Monday, November 23, 2015

CNRP: More on Sam Raingsy

Voice of America

23 November 2015

PHNOM PENH—

The vice president of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party will return to Cambodia on Tuesday, along with two lawmakers who were brutally beaten outside the National Assembly last month.

Rescue Party Vice President Kem Sokha is returning following meetings in Manila last week with party president Sam Rainsy, who remains abroad to avoid an arrest warrant he says is politically motivated.

Rescue Party officials say they met to discuss political strategy in the face of ongoing political strife with the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha appealed to the party’s supporters via Facebook to remain calm and seek peaceful means to change the country.

“Despite a number of recent events, including the political situation, our position and goals remain the same,” Sam Rainsy said in a video on Facebook. “Our motivation and our commitment are the same. We want to have change through a peaceful election. Our position is a peaceful stance, with dignity, to lead Cambodia to prosperity.”

Supporters need not worry about the party’s position, he said, as its leaders will establish new strategies to compete with the CPP in upcoming elections.

In the same video, Kem Sokha told supporters the Rescue Party is working on short, medium and long-term goals to win local elections in 2017 and national elections in 2018 and “to reform our nation to be a democracy of multilateral parties and to improve our people’s livelihoods.”

CPP spokesman Sok Eysan dismissed the message as a “greedy” bid for power. “There’s no surprise, nothing new,” he said, adding that the CPP was “keeping the door open” for talks with the Rescue Party. “Sam Rainsy’s case is a personal lawsuit between [Foreign Minister] Horn Namhong and Sam Rainsy,” he said.

The warrant stems from a criminal defamation suit brought by Hor Namhong in 2008, but opposition officials say it is being brought forward as part of an ongoing political campaign against them.

The warrant and the removal of Sam Rainsy from parliament by a National Assembly committee dominated by the CPP has been roundly criticized by the international community, including US officials, who say they fear the upcoming elections will not be free and fair.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Paris Attack: The aftermath

A Police raid today in St Denis area of Paris where ISIS terrorists were hiding led to the killing of the ringleader and a woman suicide bomber. A significant big break through of the investigation.

Read in the Washington Post:

These two reasons explain why the Islamic State attacked

France now

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By Graig Klein November 18 at 2:00 PM

To understand the Islamic State’s attack on Paris, we must understand its timing. Why did the attack occur when it did? There are two major reasons.

1. The Islamic State needs new recruits.

Recent counterterrorism efforts have hurt the Islamic State. For example the United States has increased airstrikes against Islamic State-controlled oil production and refineries.

In addition, as more Syrians have left the country since Russian airstrikes began, there are fewer civilians who could become radicalized and join the Islamic State. Because membership is the primary resource of any terrorist organization, it’s no surprise that the Islamic State has released several videoscriticizing those who flee to the ‘infidel’ and ‘xenophobic’ Europe.

If the Islamic State needs new recruits, attacking France is attractive. France is already a leading exporter of volunteers for the Islamic State. As of April 2015 there were an estimated 1,550 French fighters in Iraq and Syria.

And France is also deeply involved in counterterrorism, having led airstrikesagainst the Islamic State since late September. Terror attacks by the Islamic State are only likely to provoke further airstrikes and counterterrorism efforts — as last week’s attack already has.

The more France retaliates, the easier it may be for the Islamic State to mobilize new recruits. Violent counterterrorism radicalizes moderates andproduces calls for vengeance that militant groups exploit to recruit supporters. This is why al-Qaeda recognized mobilization as “the dividing line between success and failure” and the Islamic State shares this view. This cycle of counterterrorism and subsequent mobilization has emerged in Northern Ireland, Turkey, Israel, Brazil, and El Salvador, among other examples.

2. Francoise Hollande was politically weakened.

President Hollande and his Socialist Party have struggled in the polls, whereas Marie Le Pen’s National Front has gained ground. If the National Front performs well in the December regional elections, which it is poised to do, Le Pen poses a credible challenge in the 2017 presidential elections.

This threat to Hollande’s political survival is what the Islamic State arguably sought to exploit. Jihadists are well versed in Western politics and use this knowledge to assess the socio-economic, political and physiological impact of terror attacks.

In this case, the Islamic State may have calculated that a weakened Hollande would be especially likely to respond aggressively — and therefore unintentionally help the Islamic State attract new recruits. As Hollande would be well aware, using military force often galvanizes support for the incumbent party, and manufacturing political capital is most valuable as elections approach. In many other countries — including Britain, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, the Philippines and Russia — the public increasingly supported assertive national policies and actions following terrorist attacks.

This shows why counterterrorism is a challenge. Hollande cannot ignore the Islamic State’s heinous attack. A weak response signals a government’s inability to protect its citizens. But an aggressive response may also empower the Islamic State.

And even if Hollande’s response were more measured, the Islamic State could still benefit. Terrorist attacks polarize the electorate and increase support for right-leaning parties. This could give the National Front a boost in the upcoming regional elections and in the 2017 presidential elections. A stronger National Front likely increases anti-immigration legislation, thereby further isolating Muslims in France and helping the Islamic State radicalize and recruit new members.

Ultimately, the attacks in Paris demonstrate both the Islamic State’s brutality and its pragmatism. These attacks may leave France with options that will only sustain the Islamic State — and may help it grow.

Graig Klein is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at Binghamton University.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

More on Sam Raingsy

Defamation Lawsuit Already Settled in France, Rainsy Says

Khmer Times/May Titthara

Tuesday, 17 November 2015

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After postponing his return to Cambodia on Monday for a “few days” over an arrest warrant against for him for allegedly defaming Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in 2008, opposition leader Sam Rainsy said yesterday that Mr. Namhong had already lost his defamation lawsuit against him at the French Supreme Court in Paris.

Mr. Rainsy, president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, made the comment in an edit to a November 16 post on his Facebook page.

He wrote that on April 27, 2011 Mr. Namhong had lost the drawn-out defamation lawsuit against him in France.

Mr. Rainsy added that Mr. Namhong “won his case – concerning the same allegation I made that he was a Khmer Rouge collaborator at Boeng Trabek jail in the late 1970s – only in 2013 before the politically subservient Cambodian Court.”

On Monday, Mr. Rainsy announced just six hours before his scheduled landing at Phnom Penh International Airport that he was delaying “for a few days” his return to the Kingdom. He said the decision was made after consulting with CNRP members in Cambodia and a number of international pro-democracy organizations.

Earlier that day, Mr. Rainsy was stripped of his seat in the National Assembly, as well as the parliamentary immunity that came with it.

The warrant, issued last Friday, stems from a 2008 complaint from Foreign Minister Hor Namhong accusing Mr. Rainsy of defamation for his Khmer Rouge-collaborator comments made during a memorial service at the Choeung Ek Genocide Center.

Mr. Rainsy alleged that Mr. Namhong oversaw the Boeung Trabek prison under the Khmer Rouge. In 2011, Mr. Rainsy was convicted in absentia on the charges, sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine.

In 2013, Mr. Rainsy was granted a Royal Pardon by King Sihamoni to allow him to return for the national election that year.

Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said yesterday that Mr. Rainsy can run but he cannot avoid serving a sentence. Mr. Siphan made the comment despite the fact that Mr. Rainsy has yet to be convicted of what many have dismissed as a politically motivated charge.

It is just a matter of time to determine the penalty, Mr. Siphan added. He also said that the warrant to arrest Mr. Rainsy from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutor demonstrates the success of judicial reform in Cambodia because it shows that the law applies to everyone.

Ny Chakrya, head of monitoring at rights group ADHOC, said the case against Mr. Rainsy was dubious. Mr. Rainsy lost a court battle with Mr. Namhong at a lower court and was ordered to pay one euro, but when Mr. Mr. Rainsy won at France’s Supreme Court both parties accepted the verdict. “The case should not go to a hearing at Cambodia’s courts because it has already been resolved in France,” Mr. Chakrya said.

“The issuing of this warrant is a clear violation of the principle of judicial independence and the separation of powers,” a statement from 19 civil society groups, including ADHOC, said on Monday.

Mr. Rainsy also said yesterday that he will return to Cambodia tomorrow.

Cambodia: Sam Raingsy and the Opposition

Reuters Article as seen in Washington Post:

Cambodia opposition leader, facing arrest, delays return

By Prak Chan Thul

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy on Monday delayed his return home from South Korea as tension comes to a head between his supporters and those of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The Southeast Asian nation is still three years away from a general election, but acrimony between the two as they jockey for position is threatening to plunge the country back into political conflict.

A Cambodian court on Friday issued an arrest warrant related to an old defamation case for which Sam Rainsy had already received a royal pardon. The opposition party denounced the warrant as politically motivated.

Parliament on Monday stripped Sam Rainsy of the immunity that comes with his position in parliament.

Sam Rainsy had been due to arrive in Phnom Penh from South Korea on Monday. He would be arrested on arrival, said government spokesman Phay Siphan.

"There won't be any political compromise because he has lost all political status," Phay Siphan said.

Sam Rainsy said via Facebook that he had delayed his journey after talking to colleagues in Cambodia and a "number of international pro-democracy organizations" which suggested he arrive in daylight,"...and that I should also leave some time for diplomatic intervention to materialize with the objective of reaching a peaceful solution to the recent escalation of violence in Cambodia," he said.

He would fly to Cambodia "in the next few days", he added.

The warrant for his arrest was issued a day after self-styled strongman Hun Sen, in power for more than 30 years, threatened a lawsuit against Sam Rainsy for comments he made abroad about the election.

Sam Rainsy called on the international community to ensure that Hun Sen sticks to the election timetable and not use the deteriorating political situation to delay the vote.

The U.S. government on Monday said it was deeply concerned by Sam Rainsy's removal from the National Assembly and called for his reinstatement and the restoration of his parliamentary immunity.

"We also call on the government to revoke the arrest warrant issued against him on seven-year-old defamation charges and to allow him and other opposition parliamentarians to return to Cambodia without fear of arrest or persecution," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.

Hun Sen has warned that an election victory for the opposition in 2018 would spark a return to civil war.

Robust economic growth, jobs creation and sustained peace for an impoverished country roiled by decades of civil war, including under Pol Pot's 1975-79 "killing fields" regime, have ensured Hun Sen's continued re-election, But experts say he now faces a strong challenge from a rejuvenated opposition popular among urban youth.

Sam Rainsy's Cambodia National Rescue Party ended a year-long parliamentary boycott after a deal in July 2014 with Hun Sen's long-ruling Cambodian People's Party that granted a series of concessions to the opposition party.

The deal fell apart after a year, when opposition party lawmakers were jailed for insurrection for their role in a protest.

(Additional reporting by Eric Walsh in Washington, D.C.; Writing by Simon Webb; Editing by Nick Macfie and Dan Grebler)

Monday, November 16, 2015

PARIS: Friday the 13th

It is not good? No, if you are not superstitious. Anyway it is not good for Paris on that Friday November 13th, 2015 with the coordinated attack in 6 targets by the ISIS killing 129 people and making a few hundred wounded. It is also not good for "Le Petit Cambodge" Restaurant (The Little Cambodia Restaurant) also a target where 14 people were killed.
Far away in Cambodia, the day, I mean also Friday the 13th is not good for Sam Reangsy, the President of the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP). It was on that day that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issue a warrant for his arrest subsequent to a judgement pronounced against him long ago, in 2011.
Sam Raingsy supposed to return to Phnom Penh from a trip abroad today, but he changed his mind the last minute, and may be choosing to live in exile once more, because he was stripped of his parliamentarian immunity.

On the Paris attack which is a second tragedy after the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015, France President Hollande had declared that it was an act of war against France and is committed revenge in full force. The next days 20 high velocity was dropped in Raqqa, in Surya, know as HQ of ISIS.

PS: Long ago I remember one day on Friday the 13th, my mother in law asked me to drive her to town for shopping, I said no to her telling her that I did not want to drive because of the Friday the 13th, and have to wait for the day after. Yes, on that Saturday the 14th I drove her to Seattle from our home in Lynnwood. And guest what, while driving up hill, a taxi driven from nowhere in a second, came straight and hit my car head on, causing bodily wounds.
It was not Friday the 13th but Saturday the 14th that was bad for us. So since then, I say to myself that any good or bad luck can come any day ... I would say that it depends on your destiny.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Old Sayings for the Day

Khmer:

អណ្តាតជាអាថកន្លង បានសុខទុក្ខផង ក៍ព្រោះអណ្តាត។

French:

Les paroles s'envolent, mais l'ecrit reste.

Monday, November 9, 2015

Burma's Hope

After yesterday Sunday general peaceful elections, after 25 years of military rules, there are great celebration in town that show, after early votes count, that the opposition party led by Aun Sang Suu Kyi was leading and some ruling party members concede that they Lost.

The Burma Constitution is complex and even with victory, the winning party winner Suu Kyi may not govern. The future will let us know how it will work out ... They said that there will be lessons learned from victory or failure.

From AFP:

............

Suu Kyi, 70, appeared at the NLD headquarters on Monday morning before cheering supporters, saying it was too early to congratulate winners. But, she said, “I think you all have an idea of the results.”

“Victory or failure, that is not important,” she said. “What is important is how we win or lose. Those who lose should bravely concede, while those who win should humbly celebrate the victory. That is a true democracy.”

........

Independence Day

Today, November 9th, 2015, marks the 62nd Anniversary of the Kingdom of Cambodia Independence from France, after 90 years of Protectorate. Prime Minister Hun Sen praised and promised to continue Cambodia's development the ways former King Norodom Sihanouk did during the heyday of the Sangkum Reastr Niyum period.

CNRP Vice President Kem Sokha, called from South Korea, for all politicians to free themselves from all ill feelings in act and word, to be liberate from sufferings. He call for all to help free Cambodia from foreign influence.