Wanderlust

Tag: Cambodia

  • Cambodia makes document breaking ivory haul at port

    Cambodian Customs and Excise Officials looking at ivory seized from a shipping container at the Phnom Penh port Image copyright Getty Photographs

    Cambodia has seized more than 3.2 tonnes of African ivory hidden in a storage box from Mozambique, a customs reputable has mentioned.

    the discovery of 1,026 tusks on the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port on Thursday followed a tip off from the united states embassy.

    The cargo arrived within the country final year and its unknown recipient didn’t arrive on the port to pick it up.

    Call For from China and Vietnam has intended Cambodia has turn into a key transit aspect for the illicit wildlife industry.

    “The elephant tusks have been hidden among marble in a container that was deserted,” Sun Chhay, director of the Customs and Excise Administrative Center at the port, informed the AFP information company.

    Sun Chhay said he didn’t realize whether the cargo was once meant for other nations.

    ‘Buy a trinket, condemn an elephant’ Meet an ivory trafficker’s ‘worst nightmare’ Why is banning ivory one of these massive deal

    Cambodia has made a bunch of high-profile busts over the earlier five years.

    The largest ahead of this week took place in 2014, while customs officials seized approximately 3 tonnes of ivory hidden in a box of beans on the southwestern port of Sihanoukville.

    The conflict on elephants – BBC News

    In April of this year, 3.5 tonnes certain for Cambodia have been seized at Maputo Port, Mozambique, reports the Phnom Penh Post.

    In July 2017, government in Hong Kong stated that they had seized the world’s largest ever haul of ivory tusks – some 7.2 tonnes.

    Wildlife campaigners consider 30,000 African elephants are killed through poachers each and every yr.

    The world business in ivory was banned in 1990.

  • Cambodia releases competition leader Kem Sokha on bail

    Kem Sokha Symbol copyright Reuters Symbol caption Kem Sokha once was critical problem to the governing birthday party

    Cambodian competition leader Kem Sokha has been unexpectedly released from jail the place he was once looking ahead to trial on fees of treason.

    Mr Sokha has been released on bail and it’s not clear if the charges against him will be dropped.

    He were arrested in 2017 in a case broadly seen as politically inspired.

    His birthday celebration was once therefore dissolved and without a political competition left, the ruling celebration gained a landslide election victory earlier this year.

    The crackdown on the competition sparked global condemnation and threats to withdraw aid from the country.

    Symbol copyright Nicolas Axelrod/Getty Photographs Image caption High Minister Hun Sen just gained any other landslide victory

    Western countries and human rights establishments have defined Mr Sokha’s arrest as arbitrary, calling for his unlock.

    After the July election, the eu stated it was considering economic sanctions whilst the u.s. said it regarded as hanging visa restrictions on govt officers.

    Hun Sen, a former soldier in the Khmer Rouge regime who later opposed them, has been in energy considering the fact that 1985. He used to be put in by Vietnamese forces when they had ousted the genocidal regime.

    He presided over a sustained duration of fast financial expansion but has lengthy been accused of the usage of the courts and safety forces to overwhelm dissent and intimidate critics.

  • Cambodia jails Australian filmmaker discovered in charge of espionage

    James Ricketson Symbol copyright AFP Image caption James Ricketson denies all charges

    An Australian filmmaker has been sentenced via a Cambodian court to 6 years in prison on charges of spying for an unnamed u . s . a ..

    James Ricketson, SIXTY NINE, used to be arrested in June 2017 at the same time as flying a digicam drone over an competition rally.

    Mr Ricketson denies the costs and his attorney said he may enchantment in opposition to the decision.

    His arrest comes amid a wider crackdown on dissent by means of the increasingly authoritarian government in Phnom Penh.

    He has visited Cambodia ceaselessly over the final two decades and been a firm critic of High Minister Hun Sen.

    Symbol copyright AFP Symbol caption The courts didn’t name the rustic he allegedly spied for

    The prosecution’s main argument depended on a number of emails in which he expressed sympathy for opposition groups.

    in one e-mail, he urged Australia’s govt to withdraw an invitation for Hun Sen in 2016.

    His family has expressed dismay over the verdict stating: “James is not a spy. James loves Cambodia and the Cambodian other folks. he’s a filmmaker and a humanitarian”.

    The filmmaker’s lawyer told media that if the decision is upheld, the Australian executive should take diplomatic action.

    Authoritarian crackdown

    The ruling comes as observers increasingly more accuse Cambodia’s government of authoritarian rule to suppress dissent.

    Image copyright AFP/Getty Photographs Symbol caption Competition leader Kem Sokha has been charged with treason Cambodia ruling party claims landslide

    The competition Cambodia Nationwide Rescue Birthday Party (CNRP) at the back of the rally Mr Ricketson used to be filming has on the grounds that been banned, leaving the government with none serious political opponent.

    on this year’s basic election, Hun Sen’s ruling celebration claimed a landslide victory, however it used to be a poll that was broadly criticised for its failure to allow severe competition.

    Hun Sen, a former soldier in the Khmer Rouge who later opposed them, has presided over a sustained length of speedy economic growth.

    But he has lengthy been accused of the use of the courts and safety forces to weigh down dissent and intimidate critics.

  • Cambodia scorns US sanctions against senior military officer

    Cambodian authorities reacted with scorn Wednesday to an announcement by the United States that it has blacklisted an important senior army officer over human rights abuses, blocking his access to any

    PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) – Cambodian authorities reacted with scorn Wednesday to an announcement by the United States that it has blacklisted an important senior army officer over human rights abuses, blocking his access to any assets in the U.S.

    The Treasury Department announced sanctions Tuesday against Gen. Hing Bun Hieng, commander of Cambodia’s Prime Minister Bodyguard Unit, which it said had been engaged in serious human rights violations for at least the past 21 years.

    A Cambodian Defense Ministry statement issued Wednesday regretted and condemned the U.S. action, which it described as unjust and not backed by any evidence. It said it was a “stupid decision that Cambodia cannot accept.”

    The U.S. move came just a little over a month before a general election in which the main and only credible opposition party will not take part because it was dissolved last year by Cambodian courts in what critics contend was a politically motivated move to ensure the continued rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen. Other moves to curb the opposition have included silencing most independent media.

    Bun Hieng, a four-star general, also holds the position of deputy commander of the armed forces. The bodyguard unit is an elite force with thousands of troops which is seen as being deeply involved in internal security matters and especially loyal to Hun Sen, who has held power for three decades.

    The Treasury Department announcement said the unit “has been implicated in multiple attacks on unarmed Cambodians over the span of many years” and is “connected to incidents where military force was used to menace gatherings of protesters and the political opposition going back at least to 1997, including an incident where a U.S. citizen received shrapnel wounds.”

    The 1997 incident involved grenades being thrown at a small political protest the opposition leader was attending in the middle of the capital city, Phnom Penh. Seventeen people were killed and about 150 wounded.

    The Treasury Department action also bars U.S. citizens generally from doing any transactions with Bun Hieng.

    Bun Hieng told The Associated Press that he had not committed any human rights abuses and held no property in the United States.

    “As an army commander, I have never committed anything that was contrary to the Cambodian Constitution and laws, therefore, I am not worried at all by the U.S. sanction,” he said by telephone. “The sanctions are laughable because I don’t have any property in the U.S. or deposited with any company there.”

    Additional statements decrying the U.S. action were issued by the Foreign Ministry and the offices of the Cabinet – which said it violated Cambodia’s sovereignty – and the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. The Foreign Ministry statement said it could be construed as part of a series of coordinated attacks on the government’s image ahead of next month’s polls.

    Washington’s move was applauded by others.

    “Hin Bun Hieng’s position as commander of PM Hun Sen’s bodyguards makes him one of the most feared men in Cambodia, and with good reason. It’s about time the U.S. finally recognized that it falls to a major global power to call out such a powerful figure on human rights grounds, and hold him accountable for the atrocities he’s committed,” said Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director for the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

    The Cambodian National Rescue Party, the opposition grouping that was dissolved last year, said it welcomed the U.S. action, calling it justified because Bun Hieng was, it charged, one of the country’s biggest human rights abusers.

    It said Washington’s move should serve as a warning to Cambodia’s government that it must cease its abuses or face punishment from the international community.