Cambodia leader cries for victims

BBC News

The chief interrogator of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge has wept while visiting a prison he commanded where at least 14,000 people were killed.

Kaing Geuk Eav, also known as Duch, cried during the visit to the S-21 prison, a day after he wept while visiting a mass grave at Choeung Ek.

The visits were led by judges from a UN-backed tribunal which has charged Duch with crimes against humanity.

The Khmer Rouge are blamed for more than one million deaths in the 1970s.

Duch is the first of five senior Khmer Rouge officials to be charged by the tribunal, but a date for the trial has yet to be set.

Torture chambers

Both visits, described by officials as re-enactments, were closed to the public and the media, but a witness told the BBC that Duch cried on Wednesday when touring S-21, also known as Tuol Sleng.

A number of survivors - of only a handful to have left the prison alive - also wept as they took part in the visit.

Tuol Sleng is now a genocide museum and is normally one of the busiest tourist attractions in Phnom Penh, says the BBC's Guy De Launey in the Cambodian capital.

For Duch's visit with dozens of investigating judges, police cordoned off the museum and the surrounding area.

Tuol Sleng was once a school, but the Khmer Rouge surrounded the outside with barbed wire and turned the classrooms into tiny cells and blood-spattered torture chambers.

Thousands of people were tortured there until they admitted to crimes against the revolution.

Youk Chhang, the director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which researches Khmer Rouge atrocities, said the site was a "living nightmare" for Cambodians.

On Tuesday, Duch wept while touring Choeung Ek, one of Cambodia's notorious killing fields, where some 16,000 people were killed and buried in shallow mass graves after being tortured at Tuol Sleng.

Reach Sambath, a tribunal spokesman, said Duch cried as he "explained what happened ... when he was the chief of S-21", the Associated Press news agency reported.

"We noticed that he was feeling pity, tears were rolling down his face two or three times," he said.

Duch was especially moved, he said, when he stood before a tree with a sign describing how executioners disposed of their child victims by bashing their heads against its trunk.

He is also reported to have cried when confronted by a pile of human skulls.

Duch was arrested and detained in July 2007.

Those also facing charges include Nuon Chea, second-in-command of the late Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, the former foreign and social affairs ministers Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith, and former head of state Khieu Samphan.

Western Media criticized for attributing `former dictator` to Soeharto

Brisbane (ANTARA News) - Noted Indonesianist Greg Fealy of the Australian National University (ANU) said Western media organizations had misled their readers and viewers by attributing `former dictator` to former president Soeharto.

"I think they have mislead the public by giving such attribution to Soeharto because he did not hold the power alone. He always kept the power of the people and of the military in the balance. He could not force his own will upon the political system and state," he told ANTARA News on Tuesday.

He said that the attribution as `former dictator` to Soeharto did not reflect the real condition of Indonesia`s state system during his 32 years in power.

Therefore, Greg Fealy is of the opinion that the attribution as `dictator` to Soeharto was misleading because he was not at the dictator level as that of Idi Amien of Uganda, Pol Pot of Cambodia and Joseph Stalin of Russia.

Since Soeharto was admitted to Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta on Jan. 4, 2008, Western media organizations, including those of Australia, have been taking up reports on his health conditions.

"The Australian," "TV Channel Seven" and "ABC" are three Australian media organizations which have been carrying reports on the health of the former president, and its implications on corruption charges leveled against him by the Indonesia government.

Besides giving a neutral attribution such as a "former president," or "a five-star general," the three Australian media also attributed `former dictator` to Soeharto.

Soeharto was rushed to Pertamina Hospital on January 4 for severe anemia and edema.

Since he was toppled from his presidential seat on May 21, 1998, Soeharto, who was born in Kemusuk hamlet, Argomulyo village, Yogyakarta on June 8 1921, has been in and out of the hospital for various illnesses such as mild strokes, an intestinal bleeding, heart and lung problems.

Press freedom an endless struggle for Asian media: Conference

The Jakarta Post

The German-based Konrad Adenauer Foundation late last year held a conference on media and law in the Cambodian tourist center of Siem Reap. The Jakarta Post's Imanuddin Razak participated in the three-day conference, which covered discussions on press freedom in Asia.

Most people would agree that nothing in life is free -- including the obtaining or upholding of press freedom.

This basic truth was uttered by one conference participant who hailed from a Southeast Asian country.

An obvious example comes from the conference host: Cambodia itself.

The president of the Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ), Pen Samitthy, said due to a weak judicial system and law enforcement in Cambodia, the establishment of a press council to assist journalists in avoiding legal lawsuits was a necessity.

Looking at the number of media outlets in Cambodia -- 296 local newspapers, 90 magazines, 30 bulletins, 41 registered foreign media institutions, 22 radio stations and seven television stations, most of whom are privately owned -- there is widespread recognition the Cambodian media enjoy press freedom.

The image that press freedom in Cambodia is strongly upheld was strengthened by a government decision in 2006 to decriminalize defamation cases to ensure journalists would not be sent to prison for defamation.

This encouraged Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) to issue a statement deeming Cambodia the model for other Asian countries to follow in upholding press freedom; an important component of democracy. The group also ranked Cambodia 85 out of 169 countries with press freedom surveyed in 2007.

Cambodia rated far better than the other nine ASEAN member countries, including Indonesia (100), Malaysia (124), the Philippines (128), Thailand (135), Singapore (142), Laos (161), Vietnam (162) and Myanmar (164).

"However, I have to say that Cambodia is not a perfect place for journalists. There were six journalists killed between 1993 and 1997. Since 1997, there have been no journalists murdered; but arrests, threats and lawsuits are still concerns for Cambodian journalists," said Samitthy.

The press freedom trend has since experienced a change from the use of violence to the use of the legal system. In 2006, there were seven lawsuits filed against Cambodian journalists, an arrest of a journalist and 12 cases of threats against journalists.

Fortunately, there were cases that could be solved out of court through negotiations, in which the CCJ served as the mediator.

However, Cambodian courts prefer to apply the penal code rather than the Law on Press. As a result, journalists can be imprisoned if they are found guilty.

Another concern is there are some articles in the Law on Press that can be applied to imprison journalists. An example is article 12 of the law regarding national security and political stability, which gives the courts permission to prosecute journalists whose reports harm national security and political stability.

Cambodian journalists can also be imprisoned if they have been sued by a member of the public and proven guilty of defamation.

Cambodian journalists not only face legal lawsuits, but also have limited access to information. Article 5 of the press law stipulates that journalists have to wait one month to obtain requested information from government officials.

The CCJ, Samitthy said, was considering establishing its own regulations to help journalists avoid lawsuits.

"An important step is to set up a national code of conduct for Cambodian journalists and a mechanism to enforce the code of conduct through the establishment of a self-regulatory body, known as a press council, which will monitor and deal with the issues between journalists and members of the public," he said.

This is the lesson from Cambodia. But what about press freedom in India, an Asian country dubbed as the world's largest democracy?

"The Indian Constitution, which came into force in 1950, stipulates that all citizens have the right to freedom of speech and expression," Mukund Padmanabhan, Senior Associate Editor of The Hindu, said at the conference.

"Yet, the constitution does not have a specific provision for the freedom of the press. Press freedom is a defined right in India as it has its roots in the right to freedom of speech and expression of the citizen."

Mukund specifically highlighted three laws -- the Contempt Law, Defamation Law and Privilege Law -- that had the potential to hamper press freedom in India, as they could be used to prosecute or even imprison journalists for their reports.

Meanwhile, press freedom in Malaysia and Singapore, which both impose an internal security act, remains a difficult issue to resolve.

The Reporters Without Borders group quoted Singaporean leaders as saying economic prosperity had to be paid for with freedom.

"I'm often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yet, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn't be here today," it quoted a statement by former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Lee's remark, according to Reporters Without Borders, sums up the policy of the country's longtime ruler -- that civil liberties are never a priority and that a good citizen should always remember national interests are more important.

This has remained the government's attitude since Lee partly handed over power to his successors in 1990, after ruling for 31 years.

Similarly, press freedom in Malaysia has been criticized as the press there has been heavily influenced by the government, in the name of prosperity and stability.

In the Philippines, however, as both judicial and press regulations have developed toward freedom of the press, problems that still hamper press freedom focus more around security and safety for media employees and organizations.

A report compiled by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) revealed that five Philippine journalists were killed last year, increasing the total number of journalists killed under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration to 54.

Indonesia's reform movement in 1998 led to the revocation of the Information Minister's decree on media publishing licenses; the most effective tool of the New Order government in controlling the media.

Yet, reforms have also led people to exercise their rights independently, including the filing of both criminal and civil lawsuits by parties or individuals dissatisfied with media reports.

Thailand in search for energy supply from neighbouring countries

Google/AFP, 4 hours ago

BATAM, Indonesia (AFP) — Southeast Asia's biggest offshore oil platform, weighing in at 16,800 tonnes, is near completion in Indonesia's island of Batam. Destined for the Arthit gas fields in the Gulf of Thailand, the half-billion-dollar behemoth is expected to soon take centre stage in Thailand's bid to escalate drilling and secure energy supplies.

Natural gas generates nearly all of the electricity in Thailand, which long ago shed its rural roots and is galloping towards greater urbanisation and a broader industrial base.

Demand for gas is expected to rise by an annual average of 8.4 percent through to 2015, and Thailand's top energy firm PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP), which will take control of the Batam rig, hopes to be operating the nation's largest gas production facility by February 2008.

Even with capacity of nearly 370 million cubic feet per day, the massive Arthit project will not be able to supply power-hungry Thailand which is already looking further afield to meet demand.

"The existing domestic supply of natural gas is likely to be wiped out in the next 18 years," said PTTEP spokesman Sidhichai Jayant.

"Consequently, we are in need of natural gas supplies from neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam, which have larger reserves than us, to fulfill future consumption."

While domestic gas supplies currently account for about half of Thailand's consumption, PTTEP plans to invest some 70 billion baht (two billion dollars) in overseas energy projects over the next five years as it anticipates heavier reliance on foreign gas reserves.

"Energy supplies from abroad are critical for Thailand, especially for long-term reliability as local supplies of gas and oil are limited," said Chavalit Pichalai of the Energy Policy and Planning Office.

"Even though we are diversifying to coal-fired and nuclear power generation, natural gas will remain a key source of electricity. We need to diversify our overseas gas supplies for long-term stability," he said.

This could prove tricky in a region beset by territorial disputes and, in the case of Myanmar, Thailand's largest supplier, political instability.

Myanmar's bloody crackdown on anti-government protests has sparked international condemnation and could force Bangkok to re-assess its trade relationship with its neighbour, which accounts for more than 30 percent of Thailand's energy supplies.

Although PTTEP says exploration is continuing in Myanmar's lucrative M-9 gas field in the southwestern Gulf of Martaban, experts warn that Thailand's supply lines, and reputation, could suffer with continued unrest in military-ruled Myanmar.

"Any interruption of the gas supply from there will put Thailand in a difficult position," said Suthiphan Chirathivat, associate professor of economics at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

"Thailand should prepare contingency plans for any emergency in Myanmar.

"Meanwhile, the Thai government has to be more cautious in continuing its economic partnership with Myanmar if we don't want to have conflict with Western countries," he added.

Thanatthep Chatarakarn, energy analyst with Bua Luang Securities, said Thailand should look to alternative gas suppliers such as Indonesia and the Middle East.

"If negotiations for Myanmar's M-9 are affected by ongoing unrest there, PTTEP will be hard-pressed to secure more gas from abroad, especially if the Thai economy grows more than is projected," he said.

Diversifying energy sources could be difficult as the region's other booming economies also try to meet their own needs.

Indonesia's government has already said it wants to focus on supplying its own domestic energy needs from 2010.

PTTEP's Sidhichai said a significant oil project is now online in Vietnam and is expected to provide 20,000 barrels per day from the second half of 2008.

Elsewhere PTTEP has partnered with Malaysia's Petronas Carigali in a natural gas project expected to start next year, while two onshore drilling ventures have begun in Indonesia.

Since discovering oil in 2005, Cambodia is also being eyed as a source.

Thailand has acquired exploration rights for two projects in oil fields that are partially shared with its eastern neighbour, which is believed to have hundreds of millions of barrels of oil in its vast undersea reserves and could begin production as early as 2010.

However, boundary disputes have delayed drilling in one field, although talks are reportedly underway to resolve the disagreement and free up access to millions more barrels.