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City discusses locations for protest zones (Date: 07 May 10)
Thursday, 06 May 2010 15:03
Vong Sokheng
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY BROOKE LEWIS
CITY HALL this week pointed to a public park in front of the railway station and an area near Wat Phnom as two possible locations for a “demonstration zone”, which will be established to accommodate gatherings of 200 people or less, officials said Wednesday.
The creation of demonstration zones, also known as “freedom parks”, is required in all municipalities nationwide under the new Law on Nonviolent Demonstrations, which was passed by the National Assembly in October and will come into effect in June.
The two possible locations for demonstration zones in the capital were floated by Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Kep Chutema during a meeting of officials at City Hall on Tuesday.
Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun confirmed on Wednesday that the two sites had been discussed, but he emphasised that a final decision has not been reached.
“We already have a plan, but the specific location has not yet been decided because it needs to be approved by the Ministry of Interior,” he said.
He added that both sites would meet requirements stipulated in the demonstration law, which states that “freedom parks” should be located in places “which the general public can easily hear and see”.
Rights workers as well as the opposition Sam Rainsy Party on Wednesday expressed doubts that the two proposed sites would be prominent enough.
Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said the proposed site near Wat Phnom – located close to Spean Neak, or Dragon Bridge – would be preferable, but that neither was “visible enough to influence policy makers”.
“The area near the railway station is central enough, but it is not visible enough,” he added.
He said there was only one site that would be appropriate for a “freedom park” in the capital.
“Right in front of the National Assembly would be the best place for a freedom park, because that’s where the decisions get made,” he said. “It should be easy to decide where it goes.”
Yim Sovann, spokesman for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, said Wednesday that the new law imposes undemocratic restrictions on people’s right to protest. “We have never supported the law, but it was adopted, and therefore we will request that every location created for public gatherings must be near to government buildings so that their voices will be heard,” he said. Go to Top CCU Intends to Hold a Screening of Chea Vichea Murder Movie for Journalists (Date: 06 May 10)
 Confederation of Cambodia Union plans to hold a screening of the movie "Who Killed Chea Vichea" at its headquarter for journalist sometimes next week after failing to show on the May Day at the wall of Wat Lanka where Chea Vichea was gunned down last week.
Interior Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Khieu Sopheak said that Mr. Rong chhun was not allowed to show the film to an audience at the union's office as the film had been "illegal imported." "The law doesn't allow the screening," Lt Gen Sopheak said. "He can only screen the film with his wife inside his bedroom. Mr. Chhun is an intellectual - I hope he doesn't move away from the law."
Claims that screening the film for an audience would be illegal follow after a screening was held at SRP headquarters on Friday, which was attended by German Ambassador Frank Mann and the charge d'affaires at the Bulgarian Embassy Ivan Petkov.
The film's director, Bradley Cox, said in an e-mail on Monday that many countries have government classification boards to help the public distinguish one type of movie from another, "[but] in Cambodia, it is used as a tool to ban any content that the government finds unfavorable." "This is censorship and wouldn't be allowed in a truly democratic country, " Mr. Cox said.
Though SRP lawmaker Mu Sochua said on Saturday that the opposition party would host a public screening of the film at its headquarters this weekend, yesterday she said the planned screening had been postponed.
http://www.whokilledcheavichea.com/Go to Top Film screening blocked (Date: 04 May 10)
Monday, 03 May 2010 15:03
Meas Sokchea
Police stop Labour Day showing of documentary on slain unionist Chea Vichea
POLICE and municipal officials stepped in to ban a screening of a documentary about slain labour leader Chea Vichea on Saturday, forcibly removing projector screens set up by organisers outside Wat Lanka in central Phnom Penh.
Several dozen police officers arrived at around 5pm at the Chamkarmon district site – just metres from where Chea Vichea was shot and killed in 2004 – to meet representatives of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), members of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and others who had gathered for the screening. On two occasions, organisers attempted to raise projector screens before police pulled them down and confiscated them after brief struggles.
Amid a crush of journalists and onlookers, Chamkarmon deputy governor Chor Kimsor told CCU president Rong Chhun that the event could not go forward without permission from municipal authorities.
“If you have permission to show the film, I would allow the film to be shown. If you are barehanded, I will not allow,” Chor Kimsor said. “If you respect law enforcement and democracy, you must consider the law above all else.”
Rong Chhun met with officials at City Hall on Thursday in an attempt to secure permission for the screening. The municipality’s deputy chief of cabinet, Koeut Chhe, told him he could not show the film without securing the approval of “relevant” government ministries.
The CCU president said following the meeting, however, that he did not have time to consult with officials at the ministerial level prior to the scheduled screening, organised to mark the Kingdom’s Labour Day holiday.
Rong Chhun told reporters on Saturday that with the murder of Chea Vichea still unresolved, it was the government – not the CCU – that had demonstrated a lack of respect for the rule of law.
“We have seen murders continuously, but we have not seen the real killers arrested and punished. That’s why we wanted to do this on May 1, at the spot where Chea Vichea was shot and killed,” Rong Chhun said. He condemned the decision to break up the event.
“We regret and condemn the authorities’ action. If the authorities acted like this, it means that some officials could have been involved in Chea Vichea’s murder.”
The film that was scheduled to be shown was Who Killed Chea Vichea?, a documentary directed by American Bradley Cox that investigates the union leader’s killing and the controversial prosecution of two men accused of the crime.
Those two men – Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun – were found guilty of Chea Vichea’s murder in 2005 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. They are widely believed to have been framed, however, and the Supreme Court ordered their release from prison last year pending a new trial.
Cox wrote in an email that given the film’s criticisms of Cambodian law enforcement, he was “not surprised” that its screening had not been approved.
“I would encourage Cambodian government officials to practice what they preach,” he said.
“They speak loftily about democracy and freedom of speech when courting foreign nations for millions in economic aid. But when that same government is criticized, they resort to edicts, proclamations and instant arbitrary rulings, the very stuff of dictatorships.”
The confrontation with police came after thousands of workers marched through the streets of the capital on Saturday morning to commemorate the Labour Day holiday. Organisers said around 7,000 people joined a march led by the Cambodian Labour Confederation (CLC), while Rong Chhun and Chea Mony, who succeeded his brother as president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, led a separate march of around 300 people.
CLC president Ath Thun said that although the marches were organised separately, “the aims are the same”. The CLC delivered a petition to the National Assembly on Saturday, asking parliamentarians to increase the minimum wage for workers in a number of sectors.
The CCU march was briefly obstructed by police before Chea Mony played a tape recording of a speech made last week by Prime Minister Hun Sen in which the premier said he had no objection to legal demonstrations.
Although the CCU’s efforts to screen the Chea Vichea documentary were ultimately thwarted, SRP parliamentarian Mu Sochua said her party planned to host a public screening of the film at its headquarters this week.
Tith Sothea, spokesman for the Press and Quick Reaction Unit at the Council of Ministers, said that if the opposition and civil society organisations really want to help solve the Chea Vichea case, they should cooperate with the government and send a copy of the film to the Ministry of Interior.
“We must not violate the law and blame the government,” he said.Go to Top |
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