The Mirror, Vol. 11, No. 517
“Global Witness congratulates the US Senate for drafting a law asking President George W. Bush to ban more than 100 Khmer leaders and businesspeople from entering the United States of America.
“On 18 July 2007, Global Witness told a foreign news agency in London, England, that Global Witness welcomes a report which says that a committee of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations [actually its Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs] drafts a law asking Mr. Bush to ban more than 100 Khmer officials and logging businesspeople from entering America, whose names are in the Global Witness report released on 1 June 2007, titled ‘Cambodia’s Family Trees – Illegal logging and the stripping of public assets by Cambodia’s elite.’
Environment officials said that large scale logging, like the one by the Seng Keang Company of Mrs. Sean Keang, the former wife of Mr. Dy Chouch called Hun Chouch, who is Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cousin, in the Prey Lang area, Tum Ring Commune, Sandan District, Kompong Thom, affects not only the environment in Cambodia, but also the environments in the neighboring countries and in the countries in the regions – through floods and drought. Therefore, the authority of the government, where this illegal logging is done, must be punished.
“However, it is not expected that the law in Cambodia will punish those who committed these crimes, because the members of Cambodia’s Family Tree are relatives of Prime Minister Hun Sen, some are leaders of Mr. Hun Sen’s bodyguards, some are close friends of Mrs. Bun Rany, Prime Minister Hun Sen’s wife.
“Cambodian government officials rejected the report many times by saying that it is not true, and that the accusations by Global Witness are revengeful and political, in order to defame the name of the government that closed the [Global Witness] office in Phnom Penh some years ago.
“Nevertheless, Global Witness still confirms that the report is true, which reveals in details the logging in the Tum Ring area by the Seng Keang Company of more than 100,000 cubic meters annually, sold for more than $13 million into private pockets every year. Though government officials rejected that this is true, big news agencies in the world believe that the report is true, and a committee of the US Senate drafts a law asking President Bush to ban those who are named to be involved in illegal logging in the Global Witness report from entering America.” Sralanh Khmer, Vol.3, #457, 20.7.2007
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Friday, 20 July 2007
Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.6, #1396, 20.7.2007
- Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen Receives Lao Minister of Defense [Douangchay Phichit]
- Lao Deputy Prime Minister [Douangchay Phichit, who is also Defense Minister] Promises Safety and Security Along Border with Cambodia
- [Oknha] Tan Seng Hak Sentenced to Twelve Years’ Imprisonment for Assassination Attempt [against police officials – Phnom Penh – related information was in the Mirror on 24 and 29 March 2007]
- [Phnom Penh Municipal Court] Prosecutor [Uk Savuth] Appeals Release of Gunman Who Shot Garbage Truck Driver
Khmer Amatak, Vol.8, #498, 20.7.2007
- Sam Rainsy Fears People Will Pressure Him to Join with Samdech Krom Preah for Democracy
- Siam [Thailand] and Yuon [Vietnam] Encroach on Cambodian Land because [current] Khmer Leaders Are Too Weak
Koh Santepheap, Vol.40, #6096, 20.7.2007
- First Six Months of 2007: Number of Tourists Increases by 19.91%; Number of [South] Korean Tourists Is Leading
- [Pakistani President] Musharraf Declares War against Muslim Extremists
Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.14, #3215, 20.7.2007
- When Election Approaches Authorities at All Levels Must Prepare to Issue Identification Cards to All Members of Cambodian People’s Party [mocking at issuing of identification cards to Vietnamese immigrants]
Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.15, #4341, 20.7.2007
- Five [former] Khmer Rouge Leaders [Nuon Chea, Khiev Samphan, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith, and Duch] Are the First to Be Indicted
Sralanh Khmer, Vol.3, #457, 20.7.2007
- US Senate Asks Bush to Prohibit “Cambodia’s Family Tree” from Entering the Country
Recent Comments