Cambodia is considered one of the few success stories in the global fight against AIDS. Yet, the positive achievements of government health authorities and their partners have been outmatched in the past year by the negative actions of the police, Ministry of Social Affairs and municipal authorities.
When police opened fire on unarmed farmers protesting confiscation of their land in Siem Reap province on March 22 this year, four villagers were seriously wounded. Luon Men - shot in both thighs - will probably be disabled for life.
Kaing Kek Ieuv, alias "Duch," the former head of the Khmer Rouge's S-21 (Tuol Sleng) torture and interrogation center, is currently on trial by a UN-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh for crimes against humanity and war crimes. As an insight into how the prison worked, what follows is a chapter from Sara Colm and Sorya Sim's book, Khmer Rouge Purges in the Mondolkiri Highlands, Region 105, soon to be published by the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
As leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet at the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin this week, recent events on other Asian coastlines presents a challenge to the grouping. The plight of the ethnic Rohingya Muslim minority from Burma was revealed when several boats containing hundreds of exhausted men arrived on Thai, Indian, and Indonesian shores in January.
The long-delayed trials of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge began dramatically last week with a judicial ''re-enactment'' at the regime's notorious Tuol Sleng prison, where more than 14,000 people were tortured and executed from 1975-79.
Ten years ago this month on July 5 and 6, 1997 all hell broke loose in Phnom Penh as troops loyal to Co-Prime Ministers Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen fought each other on the streets of Phnom Penh. Debate on what happened and why still continues. In this issue the Post presents two analyses.
Aging mass murderers continue to live freely in Cambodia. This month Nuon Chea, "Brother No. 2" and deputy to the Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, finally stepped into a courtroom. Among other crimes, researchers have linked him to the Tuol Sleng torture center where more than 16,000 men, women and children went in and only seven came out alive.
Cambodia is struggling to lift itself out of poverty. Its economy is being drained by a bloated military. Investment is deterred by a weak legal system and a corrupt judiciary. The World Bank, in a carefully understated analysis, says the country and its population of 12 million face a "formidable array of development challenges."
Once again the world's attention is turning to Cambodia as the troubled country gears up for its third election since 1993. This time, it's the turn of ordinary people throughout the countryside to run for office --Feb. 3 will see the first local, or "commune" elections to be held since before the Khmer Rouge took over in 1975, and the first ever that can lay any claim to being democratic. But despite the relative stability of the past two years, a recent trip to the country confirmed that the worst fears of Cambodia-watchers are being realized: Political intimidation, violence and murder are on the rise as polling day draws near.
Cambodia is considered one of the few success stories in the global fight against AIDS. Yet, the positive achievements of government health authorities and their partners have been outmatched in the past year by the negative actions of the police, Ministry of Social Affairs and municipal authorities.
When police opened fire on unarmed farmers protesting confiscation of their land in Siem Reap province on March 22 this year, four villagers were seriously wounded. Luon Men - shot in both thighs - will probably be disabled for life.
Kaing Kek Ieuv, alias "Duch," the former head of the Khmer Rouge's S-21 (Tuol Sleng) torture and interrogation center, is currently on trial by a UN-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh for crimes against humanity and war crimes. As an insight into how the prison worked, what follows is a chapter from Sara Colm and Sorya Sim's book, Khmer Rouge Purges in the Mondolkiri Highlands, Region 105, soon to be published by the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
As leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet at the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin this week, recent events on other Asian coastlines presents a challenge to the grouping. The plight of the ethnic Rohingya Muslim minority from Burma was revealed when several boats containing hundreds of exhausted men arrived on Thai, Indian, and Indonesian shores in January.
The long-delayed court process to bring Khmer Rouge leaders to justice is under way in Cambodia.
The long-delayed trials of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge began dramatically last week with a judicial ''re-enactment'' at the regime's notorious Tuol Sleng prison, where more than 14,000 people were tortured and executed from 1975-79.
Ten years ago this month on July 5 and 6, 1997 all hell broke loose in Phnom Penh as troops loyal to Co-Prime Ministers Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen fought each other on the streets of Phnom Penh. Debate on what happened and why still continues. In this issue the Post presents two analyses.
Aging mass murderers continue to live freely in Cambodia. This month Nuon Chea, "Brother No. 2" and deputy to the Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, finally stepped into a courtroom. Among other crimes, researchers have linked him to the Tuol Sleng torture center where more than 16,000 men, women and children went in and only seven came out alive.
Cambodia is struggling to lift itself out of poverty. Its economy is being drained by a bloated military. Investment is deterred by a weak legal system and a corrupt judiciary. The World Bank, in a carefully understated analysis, says the country and its population of 12 million face a "formidable array of development challenges."
Once again the world's attention is turning to Cambodia as the troubled country gears up for its third election since 1993. This time, it's the turn of ordinary people throughout the countryside to run for office --Feb. 3 will see the first local, or "commune" elections to be held since before the Khmer Rouge took over in 1975, and the first ever that can lay any claim to being democratic. But despite the relative stability of the past two years, a recent trip to the country confirmed that the worst fears of Cambodia-watchers are being realized: Political intimidation, violence and murder are on the rise as polling day draws near.