Friday, February 25, 2011
Sochua in legal limbo
 |
| SRP lawmaker Mu Sochua (left) speaks during a press conference in Phnom Penh in January. (Photo by: Sovan Philong) |
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post
Outspoken opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua could remain without her parliamentary immunity for up to five years, according to a leaked letter from the Ministry of Justice, drawing criticisms from legal experts who say her immunity should have been restored already.
In a January 28 letter to the National Assembly, Long Phol, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, stated that Mu Sochua could have her immunity restored in two ways.
She can either lodge a request with the Appeal Court a year after her punishment is completed, or wait for the immunity to be restored automatically, five years after the completion of her punishment.
“The restoration of lawmaker Mu Sochua’s immunity depends on the consideration of the parliament conforming to the consciousness of the law on lawmaker’s conditions, parliament’s internal order and the penal procedure code,” read the letter, a copy of which was obtained yesterday by The Post.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Thailand Preparing For A Bigger War
February 24, 2011
Strategy Page
Strategy Page
While terror attacks are up so far this year, investigations are more frequently leading back to drug gangs, who are financing the attacks and protecting the terrorists. Police have made hundreds of arrests, and about a hundred terrorists have surrendered. While many trace their radicalization of Moslem religious school, there always seemed to be someone from one of the drug gangs there to provide cash, or weapons, to keep the killing going.
Red shirt populists and yellow shirt royalists are still demonstrating in the capital, but the sense of crises has diminished. The yellow shirts are largely responsible for the current "war" with Cambodia, by pushing the use of force to press a shaky claim on some land around a border temple. Most of the population backs the red shirts, but no one wants a civil war over the issue of new elections (which the royalists would lose).
The armed forces have put 15,000 troops on the Cambodia border, around a 4.6 square kilometer temple compound that both nations claim control over. Cambodia have about the same number of troops in the area, but Thailand has prepared plans to send a lot more troops to the border, and apply Thailand's larger and more powerful military power against Cambodia. The royalists running the current government see this as a way to gain wider support in Thailand.
UN human rights envoy wraps up Cambodia trip with mixed response
Feb 24, 2011
DPA
DPA
Phnom Penh - The United Nations' human rights envoy to Cambodia highlighted freedom of expression issues and concerns about land rights as he wrapped up his visit to Cambodia Thursday.
'Peaceful expression of opinion should not be dealt with under the penal code as is currently the case with crimes such as defamation,' UN envoy Surya Subedi said of the government's efforts to use the courts to punish its perceived critics in politics, media and civil society.
Subedi said those in public positions should be willing to accept criticism, adding that he was 'concerned about the narrowing of space for people to express their views peacefully and without fear.'
'Criticism is not a crime but an exercise of freedom of conscience, an act of intelligence,' he said at the close of his fourth visit.
He also dismissed the government's claim this week that it had decriminalized defamation, saying people could still be fined for speaking their mind, and could be jailed if they refused to pay that fine.
Independent UN expert stresses need to ensure freedom of expression in Cambodia
Source: UN News Centre
24 February 2011 – An independent United Nations expert today voiced his concern about the use of the crime of incitement against human rights defenders in Cambodia, while stressing the need to ensure that people can express their views peacefully and without fear.
“Criticism is not a crime but an exercise of freedom of conscience, an act of intelligence,” Surya Subedi, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, said at the end of his fourth fact-finding mission to the country.
“There is a narrowing of space for people to express their views peacefully and without fear, including those belonging to different political parties,” he warned. “The peaceful expression of opinion should not be dealt with under the Penal Code as is currently the case with crimes such as defamation and falsification of information.”
Cambodia criticised over attempts to regulate NGOs
Thu Feb 24, 2011
By Prak Chan Thul
By Prak Chan Thul
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia has come under fire over a draft law to regulate non-governmental organisations that critics, including the United States, say is another attempt by the authorities to restrict public freedom and silence dissent.
Cambodia says it wants to regulate more than 3,000 foreign and local NGOs and civil society groups, but opponents argue the law will give the state powers to shut them down for no reason and with no right of appeal.
The draft follows the passage of draconian laws in the past 18 months that increased punishment for defamation and placed restrictions on protests. Rights groups say that is designed to intimidate government critics and the political opposition.
Ou Virak, director of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said the law would give the Interior Ministry "boundless discretition" to disband any body it disagreed with and many organisations would be unable to meet registration requirements.
"Such a result will have chilling repercussions for the freedom of association and expression of ordinary people and will significantly reduce the democratic space in Cambodia," he said. Cambodia, one of Asia's poorest countries, is enjoying an unprecedented period of stability and economic growth after decades of civil war.
But critics and aid donors say its democratic credentials are still lagging those of other Asian countries and that itshuman rights record is worsening.
Criticism is not a crime, UN tells Cambodia
24 February 2011
AFP
AFP
"Those holding public positions should be willing to accept criticism for their decisions. Criticism is not a crime but an exercise of freedom of conscience, an act of intelligence"
PHNOM PENH: The UN special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia on Thursday voiced disquiet about a crackdown on freedom of expression in the country and the growing problem of land rights violations.
"I am concerned about the narrowing of space for the people to express their views peacefully and without fear, including those belongings to different political parties," Surya Subedi said at the end of his fourth 10-day fact-finding mission to the country.
The Cambodian government has come under fire from rights groups in recent years for launching a number of defamation and disinformation lawsuits against critics and opposition members.
UN Rights Envoy Concerned About Courts, Freedoms
 |
| Surya Subedi, U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, speaks during a press conference in Phnom Penh, on Thursday, concluding his 10-day mission to Cambodia. (Photo: AP) |
Phnom Penh Thursday, 24 February 2011
“I am concerned about the narrowing of space for people to express their views peacefully and without fear, including those belonging to different political parties.”
UN rights envoy Surya Subedi expressed concern for Cambodia’s human rights situation, especially for the judiciary and a “narrowing of space” for expression.
Ending a 10-day tour on Thursday ahead of a report the UN Human Rights Council, The UN’s special rapporteur for human rights said he was “particularly concerned…by the use of the crime of incitement against human rights defenders.”
Subedi’s findings echoed concerns local groups have voiced in recent years, especially with the jailing of rights workers and journalists under criminal laws.
Subedi told reporters Thursday a functioning democracy required an effective opposition.
Gaddafi 'will follow Hitler's footsteps'
February 24, 2011
AFP
AFP
ONE of Muammar Gaddafi's former ministers has predicted that the Libyan leader will follow in Adolf Hitler's footsteps by committing suicide, rather than give up power.
Mustapha Abdeljalil, justice minister until he quit over the bloody crackdown on protesters, told Sweden's Expressen that he expected Gaddafi to make good on his pledge to die on Libyan soil rather than slink into exile.
"Gaddafi's time is up. He is going to go like Hitler, he is going to commit suicide," Abdeljalil said in Thursay's edition of the newspaper.
Hitler committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin in April 1945 as he witnessed the disintegration of the Nazi German empire.
Tyrant's bid to safeguard his billions Wealthy: Muammar Gaddafi has had 40 years to squirrel away his estimated £60bn fortune
 |
V for victory: Regime change protesters gesture from the top of an armoured vehicle in the eastern Libyan town of Shahat |
By Liz Hazelton
Daily Mail (UK)
Colonel Gaddafi was yesterday desperately trying to safeguard his multi-billion pound fortune – including a large amount invested in Britain.
Sources in both London and Tripoli confirmed that the Libyan leader wants the cash for his family’s use, whether or not he is toppled.
‘Money set aside for Gaddafi and his nine children is in bank accounts and property across the world, and almost all of it comes from Libya’s enormous oil and energy wealth,’ said one.
‘The Gaddafis have hidden it away in a series of bank accounts in places like Dubai, meaning that even if they lose power they will technically be able to use it.’
Analysts have identified a gap of several billion dollars a year between government spending and the amount of money Libya generates from oil. It is thought that the surplus has been used to make Gaddafi and his children extremely wealthy.
No comments:
Post a Comment