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Written by Georgia Wilkins and Cheng Sokha

Friday, 26 September 2008

Changes in the way the UN envoy reports to the Human Rights Council signify a turning point for human rights in Cambodia as the government says it will welcome a new envoy

THE Human Rights Council in Geneva has decided to renew its special envoy to Cambodia, albeit under a different title, signalling a turning point for the controversial UN mandate and human rights work in the Kingdom.

The envoy post, which was held by Kenyan lawyer Yash Ghai until his resignation last week, will now report to the council rather than directly to the secretary general, and will go under the title of special rapporteur rather than special representative.

"The change makes very little difference [in practice]," Christophe Peschoux, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the Post Thursday.

Peschoux said the changes do not reflect diminished representation, despite the fact that many members of the UN Human Rights Council do not support UN mandates.

"It does represent a downgrading in position ... it is simply a move by the UN to simplify profiles," Peschoux said.

Government looking foward
Despite having threatened to close the UN office after Ghai's resignation, government officials Thursday expressed pleasure at the renewal of the mandate in its changed form.

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"We will welcome the UN assignment of special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia," Om Yentieng, head of the government's human rights committee, told the Post.

The change in mandate comes after both the world body and the government came under fire for their allegedly lucklustre commitment to improving the Kingdom's human rights climate.

Ghai used his resignation speech to expose what he described as a lack of support from the highest levels of the UN for his work, and to lament a total lack of commitment on the part of the Cambodian government to improving human rights.
During his three-year stint as envoy to Cambodia, Ghai himself was repeatedly publicly attacked by Prime Minister Hun Sen and other officials for his unusually blunt critiques of the government's rights record.

Om Yentieng said the government was now looking forward to working with a new personality.
"The UN has a lot of good people, so I am confident they will assign someone who will not report negative issues [like Yash Ghai]."

Local NGO groups have welcomed the renewal of the mandate, but expressed some concern for the way human rights are "managed" in Cambodia.

"The UN mandate can be problematic when special rapporteurs collaborate with the government and take a softer approach to important human rights issues," said Thun Saray, president of Cambodian rights NGO Adhoc.

He said it was an important time to establish the difference between diplomacy and complacency.
"It is a symbolic time for human rights in this country," he said. "The UN needs to set up key areas of reform if there is to be use for a special mandate."

Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, welcomed the renewal, but he said that while the UN office was important, it was risking becoming redundant.

"The UN office plays a different role to local NGOs. They have a mandate. They carry a lot of weight," he said.
"Having an office here is one thing, but having an office here that is effective and willing to sacrifice red-carpet service from the government is another."

But he said that this is a universal problem for the UN, which has a narrow scope to criticise government and must rely on good dialogue and cooperation to operate in all countries.

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
26 September 2008

Prime Minister Hun Sen

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday announced the official plan for the next five years, building on four main pillars of development and political stability, but skeptics said they doubted the government’s commitment.

Topping the priorities for the government, Hun Sen said during the new government’s first cabinet meeting, will be the promotion of the rule of law and protection of human rights and democracy.

The government will also seek to maintain 7 percent annual economic growth, reduce poverty by 1 percent per year, and increase the effectiveness and credibility of public services.

Hun Sen’s administration was voted into office by newly-elected National Assembly lawmakers on Thursday.

“We must promote socio-economic and other responsibilities for all state works,” Hun Sen told nearly 248 members of the new cabinet, who gathered at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Friday morning.

Hun Sen also reminded the gathered officials not to maltreat the people.

“We must think of the poor more and more,” he said. “We must promote public services for the people.”

Critics of the plan, which Hun Sen distributed as a booklet, said Friday there were few signs the new government would be different from former administrations.

Human Rights Party President Kem Sokha said he was not optimistic the four priorities of the government would work, because there were no signs of reform.

“What Hun Sen has said in his political platform is only on paper,” he said. “The CPP is good at promising, but the implementation is not reached. So whatever the government promises, if the government cannot reach it, all the ministers and the prime minister should step down.”

Opposition Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Yim Sovan said that if the government failed to reform the judiciary and pass a much-awaited anti-corruption law, “the government platform will fail.”

“I have little belief in the government to reach its political platform,” he said.

Thun Saray, president of the rights group Adhoc, said he believed stability and economic growth were attainable, but he was concerned poverty reduction and improved quality of public service would not be reached.

By VOA News 27 September 2008

John McCain, left, and Barack Obama shake hands after first presidential debate (26 Sep 08)

Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain clashed on foreign policy and the economy during their first U.S. presidential debate before the November election.

The senators differed significantly on the war in Iraq. McCain said there are severe consequences of defeat, including greater Iranian influence, increased sectarian violence and a greater and wider war that might force the U.S. military to come back.

Obama said the U.S. military should not have been in Iraq in the first place because the bigger threat was in Afghanistan. He said the war was a strategic mistake.

The two senators agreed on the severity of the threat Iran would pose to Israel if Tehran acquired a nuclear weapon.

McCain argued for greater sanctions against Tehran and said the U.S. cannot allow a "second Holocaust." Obama called for tough direct diplomacy.

The two candidates focused on the struggling U.S. economy for the first part of the debate.

McCain described Obama as too liberal to reach out to Republicans, and said spending in Washington must be brought under control. Obama tried to link McCain to his fellow Republican, President George Bush, saying McCain supported "the wrongheaded" policies of Mr. Bush.

The two argued over the impact of so-called "earmarks," or spending for projects members of Congress slip into larger appropriations measures.

McCain said this type of spending has to be brought under control, and he promised to veto all earmarks if he becomes president.

Obama downplayed the importance of such earmarks, and instead accused McCain of proposing $300 billion in tax cuts for the wealthiest corporations.

The debate, held at the University of Mississippi, in the town of Oxford, was expected to draw tens of millions of viewers.

Two more presidential debates are scheduled, October 7 and October 15. The vice presidential nominees, Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden, will face-off October 2.

From BBC NEWS

Members of Japan's ruling party have selected a bluff conservative, Taro Aso, as their new leader, meaning he is almost certain to become the next PM.

Mr Aso advocates greater public spending to promote the economy, and an assertive foreign policy.

He overwhelmed his four Liberal Democratic Party rivals for the party leadership in a crowded race.

The LDP is struggling to combat a long-term slump in public popularity, and early general elections are now likely.

Its last two prime ministers have quit after serving just a year each.

The LDP's recent slump in popularity has led some to suggest that the party could be on the verge of losing power - an almost unthinkable prospect for most of the past 50 years.

The party now hopes Mr Aso's brash straight-talking style and charisma - he is known for his love of adult manga cartoons - will prove an antidote to the opposition's rising popularity.

Landslide vote

Mr Aso received 351 out of the 527 votes cast by MPs and members of regional chapters, party election chief Hideo Usui announced after voting.

America is facing a financial crisis... we must not allow that to bring us down as well Taro Aso

Kaoru Yosano, the minister for economic and fiscal policy, trailed in second place at 66 votes. Former defence minister Yuriko Koike, who hoped to become Japan's first female prime minister, placed third with 46 votes.

The LDP leader looks certain to be approved as the country's prime minister on Wednesday because of the party's majority in the lower house of parliament. But Mr Aso is widely predicted to put his leadership quickly to the test with a snap general election.

Mr Aso will face the uphill challenge of steering the Japanese economy away from the brink of recession.

The 68-year-old veteran is promising greater public spending to try to stimulate the economy - particularly in rural areas, where the party is traditionally strong.

Before the vote Mr Aso, a former foreign minister, pledged to a crowd of supporters in Tokyo that he would sort out Japan's economy.

"America is facing a financial crisis... we must not allow that to bring us down as well," he said.

But his leadership rival Mr Yosano accused him of risking Japan's long-term interests through wasteful spending.

Chronic unpopularity

Other colleagues fear higher spending could mark a return to the old profligate ways of the LDP, where expensive public works projects were used to try to create jobs, hollowing out the public finances.

Japan's last prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, abruptly resigned last September after less than a year in the job, having fought chronic low approval ratings and political deadlock caused by the opposition's popularity.

The main opposition Democratic Party (DPJ) made big gains in recent elections and controls the upper house of parliament.

Written by AFP

Monday, 22 September 2008 From Phnom Penh Post A massive suicide bomb attack that destroyed the Islamabad Marriott hotel has the 'hallmarks' of an al-Qaeda attack, govt and security officials say AFP Pakistani security personnel walk past a crater in front of the devastated Marriott hotel in Islamabad on Sunday. ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Sunday blamed al-Qaeda-linked Taliban militants for the massive suicide truck bombing at the Marriott Hotel that killed at least 53 people and injured more than 260. Dramatic footage of Saturday night's attack showed the carnage could have been far worse, but the attacker failed to get through a secondary barrier when he crashed his explosives-laden truck into the hotel's security gates. The interior ministry said the truck was packed with 600 kilograms (1,300 pounds) of explosives, and pointed a finger at Taliban militants allied with al-Qaeda who are based in the remote areas along the border with Afghanistan. "It has the hallmarks of al-Qaeda," a senior official involved in the investigation told AFP. "It was an al-Qaeda-style bombing." Ministry official Rehman Malik said 53 people were killed and 266 were injured in the attack. The security official said at least 60 people were dead. Rescuers were continuing to pick through the rubble of the hotel, which was all but destroyed in the massive blast, heard for miles around, and a subsequent fire that swept through the 300-room hotel. The brazen attack appeared to have been timed to inflict maximum casualties, ripping through the hotel when it was packed with families having dinner to break the daily fast in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The bombing came on the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden's call for Pakistani Muslims to unleash jihad, or holy war, against the government, a vital ally in the US-led "war on terror". Closed-circuit footage showed that the attacker rammed his truck into the gates but failed to get through a second barrier. Malik said the attacker intended to drive right into the lobby of the hotel. He apparently tried to persuade the guards to lower the second barrier - and when they would not, he blew himself up in the truck's cabin. The guards then tried to put out the fire in the truck, and it was several minutes before the second, larger blast devastated the Marriott, which was popular with politicians, foreigners and the Pakistani elite. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, which came just hours after Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, delivered his inaugural address to parliament and vowed to wipe out terrorism. AFP

By Michael Bowman
Washington
21 September 2008

The Bush administration is urging U.S. lawmakers to quickly pass its sweeping $700-billion bailout plan for financial institutions that are holding large amounts of bad mortgage debt. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in television interviews Sunday that failure to take action to resolve the financial crisis will result in economic catastrophe. From Washington, VOA's Michael Bowman reports.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson

Tax-payer funded bailouts of private firms are never popular in the United States, particularly when the cost being discussed amounts to more than $2,000 in revenue for every man, woman and child in the country. But Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson appeared repeatedly on U.S. television Sunday with a simple message: failure to act will bring economic catastrophe.

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Paulson said the plan's ultimate cost will likely be less than the initial outlay of funds.

"This is a program where the government would buy illiquid [non-cash] assets, hold those assets, and sell those assets," Paulson said. "And the funds would come back into the Treasury. The cost will be determined by how quickly the economy recovers, and how quickly housing prices stabilize. I do not like the fact that we have to do this. I hate the fact that we have to do it. But it is better than the alternative."

In recent weeks, Americans have watched with dismay as many of the country's largest, best-known financial firms have failed, been bought out, or been taken over by the U.S. government.

The crisis stems from millions of mortgages given in recent years to home-buyers with poor credit or unstable finances. The result has been a tidal wave of foreclosures that have incurred massive losses on financial institutions and some insurance firms.

Economists fear the current situation will effectively shut down the availability of credit in the country, strangle economic growth, and put at risk the finances of people across the nation. Last week, President Bush proposed a solution that is without precedent in America's financial history: the creation of a massive government fund to purchase bad debt and eventually sell off the assets involved.

The question now is: what will Congress do weeks before a general election?

Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, who heads the Senate Banking Committee, spoke on ABC's This Week program.

"People [legislators] have a lot of ideas on what they think should be in or not in this package," Dodd said. "We need to give the [Treasury] Secretary the authority to work. These are complex issues. I do not think we ought to micro-manage that part of it. I happen to believe very strongly that the cause of this issue is still the bad lending practices. The foreclosure issue still lurks."

Some Democrats have suggested expanding the package to include benefits for homeowners and others facing economic struggles.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer expressed strong support for broader initiatives, but said they may be addressed in legislation that is separate from the Bush administration's proposed financial bail-out.

"Many of us believe we need a stimulus package. But it does not necessarily have to be part of the bail-out," Schumer said.

But some Republicans in Congress are warning against trying to do too much for too many, rather than focusing on the immediate crisis at hand. Representative John Boehner spoke on "This Week".

"It is about protecting our economy, protecting American jobs. This is not a time for ideological purity," Boehner said. "We face a crisis. And if we do not act quickly, we are going to jeopardize our economy."

After several days of steep losses, the U.S. stock market rallied sharply Thursday and Friday as initial reports of the bail-out package surfaced.