CPP Denies Party Rift, Tiny Toons Quits Dancing, Cyber Scammers Con Kingdom
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, August 23, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
LOW KEY: It’s been a year since the Strongman put his son in power. The results are predictably meh: A subpar economy, rampant cyber crime and a spiraling human rights crisis.
BOMBED OUT: Landmine casualties have surged this year, even in provinces previously declared mine-free. The Kingdom is again asking foreign governments to help fund the clean up.
WILD AID: Aggressive primates are attacking tourists at Angkor Wat. Forestry officials have created a national hotline to report the misbehaving monkeys — and relocate them to the jungle.
THE LEDE
Blood Feud
A clash between overseas protest leaders and the government intensified with the arrest of a top critic’s brother, turning the week-old standoff into a powder-keg personal dispute.
“I call on the Hun Sen and Hun Manet authoritarian regime to be more mature,” said Hay Vanna, a political activist based in Japan whose brother was arrested last week in Poipet. “And dare to play politics with me directly.”
The message marks a rare challenge to the Kingdom’s iron-fisted First Family. Hay Vanna and others have promised to continue protesting the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Triangle Development Area — despite dozens of arrests. More demonstrations are planned for Sept. 1.
Same Same
Hun Manet has popped a cork on his first year in power, yet with few real successes. His report card so far offers few reasons to celebrate — and many to worry.
The administration’s accomplishments include increased social security payments, expanded job training and other low-bar triumphs, like political stability and no war. Yet on the Kingdom’s two most pressing issues — the economy and human rights — Hun Manet’s leadership has a lot to prove.
Compared to the previous government, the best anyone can say is that this one is hardly much worse — but it’s hardly much better, either.
Thumbs Down
Miss Leaves was disciplined for posting risqué videos considered a danger to social values and children.
A party girl who goes by Yubee Ly was reprimanded for posting videos of shooting her boyfriend's handgun into the Phnom Penh night. And a dimwitted druggie in Toul Kork was arrested for posting videos of himself smoking meth out of a bottle bong.
Let’s break this down: Officials scan the internet for misdeeds, authorities respond, state-aligned media report. But in these three cases, the Khmer Times posted images from the same videos that offended the authorities.
Miss Leaves and Yubee Ly were “educated” and apologized. Shouldn’t the Khmer Times do the same?
TALKING POINTS
Fault Lines
The CPP clapped back at rumors of tension between the party’s ruling families. Sar Kheng, the former minister of interior, slammed suggestions he would replace Hun Manet as prime minister, while his son, the current minister of interior, denied a growing rift between the powerful families.
Walk Out
The Phnom Penh Court of Appeal found a popular union boss not guilty of theft, overturning a lower court decision and releasing Chea Chan after six months of wrongful imprisonment. The ruling handed labor activists a rare victory, analysts said, but was unlikely to signal a shift in official attitudes toward organized labor, which has suffered years of legal harassment and unfavorable verdicts.
Street Smart
Tiny Toons, the Kingdom’s much-loved B-boy and breakdancing non-profit, has temporarily shut its classrooms due to a severe money shortage. The group started an online fund-raising campaign with hopes of securing $10,000 and reopening the doors in October.
House Party
Hun Manet vowed to eliminate land disputes, but offered few details on how or when the government might tackle the problem, which has plagued the country for decades. The pledge comes as little comfort for residents at Boeung Tamok, Rithy Senchey and dozens of other eviction sites.
Phone Bills
Cambodians are losing more than $1 million per week to local cyber scammers, while U.S. residents have lost more than $100 million since January. The damages represent a serious black eye to police efforts, which have been heavy on talk yet remarkably light on results.
Missed Steps
Landmine casualties surged 61% through July, compared to last year’s numbers, with many in areas previously declared mine-free. Officials are ramping up awareness campaigns and calling on the international community to help rid the Kingdom of the deadly ordnance.
Swing Set
The Kingdom’s wild monkey population has become such a nuisance that authorities have set up a hotline to report bad behavior and remove offending primates to the jungle. Forestry officials cautioned against aggressive monkeys, particularly around Angkor Wat, and urged the public to report any menacing macaques.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Security Forces Anticipate Koh Kong Attack
August 23, 2004
Security officials in Koh Kong province’s Sre Ambel district are on high alert in anticipation of an attack today by the Cambodian Freedom Fighters, said the district police chief and RCAF intelligence chief Mol Roeup.
Hun Sen Summoned Over 1997 Grenade Attack
August 18, 2004
A Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutor has asked Prime Minister Hun Sen to answer questions relating to a suit filed by Sam Rainsy, who has accused the prime minister of masterminding a 1997 grenade attack on a protest led by himself.
Expatriate Bar Owner Charged With Trafficking
August 18, 2004
A Phnom Penh bar owner was arrested on Monday with eight of his female employees and was accused of human trafficking, a court clerk said Tuesday.
Photos: Hun Manet, Facebook. Danger, WikiMedia.
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