Cambodian Opposition Leader Accepted as MP Ahead of Parliament Sitting

 
Cambodia's election body on Friday accepted opposition leader Sam Rainsy as a lawmaker, paving the way for his party to enter parliament as part of a political settlement with Prime Minister Hun Sen.Following the move, the National Assembly, the country's parliament, announced in a statement that Sam Rainsy, president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), will be confirmed as legislator at a plenary session on Monday.

In accepting Sam Rainsy's application, the government-appointed National Election Commission said that it recognized him an "elected [MP] and has already dispatched the document on its decision to the National Assembly, to political parties, to the Royal Palace, Senate and other institutions.”Sam Rainsy and Hun Sen decided at a meeting Tuesday to break a one-year political impasse following disputed July 2013 elections.

Under the agreement, CNRP lawmakers who were elected in the polls but have boycotted parliament over voting irregularities will take their seats in the legislature while Hun Sen agreed to revamp the NEC, which had long been accused of bias toward the prime minister's Cambodian People's Party (CPP).An overhaul of the NEC, which had declared CPP the winner of the elections despite allegations of rigging, was a major sticking point in negotiations between the two parties.

Sam Rainsy was not allowed to stand in elections last year despite being given a royal pardon and allowed to return home from exile in France, where he had lived for four years to avoid a 12-year prison sentence he says was politically motivated.The NEC, which had refused to reinstate him in the electoral register then, on Friday approved Sam Rainsy’s application to take over a parliamentary seat vacated by an elected CNRP MP, Kuoy Bunroeun, party officials said.

Criticism

Some CNRP supporters have criticized the agreement reached with Hun Sen, saying he may not keep his side of the bargain — implementing electoral reforms.

A key component of the agreement was that the NEC should comprise nine members—four from the CNRP, four from the CPP and one who will be unanimously chosen by the two parties.Sam Rainsy on Wednesday defended his party’s decision to forge the political settlement, saying it was in the interest of implementing key electoral reforms and bringing greater freedom to the country.

His deputy Kem Sokha said Friday that CNRP would hold a meeting with its supporters on Sunday to gauge public feedback on the agreement."In the CNRP’s Congress, I will lay out or set the goal because right now people seem to be vague about the CNRP,” he said.
Kem Sokha said the "voice of the people" would determine the party's direction.

On Thursday, CNRP and CPP leaders met with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni to brief him on the agreement.“The King gave us his blessings and wishes for success in our work,” Sam Rainsy said.Official results of last year's poll gave the CPP 68 seats to 55 for the CNRP—a loss of 22 seats for the ruling party, which had also been deprived of its two-third majority in parliament.Hun Sen, 61, is Southeast Asia’s longest ruling leader and has vowed to stay in power until he is 74.

Chinese Authorities Jail 17 Uyghurs Over Shooting Protest

 
Authorities in northwestern China’s restive Xinjiang region have sentenced 17 ethnic minority Uyghurs to between six months and seven years in prison after they took part in a mass protest over the shooting death of a teenager by police, according to the young man’s mother.The 17 had been part of a group of 70 relatives and neighbors detained in mid-April for publicly demonstrating against the police killing that month of 17-year-old Abdulbasit Ablimit after he ran a red light on his motorcycle in Aksu (in Chinese, Akesu) prefecture’s Kelpin (Keping) county.

Ablimit’s mother Aminem told RFA’s Uyghur Service that more than 40 of the detainees had been released after one month of a police investigation, but were later re-arrested along with several others in the wake of a May 22 bombing in the region's capital Urumqi, which killed 31 people and injured 90.Authorities informed Kelpin county residents earlier this month that 17 of the detainees would be brought to court “in the near future” in an open trial on unspecified charges related to the protest, but Aminem said that on July 16 they suddenly announced that the group had been sentenced.

“Recently, 17 detainees—including my two brothers and other relatives—were taken to a ‘closed court’ in Kelpin, but the exact decision was not announced to the public,” she said.“From what I know, none of the detainees acknowledged having committed any offenses, but the authorities convicted them of crimes against the state.”According to Aminem, two people were sentenced to seven years in prison, four to six years, and “several” others to five years.

Her two brothers were ordered to serve three years in jail while four others were given two-year terms.“Several others” were to be imprisoned between six months and two years.She said that the residents of Kelpin had sent several petitions to both the prefectural and regional government about her son’s death, but that regional authorities had given county-level officials the right to deal with the case as they saw fit.

The county police chief and chief judge, both of whom are majority Han Chinese, were directly responsible for the detentions of more than 100 people and the “harsh” sentences for the 17 in the aftermath of the incident, Aminem said, adding that both had since been moved by prefectural authorities to positions in different locations.One of the 17 who were sentenced had been handed the jail term “just because he loudly cursed the head of the Kelpin county government” during the April 13 demonstration, in which up to 500 Uyghurs had marched, carrying Ablimit's body, to the county office to protest the police shooting.

“I remember that the protesters were blocked by the armed police halfway to the office that day. Hurriyet, the Uyghur head of the county government, arrived there with her administrative staff. I grasped her leg and cried,” Aminem said.“One man among the protesters shouted the word ‘bitch’. Nobody initially knew who had cursed, but someone told Hurriyet that it was him. Now, everyone is surprised that the man who cursed the county head was sentenced to six years in prison just because he shouted at her.”

Aminem said that most of the detained, including the 17 who were sentenced, are farmers from Kelpin’s Yurchi township whose families—many with small children and elderly parents—rely on agriculture to survive.“Since they were detained, there is nobody to take care of their families and their land. My two brothers also have small children and several mu (one-sixth of an acre) of land … I went to the county office several times and requested that they release the detained people,” she said.“I told them that I no longer plan to petition about my dead son. He is already dead. I have no more grievances. I said that I would rather stay in jail with my two children instead of the detained and sentenced people because they are innocent, and they have children and families.”

“However, the county office would not listen to me and the security personnel forcefully removed me from the premises.”Aminem said that the morning after her last visit to the county office, police brought her to the county detention center and held her for about 24 hours.

“A police officer threatened me saying, ‘I’m warning you to stay at your house and keep silent. Don’t make any trouble for us. If you don’t listen, we will arrest you whenever we want to. Maybe the rest of the lives of you and your two children will be spent in jail. The daily routine of Kelpin county will go on without you.’”“The police set up a video camera on my door. Now nobody, not even my neighbors, dare to knock. People around us live in fear. I won’t let my younger son go to the bazaar by motorcycle. He is fourteen. Since my elder son was shot by police, I fear that they might shoot him too.”

Shooting incident

Chinese state media have claimed that Ablimit was shot after he sped past two consecutive security checkpoints and clashed with police officers, but friends who were with him on the day of the incident debunked the claim.Ablimit's friends had told RFA that he and several others were traveling on separate motorcycles after visiting another friend at the Kelpin county bazaar when police fired at him about three kilometers (nearly two miles) after he whizzed past a red traffic light.

Aminem told RFA in April that police had seized Ablimit’s body from the family and buried him in a secret place following the mass protests outside government offices.Ablimit’s death was the latest fatal shooting involving Uyghurs in Xinjiang, where Chinese authorities have intensified a sweeping security crackdown.Around 200 people have died in unrest in the region in the past year or so, the government says.Many Uyghurs complain that they are subject to political, cultural, and religious repression for opposing Chinese rule in the resource-rich region.

Down to the power of one

 
One person will hold the balance of power on the overhauled National Election Committee when the political agreement signed by the opposition and ruling parties on Tuesday is implemented.
Sitting beside four members from the ruling party and four from the opposition, the man or woman who fills the final “consensus” spot will play the unenviable role of mediator and, presumably, decision maker in an election body that has long been considered beholden to the CPP.
But while there are many possible candidates for the job, it appears most of those floated as top choices by observers stand little chance of being amenable to both sides.
Koul Panha, who since 1998 has been executive director at watchdog the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel), is chief amongst them. “This is the best candidate in my eyes, but it’s not the best candidate for the CPP,” political analyst Kem Ley said.
Comfrel has long been critical of all aspects of Cambodia’s elections and is a key part of the Electoral Reform Alliance, an umbrella group whose lengthy report pointing out the flaws of last year’s poll was dismissed by the government as biased and manipulated.
The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, meanwhile, used the report as a key piece of evidence to bolster its claims that the election was rigged and that it had really won.
That association would make it “very unlikely” that the CPP would accept Panha, despite his technical expertise, said Ou Virak, chairman of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights.
“He has in the past worked a lot closer with the CNRP and that could be a problem for the CPP,” he said.
The ruling party’s conflation of the opposition and civil society groups, many of which have long been the government’s harshest critics, will likely rule out a number of candidates for the CPP, Virak added. But it cuts both ways.
“If the person is really, truly independent, neither party will agree,” he said.
But the danger is that without consensus, the current NEC will continue its work.
Some civil society candidates who should be considered aside from Panha, according to Ley, include Thun Saray, president of rights group Adhoc; Pung Chhiv Kek, president of rights group Licadho; Yeng Virak, executive director at the Community Legal Education Center; and Lao Mong Hay, a veteran political analyst.
Son Soubert, a political commentator and adviser to the King, offered up a candidate already deeply familiar with the workings of the NEC: Sin Chum Bo, the committee’s current vice chairman.
Chum Bo, who has a doctorate from an American university, “may have an independent mind”, he said, making the case that she could prove palatable for both sides.
“I think she’s suitable for both parties, and I don’t think the CPP would refuse because she is already on that committee . . . I would recommend her as a good candidate or [alternatively] one of the leaders of the NGOs,” said Soubert, who also serves as president of the Human Rights Party, which joined the Sam Rainsy Party to form the CNRP.
“Otherwise, why don’t they just ask His Majesty the King to appoint someone who is neutral from the Royal Palace?” Soubert suggested.
But CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann said the party would focus on nominating candidates from civil society.
“We are very sure that we will not nominate the old leaders of the NEC,” he said, but declined to name preferences.
One possible alternative to Panha that could be accepted by both sides is Kek of Licadho, who has worked closely with Prime Minister Hun Sen in the past. In the late 1980s, she helped set up the meetings between Hun Sen and the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk that eventually led to the Paris Peace Agreements.
Yesterday, Kek declined to comment on whether she would consider the position.
“The ninth candidate will be very difficult to find, because this person must be completely neutral, without any affiliation or bias,” she said.
Panha, on the other hand, said he would definitely consider the role if asked, but said he still had misgivings about whether the new NEC would really be independent.
“If they put in provisions clearly to make it independent, I would be happy to consider the possibility . . . I’m very happy that the public would consider me,” he said.
Prum Sokha, a lead CPP negotiator in recent talks and a secretary of state at the Interior Ministry, said it was too early to talk about suitable candidates. But he added that he did not think it would be difficult to find consensus.

Hanoi officials want to publicise names of people using prostitutes

Following 10 years of implementation of the Ordinance on Prevention of Prostitution, the People's Committee has asked the National Assembly to replace the ordinance with the Law on Prostitution Prevention.The city also recommended supplementing Article 22 by increasing the administrative penalties on sex buyers and publicly naming them in the local community and changing the concept "sexual trade" of Article 3 and replacing the words “sexual intercourse” with "sexual satisfaction" in order to cover behavior causing sexual arousal and the sex trade of homosexuals.
Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Hoang Thanh Thai, pointed out shortcomings in the current policies. He said that after the National Assembly Resolution 24/2012/QH13 took effect, prostitution in public places increased.
"The resolution stipulates that a prostitute is fined VND100,000 and VND300,000 or has to be given a warning only. The sanctioning is gentle, so most prostitutes return to crime," he said.
He also complained about difficulties in implementing the policy to help prostitutes with vocational training and get a job after they leave rehabilitation centers. This happened because most prostitutes could not meet the condition of having a permanent residence status in Hanoi.
In addition, the financial assistance of VND2 million ($100) for vocational training and VND1 million ($50) per person to find a job was insufficient. Because of this, since 2010, no prostitute has received financial support from the state budget.

Vietnam asks China to investigate death of Vietnamese women in Guangxi

MOFA spokesperson Le Hai Binh made this statement during the ministry’s regular press conference on July 24 in Hanoi when answering a reporter’s question on the incident that happened on July 23 in Guangxi Province, China killing three Vietnamese women and injuring two others. Immediately after being informed, the Vietnamese representative agencies set to work with Chinese agencies to identify the victims' personal information, offer prompt medical treatment to the injured and make funeral arrangements, Binh added.

On July 23, the Consulate General of Vietnam in Nanning promptly worked with relevant agencies of Guangxi Province to ask for all immediate medical attention for the two injured women and a prompt investigation, Binh said.Binh also said that on July 24, the Director General of Consular Department of the MOFA met with the Chinese Deputy Head of Mission in Hanoi to discuss the matter.
Responding to a question on the information that Finland has seized a container of military equipment from Vietnam to Ukraine, Binh said that according to Vietnamese relevant agencies, the container of military equipment was on the way to Ukraine for reparation and maintenance in the framework of traditional defence co-operation between Vietnam and Ukraine.
The action is totally normal in accordance with international law and practices and Vietnamese relevant agencies are working with all sides to resolve arising matters related to custom procedures for the transit in Finland, Binh added.

Regarding Vietnam’s stance to China’s creek canalisation in Duy Mong island of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago of Vietnam, Binh affirmed that Vietnam has claimed its indisputable sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos and all activities of China in the two archipelagos are illegal and invalid.Binh also informed the press about several external affairs of Vietnam in future.

As nations seek more MH17 access, rebels reportedly getting impatient

Even as investigators say they need more access to bodies and wreckage from last week's Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash in eastern Ukraine, the pro-Russian rebels that control the territory say they're tiring of having any probe there, a spokesman for a monitoring group said Friday.

With the site still not secure eight days after the crash, and victims' remains still lying with debris, nations such as Netherlands are pressing to send their own police and investigators to the scene. Various negotiations are under way.But rebels controlling the area -- the same rebels that Ukraine and the United States accuse of downing the plane and killing the 298 people aboard -- hinted to an international monitoring group that they've nearly had enough, even with the small amount of investigators they've already let in."We were given the indication ... that their patience is almost wearing out," said Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which has had a small team touring the site for days. "They're saying maybe another week and then they don't know what would happen."

That's not likely to please a number of nations that say a proper investigation still hasn't begun, including Netherlands, whose officials say they're negotiating with the Ukrainian government to send 40 Dutch military police to search for more bodies.

The rebels "are encouraging us to pass the message up the command chain, if you will, that a group of experts, perhaps 25 or 30, should get here soon to oversee ... movement of the debris," Bociurkiw, who was with the OSCE team in eastern Ukraine, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Friday

Monitor: Personal effects suddenly appearing at wreck sites

Accusations over who was responsible for bringing down the passenger jet, which was headed from Amsterdam to Malaysia, continue to be traded by the Ukrainian government, pro-Russian rebels and officials in Moscow and Washington.

Flight 17 was downed on July 17 by a suspected surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine, where groups of pro-Russian rebels are fighting Ukrainian government forces. The rebels have denied allegations from Ukraine and the West that they brought down the commercial airliner using equipment supplied by Russia.

On Friday, the OSCE team again toured the crash site, returning to a recently discovered section of fuselage from the plane. This time -- unlike Thursday -- victims' passports and other documentation were there, Bociurkiw said.

"We can't draw any conclusions. But for sure, those were not there the last time we were there," he said. "Perhaps someone placed it there. We don't know."

No Ukrainian government or international force has secured the site, raising concerns about tampering or pilfering.

The OSCE team on Friday toured with a few experts from Australia and, for the first time, some forensic experts from Netherlands.

CNN's Phil Black has reported from the area that there appears to be no ongoing effort to find and retrieve victims' bodies. Though many corpses have been recovered already, Bociurkiw said the group still has seen human remains among the debris several times this week.