General Hok Lundy Was Widely Feared
General Hok Lundy, Cambodia's Notorious and Brutal Police Chief, He Was Widely Feared
By Tom Fawthrop
The Guardian, Wednesday November 12 2008
General Hok Lundy, Cambodia's notorious police chief and close ally of prime minister Hun Sen, has died at the age of 58 in a helicopter crash. He was travelling from the capital, Phnom Penh, to the south-eastern province of Svay Rieng. None of the helicopter's other occupants - General Sok Saem, deputy commander of the Cambodian infantry, the pilot and co-pilot - survived the crash.
A four-star general and member of the politburo of the ruling CPP (Cambodian People's party), Hok Lundy was a man who inspired fear not only in opposition ranks, but also in members of his own party. Born in Svay Rieng, he first rose to prominence as the governor of Phnom Penh in 1990. Four years later, Hun Sen appointed him national police chief, reporting directly to the prime minister. He never took orders from Sar Kheng, his nominal boss as minister for the interior.
In the aftermath of a bloody power struggle in 1997 between partners in the coalition government, many royalist generals were captured and killed in cold blood. Hok Lundy played a key part in these mopping-up operations and extrajudicial executions. A Funcinpec (royalist) party minister, Ho Sok, was detained at the interior ministry and shot dead by a police unit there. It is known that Sar Kheng had ordered the police to ensure Ho Sok's safety, but Hok Lundy chose to handle things his own way, according to high-ranking sources close to the minister.
This was later confirmed by Heng Pov, the former Phnom Penh police chief, after he fell out with Hok Lundy. While he was on the run from criminal charges stacked against him, Heng Pov accused Cambodia's police supremo and security chief not only of murdering Ho Sok, but also the union leader Chea Vichea and film star Piseth Pilika, in revelations to the French magazine L'Express.
Diplomats in Phnom Penh routinely referred to Hok Lundy as a "thug". This reputation was further enhanced by his role in the burning of the Thai embassy in January 2003. The police chief, who was normally no fan of demonstrators, had permitted anti-Thai protestors to run riot, attacking Thai-owned properties all over Phnom Penh. In the aftermath of this violence he persuaded the prime minister to sack the capital's popular governor, his arch-rival Chea Sophara, as a scapegoat.
That Hun Sen sided with his police chief was no surprise, as Hok Lundy had already married his daughter off to one of Hun Sen's sons, thus consolidating close family ties among Cambodia's clannish ruling elite.
Lundy was also implicated in drug trafficking, the return of refugees to countries where they faced persecution and human trafficking. Two US Drug Enforcement Agency officials and a former unnamed US ambassador to Cambodia confirmed to Human Rights Watch that the US government was aware of Hok Lundy's involvement in drug trafficking. In February 2006, the US State Department's human trafficking office specifically cited Hok Lundy's alleged involvement in human trafficking as grounds for denying him a visa. That decision was linked to a brothel raid in December 2004, after which Hok Lundy reportedly ordered the release within hours of several traffickers, before an investigation could be conducted.
However, after 9/11 the Cambodian government had become cooperative in the war on terrorism. In March 2006, the month after the refusal of a visa, the FBI nonetheless awarded Hok Lundy a medal for his support for the US global war on terrorism, and the US ambassador to Cambodia, Joseph Mussomeli, praised Lundy's cooperation with the US in drug trafficking and human smuggling. State Department officials confirmed at the time that Hok Lundy had been invited to visit the FBI specifically because of his purported cooperation in counterterrorism. When, in April 2007, the FBI invited him to Washington for such discussions, Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch's Asia director, commented: "Hok Lundy's alleged involvement in political violence and organised crime in Cambodia means that the FBI should be investigating him, not hosting him."
The sudden death of a man who had made many enemies has sparked much speculation in Cambodia that the helicopter crash may not have been an accident, despite reports of bad weather. The helicopter caught fire, and the government has promised an investigation. Many people would have cause to celebrate the death of Cambodia's Mr Untouchable.
A French online agency, K-Set, has reported that Chea Mony, the brother
of the slain trade unionist and presidentof the Free Trade Union of Workers in the Kingdom of Cambodia, has said that the death of the top policeman means that the number of murders of politicians, entertainers and Cambodian reporters will undoubtedly be reduced, but regrets that he was never brought to justice.
Hok Lundy, soldier and police chief, born 1950; died November 9 2008Labels: American Politics, Chea Vichea, Corruption, CPP, Ho Sok, Hok Lundy, Human Traffic, hun sen, MARCH 30 1997, UN Human Rights Report
In Cambodia, Learning the Lessons of Graft
In Cambodia, Learning the Lessons of Graft A proposed anti-corruption law gathered support in the run-up to Sunday's election here, but bribery is still pervasive -- starting with schoolchildren, who must pay their teachers for good grades. By Don Lee, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 27, 2008 PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA -- Before leaving for Chompovon Primary School on the outskirts of the capital, students say, their parents give them 10 to 15 cents of pocket money. That's enough to buy some breakfast cakes and rice -- and pay their teachers a few cents before they walk into class.
The fee, a widespread practice in Cambodia's public schools, is a kind of informal toll that students must pay. If they don't, parents say, they risk receiving a lower grade or even being demoted.
Here, schoolchildren are taught at an early age what it takes to get ahead. And it only gets worse as they grow up. At every turn, Cambodians pay under the table: for a birth certificate, a travel visa, a fair ruling from a judge.
Transparency International, a corruption-fighting organization based in Berlin, says the majority of Cambodia's public servants earn their living by collecting bribes.
In recent years, many things have improved in Cambodia, particularly its economy, which has grown by more than 10% annually. Analysts say those gains will probably give Prime Minister Hun Sen's party a commanding victory in today's parliamentary elections.
But when it comes to corruption, there has been virtually no improvement, say businesspeople, Western diplomats, foreign relief workers and Cambodian citizens. The country has consistently been ranked as among the most graft-ridden in the world, and some say that the situation may have gotten worse with the economic resurgence.
"When things start to boom, people start to get a little more greedy," said John Brinsden, vice chairman of Acleda Bank, a locally owned lender with branches throughout Cambodia.
The nation's key industries are garment manufacturing and tourism, but investments from China, South Korea and other countries have increased dramatically, leading to a burst of development in Phnom Penh, around the Angkor temple complex and along tourist coastlines. Property prices have skyrocketed.
Brinsden says he sees a growing middle class, but a third of the population still lives under the poverty line, and the global rise in food and fuel prices threatens to reverse some of the recent gains.
Poverty is a key factor in widespread corruption in this country, which is still recovering from the genocide under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979, when an estimated 1.7 million people died from executions as well as starvation, overwork and other abuses.
Cambodians and foreigners alike here charge that Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge fighter, and his Cambodian People's Party have perpetuated corruption with their patronage system, culture of backroom dealing and lack of transparency.
During the election campaign, Hun Sen and candidates with 11 opposition parties pledged support for an anti-corruption law, something that Western relief groups and foreign governments have urged. But it isn't clear when such a law may be enacted or whether it would meet international standards, including requirements that government officials and military leaders disclose their assets.
Cambodians have become accustomed to corrupt behavior at all levels. But many abhor it, especially the way it has permeated schools. Besides paying petty bribes, schoolchildren learn to lie because they are ashamed or are told by teachers not to talk about such practices.
During recess on a hot July afternoon, several fifth-graders at Chompovon sat under a tapang, or umbrella tree. A sign posted on the trunk read: "We have to help grow the trees." None of the students were willing to say how much they were paying their teachers -- and some said there was no such practice.
Jip Sovon, a deputy director of the school, acknowledged that children gave their teachers 100 riel, the equivalent of 2 or 3 cents, every day. But he insisted that the fees weren't mandatory.
"The teachers still allow them to go into class and treat them fairly," he said.
But parents in the neighborhood told a different story.
Until two years ago, Em Sophan had two children attending Chompovon. He said his children paid 200 riel a day each. "Any students who pay are given good scores; those who don't pay get lower scores," he said.
Em said his children quit school after sixth grade because they were told to come up with $100 for a test to move on to secondary school.
"That's a lot of money. My children decided to stop because I can't afford it," Em said, squatting outside his one-room house, built in traditional Cambodian style on 6-foot stilts.
Em sells vinyl caps for a living, making a little more than $2 a day. On a weekday afternoon, his two children were on the streets, one peddling bottled water and the other decals for motorbikes. Down the street, a billboard said: "Every child must be in school, not at work."
Jip, the school's deputy director, said he too hated the system. But he said Cambodian public schools don't pay a living wage. At his school, teachers make on average $25 to $30 a month, and that's after a 15% increase in the last year. Jip said that he has been at the school since it reopened in 1979 and that he earns about $37 monthly.
"We have seen students look down on teachers," he said, "because students think that if they don't pay, the teachers cannot teach."
don.lee@latimes.comLabels: Corruption, Election
Cambodia's Premier in Strong Position Ahead of Vote
Cambodia's Premier in Strong Position Ahead of Vote Hun Sen Has Steered
Economic Miniboom,
But Graft Abounds By PATRICK BARTA
July 22, 2008; Page A13
 PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (WSJ) -- Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose party is expected to win re-election here Sunday, is credited by many Cambodians with guiding their country to become one of Asia's newest investment hot spots. But keeping the economic recovery on track in Cambodia -- a nation best-known for its genocidal 1970s Khmer Rouge regime -- is getting more difficult in the face of a global slowdown, regional competition and entrenched corruption. Mr. Hun Sen opened Cambodia's doors to foreign investors and has overseen notable improvements in living standards. Economic growth has surged 10% or more annually in recent years, driven by an influx of investment funds, property speculators and a few big multinationals, including Chevron Corp. and BHP Billiton. Phnom Penh, the capital, recently got a new fleet of metered taxis, and it soon will have its first skyscrapers, including a 42-story luxury condominium tower rising up next to an office for a national antileprosy campaign. In brochures, the project's South Korean developers compare the building -- which boasts a grass-covered "sky park" on its 10th floor -- to Manhattan's Time Warner Center. But attracting a lot more investment will depend on Cambodia overcoming its reputation as one of the world's most corrupt countries. It ranks among the worst on Transparency International's annual list of graft-ridden nations, with 72% of its residents reporting they paid at least one bribe in the past year -- roughly on par with Cameroon and Albania. Opposition leaders and others say a more pervasive rule of law is needed to sustain the boom by making Cambodia attractive to blue-chip foreign investors who currently prefer countries such as Thailand or Vietnam.  Many economists believe Cambodia's miniboom is already fading. Growth has been fueled by just a few sectors -- notably tourism, construction and garment manufacturing. Inflation is soaring, pushed by higher fuel and food prices, and the new garment factories around Phnom Penh are facing new competition as China expands its textile output and global demand slows. The International Monetary Fund predicts growth of Cambodia's economy will slow to about 7% this year, in part because of slowing garment exports. Mr. Hun Sen has "delivered political stability, and that has translated into economic growth," says Arjun Goswami, country director for the Asian Development Bank in Phnom Penh. But, he adds, "the story is going to get more difficult for Cambodia." Economic issues have played an important part in the election campaign. "The kind of growth we are having now is not sustainable or equitable," contends Sam Rainsy, a French-educated former finance minister who leads a prominent opposition party. Much of Cambodia's economic activity, he notes, involves illegal businesses or black-market operations: illicit logging, land speculation, gambling and prostitution. Such businesses thrive, he says, because of a political system permeated with graft. Ruling-party leaders have dismissed some allegations of graft as exaggerated, and promised to pass legislation to rein in corruption in the future. Though small, Cambodia could become a major investment site. It has significant deposits of bauxite, gold and other minerals, and energy companies have recently found sizable oil deposits off its coast. The country also has large areas of arable land that could be developed for rice and other crops to help meet Asia's growing demand. Much of that potential was squandered as Cambodia suffered through wars and atrocities in recent decades. Cambodia became independent from French colonial rule in the 1950s, but was bombed heavily by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. It later fell to the Khmer Rouge, a home-grown Maoist rebel group whose leaders, including the notorious Pol Pot, outlawed money and private property in a disastrous bid to create a nation of agricultural collectives. Some 1.7 million people -- about a fifth of the population at the time -- died of illness or starvation or were killed. Invading Vietnamese forces eventually ousted the Khmer Rouge and installed Khmer Rouge defectors, including Hun Sen, in a new government. He became prime minister in 1985. A battle-hardened soldier-turned-politician -- he lost an eye in combat -- Mr. Hun Sen survived Cambodia's transition to nominally democratic rule in 1993 and has since fended off all challengers to his rule, including a violent coup in 1997 against a rival with whom he shared power. Despite his government's reputation for corruption and its strong authoritarian streak, Cambodians re-elected Mr. Hun Sen's party in 1998 and 2003, and he has remained popular among many Cambodians who believe the country is better off than it was a decade ago. A party victory in Sunday's national parliamentary elections would give him another five years in power. Now in his late 50s, he has said he plans to stay in power until he is 90 years old. In a speech earlier this year, he said, "I wish to state it very clearly this way: No one can defeat Hun Sen. Only Hun Sen alone can defeat Hun Sen." To sustain popular support, the government has rebuilt schools and repaired roads, in part with money provided by foreign donors. It has also made it easier for foreigners to visit and invest in the country, stoking a surge in tourist arrivals and hotel and office construction. Mr. Hun Sen's party "has done a lot to improve the country," says Sokna Tea, a 20-year-old finance student who was hanging out one recent afternoon near a new $1 billion property development expected to include a 52-story tower and convention center. Many Cambodians simply believe Mr. Hun Sen's victory is inevitable or fear that a vote against his government could lead to political unrest. Despite some reports of campaign-related violence, independent election observers say they expect the vote to be fair, and campaigning for the dozen or so parties contesting the vote has been vigorous. Mr. Hun Sen's political organization, the Cambodian People's Party, is backed by many of the country's wealthiest tycoons and has deep pockets, allowing it to vastly outspend the smaller opposition groups. Some economic analysts say controlling Cambodia will become harder for Mr. Hun Sen, especially if rising food and energy prices undermine the recent gains in poverty reduction. More than half of Cambodia's population of 14 million is under 21 years old, and many youths are better educated than their parents, meaning they will likely demand more from their government in the future. "I want something more than stability," says Theary Seng, a social activist in her 30s who has lived in the U.S. and now is the executive director of a Phnom Penh watchdog group known as the Center for Social Development. After all, she says, "North Korea has stability." Write to Patrick Barta at patrick.barta@wsj.com Labels: Corruption, CPP, Economic Success, Election, hun sen, Khmer Rouge Tribunal, Sam Rainsy
Cambodia's corruption 'cancer' unlikely to sway voters
 Cambodian opposition party leader Sam Rainsy (centre) stands on a truck as he greets supporters during an election rally in Phnom Penh on June 26. Cambodia is rising from the ashes of civil war and the brutal legacy of the Khmer Rouge's "Killing Fields," but it remains hobbled by endemic corruption hindering its efforts to escape poverty. (AFP/File/Tang Chhin Sothy)Cambodia's corruption 'cancer' unlikely to sway voters 10 minutes ago PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia is rising from the ashes of civil war and the brutal legacy of the Khmer Rouge's "Killing Fields," but it remains hobbled by endemic corruption hindering its efforts to escape poverty. As the country records high economic growth, authorities have been accused of extorting payoffs and officials have been linked to everything from high profile land grabs and skimming off development projects to illegal logging. "Corruption is the biggest problem for the nation. Corruption is like a cancer right now -- it happens everywhere," said Kek Galabru, head of local human rights group Licadho. Cambodia remains mired near the bottom of Transparency International's global corruption index, indicating the government is among the most graft-ridden on the planet. Prime Minister Hun Sen has said that his government is acutely aware that "corruption is a dangerous cancer" that needs to be tackled "without compromise." But as Cambodia heads into elections Sunday, analysts say there's no sign that rampant corruption will hurt his Cambodian People's Party (CPP) at the polls, which it is widely expected to dominate. Hun Sen has promised to hand over his personal properties to the new government if the CPP fails to win, apparently in an effort to counter allegations that his government is too corrupt to stay in power. However, the CPP is the only one of the 11 parties in the campaign that has not promised to pass a long-awaited anti-corruption law. Main opposition leader Sam Rainsy kicked off his campaign by declaring to cheering supporters: "Down with the corrupt group!" But he said in an interview that many voters don't have a full understanding of the way corruption affects their lives. "When people see what corruption is and what bad activities there are, they will support the SRP," Sam Rainsy told AFP, referring to his party. International donors, who fund half the country's budget, have repeatedly demanded that the government take stronger action against corruption since UN-backed elections in 1993 brought democracy here. Hun Sen lost that first election to a royalist party, but he bargained his way into a power-sharing deal and then reasserted total control in a 1997 coup. Hundreds of people were killed in the run-up to elections the following year, and protests against the CPP victory were put down violently. The last national election in 2003 was far less violent, and this year's campaign has seen even fewer irregularities than in the past, said monitors. This could be partly because the country is more stable, with double-digit economic growth from garment exports and tourism helping to pull Cambodia from the ruins of civil war. Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed, as the communist Khmer Rouge dismantled modern Cambodia in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia during its 1975-1979 rule. Despite the recent stability, Cambodia remains one of the world's poorest nations. Some 35 percent of its 14 million people live on less than 50 US cents a day, and economists say corruption is a major drag on the nation's growth. But persistent poverty does not mean that voters will turn against the government on polling day. "This (the opposition's anti-corruption) message may sway some voters, but is not decisive to change the leadership," said Lao Mong Hay, a senior researcher at the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission. "The issues do not affect voters' decision as much as personalities." The CPP has relied on Hun Sen's broad rural appeal and its record of gradual development in its pursuit of victory, and some analysts said this makes voters forget about rampant corruption. CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said only a "small handful" of his party members were corrupt and said it deals with graft "step by step towards development." "We are not neglectful about fighting graft," Cheam Yeap said. "Fighting corruption is the hot issue that we care about." Labels: Corruption, CPP, Election, hun sen, Sam Rainsy, Sam Rainsy Party
Cambodia's institutions must be empowered
Cambodia's Institutions Must Be Empowered By LAO MONG HAY
Column: Rule by Fear
Published: June 18, 2008 Hong Kong, China — Since 1993 the international community has been assisting Cambodia in establishing parliamentary democracy and rule of law, as well as the administrative machinery of government. Fifteen years later, the infrastructure is physically present but is so wracked by corruption that it is largely dysfunctional. The system cannot secure the constitutional rights of the Cambodian people. The law is not predictable. As a result the people have very little trust in the established system. These institutions remain subject to the control inherited from pre-1993 communist days, and are utilized to serve the interests of the ruling class rather than those of the people. Although Cambodia has held periodic elections, and preparations for the forthcoming election are underway, its multi-party, liberal democracy has little substance. First of all, there is no separation of powers among the three branches of government. The idea of checks and balances is entirely absent. The Parliament is overwhelmingly dominated by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, a former communist party, and is unable to hold the government accountable for its decisions and activities. Its main function seems to be to rubber stamp the government’s wishes into law. The judiciary is also under executive control, as most judges and prosecutors belong to the ruling party. Other supposedly independent institutions such as the Constitutional Council and the Supreme Council of the Magistracy, the judicial body responsible for the appointment and discipline of judges and prosecutors, are all peopled, from top to bottom, by members of the ruling party. And all CCP members are subject to the strict discipline of the party. Such extensive and tight control has inevitably enabled Prime Minister Hun Sen, already acknowledged as "the strongman of Cambodia," to become even more unchallengeable. Through the party machinery, he controls all those institutions and rules the country with scant regard for the rule of law. Sen has, for instance, ordered the retrial of accused persons already acquitted by the courts, accusing judges and prosecutors of corruption. He has ordered the arrest of critics or has threatened them with jail sentences, or killed their personalities through public name-calling. He has halted the execution of court judgments or affected these judgments through his "notification letters." Over the last few years Hun Sen has used his personal power to address the hot issue of land grabbing, which has affected the livelihood of many Cambodians. This issue has arisen out of numerous land disputes between the rich and powerful and the weaker poor. Sen has recently revealed that he wants to resolve all these disputes “outside the justice system.” In 2006 he created a national authority to resolve land disputes, ignoring the legal jurisdiction of the courts of law and the cadastral commissions created specifically for the purpose under the land law of 2001. A year later, he waged a "war against land grabbers," identified as officials of his party and other “people in power.” Last March he went to a piece of disputed land and, in the midst of the evicted families, took the land from the grabbing company and gave it back to those victims. Because of his power and his past direct intervention, the people view Hun Sen as the only person in the country who can help the victims of land grabbing, as they lose trust in the courts and other authorities. Over recent months, many have been flocking to his residence on the outskirts of Phnom Penh to petition him for help. On May 23 some 200 people from the Battambang province journeyed on foot and by car to petition Sen at his residence. The representatives of 265 families in Koh Kong province arrived on June 9, and over 200 people from four different provinces of the country arrived four days later. Still, Hun Sen’s direct intervention has made little headway. He simply cannot meet all those people’s demands. Some marchers from Battambang province still wait in Phnom Penh after handing in their petition to his office. One desperate marcher declared that if Samdech Hun Sen did not resolve her land dispute and the land dispute adjudicating authorities did not do it either, her group would buy all law books and burn them in front of the Ministry of Justice in Phnom Penh. There is still a big backlog of cases and new ones keep arising. Hun Sen has not used his power to empower the state institutions and administrative machinery, which lie under his firm control, for public interest. Thus adjudication of land disputes is personally directed toward him. He should exercise his power, not through direct intervention, but to create a more efficient infrastructure so that the existing institutions are able to capture the people’s trust and serve the public interest. Jean Monet, widely known as the founding father of the European Union, said, “Nothing is possible without men; nothing is lasting without institutions.” Monet’s dictum is very much relevant to the establishment of well-functioning institutions for parliamentary democracy and the rule of law to serve the Cambodian people and not simply the ruling class. --
 (Lao Mong Hay is a senior researcher at the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong. He was previously director of the Khmer Institute of Democracy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and a visiting professor at the University of Toronto in 2003. In 1997, he received an award from Human Rights Watch and the Nansen Medal in 2000 from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.) Labels: Corruption, LAO MONG HAY
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