November 2015
Fri the 2nd Waning Moon of Kattikā B.E.2559, November 27, A.D.2015 Year of the Goat
ទិវាកាន់ទុក្ខជាតិខ្មែរ ខួបគម្រប់ ៦៦ឆ្នាំ ថ្ងៃអាណានិគមបារាំងកាត់ផ្ទេរទឹកដីខ្មែរឲ្យអាណានិគមយួន និងពិធីបុណ្យរាប់បាត្រព្រះសង្ឃ ១.៩៤៩អង្គ នៅវត្តពោធិយារាម ហៅវត្តចាស់ រាជធានីភ្នំពេញ ថ្ងៃទី០៤ មិថុនា ព.ស.២៤៩៣ គ.ស.១៩៤៩ រហូតដល់ ថ្ងៃទី០៤ មិថុនា ព.ស.២៥៥៩ គ.ស.២០១៥
សូមទស្សនា Watch video:
The 66th Annual Kampuchea Krom Loss Commemoration and the Offering Ceremony to 1,949 Buddhist monks to honor Khmer heroes on June 4, B.E2559 A.D.2015 in Phnom Penh, Kampuchea (Cambodia).
June 4, B.E.2493 A.D.1949 is the date when France transferred Khmer land called Kampuchea Krom to Vietnam to continue colonizing, plundering her until today.
Wed the 15th Waxing Moon of Kattikā B.E.2559, November 25, A.D.2015 Year of the Goat
ផ្ទះខ្មែរ ផ្ទះកន្ដាំង ផ្ទះខ្មែរ ផ្ទះកិង ផ្ទះខ្មែរ ផ្ទះបុិត
Wed the 15th Waxing Moon of Kattikā B.E.2559, November 25, A.D.2015 Year of the Goat
Daniel Pye, The Phnom Penh Post
Read the full statement in Khmer, click on link: 2015-11-23_SR_CAMBODIA-KH
The renewed tensions between the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party threaten to push Cambodia towards a “dangerous tipping point” if not resolved, the UN’s human rights envoy has said.
Her words came as CNRP president Sam Rainsy, a warrant issued for his arrest, left on a diplomatic mission to garner support in Europe.
“Any intensification of current events could bring Cambodia to a dangerous tipping point,” UN human rights rapporteur Rhona Smith said in a statement released yesterday.
Since the arrest warrant was issued, Rainsy has repeated the allegations that led to his defamation conviction – that Foreign Minister Hor Namhong was responsible for atrocities at a Khmer Rouge prison camp in the late 1970s.
He has also accused Prime Minister Hun Sen of working to destroy the opposition ahead of planned elections in 2017 and 2018.
Smith said that the increasingly bitter feud has gone hand-in-hand with an increase in rights abuses, including “incidences of violence; intimidation of individuals; and . . . offensive language in the political discourse”.
The rapporteur stressed that she would not interfere in Cambodian politics – an accusation levelled by the ruling party against previous holders of the post who criticised CPP actions – nor would she comment on the legal case against Rainsy.
But she added that it was of “great concern” that there were recently “multiple alleged violations of peaceful exercise of freedoms of opinion and expression, as well as the right to participate in political life”.
Already facing a two-year jail term if he returns to the Kingdom for the defamation ruling, Rainsy was summoned for questioning last week as an “accomplice” to forgery for allegedly allowing a “fake” version of a 1979 Cambodia and Vietnam border treaty to be published on his Facebook page.
And last month, three military officials were charged with the beating of two opposition lawmakers outside parliament after a protest against CNRP deputy president Kem Sokha.
Smith added that she had appealed privately to Hun Sen and Rainsy to return to the so-called “culture of dialogue”, a political detente that ended almost a year of stalemate following the 2013 general election.
Government spokesman Phay Siphan blamed the CNRP for the breakdown in the relationship, saying that the opposition leaders’ fiery anti-CPP rhetoric to supporters overseas had preached “rebellion”.
CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann said that the party was “deeply concerned with the deteriorating political environment” and would “continue to appeal to the CPP to ensure a calm environment conducive to politics”.
Tue the 14th Waxing Moon of Kattikā B.E.2559, November 24, A.D.2015 Year of the Goat
ថាច់ សេដ្ឋា: ខ្ញុំសូមស្នើបងប្អូនរួមឈាមទាំងអស់ មេត្តាដាក់រូបសញ្ញា ឈប់ប្រើប្រាស់ទំនិញ និងសេវាផ្សេងៗរបស់យួនឲ្យបានគ្រប់គ្នា។
Thach Setha: I appeal to you and all Khmer compatriots to change their FB pages to this boycott sticker to stop buying and using Vietnamese products.
សូមឈប់ប្រើប្រាស់ទំនិញ និង សេវាកម្មផ្សេងៗរបស់យួន។
នៅពេលលោក លោកស្រី អ្នកនាង កញ្ញា យុវជន និងបងប្អូនជនរួមជាតិ នៅតែបន្ដទិញ និងប្រើប្រាស់ទំនិញ និង សេវាកម្មរបស់យួន លោក លោកស្រី អ្នកនាង កញ្ញា យុវជន និង បងប្អូនជនរួមជាតិ នៅតែបន្ដគាំទ្រឲ្យប្រទេសវៀតណាមបន្ដការឈ្លានពានមកលើមាតុភូមិ របស់យើងទាំងអស់គ្នា បន្ដគាំទ្រឲ្យប្រទេសវៀតណាមទន្ទ្រានមកលើបូរណភាពទឹកដីបន្ដ គាំទ្រឲ្យប្រទេសវៀតណាមបំផ្លើសបំភ្លៃប្រវត្ដិសាស្ដ្រខ្មែរ។
Boycott, stop buying, stop using Vietnamese products and services.
Way you could help your country.
WE, KHMERS, UNITED TO BOYCOTT VIETNAMESE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, STOP BUYING, PURCHASING AND USING VIETNAMESE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.
When you continue buying and using Vietnamese products and services, you continue supporting Vietnam’s aggression toward Kampuchea (Cambodia) and encroaching on the territories and fabricating Khmer history.
Thach Setha, “Cambodia may lose a few benefits from this boycotting, but Vietnam will lose a lot more.”
Ten countries Sunday signed a compact to formally establish a European Union-style organization to encourage investment and cooperation in the region.
Sun the 12th Waxing Moon of Kattikā B.E.2559, November 22, A.D.2015 Year of the Goat
Christian Science Monitor By Lonnie Shekhtman
Download KL Declaration on Establishment of ASEAN Community 2015
Download RCEP Leaders Joint Statement_22 Nov 2015_FINAL
Ten countries that are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Sunday signed a compact to formally establish a European Union-style organization to encourage investment and economic growth in the region.
At the East Asia Summit Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, the new organization, called the “ASEAN Community,” said its members will collaborate to allow more unrestricted movement of capital and labor in a region that’s home to upwards of 600 million people, more populous than North America or the European Union, reports Voice of America (VOA).
The ASEAN member countries are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Recommended: Asia’s troubled waters: What’s going on in the South China Sea? Take our quiz.
“Our ASEAN way has guided us and will continue to be our compass as we seek to realize a politically cohesive, economically integrated, socially responsible and a truly people-oriented, people-centered rules-based ASEAN,” said Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak at the weekend forum that included participants like US President Barack Obama, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Japan Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, according to the Malaysian Insider.
In a document that outlines the organization’s goals, the members agree to cooperate in areas like combating terrorism and drug and human trafficking; increasing maritime safety and security; and encouraging economic growth across borders.
Though there has been some progress in recent decades on the lifting of tariffs for more unrestricted trade in the region, reports the BBC, progress is slow.
Part of the reason is that the diversity of wealth – the economic gap between poor countries like Cambodia and wealthy ones like Singapore, for example – and of government styles among member countries makes collaboration challenging, say those who worry that the announcement may prove purely symbolic.
Though forming of the ASEAN Community is a significant step, “It will not lead to a ‘big bang’ moment in terms of regional integration,” Guy Harvey-Samuel, chief executive officer of HSBC bank in Singapore told Bloomberg.
“Instead, we are likely to see a slow initial burn that will become increasingly brighter as integration begins to get traction,” he explained.
Successfully integrating ASEAN economies would help them compete with regional powers like China and India by creating the world’s seventh-largest single market, reports VOA.
According to Reuters, the ASEAN countries’ combined economic output is $2.6 trillion.
“In practice, we have virtually eliminated tariff barriers between us,” said Mr. Najib, the summit host, according to Reuters. “Now we have to assure freer movements and removal of barriers that hinder growth and investment.”
Najib called the establishment of the ASEAN Community “a landmark achievement” that comes more than a dozen years after the concept was first proposed.
The organization will officially launch on December 31.
ASEAN was first formed on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand to accelerate political, economic and cultural cooperation among Southeast Asian nations. But the organization has faced endemic corruption that has stifled progress.
Observers are hoping that today’s announcement will help advance the mission of the organization in earnest.
“Time will tell if today’s signing ceremony is just more style over substance,” Curtis Chin, a former US ambassador to the Asian Development Bank told VOA. “But come January 1, the ASEAN Community will be much less than today’s soaring rhetoric, but certainly much more than ever envisioned decades past.”
Sat the 11th Waxing Moon of Kattikā B.E.2559, November 21, A.D.2015 Year of the Goat
November 2015
Sat the 11th Waxing Moon of Kattikā B.E.2559, November 21, A.D.2015 Year of the Goat
Reuters, November 20, 2015
Geneva – The United Nations voiced alarm on Friday about the fate of nine North Koreans feared to have been deported from Vietnam via China back to their homeland, saying they might face torture or even execution.
Forcibly sending refugees back to a country where they could suffer persecution, a practice known as “refoulement”, is banned under international treaties signed by China.
“We are alarmed at reports that nine North Korean nationals, including a one-year-old infant and a teenager, were arrested in Vietnam last month and subsequently transferred to China,” U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a briefing.
“There are fears that they may be – or may already have been – repatriated to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea where they would be at risk of very serious human rights violations.”
The group were arrested in Vietnam on Oct. 22 and are thought to have been sent to the Chinese city of Shenyang, close to the North Korean border. In recent years many North Koreans have fled their country into China, traveled on to southeast Asia and then to South Korea or other countries.
Chinese authorities are believed to have been escorting the nine North Koreans, Shamdasani said.
“This series of events strongly suggests that the group is at imminent risk of being repatriated to the DPRK (North Korea) – and we are gravely concerned that they may already have been returned,” she said.
“We urge the Chinese and Vietnamese authorities to publicly clarify the fate of the nine North Korean nationals. We further urge all concerned governments to refrain from forcibly returning individuals who have fled the DPRK.”
A major U.N. human rights investigation found last year that North Koreans forcibly repatriated to Pyongyang are commonly subjected to torture, detention, execution, forced abortions or sexual violence, Shamdasani said.
The U.N. Committee against Torture met in Geneva this week to review China’s record and raised concerns about its practice of returning North Koreans.
“Some illegal immigrants from DPRK entering China’s territory for economic reasons do not meet conditions stipulated in the Convention relating to the status of refugees,” Xu Hong, a senior official in China’s foreign ministry, told the U.N. body of experts.
Some “criminals” had abused the principle of asylum in an “attempt to prolong and even escape extradition or repatriation”, Xu said.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Andrew Roche)
Wed the 8th Waxing Moon of Kattikā B.E.2559, November 18, A.D.2015 Year of the Goat
Press Statement
Mark C. Toner, Deputy Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
November 16, 2015
We are deeply concerned by today’s removal of Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Sam Rainsy from the National Assembly in a unilateral move by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party. His removal is another step backwards for Cambodia’s progress towards a free and democratic society. We call on the National Assembly to reinstate Mr. Rainsy immediately and to restore his parliamentary immunity. We also call on the government to revoke the arrest warrant issued against him on seven-year-old defamation charges and to allow him and other opposition Parliamentarians to return to Cambodia without fear of arrest or persecution.
Today’s actions are the latest incidents of harassment and intimidation targeting Cambodia’s opposition, including the recent violent attacks on Members of Parliament and the removal of opposition party deputy leader Kem Sokha from his position as First Vice President of the National Assembly. The Cambodian people will vote in provincial elections in 2017 and in a national election in 2018. Recent elections in the region show that people want freer, more democratic societies, and we expect that the Cambodian people will reward leaders who create a more open, inclusive political climate.
We urge the government to take immediate steps to guarantee a political space free from threats or intimidation in Cambodia, and for the government and opposition to engage in serious and meaningful dialogue on actions to strengthen Cambodia’s democratic future.
តុលាការចេញដីកាចាប់ខ្លួនសកម្មជនព្រះសង្ឃ សឹង ហាយ ជាថ្មីម្តងទៀត
Wed the 8th Waxing Moon of Kattikā B.E.2559, November 18, A.D.2015 Year of the Goat
Statement
Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on Cambodia
New York , 17 November 2015
Wed the 8th Waxing Moon of Kattikā B.E.2559, November 18, A.D.2015 Year of the Goat
The Secretary-General is following with concern the increasing tensions between the ruling party and the opposition in Cambodia. The arrest warrant issued against opposition leader Sam Rainsy on 13 November and earlier incidents against opposition parliamentarians and leaders are worrisome developments.
The Secretary-General urges the Cambodian People’s Party and the Cambodia National Rescue Party to resume their cooperation and dialogue and encourages all political players to refrain from violence, intimidation and harassment. A non-threatening environment of democratic dialogue is essential for political stability and a peaceful society.
សូមអរគុណដ៏ជ្រាលជ្រៅចំពោះសប្បុរសជននូវវិភាគទានទាំងនេះ។