Khmer Rouge Tribunal Concludes, Thai Border Reopens, Expat Deaths Surge
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, August 13, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
TONLE SAP THREATS: Clock could be ticking for Southeast Asia’s largest lake. Irreversible harm to the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve would hurt more than 1.7 million people.
POLITICAL DISCORD: Cambodia’s opposition has returned to its old familiar, infighting ways, with Kem Sokha and his daughter accused of looking to form their own party.
PENALTIES POSSIBLE: Washington lawmakers promised sanctions against Cambodian officials for a number of violations, including the forced closure of The Cambodia Daily.
THE LEDE
KRT Winds Down
The Khmer Rouge tribunal, known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, begins final public hearings next week when Khieu Samphan, the last living Khmer Rouge leader, challenges his life sentence for crimes committed during the Pol Pot regime.
The former Khmer Rouge head of state was convicted in November 2018 of genocide, crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. An estimated 2 million people died under the Khmer Rouge.
Khieu Samphan is expected to testify during the hearing, which is scheduled for four days. Once complete, the court will begin shutting down after 15 years of historic, but often rocky, justice.
The ECCC was established in 2006 and has been fraught with controversy from the start. In 15 years the court convicted just three people at an estimated cost of $330 million.
Dam Problems
Fears and accusations continue to swirl around a Chinese-backed dam in Ratanakiri province that upended local fish reproduction, displaced thousands and failed to deliver on energy promises, according to Human Rights Watch.
The Lower Sesan 2 dam decimated fish-migration patterns along two important Mekong tributaries, further reducing dwindling fish stocks that millions rely on for work and food.
Ethnic minorities have been hit hard. “The company didn’t consider indigenous rights,” one villager said. “They just told us to move.”
The LS2 dam was built in partnership with Cambodia’s Royal Group and Vietnam’s state-owned power company. The dam has so far produced less than half of the 2,000 gigawatt hours it was meant to deliver each year.
An editorial in Chinese state media called the report an attempt by the United States to “sow discord,” but did not refute specific allegations.
Expat Deaths
The death of a foreigner always hits hard in Cambodia’s expat community. At least eight died last week, a dark and perhaps unprecedented turn.
A Finnish woman was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Kampot.
A British national known as “Old Tony” died suddenly outside a popular Phnom Penh watering hole.
A Swiss man passed away in a Kampong Chhnang guesthouse, reportedly from asthma.
An Indian man who sold mosquito nets died by suicide in Phnom Penh.
A well-known Siem Reap expat was found dead in a public park.
A Pakistani man died in Phnom Penh from liver cancer.
An unidentified man, believed to be Chinese, was found floating in the waters off Sihanoukville.
A Chinese man was found hanged at an abandoned construction site in Sihanoukville. Social media chatter said his hands were tied behind his back.
D.C. Leans In
Washington is turning up the political heat on Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Three U.S. Senators said they would propose sanctions against Cambodian officials who commit human rights abuses or undermine democracy. The measure cites a laundry list of transgressions, including the forced closure of The Cambodia Daily, dissolution of the CNRP, arrest of environmental activists and the Kingdom’s cozy relationship with China’s military.
"Let's be clear,” said Dick Durbin, a legislation sponsor. “What little is left of Cambodian democracy is in serious danger. An oppressive ruler is violating Cambodia’s constitution and arresting, threatening, and harassing political opponents and peaceful activists."
TALKING POINTS
Languishing Lake
The Tonle Sap is facing existential threats from every direction: Dramatically reduced flows from Chinese dams, overfishing, irrigation, agrochemicals, pollution and climate change. Chou Phanith, a natural resource economist, explains the problem. And some possible solutions.
Infighting As Usual
Opposition parties have returned to a familiar place — at each other’s throats. Leaders of the newly created Cambodia Reform Party have accused Kem Sokha and his daughter of raising funds to form their own party. The two have denied the allegations. Infighting is good for the CPP, analysts say, but no one else.
No Sugar-Coating
A decade-old battle between Heng Huy, a powerful sugar magnate, and his neighbors has spilled onto social media. One neighbor posted: “Before dying, please do a little good deed. Do not be as in the saying: You live, but the name is rotten. You do not want to hear things like: Heng Huy, who robs land from the people and takes them to court.” Heng Huy promptly sued the neighbor for defamation.
Strong Stance
Theary Seng, the Cambodian-American lawyer and social activist, told The New York Times she is ready for prison. The government has charged her and more than 100 others with “conspiracy to commit treason” and “incitement to create social disorder.” The American Bar Association called the charges “a pretext for retaliation.”
Pulling Strings
Fashion designer Sok Phnha is giving Germany an eyeful of Khmer heritage. Her handbags incorporate elements from shadow puppetry, or Sbek Thom, which uses puppets made from leather.
Weather Wagers
Farmers in Battambang province had a problem. They feared that rain gamblers’ prayers for precipitation had robbed their rice fields of watery relief — so they called the cops. Police arrested five men on gambling charges and confiscated seven mobile phones, five radios and three cars.
Covid-19 Watch
Good News: Active cases dropped below 4,000. Average daily cases are at their lowest since late May. Sixty-six percent of adults are fully vaccinated.
Bad News: Cambodia reopened its border with Thailand, which could spark a new wave of Delta cases.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Khmer Rouge Trial’s Future Still Uncertain
August 13, 2001
The promise of a war crimes tribunal for leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime grew nearer last Friday with King Norodom Sihanouk’s signing of the tribunal law, but difficult negotiations remain as the government and the UN hammer out important details on the panel’s makeup and jurisdiction, analysts cautioned Sunday.
King Norodom Sihanouk Signs Khmer Rouge Tribunal Law
August 11, 2001
The Khmer Rouge tribunal law was signed by King Norodom Sihanouk Friday afternoon, just a few hours after the government formally sent the law to the Royal Palace, Minister of Cabinet Sok An said.
Survivors of the Khmer Rouge Regime Testify on the Events of 1975-1979
August 11, 2001
As progress toward a Khmer Rouge tribunal moves forward, the Cambodia Daily today begins a series in which the people who lived through the Khmer Rouge regime share their stories. Subsequent stories will appear in future issues of the Cambodia Daily.