US President Barack Obama has given "strong support" to Mexico's war on drugs cartels, at the start of a summit in Guadalajara.
At talks with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, he also raised the issues of swine flu and a ban on Mexican lorries entering the United States.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper joined the two leaders for dinner.
On Monday, a three-way summit will be held, likely to focus on problems caused by the economic recession.
It will be President Barack Obama's first attendance at the annual meeting of North American leaders.
It has been dubbed the meeting of three amigos, but difficult issues divide the participants, says BBC Mexico correspondent Stephen Gibbs.
Mexico is currently experiencing what looks set to be its deepest recession since the 1930s.
Obama will discuss tough issues with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts
It is concerned that recent US moves, including a ban on Mexican truckers operating in the US, suggest protectionism and could worsen its economic situation, our correspondent says.
Mr Harper is expected to press Mr Obama to revise the Buy America policy on public works, which has hit Canadian exporters hard.
Mexico is also unhappy with Canada's decision to require visas from Mexican visitors to the country.
The threat of organised crime is something which is more likely to unite the leaders, our correspondent adds.
Drug violence, an acute problem in Mexico, is showing some signs of spilling over the border into the southern US.
It also a growing problem in parts of Canada. Mexico will be pressing the US to free up more of its promised $1.4bn (£840m) in aid to combat drug trafficking.
At talks with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, he also raised the issues of swine flu and a ban on Mexican lorries entering the United States.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper joined the two leaders for dinner.
On Monday, a three-way summit will be held, likely to focus on problems caused by the economic recession.
It will be President Barack Obama's first attendance at the annual meeting of North American leaders.
It has been dubbed the meeting of three amigos, but difficult issues divide the participants, says BBC Mexico correspondent Stephen Gibbs.
Mexico is currently experiencing what looks set to be its deepest recession since the 1930s.
Obama will discuss tough issues with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts
It is concerned that recent US moves, including a ban on Mexican truckers operating in the US, suggest protectionism and could worsen its economic situation, our correspondent says.
Mr Harper is expected to press Mr Obama to revise the Buy America policy on public works, which has hit Canadian exporters hard.
Mexico is also unhappy with Canada's decision to require visas from Mexican visitors to the country.
The threat of organised crime is something which is more likely to unite the leaders, our correspondent adds.
Drug violence, an acute problem in Mexico, is showing some signs of spilling over the border into the southern US.
It also a growing problem in parts of Canada. Mexico will be pressing the US to free up more of its promised $1.4bn (£840m) in aid to combat drug trafficking.
Kremlin bill on using army abroad
The bill says troops can be used to protect Russian citizens abroad
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has introduced a bill to parliament that would allow the country's armed forces to intervene beyond Russia's borders.
The bill would allow Russian troops to be used abroad "to rebuff or prevent an aggression against another state" or "protect Russian citizens abroad".
Mr Medvedev said the bill was linked to last year's war with Georgia over South Ossetia, Russia's Interfax reports.
Moscow said it was protecting Russian citizens in South Ossetia.
The war began on 7 August 2008, as Georgia tried to retake control of its breakaway region, following a series of clashes.
Russian forces quickly repelled the assault and pushed further into Georgia.
The conflict lasted for five days before a ceasefire was agreed. Russia pulled back, but built up its military presence in both South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia.
'Addressing issues'
On Monday, Mr Medvedev said the new bill was "linked to the well-known events that happened last year", according to Interfax.
"We very much hope that these events do not happen again but the issues need to be addressed," he said.
If approved, the bill would augment an existing law allowing the president to use Russian special military units abroad.
Under the law adopted by MPs in 2006, the president must notify lawmakers of any such operation, but the unit size, location and timing can be kept secret
The bill says troops can be used to protect Russian citizens abroad
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has introduced a bill to parliament that would allow the country's armed forces to intervene beyond Russia's borders.
The bill would allow Russian troops to be used abroad "to rebuff or prevent an aggression against another state" or "protect Russian citizens abroad".
Mr Medvedev said the bill was linked to last year's war with Georgia over South Ossetia, Russia's Interfax reports.
Moscow said it was protecting Russian citizens in South Ossetia.
The war began on 7 August 2008, as Georgia tried to retake control of its breakaway region, following a series of clashes.
Russian forces quickly repelled the assault and pushed further into Georgia.
The conflict lasted for five days before a ceasefire was agreed. Russia pulled back, but built up its military presence in both South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia.
'Addressing issues'
On Monday, Mr Medvedev said the new bill was "linked to the well-known events that happened last year", according to Interfax.
"We very much hope that these events do not happen again but the issues need to be addressed," he said.
If approved, the bill would augment an existing law allowing the president to use Russian special military units abroad.
Under the law adopted by MPs in 2006, the president must notify lawmakers of any such operation, but the unit size, location and timing can be kept secret
Disabled Soldiers Protest Absence of Pay
By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
07 August 2009
More than 170 disabled former soldiers gathered in protest Friday against the provincial authorities of Banteay Meanchey, who they say have not paid them a raise in their monthly disability benefits.
All disabled soldiers in Cambodia receive monthly compensation of varying amounts depending on rank. Each of the 173 protesters in Banteay Meanchey should receive between 80,000 riel and 250,000 riel, about $20 to $62.
That amount includes a 20 percent bump provided by a directive from Prime Minister Hun Sen in 2008.
But soldiers say they are not seeing the raise in their monthly payments, and that those payments sometimes don’t arrive at all.
Choeung Chanthol, 48, who lost the use of his right arm fight the Khmer Rouge in Thmar Pouk district in 1988, told VOA Khmer the disabled soldiers needed the increase to their payment to cover the increased cost of living.
“Prime Minister Hun Sen provided us with an increase of 20 percent, so we must get it,” he said.
“We need the money, because we are very poor,” said Moeun Sak, 42, who is paralyzed in the left arm and leg. “We do not have any jobs, so we depend on the payment from the government.”
Oum Chantha, chief of Banteay Meanchey’s provincial cabinet, said Friday the authorities have received a request from the disabled soldiers and are working on the problem.
“We will not allow this problem for the disabled,” he said. “All the disabled must wait for the resolution from the provincial governor later this month.”
All disabled soldiers in Cambodia receive monthly compensation of varying amounts depending on rank. Each of the 173 protesters in Banteay Meanchey should receive between 80,000 riel and 250,000 riel, about $20 to $62.
That amount includes a 20 percent bump provided by a directive from Prime Minister Hun Sen in 2008.
But soldiers say they are not seeing the raise in their monthly payments, and that those payments sometimes don’t arrive at all.
Choeung Chanthol, 48, who lost the use of his right arm fight the Khmer Rouge in Thmar Pouk district in 1988, told VOA Khmer the disabled soldiers needed the increase to their payment to cover the increased cost of living.
“Prime Minister Hun Sen provided us with an increase of 20 percent, so we must get it,” he said.
“We need the money, because we are very poor,” said Moeun Sak, 42, who is paralyzed in the left arm and leg. “We do not have any jobs, so we depend on the payment from the government.”
Oum Chantha, chief of Banteay Meanchey’s provincial cabinet, said Friday the authorities have received a request from the disabled soldiers and are working on the problem.
“We will not allow this problem for the disabled,” he said. “All the disabled must wait for the resolution from the provincial governor later this month.”
By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
07 August 2009
Three members of the European Union met with Foreign Ministry officials Friday to express their concerns over a recent deterioration of the human rights climate.
The EU, represented by British Ambassador, German Ambassador and the European Commission Charge d’Affairs, met with the ministry’s secretary of state, Ouch Borith, officials said.
The EU said it was concerned “specifically with regard to freedom of expression rule of law and the,” the British Embassy said in a statement.
“The EU expressed concern in this context over a number of instances in which criminal charges of defamation and disinformation have been used against representatives of civil society, the media and the political opposition,” the embassy said.
The EU has a rotating presidency, currently held by Sweden, but it is represented in Phnom Penh by the British Embassy.
Government and court officials are facing increased scrutiny after a raft of cases in the court that appear aimed at dissenters.
Respect for democratic principles and human rights “plays a central part in the political and development relationship between the EU and Cambodia,” the embassy said. “The EU noted that transparency, the rule of law, freedom of expression and open political debate are indisputable elements of democracy.”
One journalist has been jailed on defamation charges, another folded his newspaper to avoid the same, and two Sam Rainsy Party lawmakers, including Mu Sochua, were stripped of their immunity as they were sued in different cases for defamation.
Mu Sochua was fined more than $4,000 this week when she lost a suit to Prime Minister Hun Sen, who claimed she had defamed him by lodging a complaint in court over allegedly sexist remarks in a speech in April.
The EU representatives called on the government to take measures to ensure it was “conforming to its national and international commitments, including under the UN human rights instruments to which it is a party,” the embassy said.
Om Yentieng, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen and the head of the government’s human rights body, declined to comment, saying he had not yet seen the EU statement.
The EU, represented by British Ambassador, German Ambassador and the European Commission Charge d’Affairs, met with the ministry’s secretary of state, Ouch Borith, officials said.
The EU said it was concerned “specifically with regard to freedom of expression rule of law and the,” the British Embassy said in a statement.
“The EU expressed concern in this context over a number of instances in which criminal charges of defamation and disinformation have been used against representatives of civil society, the media and the political opposition,” the embassy said.
The EU has a rotating presidency, currently held by Sweden, but it is represented in Phnom Penh by the British Embassy.
Government and court officials are facing increased scrutiny after a raft of cases in the court that appear aimed at dissenters.
Respect for democratic principles and human rights “plays a central part in the political and development relationship between the EU and Cambodia,” the embassy said. “The EU noted that transparency, the rule of law, freedom of expression and open political debate are indisputable elements of democracy.”
One journalist has been jailed on defamation charges, another folded his newspaper to avoid the same, and two Sam Rainsy Party lawmakers, including Mu Sochua, were stripped of their immunity as they were sued in different cases for defamation.
Mu Sochua was fined more than $4,000 this week when she lost a suit to Prime Minister Hun Sen, who claimed she had defamed him by lodging a complaint in court over allegedly sexist remarks in a speech in April.
The EU representatives called on the government to take measures to ensure it was “conforming to its national and international commitments, including under the UN human rights instruments to which it is a party,” the embassy said.
Om Yentieng, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen and the head of the government’s human rights body, declined to comment, saying he had not yet seen the EU statement.
Monday, August 10, 2009By Sopheng CheangCanadian Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A former Khmer Rouge prison guard told a court Monday he was taken to Cambodia's notorious Killing Fields one afternoon 30 years ago and ordered to dump corpses into a mass grave.Chhun Phal, 47, said he did not count how many dead bodies he handled, but it took him and 11 other guards two hours to dispose of them."I was asked to bury the bodies," he said softly. "I managed to only fill one pit with dead bodies."The guards then dug two more pits to add to the hundreds of mass graves at Choeung Ek, more commonly known as the Killing Fields, on the outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh, where thousands of the Khmer Rouge's victims were killed and their bodies dumped.Chhun Phal's testimony came at the trial of Kaing Guek Eav - better known as Duch - who headed the notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh. Up to 16,000 people were tortured under Duch's command and later taken to the Killing Fields during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule. Only a handful survived.Duch is being tried by the genocide tribunal for crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died under the communist Khmer Rouge regime.Duch (pronounced DOIK) is the first senior Khmer Rouge figure to face trial and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. He is the first of five defendants scheduled for long-delayed trials, and his trial, which started in March, is expected to wrap up by the end of the year.Judges asked Duch (pronounced DOIK) if he recalled Chhun Phal and had anything to add to his testimony.Duch, 66, said he remembered Chhun Phal was about 15 when he assigned him to S-21. Duch said he chose him because he was young and came from a peasant family that was regarded as faithful to the Khmer Rouge."He fit my criteria," Duch told the court. "I did not want anyone who was already trained or educated. I selected people I could train psychologically and politically."Senior leaders Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Ieng Sary's wife, Ieng Thirith, are detained and are likely to face trial in the next year or two.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A former Khmer Rouge prison guard told a court Monday he was taken to Cambodia's notorious Killing Fields one afternoon 30 years ago and ordered to dump corpses into a mass grave.Chhun Phal, 47, said he did not count how many dead bodies he handled, but it took him and 11 other guards two hours to dispose of them."I was asked to bury the bodies," he said softly. "I managed to only fill one pit with dead bodies."The guards then dug two more pits to add to the hundreds of mass graves at Choeung Ek, more commonly known as the Killing Fields, on the outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh, where thousands of the Khmer Rouge's victims were killed and their bodies dumped.Chhun Phal's testimony came at the trial of Kaing Guek Eav - better known as Duch - who headed the notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh. Up to 16,000 people were tortured under Duch's command and later taken to the Killing Fields during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule. Only a handful survived.Duch is being tried by the genocide tribunal for crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died under the communist Khmer Rouge regime.Duch (pronounced DOIK) is the first senior Khmer Rouge figure to face trial and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. He is the first of five defendants scheduled for long-delayed trials, and his trial, which started in March, is expected to wrap up by the end of the year.Judges asked Duch (pronounced DOIK) if he recalled Chhun Phal and had anything to add to his testimony.Duch, 66, said he remembered Chhun Phal was about 15 when he assigned him to S-21. Duch said he chose him because he was young and came from a peasant family that was regarded as faithful to the Khmer Rouge."He fit my criteria," Duch told the court. "I did not want anyone who was already trained or educated. I selected people I could train psychologically and politically."Senior leaders Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Ieng Sary's wife, Ieng Thirith, are detained and are likely to face trial in the next year or two.