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Government Not Ready for World Bank Loans: US
The U.S. accused the Cambodian government of scaling back the space for free speech and the World Bank of failing to learn from its mistakes in justifying its decision to abstain from a recent Bank vote that approved a sheaf of new loans to Cambodia. The Bank’s board of executive directors approved four projects for Cambodia and $130 million in new loans to support them on May 20 at its headquarters in Washington. Perhaps as important as the money itself, the decision marked the end of a funding freeze the Bank imposed on Cambodia in 2011 in protest over the forced evictions of thousands of families from Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak neighborhood.
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Authorities pay visit to politics chat
Local authorities paid an “intimidating” visit to a youth group holding a private political discussion in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kork district yesterday. The discussion on the topic “The Political Heat in Cambodia” was intended to focus on recent political developments in the Kingdom, and featured as speakers two political party members, political blogger Ou Ritthy and Chak Sopheap, the executive director of the Cambodia Center for Human Rights.
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Villagers Move Back Home to Negotiate Better Compensation
About 250 families who agreed to a deal with China’s Union Development Group (UDG) in 2011 to relocate away from their $3.8-billion tourist mecca in Koh Kong province have moved back to their old homes after hearing that other villagers received more compensation than them, a rights worker said on Sunday. The families, who have lived on barren land about 20 km from their old coastal homes in Kiri Sakor district since being pushed out, moved back en masse on Friday after learning that 22 holdout families secured between $7,000 and $15,000 this month to leave, said Adhoc’s provincial coordinator In Kongchit.
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Some Unions Slam Strike Threat
A group of pro-government and independent unions have condemned an announcement by Free Trade Union (FTU) president Chea Mony, who last week told the press that members of his union and others would hold mass strikes and protests if acting president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party Kem Sokha is arrested. Mr. Mony issued a statement on Friday telling union leaders and members at every factory in the country to stop working if Mr. Sokha is arrested.
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Strikes supporting Sokha illegal: pro-gov’t unions
Pro-government unions are calling on authorities to take action against any unionist caught leading protests in support of embattled opposition acting leader Kem Sohka, and they’re pointing to the new Union Law in doing so, saying such political protests are forbidden under the new statute. The group of government-leaning unions’ public stance followed calls by independent union leaders for workers to strike if Cambodia National Rescue Party acting president Kem Sokha is arrested.
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UDG promises never fulfilled, say villagers
Some 200 of 381 families in Koh Kong province involved in an ongoing land dispute with Union Development Group have returned to their old villages in Kiri Sakor district, claiming the company failed to fully provide compensation promised five years ago. Oum Virak, 55, a villager originally from Koh Sdach commune, said more than 200 families who had relocated to a site 20 kilometres away in 2011 decided to return to the area on May 27. He said the Chinese company had promised to provide 5 hectares of land for each family, $2,000 and a rice supply for three years.
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Time has ‘run out’ for land grabbers: minister
Land Management Minister Chea Sophara declared on Saturday that land grabbers would not evade justice, no matter how rich and powerful they were, although observers yesterday maintained a “wait and see” position. “The opportunity for the land grabbers has run out and I hereby declare it,” Sophara said at the inauguration of a pagoda in his native Kroch Chhmar district in Tbong Khmum province. “Do not think to bribe me to make the land title.
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US vexed by World Bank's return to Cambodia
The World Bank’s decision to re-engage with the Kingdom after a five-year hiatus was made despite stern warnings from the US Treasury Department that Cambodia’s commitment to reform was “questionable” and that the bank did not seem to have learned lessons from past mistakes. According to a position statement uploaded to the department’s website in the wake of the decision, the US abstained from the vote on May 19 to issue a total of $130 million worth of loans across four projects on the grounds that Cambodia had failed to address the key challenges of corruption, a lack of transparent governance and necessary reforms to the land-tenure process.
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Labor Minister Warns of Crackdown on Sokha Protests
Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng warned on Sunday that the government would use the full force of the state to repress protests against the possible arrest of deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha, who has been provisionally charged with failing to heed a court summons. Mr. Sam Heng’s threat came as the National Assembly is set to meet on Monday to decide whether to perform a controversial parliamentary maneuver to allow Mr. Sokha to be jailed in spite of his constitutional immunity from arrest as a lawmaker.
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Ministry staff warned against wearing black
The Ministry of Economy and Finance will punish any staff caught joining the so-called Black Monday campaign and has tasked deputy departmental heads with monitoring their subordinates, according to a directive. In a statement dated May 25, the ministry warns that staff found participating in the campaign, which encourages people to wear black as a form of protest, will face action, calling the movement an “anarchic . . . colour revolution” and a threat to social order.
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Facebook user seeks ‘forgiveness’ over reservoir allegations
“Tommy Angkor II”, a Facebook user being sought by authorities over a video posted last week in which he alleged that officials sold Battambang’s Kamping Puoy reservoir, yesterday backed off those claims. “I don’t know what the truth is or not,” in relation to the alleged sale, he said yesterday in a phone interview.
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Police Searching for Sokha, Raid CNRP Headquarters
More than 10 heavily armed police officers raided the headquarters of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in search of opposition leader Kem Sokha, who has ignored multiple court summonses in the past month related to an alleged sex scandal. Around 11:30 am, before raiding the opposition offices, police stopped and surrounded a vehicle on Norodom Boulevard that they believed was owned by Kem Sokha. Only his wife and driver were inside, and they eventually let the vehicle go.
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CPP Involved in Attacks: HRW
With a court ruling on the October 2015 attack of two members of the opposition outside the National Assembly expected today, Human Rights Watch yesterday published the results of its investigation into the beatings and the subsequent official inquiry. The nearly 70-page report finds that “the criminal process in the case seems to have been designed to cover-up, rather than uncover and shed light on, ultimate responsibility for the October 26 attack.”
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Sokha Avoids Arrest; US Blasts Show of Force
Armed police made a surprise visit to the Phnom Penh headquarters of the opposition CNRP on Thursday claiming to have an arrest warrant for deputy party leader Kem Sokha, moments after one of his vehicles was stopped and searched. Mr. Sokha has ignored multiple court summonses in recent weeks to answer questions over his alleged affair with a hairdresser. The government’s highly public and dogged probe of the purported extramarital relationship is widely seen as politically motivated.
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HRW Slams Government Over Lawmaker Attack Case
The investigation and trial following the brutal attack on two opposition lawmakers by members of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s personal bodyguard unit last year has all the hallmarks of a “blatant cover-up,” according to a report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday. “Dragged and Beaten: The Cambodian Government’s Role in the October 2015 Attack on Opposition Politicians” suggests that the three bodyguards charged over the attack on CNRP lawmakers Nhay Chamroeun and Kong Saphea outside the National Assembly had not been acting alone. A verdict in their case is due on Friday.
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Kem Sokha Now a Wanted Man
More than 10 heavily armed police officers raided the headquarters of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) yesterday in search of opposition leader Kem Sokha, who has ignored multiple court summonses in the past month related to an alleged sex scandal. At about 11:30am, before raiding the opposition offices, police stopped and surrounded a vehicle on Norodom Boulevard they believed was owned by Mr. Sokha. Only his wife and driver were inside and they eventually let the vehicle go.
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Kem Sokha in ‘safe place’ as police hunt for CNRP deputy leader
A throng of opposition supporters remained at Cambodia National Rescue Party headquarters in Phnom Penh as night fell yesterday, after heavily armed police attempted unsuccessfully to arrest the party’s acting president, Kem Sokha, earlier in the day. Sokha yesterday ignored a second summons to appear at Phnom Penh Municipal Court to answer questions about an alleged dalliance with hairdresser Khom Chandaraty – a case observers have widely deemed to be politically motivated.
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More land declared ‘protected’
A new protected area in Banteay Meanchey province was created by a sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on May 23, the Ministry of Environment announced yesterday. The sub-decree granted protected status to 12,650 hectares of land at Ang Trapaing Thmor, according to a copy of the document.
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Hun Sen Announces Voter Registration Push
After setting a date this week for next year’s commune elections, Prime Minister Hun Sen used a speech on Wednesday to urge officials to speed up work to ensure that 2 million people without new identification cards are able to obtain one by election day on June 4, 2017. Coming amid claims by the opposition that the ruling party is already spoiling the possibility of a fair election with a spate of arrests and legal action against opposition figures, Mr. Hun Sen said he was committed to making sure everyone could vote, including himself.
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Gap Workers Abused: Report
A report released yesterday alleged longstanding abuse of worker rights at some of fashion brand Gap’s supplier factories in Cambodia. Drawing from interviews with garment factory workers taken over the last decade, the report claimed that employees at some of Gap’s suppliers suffered from short-term contracts, piece-rate wages and sexual assault.
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