The Khmer Rouge Trial (KRT) and the Destiny of the Cambodian People.

Sihanouk and his Tragic Role in Contemporary Cambodia

"For more than half a century, King Norodom Sihanouk has preened, postured, and pouted across the stage of Cambodian politics. He is perpetually described as "mercurial" and "unpredictable." For years he was central to Cambodia's survival. And he was just as surely central to her near-destruction.

To give him due credit: It is beyond question that Sihanouk deeply loved the Cambodian people. None of his successors has ever matched his genuine affection for his people. But Sihanouk had one critical flaw: as much as he loved the Cambodian people, he loved himself just slightly more. At a pivotal moment in Cambodian history, he chose his own interests above those of Cambodia, and millions of people paid with their lives."

Source: Sihanouk’s books reviewed; "My War with the CIA" and "War and Hope: The Case for Cambodia."

By Bruce Sharp  

Web site: Cambodia: Beauty and Darkness

Source: Page last updated: 07/16/2008 08:48:46  
http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/sihanouk.htm

PS. Please, also, go to this link, to read more about Sihanouk devastating impact on Cambodia and its people because of his egomaniac bahvior.

Sihanouk Paradox and his Win Win strategy

Source of the pictures posted in this web site:

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Secession of Eastern zone in Cambodia by CPP with Chakrapong

Cambodian Leaders Biographies

by Judy Ledgerwood

http://www.seasite.niu.edu/khmer/ledgerwood/biographies.htm

Prince Norodom Chakrapong is a son of King Norodom Sihanouk. Prince Chakrapong entered the resistant movement with FUNCINPEC in the 1980s and became its military commander. Dissatisfied with FUNCINPEC’s new leader, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, whom he criticized for his pursuit of wealth by any means, Chakrapong defected from the party and joined the CPP in 1992, becoming a politburo member and deputy prime minister in Hun Sen’s government.

When the CPP lost the 1993 United Nations sponsored elections, Chakrapong along with Sin Song allegedly orchestrated a secessionist movement in Eastern Cambodia to put pressure on FUNCINPEC to share power with the CPP. The tactic worked, resulting in a power arrangement in which the new government was headed by two prime ministers, first and second, whereas the government portfolios at the central and provincial levels were divided among the three major parties—the CPP, FUNCINPEC and the BLDP. In 1994, Chakrapong, along with other senior CPP military and security officials, organized an aborted coup to overthrow the government of Hun Sen and Ranariddh. He was arrested and sent into exile. He returned to Cambodia after the 1998 political deal between the CPP and FUNCINPEC and now is engaging in private business.

The book cover on Sihanouk's visit to the liberated zone run by the Khmer Rouge in Northeastern of Cambodia, in 1973

Sihanouk official portrait that was in that book pasted above with his signature in Khmer

Sihanouk with his good friend, North Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Dong  

At an Anti US imperialism meeting in Southern China, 1970

Sihanouk and Monique were greeted by North Vietnamese army Officers at the Hanoi airport, in 1973, on their way to the "liberated Zone" in Cambodia

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Sihanouk with North Vietnamese army officers  along the Ho Chi Minh trail, on his way to the liberated zone in Cambodia, 1973 

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North Vietnamese army convoy accompanied Sihanouk and Monique on the Glorious (as the magazine has categorized it) Ho Chi Minh trail, to the liberated zone in Cambodia, 1973

1973

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Near Seamreap, Northwest of Cambodia, 1973

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Sihanouk with Monique, Khieu Ponary (Mrs Po Plot), 1973 at Angkor Wat

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Hou Youn (standing) delivered a speech at dinner in honor of Head of State Sihanouk, near Siemreap, 1973

Sihanouk delivered a speech at a dinner with Khmer Rouge senior leaders, 1973

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In this historic picture posted below, which was taken at Phnom Kulen, in 1973, when Sihanouk and his wife Monique, went to the liberated zone in cambodia to meet with the senior Khmer Rouge leaders, whose names (Khieu Samphan, Hou Youn, Hu Nim, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, Saloth Sar, Koy Thuoun, Nuon Chea) are written in the original caption of this picture, posted below. However, it sould be pointed out that the name of Pol Pot was mentioned by his original name, which  is, SALOTH SAR.

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Sihanouk (5th from right) surrounded by senior Khmer Rouge Leaders including Pol Pot (6th from left upper photo) at Phnom Koulen, near Siemreap, 1973

Sihanouk (3nd from left) with Monique (5th from right) and Mrs. Pol Pot (Khieu Ponary, 6th from left)) at Phnom Koulen, North of Siemreap, 1973 

There was a joyful party last Saturday night [3 June 2006] at the Royal Palace, hosted by the Great Heroic King, the former King of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Mr. Hun Sen and Madame Bun Rany and hundreds of officials from the Council of Ministers attended the party. The leader of the government praised Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk for singing beautifully and the Great Heroic King said that he will support Samdech Hun Sen for as long as the premier lives.

During the joyful party, Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk sung 21 songs, which added to the joy. The former King sang 21 songs, but this did not seem to satisfy his foster son [Hun Sen], so he requested a song entitled ‘Monika,’ which is Samdech Mae’s souvenir. Samdech Euv [the Father King] sang this as his present. Khmer people who were unable to listen to the songs should wait for CDs and VCDs that will be available soon. 4 Jun e 2006 - 10 June 2006, THE MIRROR 3.

During the joyful party, Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk said that Samdech Hun Sen is the only person developing Cambodia and helping Khmer people. The former King said that he will back Samdech Hun Sen for his whole life.

Mr. Hun Sen and Samdech Norodom Sihanouk mentioned their good memories of when they first met each other, and decided to be foster father and foster son. Mr. Hun Sen considers King Samdech Preah Baromneath Norodom Sihamoni as his foster brother, part of his family, though he is the King.

During the party, Mr. Hun Sen and Samdech Euv showed their close friendship for the first time since the two had severely criticized each other over the 1985 supplemental [border] treaties last year. Their differences forced Samdech Euv to live abroad for nearly one year while he underwent treatment. Samdech Euv had frequently issued messages in Khmer saying that he would not return to Cambodia, and if he did return to Cambodia, that would mean that he recognized the illegal 1985 supplemental [border] treaties. Samdech Euv also confirmed that he would have to stay abroad until he died as Prince Norodom Yukanthor did.

A few days before returning to Cambodia, Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk said that it was just an informal return, so there was no need to have any welcoming ceremony. The retired King also stated that he would not grant an audience to anyone. He needed peace and quietness in the royal family.

Khmer people also appealed to Mr. Hun Sen not to play tricks with Samdech Euv, because it is noted that the Strongman [Hun Sen] always does this with his partner [Prince Norodom Ranariddh]. Obviously, the former King’s great son, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, once hugged Mr. Hun Sen many times, but now he does not dare to return to the country because the Strongman’s tricks.”

Sralanh Khmer, Vol.2, #129, 5.5.2006, The Mirror, June 13, 2006

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(Comments: As predicted, Sihanouk is again publicly opposing the trial of the Khmer Rouge on the ground that the money could be used for better purposes such as to feed the Cambodian poor.  This Sihanouk 's decision, very clearly, shows that the former king does not understand the need for, nor does he believe in giving the long awaited justice and the return to the rule of law to the Cambodian people.

However, if history is any guide to the understanding of the tragic problem of Cambodia; here are some observations to keep in mind when analyzing this Khmer Rouge trial issue;

First, most Cambodians are fully aware that any financial assistance given to Cambodia by the international community would go to fill the Hun Sen and Funcinpec supporters' pockets, and not to feed the poor, as suggested by Sihanouk.

Second, Sihanouk, Hun Sen, and the Vietnamese have no reason to let the Khmer Rouge trial be taken place, as the trial may reveal the implicating details on the collusion between the former king, Hun Sen, and the Vietnamese, on the one hand, and between Sihanouk, the Chinese, and the Khmer Rouge on the other hand. 

Dear visitors, please, use the related documents posted below to form your own judgment on this vital and deadly issue for the Cambodian people.

Washington DC. July 10, 2006, Naranhkiri Tith, Ph.D.)

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To the editor, The New York Times

(Submitted for publication)

July 6, 2006

RE: “The Killing Fields,” Editorial, July 6, 2006.

The editor is perfectly correct in pointing out that “the (Cambodian) tribunal has a responsibility not only to those survivors but to a world that has yet to learn how to deal with crimes against humanity.”

I am not very optimistic about the realization of this trial without strong US backing. If the recent past is any guide to the future, the international community knows that Hun Sen has been stalling for the last six years by invoking national sovereignty in order to gain full control of any Khmer Rouge trial.

In this context, I do not see how the Hun Sen regime and his supporters will allow this trial to go ahead as long as the current remaining Khmer Rouge leaders are still alive. Hun Sen - now with the full support of Sihanouk - stands to lose more than to gain from this trial. After all, Hun Sen was a former Khmer Rouge commander.

Only by defecting to the Vietnamese was Hun Sen able to become the dictator and ruler of Cambodia.  In this context, the Khmer Rouge trial may surface some undesired and implicating revelations regarding the Vietnamese and Hun Sen relations with the Khmer Rouge. Only by comparing his regime to that of the Khmer Rouge can Hun Sen claim any credit for being the leader of Cambodia.

Claiming that the trial cannot meet the international standard of justice, the Bush Administration has chosen not to play a prominent role. As the most powerful democratic country in the world, and as a former active participant in the Indochina war when it carried out secret carpet bombings of the Viet Cong sanctuary in Eastern Cambodia during the late 1960’s, the United States should be more deliberately committed to this trial. It is its duty if not its moral obligation.

If the Khmer Rouge trial is to have any chance of succeeding, the United States, as the main promoter of democracy and human rights in the world, must put all its political weight behind this crucial trial and not allow Hun Sen to manipulate the situation to perpetuate his corrupt regime. The positive impact of doing so would far outweigh the negative one. Only then will long awaited justice be given to not only the Cambodian people but also to victims in other parts of the world.

Naranhkiri Tith, Ph.D.

Former Adjunct Professor in International Economics

The School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

The Johns Hopkins University

Wahington DC.

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Sihanouk Says He Opposes KR Tribunal
The Cambodia Daily

Monday, July 10, 2006
Douglas Gillison
Additional Reporting by Yun Samean

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Finally, the World Bank starts to see the real threat to the Cambodian people's well-being by telling Hun Sen that his regime is totally corrupt one

World Bank cuts more Cambodian projects, citing fraud
Last Updated Thu, 22 Jun 2006 11:30:11 EDT

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/06/22/cambodia-bank.html

The World Bank has cancelled another 13 contracts in Cambodia, expanding allegations of fraud and corruption in development projects.

The bank has now suspended a total of 43 contracts in the country, which was ravaged by years of rule by the Khmer Rouge, Vietnamese occupation and civil war.

The value of the contracts cancelled on Thursday is $11.9 million US, the bank said. It will demand repayment of money already spent once the amounts are calculated.

The bank has been looking into projects in Cambodia. Earlier in June, it said investigations over a year "have uncovered sufficient evidence to substantiate allegations of fraud and corruption" in certain contracts.

The Cambodian government has blamed the bank for hiring corrupt foreign consultants to administer the projects.

  'If Cambodian officials are corrupt, then foreign consultants are even more corrupt because they are the decision-makers.'-Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen "If Cambodian officials are corrupt, then foreign consultants are even more corrupt because they are the decision-makers," Prime Minister Hun Sen said last week.

The bank rejected the accusation.

Since 1992, shortly before the UN-sponsored election in 1993 that helped provide more stability, the World Bank has provided Cambodia with more than $645 million US in loans and grants as well as technical advice and trust funds.

The bank works to improve the education system, set up national parks, prevent diseases from spreading and raise the productivity of small farmers.

An Antidote to Moral Blindness

By ADAM KIRSCH - Special to the Sun
June 14, 2006

http://www.nysun.com/article/34399

                                     June 14, 2006 Edition - Section:  Arts and Letters

(Comments: Contrary to Alex Hinton's assertion in his book" why Did they Kill?" that the Khmer Rouge genocide was due to a purely Cambodian character, this article and the following Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's resolution clearly showed that the Khmer Rouge's crime against Humanity could not have been committed without the devious and misrepresentation of humanism in the ideology of Communism.   Naranhkiri Tith Ph.D. Washington DC November 11, 2009) 

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                  In Cuba, a completely sane 16-year-old student named Jose Alvarado Delgado is committed to a mental hospital, given electroshock therapy, and force-fed psychotropic drugs. In the Soviet Union, Evgenia Ginzburg is interrogated by the secret police for seven days straight, without sleep or food. In Vietnam, Doan Van Toai sees a fellow prisoner commit suicide by biting off his own tongue and choking on it. In Cambodia, Haing Ngor witnesses a Khmer Rouge soldier suffocate a pregnant woman with a plastic bag, then rip out the fetus with a bayonet.

                  As I read these accounts of victims of communism collected in "From the Gulag to the Killing Fields" (ISI Books, 760 pages, $35) - an anthology of memoirs from around the world and across the century, including famous writers and anonymous prisoners, ardent revolutionaries and innocent bystanders - I kept thinking of a phrase from Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt's influential 2000 book, "Empire": "the irrepressible lightness and
joy of being communist." Substitute the word "fascist" in that sentence, and you would have a sentiment that every civilized person would instantly condemn as not just evil, but insane. Yet "Empire," with its eleventh hour attempt to rehabilitate communism as a source of political hope, was widely hailed in the academy as a great achievement. Decades after Stalin's purges, Mao's Cultural Revolution, and Pol Pot's genocide, it is still possible for educated people to associate communism with lightness and joy, and to be praised for doing so.

                  The momentary celebrity of Messrs. Negri and Hardt is a trivial matter. But the moral blindness of which that celebrity is a minor symptom is anything but trivial. It is, in fact, the reason Paul Hollander,
the eminent scholar of Soviet communism, spent the last decade assembling this large, frightening, and important book. In his brilliant introduction, "The Distinctive Features of Repression in Communist States" - the best brief summary of the nature and crimes of communism that I have read - Mr. Hollander notes:

                  While there is a vast literature on the Holocaust ... and while it has justifiably stimulated a huge and continued outpouring of research, moral outrage, and soul searching, the mass murders and other atrocities committed in the Soviet Union under (and after) Stalin have inspired little corresponding concern and interest.

                  Stalin, however, is at least recognized as a figure of almost unparalleled evil and cruelty; outside the lunatic fringe, he has as few admirers as Hitler. More perplexing is the continued willingness of Western intellectuals to make cult heroes of other communist despots. It is still not uncommon to find admirers of Lenin, seen as the pristine embodiment of communist virtue, or of Fidel Castro, seen as the daring patriarch of Third World liberation. Other communist regimes are simply missing from our moral radar. For all that has been written about the Vietnam War, most Americans know next to nothing about what happened in South Vietnam after the communist victory. The famine that struck Ethiopia in the 1980s is remembered here as a humanitarian crisis, not as the criminal result of Mengistu's collectivization policies. Finally, and most ominously, there is the People's Republic of China - usually portrayed in the news media these days as an emerging capitalist dynamo, but still governed by the Communist Party that gave its people famine and forced labor, the Cultural Revolution and Tiananmen Square.

                  In short, while it is common to speak of the defeat of communism in the Cold War, that defeat has not been total, especially in the way communism is remembered and understood. It is still possible for Western intellectuals to deny the crucial lesson of the 20th century, that utopian politics are shortest route to dystopia. And this denial is all too easy to understand. After all, if the rhetoric and the declared intentions of communism are so good - universal liberation, perfect equality, an end to want - how can the reality be so bad?

                  That is the question raised, again and again, in "From the Gulag to the Killing Fields." It is one of the common themes running through these eyewitness accounts of every communist regime in the 20th century, from Russia to Cuba, China to Nicaragua, Bulgaria to North Korea. Naturally, the details of what each author experienced - the methods of torture, the inflections of propaganda - vary according to time, place, and cultural background. Witnesses from Vietnam are especially shocked by the communist cadres' rudeness to their elders; in Ethiopia, Mengistu's refusal to allow his victims to be buried is seen as the worst possible outrage.

                  But the disbelief remains constant. Everywhere, the victim of communism initially finds it impossible to believe that a revolution in the name of the people could oppress and destroy the people. How could it be that, in the words of the Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov, "no other political religion ... has ... a stronger impact on the baser human instincts and passions ... [and] has given such encouragement to human vice generally, as the Communist ideology"?

                  The shock is especially great for true believers, who so often fall victim to their own revolution. Evgenia Ginzburg, an old Bolshevik and wife of a high-ranking Soviet official, was shocked that an NKVD interrogator would manipulate her answers: "Why don't we have a stenographer to put them down?" she asks, only to be met with "peals of laughter." Anna Larina was shocked at the fantastic accusations brought by Stalin against her husband, the Soviet leader Nikolai Bukharin: "The sheer mass of crimes ... could not possibly have been committed by one criminal in his entire lifetime." Inevitably, given the audacity of the regime's persecution, the prisoner begins to wonder if he is guilty in some way he never suspected. "Was I a criminal?" Harry Wu wonders after being sent to a forced labor camp. "Perhaps my ideas had brought harm to the majority of the Chinese people."

                  The psychological and material techniques of communist oppression are not, of course, a secret. They have been plain, for those willing to see, at least since Stalin's show trials of the 1930s. But for scope, comprehensiveness, and direct emotional power, no document of those techniques surpasses "From the Gulag to the Killing Fields." Any reader who begins reading the book with some lingering sympathy for communism will close it with the words of Teeda Butt Mam, a victim of the Khmer Rouge, echoing in his ears: "Silently, I berated myself, tortured myself, for being so gullible. Why had I allowed myself to believe the lies? Would I never learn?"

            105 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10007
            © 2006 The New York Sun, One SL, LLC. All rights reserved

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MPs vote to condemn 'evils of communism'

· Swedish member calls for victims' memorial day
· Left says Council of Europe motion 'neo McCarthyism'

Jon Henley in Paris

The Guardian
London
Thursday January 26, 2006

For some it was a vile capitalist plot aimed at rewriting the recent history of half of Europe, transforming wartime resistance heroes into villains, and denying the laudable ideals and legitimacy of a great political movement.

For others it was a long-overdue denunciation of a couple of dozen thoroughly evil regimes who wrecked their nations' economies, tortured their citizens, and between them were responsible for up to 100 million deaths.

But, by a clear majority, the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe yesterday backed a controversial motion demanding that the continent's 46-member human rights watchdog formally condemns "the crimes of totalitarian communist regimes".

More than 60 members of the body's 315-seat assembly, made up of MPs from Europe's parliaments, were due to speak in a debate on a report by the conservative Swedish MP Goran Lindblad, which argued that 15 years after the collapse of the eastern bloc international condemnation of its governments' activities was "urgently necessary".

Mr Lindblad's motion also called for an international conference on the issue and urged former communist states to "revise school books to reflect what happened, establish museums documenting these crimes, and introduce a memorial day for the victims of communism".

The MP adopted the 100 million victim figure arrived at by Stéphane Courtois in his 1997 Black Book of Communism. The count includes 65m in China, 20m in the Soviet Union, 2m in North Korea, 2m in Cambodia, 1.7m in Africa, 1.5m in Afghanistan, 1m in Vietnam, 1m in east Europe and 150,000 in Latin America. (Mr Courtois puts the number of deaths due to Nazism at about 25m.)

Mr Lindblad listed communist regimes' crimes as "assassinations and executions, concentration camp deaths, starvation, deportation, torture, slave labour and other mass physical terror", saying they should be condemned like Nazis' crimes.

Council officials said 99 of the MPs present voted in favour of the motion, 42 opposed it and 12 abstained. Communist parties, mainly in western Europe, had reacted fiercely, saying the report deliberately failed to distinguish between the ideals of communism and its application by totalitarian regimes.

The Belgian Communist party, the PCB, called the motion "a violent attack on history, present and future of communism". The Greek KKE called it "a declaration of war and persecution against all communist parties", and Germany's PDS said it was "neo McCarthyism".

Mikis Theodorakis, the Greek composer, said: "In the name of our dead comrades, of those who passed through the hands of the Gestapo and the death camps ... shame on those who want to turn victims into executioners, heroes into criminals and communists into Nazis."

French communists said the motion "banalises the Holocaust" and "ignores the communist role in fighting fascism".

André Guerin, a Lyon MP, told Le Figaro that the council's idea was to "definitively bury the values of communism" and "make believe they are outmoded and that the only alternative is Capitalism".

Protests were vigorous in Russia, where a survey found 50% of Russians felt Stalin had played a "positive role" in their history and 42% thought "somebody like him" would be helpful in Russia today.[End]

Cambodia: Prime Minister Moves to Crush Dissent

Oct 2005 22:20:23 GMT; Source: Human Rights Watch

Reuter-- (New York, October 18, 2005)-The government of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen should release recently arrested critics of the government, withdraw all arrest warrants against activists, and end the climate of fear that he has created in recent days, Human Rights Watch said today. In response to criticism over a new border pact with Vietnam, Hun Sen has launched a sharp and sudden crackdown on dissent. Authorities have arrested the president of an independent teachers association and the director of Cambodia's only independent national radio station, and they have ordered the arrests of other civil society leaders.

Many of Cambodia's leading human rights advocates, trade union activists, and opposition party members have now fled the country or gone into hiding.

"This is the most severe assault on dissent in Cambodia since the aftermath of Hun Sen's coup in 1997," said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

"International donors and embassies must make it clear to Hun Sen that they will not tolerate the reversal of the important strides made in basic human rights during the last decade."

The crackdown started with Hun Sen's visit on October 10-12 to Vietnam, where he signed a controversial border treaty. On October 10, dozens of armed police officers surrounded the Phnom Penh home of Mom Sonando, director of Beehive Radio FM 105. He was arrested the next morning on charges of defamation after having aired an interview with a Cambodian activist in France who is highly critical of the border treaty.

Upon return to Cambodia, Hun Sen announced that he would prosecute anyone who alleged that he, or the Cambodian government, had "sold land" to Vietnam. Such statements are an "act of treason," he said.

In a meeting with international investors on October 14, Hun Sen announced that legal action was being taken against four members of the Cambodia Watchdog Council, a nongovernmental organization that had issued a statement on October 11 criticizing the border agreement.

On October 15, police arrested Cambodia Watchdog Council member Rong Chhun, who is also president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association, as he was attempting to cross the border to Thailand to seek asylum. No arrest warrant was produced, but he was charged with defamation and incitement under articles 60 and 63 of the Cambodian penal code, which carry prison terms of five years for incitement and one year for defamation and a fine up to $2,500. Charges have also been brought against other members of the Cambodia Watchdog Council, including Chea Mony, President of the Free Trade Union Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia; Ea Channa, representative of the Student's Movement for Democracy; and Men Nath, president of the Civil Servants Association.

"Legal action should not be used as a tool of repression to silence the political opposition and government critics in Cambodia," said Adams. "Hun Sen needs to accept that in a democracy leaders will be criticized when they make controversial decisions."

In a speech broadcast on Cambodian television on October 17, Hun Sen threatened to abolish the monarchy and sack military chief Ke Kim Yan and other officials if they did not abide by his orders. He warned international organizations and foreign governments not to interfere. He called on the Thai government to extradite Cambodians suspected of fleeing to Bangkok over the weekend to seek asylum. (See appendix below).

The Cambodian government is now pressuring the Thai government to return individuals who have fled to Thailand for sanctuary. Returning persons to a place where they face persecution would violate the strict international legal prohibition against non-refoulement.

"The Thai government should not even discuss the return of individuals who are facing persecution for the peaceful expression of their political beliefs," said Adams. "To do so would make Thailand complicit in this assault on free expression."

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Army best friends with China and Vietnam

 The Phnom Penh Post, Issue 14/21, October 21 - November 3, 2005

By Sam Rith and Liam Cochrane

(Comments: this article how veitnam is thinking longterm, for the purpose of reaching its Long term Vietnamization of Cambodia: The endoctrination of a  new generation of "Pen Sovan- likes" for the full control of Cambodia. While has been having longterm plan to oblitetrate cambodia, Cambodia not only does have longterm or even shortterm one,the Cambodian so-called leaders, like Sihanouk, Hun Sen, are happy to accommodate Veitnam's lngterm plan to conquer Cambodia.

As I have often said before, don't blame only the Veitnamese, Cambodians are doing as much to allow the Vietnamese to take over their land and destiny> Sad but true. Naranhkiri Tith Ph.D. Washington DC. November 1, 2005)

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China is the biggest source of military aid to Cambodia, contributing more than $5 million a year, although Vietnam helps train more Cambodian soldiers, senior defense officials said.

Tea Banh, Co-minister of the Ministry of Defense and a deputy prime minister, said China gives the most military assistance but the exact amount depends on the demands of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) each year.

"China sometimes helps Cambodia with more than $5 million a year," Banh said.

A senior official at the Ministry of Defense, who asked not to be named because of the current political climate, said China started helping the RCAF in 1999.

"At that time, Cambodia had completely finished with the war, had stable armed forces and peace - that was a good chance for China to start planning projects to help the RCAF," the official said.

Over the past three years, China had spent approximately 40 million yuan (or about $5 million) a year, the official said.

Projects have included building the High Command Headquarters on National Highway 4, developing the Combined Arms Officer School Thlok Tasek near the town of Pich Nil in Kampong Speu province and constructing a five-story building at Preah Ket Melea military hospital, which was recently completed.

China sponsors an average of 40 Cambodian soldiers every year to study military strategy in China, and this year supplied parachutes to Cambodian paratroopers.

Despite the generous military aid, the official said there were no strings attached.

"So far I have not seen that China needs anything from our country," the official said. "It is a fantasy that [if] China helps Cambodia, China must want something from Cambodia."

Despite repeated requests to the Chinese embassy over the past month, Chinese officials declined to comment on this story.

For defense experts posted to foreign embassies in Phnom Penh, China's role in developing Cambodia's military comes as no surprise.

"I think the Chinese have the same kind of influence in the military as in [Cambodia's] economy and elsewhere," said Colonel Patrick Chanoine, the French embassy defense attaché.

Vietnam is the second biggest benefactor to the RCAF, according to the Ministry of Defense official and embassy sources.

Nguyen Van Mai, deputy defense attaché at the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh, said that since 2003, Vietnam has helped train at least 200 RCAF soldiers a year in Vietnam.

"We help [the RCAF] only on training ... and we help depending on Cambodia's demands," Van Mai said. "On average, we spend about $300 on the accommodation, food and stipends for each Cambodian soldier training in Vietnam."

Tea Banh said: "Now, Vietnam takes up to 500 Cambodian soldiers a year to study in Vietnam," but added that this figure included those studying long term in Vietnam, some up to six years.

The past decade has seen a shift in the provision of military aid to the RCAF. Prior to the coup in July 1997, the United States had been the biggest supplier of military aid to Cambodia, the official said, but defense assistance has been prohibited by the US since then.

On August 2, the White House announced it would overturn its ban on military aid to Cambodia, in return for Cambodia signing the so-called "Article 98" agreement not to send US citizens in Cambodia to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Since then, however, embassy officials in Phnom Penh have stressed that the move does not assure Cambodia of actually receiving defense assistance.

Nowadays, two of Cambodia's other major military donors are Australia and France.

Australia spends approximately $750,000 a year developing the English language skills of RCAF troops, training mid-to-high-ranking officers and assisting with the maintenance, curriculum and uniforms for officers at the Pich Nil officer school, according to embassy sources. They are looking for cooperation projects between the two navies.

France focuses much of its military aid on the 7,800-strong gendarmerie, or military police, said Chanoine, who declined to quantify the amount of money spent on defense cooperation.

However, their military presence in Cambodia represents the largest commitment of French military aid in Asia, Chanoine said.

Around 40 RCAF soldiers travel to France each year for training.

Japan, the biggest donor of aid to civilian development projects, provides scholarships to three Cambodian soldiers to study engineering and officer training in Japan each year, said the Ministry of Defense official.

The future of military cooperation and reform of the RCAF will be outlined in a five-year strategic "white paper," which is being fine-tuned by a committee and is expected to be released in early 2006, after it is approved by the National Assembly.

© Michael Hayes, 2005. All rights revert to authors and artists on publication.

For permission to publish any part of this publication, contact Michael Hayes, Editor-in-Chief

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Hun Sen; Great Cambodian Dictator,  Vietnam's Pupil , Expert in Sophistry ,  Defends Border Agreement, Issues Threats to Critics

Report on Speech of Prime Minister Hun Sen on October 17, 2005

(Source: BBC Monitoring of Television Kampuchea, Phnom Penh, in Cambodian, 0500 GMT, October 17, 2005)

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has warned those who criticize his stance on the border issue ("a serious one, one of treason") will be dealt with "legally" in a speech during the inauguration of a monastic building which was broadcast on Television Kampuchea (TVK) on 17 October. Referring to two activists who are understood to have fled to Thailand, he threatened to invoke an extradition treaty to bring them home to face defamation charges.

He warned various unnamed groups and individuals that he "has been patient for too long" and referred to the ex-king's record on border issues - proposing playing tapes of himself correcting the former king on Cambodia's size for example.

The recorded speech, made at the Phnum Pros monastery in Kampong Siem District in the premier's home province of Kampong Cham, took up almost two hours of an extended programme shown after the 0500 GMT newscast. The programme started by showing a government anti-terrorist unit practicing a hostage rescue drill. The prime minister was visibly irritated during his speech, raising his voice many times. The following is a chronological report on the speech.

Beginning his speech Hun Sen recalled the US war in South Vietnam and the preparations for the US departure and then the "Khmerization of the war, that is Cambodians fighting Cambodians". Hun Sen also recalled some events from and prior to the Pol Pot era of the Khmer Rouge regime, in which monks were maltreated. Hun Sen said: "At that time Pol Pot was not prominent yet.

The ones who were prominent were Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk and Samdech Pen Nout. This was how it was. Had [I] known that it was already Pol Pot then, [I] would not have followed you [Sihanouk]. It was just that the president of the front was Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk and the prime minister was Samdech Pen Nout. That's why I and others responded. That was the story. You cannot change history. In Jakarta [during the informal talks between warring Cambodian factions] the king [Sihanouk] asked me to be his equal. This is still on tape [chuckle]. He asked me to be his equal in Jakarta in 1988."

Hun Sen also said that in 1989 Sihanouk accused him of being a Khmer Rouge and then retorted: "No, I refused to be equals. No, it cannot be. There are three factors that this cannot be so. First, you [Sihanouk] are the chief and I am a subordinate. I was only 18 years old then; you appealed for people to join in the jungle; I had to follow. So, you were the chief and I was the subordinate. If there were rewards, you would receive the biggest reward while I, a simple soldier, would only get the clapping. If there were rewards. However, if there were punishment, you would be severely punished while I would go free." [brief applause from the audience].

Hun Sen said the second reason for him to refuse to be Sihanouk's equal was that "when I was leading the struggle against Pol Pot, you [Sihanouk] were the head of Democratic Kampuchea, head of state of Democratic Kampuchea. Even though you had resigned, you were still with the Khmer Rouge." For his third reason Hun Sen said: "Today, we are sitting here together, you as the head of the tripartite coalition government with the Khmer Rouge in it, and I, the head of the government opposing the Khmer Rouge."

Hun Sen then talked about progress in Kampong Cham Province and praised the local officials and people for their efforts to develop the locality and urged further efforts to fight drought and flooding and achieve more progress. Turning to the current Cambodia's border problem, Hun Sen said: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank the clergy, the people, and all sections of the armed forces for supporting the royal government and myself in solving the border problem with neighboring countries. I would like to express thanks for all the support in the form of petitions, contributions to radio talk shows."

And for the next almost one hour of his speech Hun Sen talked about the border problems, laced with anecdotes, and strongly criticized his detractors saying "these people cannot be forgiven" and that "they have to be dealt will legally." He said: "Now, two of them are already in prison. There are three others; one of them in France. No, another four, one of them in France; another one in Holland; while the other two are said to have fled to Thailand. And the court has issued warrants. In this case we can contact Thailand for the arrest because we have extradition treaty with Thailand."

Hun Sen added: "Now we are considering suing Sisowath Thomico who is the cousin of the current king. Even a royal family member is sued. I have already said this." Hun Sen accused Sisowath Thomico of issuing a statement through Voice of America radio adding that "His Majesty the King [Sihamoni], Samdech Euv [Sihanouk], and Samdech Mae [Queen Mother Monineath] who have a nephew, and the king who has a cousin, please leave this to the tribunal. You [Sisowath Thomico] have no immunity."

Hun Sen also talked about preparing a document for publicly disseminating [showing] what happened up to 1999, and "if you [Sisowath Thomico] could not answer, you, prince go to Prey Sar [prison]. I'd like to stress this. I cannot take this. I am willing to lower myself, not just stepping down from my post but also submitting myself to the tribunal in the event it was found that I was the one causing the loss of the Kingdom of Cambodia's territory. Let the court try me, be it a national or international tribunal." Continuing, Hun Sen said: "Who did this? It is the same group, the one that sentenced the king [Sihanouk] to death. Those people in fact wanted to insult the king. They, however, dared not do it."

Hun Sen said the royal government and the National Assembly work together on this border issue and retorted to non-governmental organizations saying that "non-governmental organizations are set up by even five persons; there is nothing difficult about setting up non-governmental organizations." Hun Sen added: "Even the king [Sihanouk] dared to issue a statement, on 9 or 10 [October], defending the royal family, and all former kings since the Angkor period, no matter how bad those kings. So, why not give Hun Sen the chance to defend himself? Who does not know history, Chey Chetha II [a Cambodian king who married a Vietnamese and allowed Vietnamese to settle in former Cambodian territory]."

Hun Sen provided details on a member of the Cambodian royal family in France saying: "In 1949, the French parliament met and Cambodia's representative was Prince Yukanthor, who cast an abstention vote on his own territory. He not only did not claim the land back but also voted abstention. And then I was accused of causing the territory loss. Now, let's have a talk, regardless of who I have to face. I am lowering myself, not just stepping down from my position. I will remove myself and also remove my immunity myself; because it is easy to remove immunity. Resigning from being a parliament member will remove the immunity. I will go to court to be tried.

However, this is not different from the story the other day. Swearing in front of all the Buddha statues: those who violated their words will be struck by lighting [a very offending curse for Cambodians] [applause]. I am not putting a curse."

Hun Sen added: "And do not say [Sisowath Thomico] is the former king's nephew and the current king's cousin. Just watch." Continuing, Hun Sen said: "I have been too patient for too long. This is the limit of my patience. In any case, my loss of patience will go as far as the law allows. If I did not abide by law, the armed forces are in my hands, no one can object. If [armed forces commander in chief] Ke Kimyan did not do it, I will use Kun Kim [a senior army general close to Hun Sen].

However, Ke Kimyan has to do it, if not he will be removed. Do not think because you are a four-star general; even if you have the moon [and not star on your shoulder], you will be removed." Hun Sen also stressed: "I am not Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk. Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk let others stage a coup. Hun Sen will not. Do not gamble on trying this. You do it, you die. You are told in advance. And let this be passed on to the one who appealed at the end of 1993 [changes thought] 2003 to the armed forces to turn their weapons against the government. Consider yourself lucky, lucky in the sense that Hun Sen did not sue you then. Why? Hun Sen wanted to see whether your appeal was heeded? And if people responded to your appeal, only five persons would open fire on Hun Sen, and you died. I wanted to tell you this. Hun Sen did not sue you because he wanted to see your real strength. Now it is passed the time suing you, the chairman of something. I am not naming you, but do not use this language again. Using the language appealing to the armed forces to revolt against the government does not have to pass through the tribunal, you will be arrested in your house. You will be arrested first, followed by the discussion with the tribunal later. This is a coup d'état crime, and not one of instigation. It is a crime of ordering coup d'état. You will be arrested in your house. Let's talk clearly about this for once."

Hun Sen then talked about the "weak point" of article 2 of the Cambodian constitution on using only the "100,000 maps printed between 1933 and 1953" produced by the French authorities in negotiating Cambodia's border issues with neighbouring countries. Hun Sen argued that Cambodia should have talked only about maps printed "before 1953" which would allow Cambodia to make use of older maps "from 1928, or 1897". Hun Sen added that this was not because "the government or the prime minister did not know about this, but the prime minister did not expose his own constitution to others, to neighbouring countries".

Referring to comments that "the government is launching a campaign to repress democracy, democracy activists," Hun Sen said: "If you did not say something wrong, I have no need to sue you. I have not closed down your radio or newspaper. I only arrested individuals. I have not closed down your non-governmental organizations."

Saying that the issue of selling territory is "a serious one, one of treason", Hun Sen said: "Even though the king wanted to defend his family members, no matter what [king] Chey Chetha II remained a traitor. The king has the right to defend royal family members from the Angkor period down to Norodom Sihanouk, but who does not about this story. It is since the 1600s, at which time all of us were still monkeys, and not yet reborn as humans. This is history."

Referring to the "vast territory" of Cambodia now shrunk to the size of the palm of a hand, Hun Sen asked "Why did you not claim the territory back then" but "blamed the young generation instead". Continuing, Hun Sen said: "Let's be clear about this. It was just that I did not want to talk about it earlier. Now it is time Hun Sen talks about it. Hun Sen will talk about it when the time comes." Hun Sen also talked about playing back "the tape recorded in Fere-en-Tardenois [town in France where secret talks were held between Sihanouk and Hun Sen] on 2 December 1987" in which Hun Sen corrected Sihanouk on the area of Cambodia when Sihanouk said Cambodia covers 181,000 sq kilometres and Hun Sen injected that it is "181,035".

Towards the end of his lengthy speech Hun Sen also briefly talked about the US war in Iraq, saying "even when the United States sent troops to fight in Iraq, the American people never insulted President Bush of being traitors. At most they said the father and the son are the same. The senior Bush attacked Iraq, and the junior Bush again attacked Iraq."

Hun Sen also warned: "Those supporters in the background who whisper things, regardless of they are, watch it, I may implicate you." Concluding his comment on the border demarcation with Vietnam Hun Sen said: "The big issue is which maps to use, which ones; the ones that the king deposited at the United Nations. I followed what the father said. If the father said this was wrong, then the father was also wrong. This is the only conclusion."

Hun Sen added: "After the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops [from Cambodia] in 1989 after toppling the Pol Pot genocidal regime, there were no Vietnamese troops along the border like in the 1960s. No, there were not any; they were on their side on the border, we were on ours. Whatever problems we have the authorities along the border have made efforts to solve them." He also reiterated what he said earlier in his address about praying that those who violated their words be struck by lightning.

Raising the tone of his voice almost throughout the following passage of his speech Hun Sen said: "Right now I am the one administering the country. I should have the right to defend myself, defend the royal government, and forward the matter to parliament. In a parliamentary system, the royal government is set up by parliament. If the government did not do it correctly, parliament should not ratify it. If parliament ratified it, it is the end of it. Even the Senate has no right to oppose the decision by parliament, only the right to return it [to parliament]. However, if parliament maintained that decision, it [pause for nearly 10 seconds] it [the Senate] has to go along with parliament's decision. Even though the number of Senate members is half that of the National Assembly, the constitution does not allow the Senate to have the right to reject the National Assembly's decision, let alone the head of state, or the king, because the power rests with the people.

"I heard it said that the signing [of the border treaty] will have to be done by the acting head of state. I do not know who will sign it. All I know is that once parliament adopted it, that is the end of it. This time around, I talked about it in advance. I have already said this to the samdech krom preah [National Assembly President] Ranariddh. I said prince [changes thought] I already said to Excellencies Sun Chanthol, Kol Pheng, Ung Kantha-phavi, and Sisowath Panara in the aircraft [returning from Vietnam], and I also told the samdech krom preah in the telephone conversation that if this time around it is difficult to sign it, we should reconsider whether we should keep the monarchy or change to a republic with a president instead. Or at least include into the constitution an article stipulating that it [the border treaty] should be signed within a number of days, failing which it will take effect.

[Hun Sen at this point turned to talk about the Thai monarchy and the Thai government] Even the Thai king has to provide a reasonable reason. The law declaring the state of emergency in the south faces many problems. When it was submitted, the Thai king did not sign it; it seemed like for three days. The Thaksin government then asked why it was not signed. One reason given was that there were too many orthographic mistakes in it. This law was very contentious. So, the royal palace and the royal government set up a joint group to correct the orthography. The king then signed it, because once parliament has adopted, it will go forward, there is nothing else.

[Turning to the Cambodian situation] This is because the ones with responsibility are the National Assembly and the government elected by the people. If there were one person to go to prison for this, it would be this one, here, and not the king or the head of state. This is an issue that should be clearly said. Saying this is not putting pressure on the king or the acting head of state. However, we should be clear on the parliamentary and presidential systems; it is one or the other. We are now in the parliamentary system with a reigning king as head of state. In the other system, which is the US system, a president is elected. However, the price to pay is the abolishment of the monarchy and the throne, and no more king.

All of us, however, strive to maintain the constitutional monarchy and defend the throne. A number of persons, however, like to cheat the young generation. This is a violation. And let's wait for this evening; there will be many comments saying that this guy [Hun Sen] is talking as though he is on fire. I have put up with this for a long time. Non-governmental organizations, please carry on doing your work; and foreigners, please do not interfere.

"[Referring to those he recently sued for defamation] The other day, he almost crossed the border. However, young brother, Prey Sar prison was waiting for you; while the [UN]HCR [High Commission of Refugees] was waiting on the other side. As far as we know, the HCR is keeping two persons. Now that warrants have been issued, we should contact Thailand. Let the HCR took the two to board the Thai aircraft, then arrest them and send them to Cambodia. That would end the matter since there is an extradition agreement."

As he ended his speech Hun Sen again talked about the prospect of having to choose between the presidential and the parliamentary system. He said: "I apologized for using this platform [a monastery] to talk about agriculture, farming production at the end of the rainy season and in the dry season, and the National Route 7 on the one hand, and on the other, the border issue, which is related to a big subject that could lead to a clear social reorganization. What regime is needed: a presidential or parliamentary system? There should be a price for the two in order to resolve some issues. Otherwise, the same things would go on; history would repeat itself, and this is unacceptable."

Immediately after this two-hour long report with Hun Sen's speech, TVK aired an announcer-read message, dated 27 September 1999, from Sihanouk to Vietnamese leader Pham Van Dong on the border issue in which Sihanouk proposed the "recognition of the Brevié line" to demarcate the Cambodian-Vietnamese maritime border. The rest of this extended TVK programme consisted of petitions, read by a male announcer, from people in Kampong Cham Province voicing support for the government's handling of the border problem with Vietnam.