Cambodian News

Phnom Penh - When the former chief of the Khmer Rouge’s notorious S-21 prison camp was indicted by Cambodia’s war crimes tribunal in August, many observers thought 2008 could be marked by real progress at the UN-backed court.
The appearance of Kaing Guek Eav, known by his revolutionary name Duch, in the dock represented for many the [...]

The UN and the government have agreed to joint meetings to strengthen the management of the Khmer Rouge tribunal, which has suffered continued allegations of corruption, officials said Wednesday.
“We believe the court can be more efficient and the sides can have a joint session,” Pen Ngoeun, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, told reporters [...]

CONTINUING CONCERNS ABOUT CHINESE HUMAN RIGHTS — The spectacular Olympic picture China has sought to paint for a world audience continues to be marred by human rights abuses, as media outlets, human rights groups and international diplomats put pressure on the Olympic host to ease controls on the Chinese people.
U.S. President George W. Bush made [...]

With yet another election victory in the bag, Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, is now entering his thirty-fourth year in power.
Hun Sen draws his inspiration not from south-east Asia’s more democratic leaders, but from Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, who used dictatorial methods to build a modern, prosperous but tightly-controlled island city-state. Still only 57, [...]

A UN oversight committee is reviewing allegations of corruption from Cambodian staff at the Khmer Rouge tribunal, a UN spokesman said Tuesday.
The review comes following allegations brought forward in June.
“They came forward themselves, and we applaud them for their bravery and for their willingness,” the spokesman, Peter Foster, said. “It is not only important for [...]

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s genocide tribunal has been hit by new corruption allegations, compelling foreign donors to withhold more than $300,000 from the proceedings pending a review of the claims, officials said Wednesday.
The new scandal came as the U.N.-assisted tribunal prepared for its first trial, next month, for atrocities allegedly committed during the [...]

(BangkokPost.com) – The Thai ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Don Pramudwinai, said Cambodia has yet withdrawn its request for the UN to intervene in the dispute over the border area around the 11th century Preah Vihear temple.

According to Mr Don, Thailand’s neighbouring country has only postponed its request for the time being. He said [...]

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary was rushed to hospital Friday after he discovered blood in his urine, said a spokesman for Cambodia’s UN-backed genocide court.
Ieng Sary, 82, is one of five top regime cadres charged in connection with the Khmer Rouge’s bloody rule over Cambodia from 1975-79, when up [...]

Cambodia knows exactly when and where to hit Thailand to inflict the most pain on its neighbour to the east. Repeated attempts by Phnom Penh to raise the Preah Vihear dispute at the international level in forums such as the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement – which were subsequently withdrawn – shows a lack [...]

Phnom Penh – Cambodia’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has ordered the leader of its coalition partner, the royalist Funcinpec Party, to stand down, but will retain the coalition structure, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Wednesday.
He said the CPP would form a coalition after Sunday’s landslide victory, which sees the CPP take at least [...]