Translated from French by Luc Sâr BMD Norodom Sihanouk Beijing, 16 March 2005 Nowadays, nobody can deny the fact that Cambodia's "2nd Kingdom" lost an important part of her territorial integrity - both on land and at seas - when compared to her territorial integrity from the period of 1963 to 1969 (1963 was the year of the return of Preah Vihear back to Cambodia). Nowadays, one knows very well that a large chunk of our lands and seas dating from the 1963-1969 period is without a doubt integrated into the framework of the so-called "sovereignty" of our 3 neighbors (Thailand, Vietnam and Laos), each of which grabbing a piece of the Cambodian "cake." For example, we find a non negligible number of our People's villages that were well within the SRN [Sangkum Reastr Niyum] Cambodia and that are now - Alas! Alas! Alas! - well inside the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV or South Vietnam) and . they are well defended by the (invincible) army of our "Viet brothers." Very recently, Maitre [French Lawyer] Michel Buisson and his friends noticed that these "Viet brothers" became the owner of Khmer villages which, because of their extreme poverty, our Compatriots from the Small People [ordinary citizen] had to lease or, in some even worst cases, had to sell to the "Viet brothers" whom Maitre Buisson saw them with his own eyes pushing the "new borders" of "their South Vietnam" well inside [the borders] of Cambodia's "2nd Kingdom". o o o It is true, that under Lon Nol's reign (the Khmer Republic), the Vietnamese from "South Vietnam" ([the former Cambodian territory of] Kampuchea Krom) sent letters to the Viets in Svay Rieng with the unambiguous labeling on the envelopes of their letters: "Svay Rieng, Vietnam" -sic! - And it is true that Nguyen Van Thieu's [the former president of South Vietnam] Army then-occupying our Neak Loeung had purely and simply renamed it: "Saigon Moi" (New Saigon). o o o To go back to Maitre Michel Buisson, he saw Viet soldiers acting as masters in the Khmer city of Snuol which belongs to the Khmers. o o o The SRV had created new borders (to its benefit) by building during the 80s, 90s and 2000s, "border gates" and canals well within our 1963-1969 borders. On the other hand, Thailand created new borders (to its benefit) by building rectilinear highways cutting off a good chunk of our legal territory in some provinces of Cambodia's "2nd Kindom". The lands that are located the closest to Thailand along each of the highways cited above now "belong" to the Thai Kingdom. o o o Nowadays, the fact that H.E. Var Kim Hong's team officially "works" with our 3 neighbors to find out where our Khmer borders are, is a shining proof of the following: 1- The SRV, the Kingdom of Thailand and the People's Republic of Laos do absolutely not recognize the legitimacy and the legality of Cambodia's borders dating from 1963-1969 (and, this in spite of the fact that, during the Summit Conference of the Indochinese People held in Canton, the delegations of the PRG [Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, i.e. the Vietcong government] (led by President Nguyen Huu Tho) and the DRVN [Democratic Republic of Viet Nam] (led by Prime Minister Pham Van Dong) and the NLHS [Nev Lao Hak Sat] of Laos (led by Prince Souphanouvong) formally and solemnly recognized in front of Prime Minister Chou En Lai (from the PRC) and me (the legal Head of State of Cambodia) the 1963-1969 drawn borders of Cambodia, and they promised, not less solemnly, in the name of their respective countries, nations and people, to respect forever, i.e. eternally, the drawing of our borders. 2- Our Cambodia "2nd Kingdom" (represented by H.E. Var Kim Hong's team) accepts on its own to commit suicide by recognizing, even in the eyes of International Law, that Cambodia has no precise borders. By officially accepting to re-negotiate our border issues, our "neo-Angkorian" Cambodia admits on her own that she does not know where our land and maritime borders are. In this regard, the use of the word "suicide" is not exaggerated at all. Because a Country that recognizes that she has no precise and legal border, is a dead Country. (Signed) Norodom Sihanouk _______________________________________________________ Friday, January 15, 2010 Security Concerns Hampered FBI in 1997 Investigation Police look for survivors of the grenade attack. Sketches of three suspects identified by FBI. Then second prime minister Hun Sen. Sam Rainsy, right, opposition party leader, prays in front of some displaying portrait photos of Cambodian victims of a deadly grenade attack of March 30, 1997, at a memorial stupa in the capital Phnom Penh. By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer Original report from Washington 14 January 2010 "The US doesn't need Cambodia, Cambodia needs the US, and I think the US should remember that. China is an increasing power, but not a superpower, and the US can work with other countries to put pressure on Cambodia to improve its human rights situation, to try to improve governance and dealing with things like corruption and the rule of law" - Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch "The FBI agent was very stupid" Mok Chito, head of the Cambodian criminal police division A security threat to an FBI agent in 1997 and concerns over US cooperation with Cambodia put a grenade attack investigation on hold, according to recent media reports. The agent, Tom Nicoletti, was sent to Cambodia to look into the attack, on an opposition rally, which killed sixteen people and wounded more than 100 others, including an American citizen. Nicoletti, who is now retired, told the English-language Cambodia Daily that by the time he left Cambodia, the evidence he had collected was not up to US standards for prosecution. He had planned to return, he said in e-mails to the newspaper, but an unfavorable situation in the country prevented it. Nicoletti said he had been pulled out of Cambodia for fear he may be the target of attacks for his investigation, which pointed toward possible collusion in the attack on opposition leader Sam Rainsy by members of then-second prime minister Hun Sen's bodyguard unit. The FBI produced nine sketches of three suspects, including Kong Samrith, also known as Brazil. In a report released to the Cambodian Daily following a Freedom of Information request, the FBI said its investigation had been hampered and that agents had difficulty discerning which witnesses were telling the truth. One witness told FBI investigators he saw a line of Hun Sen bodyguards allow two grenade-throwers to pass as they fled the carnage of the scene in front of Wat Botum, near what was then the National Assembly building. The witness "pursued but was prevented from heading towards the wat and nearby CPP headquarters," according to the report. "As he turned, he was kicked by the soldiers and knocked to the ground." However, in another interview, one of Hun Sen's bodyguards gave a different account, according to recordings posted on www.cambodiagrenade.info. In an interview with another investigator in the case, Peter Hoffman, the bodyguard denied such an incident took place. "When the grenade throwers were running toward your position, how many people were chasing them?" Hoffman asked the unnamed witness, who answered through a translator. "I have no intention to count how many people [were] chasing the throwers, and I have no knowledge that those people were the grenade throwers," the witness replied. "Do you have good eyesight?" Hoffman asked. "No, no problem with the eyes. The reason is that there are a lot of demonstrators." "So three or four people throw grenades into a crowd," Hoffman asked, "and you didn't see anything?" "I see nothing." Ultimately, the FBI investigation became inactive and failed to identify the perpetrators. "The Cambodian police could finish the investigation any time they want," said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch. "They would have sufficient information in their files. They just choose not to do it. Maybe because they don't want to do it, and maybe because they are afraid of Hun Sen." Khieu Sopheak, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, denied police were unwilling to pick up the case. "We lost track when we lost Brazil," he said, referring to one of the suspects. "At the time, it was chaotic, and Brazil died for no reason in a camp of a political party that I prefer not to name." He was referring to bloody street fighting between the Cambodian People's Party, led by Hun Sen, and Funcinpec, led by Prince Norodom Ranariddh, in a coup that took place months after the grenade attack, July 5 and July 6. Khieu Sopheak also blamed FBI agent Nicoletti for failing in the case. "What Tom Nicoletti did was not professional," Khieu Sopheak said. "He was assigned to conduct the investigation, but could not solve it. Once he concluded a case, he just kept it." "The FBI agent was very stupid," said Mok Chito, who is now head of the criminal police division and was head of Phnom Penh penal police when the attack took place. "He does not know how to investigate. He sometimes listened to other people without knowing [who the subject was]. I remember that in one of its reports, the FBI said I was Hun Sen's nephew and was chief of municipal police." Rights group and families of the victims have insisted that the FBI come back and conclude their investigation to bring those responsible to court. "I cannot speculate on what the FBI may or may not do in the future regarding this case," John Johnson, a spokesman for the US Embassy, said in an e-mail. "I can only say that their original investigation was inconclusive and the US Prosecutor's Office declined to pursue the case." He referred further questions to the FBI in Washington, who have not responded to written questions. The FBI said in its 1997 report a continued investigation could threaten cooperation with Cambodia, but Adams, of Human Rights Watch, said the investigation should be concluded. "The US doesn't need Cambodia," he said. "Cambodia needs the US, and I think the US should remember that. China is an increasing power, but not a superpower, and the US can work with other countries to put pressure on Cambodia to improve its human rights situation, to try to improve governance and dealing with things like corruption and the rule of law." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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