“The Cambodian government and civil society have to work more on bringing gender issues into the mainstream in all aspwects of national policies and provide enough resources for women to be able to compete equally in this free market economy. Women should see themselves as the agent of change instead of ... accepting male-domination. Women need to shape their positive thinking and be confident in their ability.” >>
- Posted by Sopheap Chak on her blog sopheapfocus.com. Originally published at futurechallenges.org.





The ceasefire between Cambodia and Thai military forces was not the first to be agreed upon since fighting broke out in the border area around Preah Vihear temple more than two weeks ago, but it has proven to be the most effective as fighting has ceased for nearly a week. Last week, ahead of the ASEAN summit over the weekend, ASEAN’s Secretary General said that the inability of the embroiled countries, along with other member states, to resolve the long-running conflict was an embarrassment and would hinder the regions efforts to garner legitimacy on the world stage .

“If we can’t do that, then what’s the point in having this community, we need to be able to solve problems within ourselves,” said Dr Tang Siew Mun, director of foreign policy and security studies at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Malaysia.

While the attention of the world last week turned to the killing of Osama Bin Laden , a man responsible for killing thousands of people in what he called a “holy war”, activists and independent observers of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal continued to speak out against the court’s handling of cases 003 and 004, rasing concerns that justice may never be found for those who suffered at the hands of KR leaders .

“The millions of Cambodian survivors  of the regime  deserve to know what the ECCC is doing in their name, yet the Court has provided no meaningful information to the public about Cases 003 and 004 since the [judges] began their investigations 20 months ago,” DC-Cam director Youk Chhang said.

Local activist Theary Seng  identified three people as Case 004 suspects in a statement, unconfirmed by the court. They were Im Chem, a KR district chief in Banteay Meanchey province; Yim Tith, aka Ta Tith, deputy secretary of the KR’s Northwest Zone; and Aom An, aka Ta An, deputy secretary of the KR Central Zone. Last month Theary Seng  released a similar statements identifying Case 003 suspects as former KR navy commander Meas Muth and air force commander Sou Met.

In the wake of the release of the Freedom of the Press 2011 report, put out by United States-based watchdog organisation Freedom House on World Press Freedom Day , our cover story this week is about how Cambodian media members are using the radio as a platform for free speech and expression of ideas about sensitive issues . More Cambodians listen to the radio  than any other type of media, so the broadcasting of balanced and independent information on the airwaves is of particular importance considering the Freedom House’s rating of the Kingdom’s media as “not free.”

Our other story was inspired by a trip that one of our reporters took to get her driver’s license  at one of Phnom Penh’s driving schools. She wasn’t impressed, to say the least, and after investigating the situation more closely, her story this week confirms suspicions that obtaining a drivers license  in Cambodia does not always depend on people’s ability to drive.

A recently opened chocolate shop  is in out what’s new file this week. Our youth of the week is an academic superstar as well as  capable diplomat who has represented Cambodia around the world.

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