the death penalty.

Sources across Xinjiang have reported to RFA broader and more intense house-to-house security checks in their towns and villages since the market bombing, which came on the heels of an April 30 knife and bomb attack at a railway station in Urumqi.

Seventy-nine people were injured in the attack, which took place hours after President Xi Jinping concluded a visit to Xinjiang.

Chinese authorities have blamed both incidents, as well as an April stabbing at a train station in Yunnan and an October suicide bombing in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, on Uyghur extremists seeking to overthrow Chinese rule and inspired by global jihadi ideology.

Critics say violence in the region has been fueled by oppressive Chinese policies and strict religious controls, with overseas Uyghur rights groups claiming authorities exaggerate the separatist threat in the region to justify repressive security measures.

Study finds Cambodia most vulnerable to climate change

 
US credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has ranked Cambodia’s economy and creditworthiness as the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.Of 116 nations measured by S&P as part of a vulnerability index published last month – with a number 1 ranking being the least vulnerable – Cambodia scored the lowest, coming in at 116th.The index took into account the share of Cambodia’s population living in areas below five metres of altitude, the percentage that agriculture contributes to GDP and the results of a similar study conducted by Notre Dame University in 2012.
Cambodia’s dependence on agriculture-related products as a driver for 35 per cent of its GDP growth in 2012, the more than 10 per cent of the country living at or below five metres of altitude, and a poor ranking in the Notre Dame University study all contributed to the country’s “highly vulnerable” status.

“[Cambodia has] the highest average rank number of any of the rated sovereigns included. Therefore, we assign Cambodia the highest possible overall rank of 116, being the most vulnerable to climate change,” the report states.“Climate change, and specifically global warming, is going to be the second global mega-trend affecting sovereign credit risk,” it says, cautioning that the world’s poorest nations’ economies are set to be disproportionately affected by global warming.
Food insecurity, reduced agricultural crop yields and restricted labour forces triggered by changing rainfall conditions, disaster recovery efforts placing increased pressure on government budgets, and civilian deaths are just some of the economic consequences Cambodia faces as global warming worsens, the S&P report warns.

Vietnam, Bangladesh and Senegal followed Cambodia as the economies most at risk of climate change, while Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria – all high-altitude European nations – were ranked as the least vulnerable.S&P affirmed Cambodia’s credit rating of “B” in 2013, labelling the country as having a strong and stable long-term and short-term outlook. The ratings agency did not cite climate change risks as a detrimental factor in its latest credit rating.
Sok Puthyvuth, president of the Cambodia Rice Federation, said that the economic impact of climate change was a global issue and that Cambodia’s agriculture sector should look offshore for solutions to the threat.“I believe the solution to this will rest in technologies which allow farmers to respond quicker to changes in the weather,” he said, citing examples from Israel where farmers are able to grow their crops even in harsh desert environments.

Srey Chanthy, an independent economist, said while the threat is not immediate, the Cambodian government needs to start investing in disaster-mitigation measures sooner rather than later.
“I am concerned for five years down the track,” Chanthy said. “The government needs to invest in disaster-resilient infrastructure such as water irrigation and drought resistant varieties, while somehow also maintaining the existing natural resources.”He added that Cambodia’s economy would find it difficult to recover from a natural disaster much worse than the floods of 2011, which damaged 10 per cent of the country’s total agricultural crops and $200 million worth of infrastructure.
“Cambodia in 2011 had to have financial intervention from donors such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank to recover from the floods,” he said.
“If much worse than that occurred it would be very difficult for the economy to recuperate.”

Thousands of Mekong Delta households face erosion threat

Illustrative image. – File photo

In Hau Giang Province's Phung Hiep District, for example, parts of eight houses in Tan Long Commune's Thanh Loi A1 Hamlet fell into the Nang Mao River last Saturday because of riverbank erosion. The eroded area was 40 metres long and four to six metres deep inland.
The foundations of more than 10 houses were damaged, and they are now in danger of collapsing.
Le Van Ho, chairman of the Tan Long People's Committee, visited the site and told local police and other forces to help affected households move to safe areas.
The Tan Long People's Committee also arranged forces to monitor the erosion site around the clock.
Le Phuoc Dai, head of the province's Sub-Department of Irrigation, said local residents had built houses too close to the river, narrowing the river and causing water to flow more rapidly. This resulted in even more erosion, he said.
The Dong Thap Province People's Committee last week announced emergency measures to prevent riverbank erosion along the Tien River in Cao Lanh City's Ward 11.
Since early this month, erosion about 100 metres long and 25 metres deep inland has threatened the lives of hundreds of households.
The Dong Thap People's Committee also told the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and several agencies to relocate households in the eroded area.
Boats and other waterway transport facilities have been banned from docking at the eroded area, said the People's Committee.
Dong Thap has 34 communes, wards and towns that have had riverbank erosion with a total length of 38.7 km, affecting 4,000 households. In many areas, erosion was 10- 40 metres deep inland.
The province's eroded sites are in Hong Ngu, Lai Vung and Chau Thanh districts, Cao Lanh and Sa Det cities and Hong Ngu Town.
The Dong Thap Province People's Committee has asked the Government to support financing for the province to build an additional nine residential areas and clusters to relocate households living in erosion-prone areas.
An Giang Province has about 6,000 households living in these areas, and its People's Committee has asked the Government for help to build an additional 19 residential areas and clusters to relocate them.
To prevent further erosion, the An Giang People's Committee has decided to also relocate 244 floating cages that breed fish and other aquatic species in the Hau River in Long Xuyen City's My Hoa Hung Commune.
Under the decision, owners of the floating cages have to move their cages to new places to the east of My Hoa Hung Islet by the end of this year.
In the coastal province of Ca Mau, local authorities have reported that about 80 per cent of the land on the eastern and western coast of Ca Mau had suffered erosion.
Erosion has also occurred along most rivers and canals, affecting agricultural production and thousands of households, they said.

UN supports Vietnam’s East Sea stance

China's oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 is illegally positioned in Vietnam's exclusive continental shelf

Receiving ambassador Le Hoai Trung head of the Vietnamese mission to the UN, in New York on June 10, Ashe called on parties concerned not to carry out unilateral acts to escalate tensions in the region.
He said his office has followed the situation with keen interest and it is willing to lend a helping hand to the parties in addressing the issue.
Ambassador Trung said since China stationed its drilling rig Haiyang Shiyou-981, it has deployed many boats, including warships, and aircraft to prevent the operation of Vietnamese law enforcement agencies in the area.
China's oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 is illegally positioned in Vietnam's exclusive continental shelf
He said Chinese vessels provocatively attacked and fired water cannons at Vietnamese law enforcement and fishing boats, injuring a number of sailors and seriously damaging their property. Most recently, they even sank a Vietnamese boat which was fishing in its traditional fishing ground.
Trung said Vietnam strongly protests against Chinese violation of Vietnamese sovereignty and asks it to withdraw the drilling rig, escort ship and aircraft from Vietnam’s waters.
Vietnam has exercised maximum restraint and made every effort to resolve the issue through dialogue and other peaceful means in line with international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
In defiance of Vietnam’s goodwill, China has increased provocative acts to complicate the situation in the East Sea.
The ambassador said Vietnam has sufficient historical evidence and legal foundations to assert its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago. He even refuted China’s incorrect and groundless arguments, including a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement on June 8.
He proposed that the UN and the international community continue supporting Vietnam’s goodwill and legitimate requests.

Psy leads Snoop Dogg on Korean-style drinking binge

Psy's new song "Hangover" featuring Snoop Dogg dropped three days ago and the video has already racked up more than 31 million views on YouTube.That's actually a pretty slow start for the Korean superstar, considering "Gangnam Style" became the first video to pass two billion hits a week ago, while his follow-up single "Gentleman" also broke a record for the most views in 24 hours -- it currently has 694 million views on YouTube.The "Hangover" video shows Psy taking Snoop on a ridiculous guided tour of what he does best -- hardcore drinking, Korean-style. This involves endless bomb shots, hanging out at a jjimjilbang (Korean bathhouse), throwing up and karaoke with strangers -- with one particularly surreal scene of Snoop, Psy and and two Korean women blithely skipping through an amusement park, presumably drunk.True to the premise, Psy told CNN he was actually hungover when the song came out.

Promotions for the new song kicked off Sunday on Jimmy Kimmel, with the unlikely trio of Kimmel, Psy and Snoop heading to a local karaoke bar in Los Angeles and bringing the house down with their yodeling.We asked Psy to talk about his hot new collaboration.

CNN: How were you introduced to Snoop Dogg?

Psy: My manager Scooter Braun put me in touch with him at my request. When I first wrote this track, I thought that Snoop's slow rapping would fit perfectly with my rapping on this track, so I asked him to put me in touch with Snoop and it's how it all happened.

CNN: Who came up with the ideas for the video?

Psy: When I first spoke with Snoop on the phone to discuss the collaboration idea, Snoop loved the title of the song, and I immediately suggested to him during that first conversation to shoot the music video in Korea and show us getting drunk and getting hungover in the most traditional Korean way.

CNN: Where was the video filmed and who chose the locations?

Psy: It was shot in Incheon. I chose that location because Snoop only had 18 hours to shoot the video. Since he was going to arrive at Incheon International Airport, I wanted to shoot the entire video in an area that is the closest to the airport to get the most out of those 18 hours.

CNN: What was the filming process like?

Psy: I initially told him that the shoot would be very relaxed and that he would only be in five scenes to entice him to come to Seoul and shoot the video. He ended up being in more than 20 scenes in more than 10 different locations within those 18 hours.

CNN: Why did you decide to go with a different director this time?

Psy: I co-directed this video so technically it's the same director, but my co-director [Cha Eun-taek] was different from that of "Gangnam Style" and "Gentleman" [co-directed by Cho Soo-hyun] because the type of the song is different -- electronic dance music versus 808 hip hop -- and I also wanted my fans to experience something different.

CNN: What surprised you about working with Snoop Dogg?

Psy: We all know how diligent Snoop is. He is all about working hard every time -- haha. I am just joking. I was very surprised working with him because he ended up shooting 20 different scenes in a short time -- it was a tough schedule, but he was a total pro and I appreciated it so much.

CNN: How did you celebrate passing two billion views of "Gangnam Style"?

Psy: I really did not have a chance or time to celebrate because I immediately flew to LA for the Jimmy Kimmel Live appearance and other promos.

CNN: What are some events/concerts/collaborations coming up for you?

Although I cannot say at this moment who I collaborated with this past year [for an upcoming EP], but what I can tell you is that I worked with some big name artists!