Chinese culture and promotion of sex industry in Cambodia 2007 Monday, February 05, 2007
Three men jailed, women rescued in raid on infamous Cambodian hotel [-How long will Te Pao Ly will stay behind bar this time?] Police raiding the Leang Huor brothel (Photo: Ratanak, Koh Santepheap news) Leang Hour and Chhay Huor II owner and manader arrested (Photo: Ratanak, Koh Santepheap news)Police took four young women taken out of the brothel (Photo: Ratanak, Koh Santepheap news) Feb 5, 2007DPA Phnom Penh - Three men were remanded in custody on debauchery and human trafficking charges after a police raid on the site of a now-infamous Cambodian hotel, local media reported Monday.The Khmer-language daily Koh Santepheap said the owner of the Leang Hour Hotel, Te Pao Ly, 36, hotel general manager Som Leang, 59, and manager Em Marady, also 36, had been charged by Phnom Penh Municipal Court after a raid on the hotel Sunday allegedly rescued four female workers who claimed they had been forced into the sex trade.A 2004 raid on the same hotel, then named the Chhay Hour 2, sparked a controversy which caused the US State Department to downgrade Cambodia on its international anti-trafficking list after around 80 women taken from the hotel were subsequently removed from a holding shelter run by the non-government organization AFESIP by a group of unidentified armed men.Anti-human trafficking and human rights groups were outraged, calling the removal of the females an abduction which proved their work was being undermined by officials at the highest levels of government.At the time, female workers at the hotel denied they had been involved in sex work. Ly and Leang were both sentenced to jail terms on human trafficking-related charges but were released on appeal. Ly also escaped a jail term for possessing an illegal weapon.Koh Santepheap quoted the Interior Ministry as saying around 100 women were discovered at the hotel in Sunday's raid and four claimed they had been forced to work as prostitutes and were put into the care of AFESIP after the raid.Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak was unavailable for comment Monday. It was unclear how old the alleged victims were or if the hotel remained closed.Under Cambodia law the men face up to 20-year jail terms for the debauchery charges alone. Debauchery is the Cambodian term for sexually related offenses, usually involving minors. They may be held up to six months awaiting trial. Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2008 02:14:42 -0700From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Beijing prepares to open Paralympics.To: [email protected] In China, more than 4,000 athletes are looking forward to this weekend's opening ceremony for the Paralympic Games in Beijing. China's fielding more than 300 competitors; there's 200 going from the United States and 170 from Australia. But just three each are going from the Philippines, Indonesia and Burma, while Cambodia's pinning its medal hopes on just one competitor. Presenter: Bo HillSpeakers: Yi Veasna, secretary general, National Paralympic Committee of Cambodia; Sukanti Bintoro, international relations, National Paralympic Committee of Indonesia; Michael Barredo, president, National Paralympic Committee of the Philippines. Listen: Windows Media HILL: Over the 12 days of competition, the Beijing Paralympic Games will attract more than 4000 competitors, 2,500 referees, 4,000 journalists and half a million spectators. For Cambodia's 100 and 200 metre sprinter, Kim Vanna, a wildcard has given him a chance to improve on a silver medal at the ASEAN Games earlier this year. He's Cambodia's sole competitor at Beijing, and secretary general of the National Paralympic Committee, Yi Veasna will be there to provide support.YI: We think that he is the quality and you know hopefully he will bring back something.HILL: The chances of a medal, however, are slim. Just like the difference in the Olympic pool between those with the so-called supersuits and those without, Kim Vanna will be competing without the benefit of the latest technology. He has received a donated prosthetic leg from South Korea, and while it's better made then those from Cambodia, it's not designed for running. For Paralympians in Indonesia, the story is similar. National Paralympic Committee member, Sukanti Bintoro, says he's not being pessimistic when he predicts that all three Indonesian paralympians have no chance for a medal.SUKANTI: Yes, the biggest barrier is of course funding. We can see very clearly that disabled bodied athletes are very low importance like this to the government.HILL: Indonesia's competitors are all wildcard entries because, says Sukanti Bintoro, there's not enough money to send them to qualifiers. In the Philippines, national Paralympic Committee head, Michael Barredo, says his athletes have the same problem.BARREDO: Certainly there is a big disparity between the kinds of support or funding we get for the Paralympics though we are happy that we do get some funding, we'd welcome a lot more because we might have had a chance to have a lot more qualified athletes to Paralympic Games if we were able to send our athletes at the eliminations or qualifiers, the world championships, etc.HILL: This year the Philippines will send three athletes, none of whom are wildcards, and as Michael Barredo says, the paralympic movement is working hard to improve its chances.BARREDO: We've sent two the last two Games, now we have three. So that's a 50 per cent improvement if you'd call it that.HILL: The Philippines hasn't won a medal in the Olympics since 1996; it's fared better in the Paralympics. But there's a lot riding on paralympian powerlifter Adeline Dumapong to help restore a little national pride.BARREDO: You know back in 2000 when we had the Paralympic Games and Olympic Games in Sydney, the Philippines Olympians did fail to get a single medal as well and Ms Dumapong did get the bronze and certainly that was a happy moment for our country. Of course we'd like to bring a medal home after the failure of our Olympic team to bring one.HILL: Sukanti Bintoro, says Indonesia's poor performance at last month's Olympics is a reflection of the priority placed on sport in the country.SUKANTI: In comparison with the huge population, our performance in the Olympics, or in sports in general, is very low. It's sad but it is true, perhaps one way or the other, it's related to the economic condition of Indonesia nowadays.HILL: And while Mr Sukanti and the Indonesian committee lobby Jakarta for more monetary support, in Cambodia Yi Veasna says it's not so hard. Prime Minister Hun Sen is the chairman of the paralympic committee and Yi Veasna says is a prominent advocate.YI: I feel that he's also blind one eye so he is very much keen on working with the disabled people issue.HILL: Either way, competing with the likes of China and the US at an international level is daunting. But then again, it took the Chinese Olympic team just 20 years to go from winning just five gold medals in Los Angeles, to 51 gold medals in Beijing._________________________________________________________________ Get more out of the Web. Learn 10 hidden secrets of Windows Live. http://windowslive.com/connect/post/jamiethomson.spaces.live.com-Blog-cns!550F681DAD532637!5295.entry?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_domore_092008 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. 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