Cambodia Genocide

Cambodia Genocide (Pol Pot) - 1975-1979 - 2,000,000 Deaths

An attempt by Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot to form a Communist peasant farming society resulted in the deaths of 25 percent of the country's population from starvation, overwork and executions.

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Pol Pot was born in 1925 (as Saloth Sar) into a farming family in central Cambodia, which was then part of French Indochina. In 1949, at age 20, he traveled to Paris on a scholarship to study radio electronics but became absorbed in Marxism and neglected his studies. He lost his scholarship and returned to Cambodia in 1953 and joined the underground Communist movement. The following year, Cambodia achieved full independence from France and was then ruled by a royal monarchy.

By 1962, Pol Pot had become leader of the Cambodian Communist Party and was forced to flee into the jungle to escape the wrath of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, leader of Cambodia. In the jungle, Pol Pot formed an armed resistance movement that became known as the Khmer Rouge (Red Cambodians) and waged a guerrilla war against Sihanouk's government.

In 1970, Prince Sihanouk was ousted, not by Pol Pot, but due to a U.S.-backed right-wing military coup. An embittered Sihanouk retaliated by joining with Pol Pot, his former enemy, in opposing Cambodia's new military government. That same year, the U.S. invaded Cambodia to expel the North Vietnamese from their border encampments, but instead drove them deeper into Cambodia where they allied themselves with the Khmer Rouge.

From 1969 until 1973, the U.S. intermittently bombed North Vietnamese sanctuaries in eastern Cambodia, killing up to 150,000 Cambodian peasants. As a result, peasants fled the countryside by the hundreds of thousands and settled in Cambodia's capital city, Phnom Penh.

All of these events resulted in economic and military destabilization in Cambodia and a surge of popular support for Pol Pot.

By 1975, the U.S. had withdrawn its troops from Vietnam. Cambodia's government, plagued by corruption and incompetence, also lost its American military support. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army, consisting of teenage peasant guerrillas, marched into Phnom Penh and on April 17 effectively seized control of Cambodia.

Once in power, Pol Pot began a radical experiment to create an agrarian utopia inspired in part by Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, which he had witnessed, first-hand during a visit to Communist China.

Mao's "Great Leap Forward" economic program included forced evacuations of Chinese cities and the purging of "class enemies." Pol Pot would now attempt his own "Super Great Leap Forward" in Cambodia, which he renamed the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea.

He began by declaring, "This is Year Zero," and that society was about to be "purified." Capitalism, Western culture, city life, religion, and all foreign influences were to be extinguished in favor of an extreme form of peasant Communism.

All foreigners were thus expelled, embassies closed, and any foreign economic or medical assistance was refused. The use of foreign languages was banned. Newspapers and television stations were shut down, radios and bicycles confiscated, and mail and telephone usage curtailed. Money was forbidden. All businesses were shuttered, religion banned, education halted, health care eliminated, and parental authority revoked. Thus Cambodia was sealed off from the outside world.

All of Cambodia's cities were then forcibly evacuated. At Phnom Penh, two million inhabitants were evacuated on foot into the countryside at gunpoint. As many as 20,000 died along the way.

Millions of Cambodians accustomed to city life were now forced into slave labor in Pol Pot's "killing fields" where they soon began dying from overwork, malnutrition and disease, on a diet of one tin of rice (180 grams) per person every two days.

Workdays in the fields began around 4 a.m. and lasted until 10 p.m., with only two rest periods allowed during the 18 hour day, all under the armed supervision of young Khmer Rouge soldiers eager to kill anyone for the slightest infraction. Starving people were forbidden to eat the fruits and rice they were harvesting. After the rice crop was harvested, Khmer Rouge trucks would arrive and confiscate the entire crop.

Ten to fifteen families lived together with a chairman at the head of each group. The armed supervisors made all work decisions with no participation from the workers who were told, "Whether you live or die is not of great significance." Every tenth day was a day of rest. There were also three days off during the Khmer New Year festival.

Throughout Cambodia, deadly purges were conducted to eliminate remnants of the "old society" - the educated, the wealthy, Buddhist monks, police, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and former government officials. Ex-soldiers were killed along with their wives and children. Anyone suspected of disloyalty to Pol Pot, including eventually many Khmer Rouge leaders, was shot or bludgeoned with an ax. "What is rotten must be removed," a Khmer Rouge slogan proclaimed.

In the villages, unsupervised gatherings of more than two persons were forbidden. Young people were taken from their parents and placed in communals. They were later married in collective ceremonies involving hundreds of often-unwilling couples.

Up to 20,000 persons were tortured into giving false confessions at Tuol Sleng, a school in Phnom Penh, which had been converted into a jail. Elsewhere, suspects were often shot on the spot before any questioning.

Ethnic groups were attacked including the three largest minorities; the Vietnamese, Chinese, and Cham Muslims, along with twenty other smaller groups. Fifty percent of the estimated 425,000 Chinese living in Cambodia in 1975 perished. Khmer Rouge also forced Muslims to eat pork and shot those who refused.

On December 25, 1978, Vietnam launched a full-scale invasion of Cambodia seeking to end Khmer Rouge border attacks. On January 7, 1979, Phnom Penh fell and Pol Pot was deposed. The Vietnamese then installed a puppet government consisting of Khmer Rouge defectors.

Pol Pot retreated into Thailand with the remnants of his Khmer Rouge army and began a guerrilla war against a succession of Cambodian governments lasting over the next 17 years. After a series of internal power struggles in the 1990s, he finally lost control of the Khmer Rouge. In April 1998, 73-year-old Pol Pot died of an apparent heart attack following his arrest, before he could be brought to trial by an international tribunal for the events of 1975-79.

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It's never too late to learn

Lesson by Zack Laohavoravudhikul



Saeng Sa-ngawong, 73, puts all her energy in a lesson in the Thai language class she attends with her little friends at Wat Dong Pa Miang school in Chiang Rai’s Muang district.

I hope our lesson this week will provide an inspiration to those who think they have had enough of learning. When you read it, find out what causes the lady in the story to learn to read and write despite being quite elderly. Professor Moshe Arens, a former Israeli politician, once observed, "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 2 or 8. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young."

NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN

Story and photos by SAROT MEKSOPHAWANNAKUL

Saeng, a 73-year-old grandmother, is back at school, which she left as a child after just one month.

‘She’s so old, but still studies. Why?’’ Villagers typically ask Saeng Sangawong that question, when they see her walking with children to Wat Dong Pa Miang school in Muang district.

Mrs Saeng, who has gone back to school, is one of their classmates.

They also ask how Mrs Saeng, from tambon Huay Sak, will get a job when she leaves school. She is 73.

She ignores their comments, as she is determined to learn how to read and write. ‘‘I just want to follow my life-long dream,’’ she said.

Mrs Saeng knows she stands out. While the children carry brightly-coloured school bags, she takes a light brown basket, in which she has arranged text books on one side and a lunch box and desserts on the other.

She also takes to school a popular balm, and heart and high-blood pressure medications.
Her ‘‘school uniform’’ is also different: a loose shirt and grandma sarong.

On June 19, she joined a traditional ritual to pay respect to teachers, who are several years younger than her own children. A senior Prathom 6 (sixth grade) student gave her a bunch of flowers, candles, and joss sticks during the ritual.

Mrs Saeng is studying in Prathom 2, after enrolling last November. She was warmly welcomed by her teachers and classmates.

‘‘I don’t care what the neighbours say. I want to read and write Thai. I even dream of understanding Pali,’’ she said, when asked about what people thought of her decision to take up classes.

Pali is an Indian dialect used in Buddhist scriptures and prayers. Her educational journey began after the death of her husband. Mrs Saeng said she did not want to stay at home alone. Her children were married and lived elsewhere.

When she was eight years old, she had to withdraw from school after just one month. Her parents did not have enough money to buy her a student uniform.

Sixty-five years later, now a grandmother, she has returned to school again. She says that being able to read and write will make her more independent.

She can look after herself better when she makes contact with state agencies.

Mrs Saeng gets up early like other students. She joins a line of children as they march together to school. After morning prayers, she enters class, and takes the textbooks out of her basket.

Her eyes still work well, so that is no problem. She needs only one thing extra in class — a bigger chair than the children, so she can sit comfortably while studying.

‘‘Grandma always gives us desserts,’’ said eight-year-old Natapong Manowan, who sits besides Mrs Saeng and has become her personal tutor.
She learns only Thai. While the children study other subjects, Mrs Saeng practises reading and writing.

‘‘Grandma also joins school activities, including cleaning the classroom,’’ said teacher Wiparat Chumanong. Her presence has had a positive influence on the children. The sight of an old woman sweeping the floor has impressed the younger ones. Those who would be normally reluctant to pick up a broom now offer to help Mrs Saeng clean, said Mrs Wiparat.

‘‘When I am old, I don’t know whether I would be brave enough to go back to school,’’ said Wranya Rachakom, mother of one Mrs Saeng’s classmates.

Mrs Saeng does not have second thoughts. In the pursuit of her dream, she just does what she has to do.

To the children, Mrs Saeng is a model of hard work, determination and good behaviour. She has taught them that people are never too old to learn, even in the prime of their lives.

ignore - to intentionally not listen or give attention to ทำเพิกเฉย
determined - wanting to do something very much and not letting anyone or any difficulties stop you ตั้งใจจริง, ซึ่งมุ่งมั่น
life-long - lasting for the whole of a person's life ตลอดชีวิต
stand out - to be very noticeable เด่นชัด
balm - an oil that is obtained from a particular tropical trees and used especially to treat injuries or reduce pain ยาหม่อง
sarong - a long piece of thin cloth which is worn wrapped around the waist โสร่ง
ritual - a set of fixed actions performed regularly, especially as part of a ceremony พิธีกรรม
enrolling - putting yourself onto the official list of members of a course or college ลงทะเบียน
take up - to start doing a particular job or activity เริ่มทำ
dialect - a form of language that people speak in a particular part of a country, containing some different words and grammar, etc ภาษาถิ่น
scriptures - the holy writings of a religion คัมภีร์
withdraw - to take or move out or back ถอนตัวจาก
independent - not taking help or money from other people พึ่งตนเอง
make contact with - communicate with someone, especially by speaking or writing to them regularly ติดต่อสื่อสาร
presence - when someone or something is in a place การอยู่ในสถานที่หนึ่ง (ของบุคคล)
impressed - to admire or respect someone because of something that he or she has done or said ประทับใจ
reluctant - not very willing to do something and therefore slow to do it ไม่เต็มใจ
have second thoughts - to change your opinion about something or start to doubt it เริ่มสงสัยว่าสิ่งที่ทำอยู่ถูกหรือเปล่า
in the pursuit of - in trying to achieve การพยายามให้ถึงความต้องการ
in the prime of their lives - the period in your life when you are most active or successful ช่วงเวลาที่ดีที่สุดในชีวิต

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Preah Vihear card in play following UNESCO listing

Written by Kay Kimsong and Thet Sambath

VANDY RATTANA Monks in Phnom Penh celebrate Preah Vihear’s inscription as a World Heritage Site, July 9. Since Monday’s decision by UNESCO to list Preah Vihear temple as a Cambodian World Heritage Site, the Kingdom’s nationalist rapture has subsided just enough to allow for more pragmatic thoughts of the pay-off. Senior Cambodian People’s Party lawmaker Cheam Yeap said July 10 that he expected the listing of the 11th-century Hindu temple, which had long been hotly disputed by Thailand, to result in a major boon for the ruling party in the July 27 general election. “I am at Prey Veng near the Vietnam border right now. We told the voters of the success of Samdech Prime Minister Hun Sen,” he told the Post. Yeap said Hun Sen deserved credit for the world body’s decision because he had sent a letter to UNESCO requesting the designation six years ago. “There is no doubt that Samdech Hun Sen is a CPP leader,” he boasted. Yeap said Prey Veng residents, particularly farmers, were showing their support for the CPP and were elated and proud of their premier, as was he. “I cried in front of my wife once I heard UNESCO had made a decision on the temple.” Khmer-language newspapers this week featured numerous advertisements placed by CPP officials, congratulating Hun Sen, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and CPP President Chea Sim on the world body’s decision. However, Koul Panha, director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, a Cambodian election monitor, questioned any exclusive claim to ownership of the temple victory and discouraged politicization of the site. “I think all political parties can use Preah Vihear as a means of attracting voters, but no one party or group should get the credit alone,” he said. “I think Preah Vihear temple is the pride of all Cambodians, as well as the political parties…. If only one party makes political gains off of Preah Vihear temple, I am afraid there will be an internal dispute that will lead to different attitudes about the temple.” Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay downplayed the ruling party’s hand in resolving the dispute with Thailand over ownership of the territory surrounding the temple, which for years had been the most significant obstacle to its listing. “It is the normal obligation of a government to do this. It was not the special job of the CPP,” Chhay said. Cambodia’s tourism sector, on the other hand, is less concerned with political points. Ho Vandy, president of the Cambodian Association of Travel Agents, said on July 8 that 162 tour operators have begun promotion plans for package tours of Cambodia’s expanding heritage corridor. They will advertise in about 100 countries. Vandy said the proposed package includes stops at Angkor Wat, Koh Ker temple in western Preah Vihear province, Preah Vihear temple, and Wat Phu, another Khmer temple in Laos. But the immediate concern, Vandy said, should be developing Cambodia’s overland routes to Preah Vihear, which at present are rutted and jarring, making the temple far more accessible from the nearby Thai border. Then restaurants, hotels and shops will follow, he said. Minster of Tourism Thong Khon agreed, saying that there eventually will be four roads leading to the temple and at least one key artery will be completed by next year. “I already sent a letter to the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation to push for the road construction,” he said. The first sign of things to come actually preceded UNESCO’s decision; in May the newly formed Preah Vihear National Authority, or PVNA, deployed 22 heritage police. Hang Soth, director of the PVNA, a commission under the Council of Ministers, said the heritage police are charged with protecting the site from looting and vandalism. He also said that the Thai border crossing at Preah Vihear will remain closed until Thai nationalist fervor simmers down, a worry he blamed on opposition activists in Bangkok. “We respect our neighbor and the neighboring nation respects us,” he said. But in Thailand, bruised nationalism remains unappeased, and the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is suffering from the fallout. On July 10, Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama stepped down after the Constitutional Court ruled that he had acted illegally in signing an agreement supporting Cambodia’s bid to have Preah Vihear temple listed as a World Heritage Site without the permission of parliament. His move had been approved by Samak’s cabinet, which the court also decided had violated the Thai Constitution in acting without parliamentary consent, a verdict that observers said could lead to a major cabinet reshuffle. In his emotional resignation speech, Noppadon maintained he had acted in good faith in signing the agreement with Cambodia. “I insist I have done nothing wrong. I have not sold the country out. I love Thailand, and would not cause any damage to the country.” AFP UNESCO’s decision to list Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site sparked impromptu street parties throughout the country this week. Former King Norodom Sihanouk has responded to Thai critics of the deal, saying that those claiming parts of the temple are in Thailand, including the main entrance, ignore “historic facts” and were bent on sabotaging Cambodian-Thai relations. Meanwhile in Preah Vihear province, the party rages on. “We have danced for three nights and we will continue,” Ley Eang, proprietress of a coffee shop near the temple site, said. “We are excited with the temple’s registration. We expect it to bring more tourists and investors who will improve people’s living conditions here.” Preap Tan, provincial governor of Preah Vihear, said he had overseen a massive celebratory ceremony the morning of July 10 that drew upwards of 5,000 people to T’beng Meanchey, the provincial capital. “People have danced every night and held ceremonies everyday. No one told them to. They do it themselves,” he said. “We will have fireworks for the next three nights and cheer the temple.”

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Bush and Fukuda to Attend Olympic Opening

U.S. President George Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda say they will both attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Beijing, despite calls from human rights activists to stay away in protest of restrictions on religious freedoms. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, President Bush says such a protest would insult the Chinese people.

US President George W. Bush, left, meets with Japanese PM Yasuo Fukuda at the G-8 summit in Toyako, Japan, 06 Jul 2008

President Bush says he is going to the Olympics to cheer on American athletes. But he told reporters in Japan that he will also bring up human rights concerns as he says he has done with both Chinese leaders who have served during his administration.

"Every time I have visited with them, I have talked about religious freedom and human rights. And so therefore my decision to go, I guess, I don't need the Olympics to express my concerns," he said. "I've been doing so."

Human rights activists as well as some Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress have urged Mr. Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies in protest of restrictions on religious freedoms and Chinese policy in Sudan, Tibet, and Burma.

These were the president's first public comments on his decision to attend the opening ceremonies since the White House announced the move Friday. They came following talks with the Japanese Prime Minister, who used a joint session with reporters to announce his intention to attend as well.

Prime Minister Fukuda says the Olympics are a sporting event that need not be linked to politics. He says China is on the way to improving things, and it is good for Japan if its neighbor is in a sound state.

Several world leaders have announced they will not attend the games, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. French President Nicholas Sarkozy says his decision will be based on the outcome of talks between Chinese officials and representatives of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will attend the closing ceremony to accept the symbolic torch as the leader of the nation to host the next Summer Games in 2012.

President Bush will meet with the German, French, and British leaders at the annual meeting of the world's leading industrial nations in Japan. He says staying away from the games could make encouraging change in China more difficult.

"I also believe that the Chinese people are watching very carefully about the decisions by world leaders," said Mr. Bush. "I happen to believe not going to the opening ceremony for the games would be an affront to the Chinese people which may make it more difficult to be able to speak frankly with the Chinese leadership. It's why I'm doing what I'm doing."

The president will attend the August 8 opening ceremonies in Beijing as part of a trip that includes stops in South Korea and Thailand.

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Preserve the Integrity of Preah Vihear

Government and civil authorities should take this opportunity and reaffirm Thailand's former stance that a joint World Heritage Site for the ancient ruins is in order, writes ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT The Preah Vihear debate should now go beyond nationalistic furore - which may have been founded by the politicisation of the issue by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and later on by members of parliament, who are charging something just short of treason was committed in allowing the unchallenged loss of sovereignty over some 4.6 square kilometres of land to Cambodia. The debate should also move past the question of whether Thailand should defy the earlier International Court of Justice verdict which awarded that small parcel of land to Cambodia. This is a time for reason. Blind nationalism has already undermined the small amount of good will that existed in Thai-Cambodian relations. It would not do to instill hatred or damage the already difficult matter of border delineation

Certainly no one wants a repeat of the rioting which resulted in the Thai Embassy and Thai businesses being torched and looted in this neighbouring land in 2003.

Now is the time for pragmatic actions. The opposition must come up with strong evidence of any alleged fishy deals the administration of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, and Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama in particular, have made in exchange for the swift Thai support of Cambodia's application to host a Preah Vihear World Heritage Site.

More importantly, the time is also short for any last-ditch attempt to call international attention to the issue.

To compensate for the loss of national image in the international arena and to catch up in the race against time, the Samak government and the Thai representatives to the World Heritage Committee need to douse the fire inside the house and transform this crisis into opportunity.

U-TURN ON PREAH VIHEAR

The domestic debate on the issue is a strong basis for the civil servants and politicians to make a U-turn, defy the validity of the joint communique' hurriedly signed by the Thai and Cambodian ministers last month and reaffirm Thailand's former stance that a joint listing of the ancient ruins with Cambodia is in order. That is a baseline for many academics, including those from Thammasat University's Thai Khadi Studies Institute and the National Institute for Development Administration's (NIDA) Faculty of Social and Environmental Development, as well independent historians, international law experts and some senators.

They have also called for a challenge to the merit and integrity of the Unesco World Heritage Committee (WHC) if a judgement is handed down in Quebec during the 2-10 July meeting in favour of the sole listing of Cambodia.

Yet, these advocates know things will not easily turn out in favour of the Thai critics. Thammasat University law associate professor Prasit Pivavatnapanich noted that the constitutionality of the joint communique' has yet to be considered by the Constitutional Court. The court is to determine if it is in violation of Article 190, which stipulates that any contract the executive branch agrees to that profoundly affects social and economic benefits to Thailand, as well as its territorial sovereignty, shall be subject to parliamentary scrutiny before the signing.

Even if the Constitutional Court judged that the joint communique' (see attached copy of the communique) is equivalent to an agreement or a treaty as it would affect the integrity of the Thai boundary, the national, internal verdict could not nullify the 1962 verdict by the International Court of Justice in Geneva which upheld the validity of a map showing the ancient temple complex on Cambodian soil, said Mr Prasit.

Territories in question should be dealt with at another forum, he continued, and Thailand should challenge (at that venue) the accuracy of the 11 maps drawn by the French which were used at the International Court hearing. The demarcation should be based on the physical features of the land; in particular, the borderline should be drawn around the watershed and not cut through it.

A senior military map marker who shall remain unnamed said it was all partly Thailand's fault.

"We should have argued the accuracy and validity of the maps ages ago, but we have done nothing," said the uniformed officer.

In a sad metaphor, the soldier said the 1962 decision was the first chapter of the Preah Vihear dispute, and 2008 was the second chapter, but not likely the end. He predicted neither side would be able to overcome deep-rooted mistrust and dig out a real strategy for dealing with the blurry borderline.

Foreign Ministry permanent secretary Virasak Futrakul said even if the temple was endorsed as a World Heritage Site this year it would not result in Thailand's losing any territory at all. He added that the demarcation on the disputed areas of Preah Vihear should take less than a decade to settle.

This was not convincing to the military mapsman, who remarked that without a stable political climate on both sides of the border the boundary demarcation might take another 100 years.

Glossy Report

Cambodia prepared a 47-page glossy document for the World Heritage Committee, detailing how the Thai government had been providing "active support" to assist in its application to sponsor the temple on the World Heritage List.

This propaganda material looks very convincing because it chronicles step by step how the present Thai leaders gave such assistance.

However, since the outbreak of protests in Thailand the Foreign Ministry has told Cambodia the maps used in the nomination proceedings must not contrast with the map redrawn in 1963 under the direction of the cabinet of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat. This map showed the buildings in the Preah Vihear complex under Cambodian sovereignty, but not all of the temple complex. For example, the pond and the approach are shown as belonging to Thailand. Cambodia originally included these areas in its application as part of a "buffer zone", but now has apparently given up trying to exert any control over them.

Little mention of this has been made in the Cambodian media so far. The Voice of America quoted Sean Pengse, director of the Paris-based Cambodia Border Committee, as saying that the International Court has decided that the temple and areas surrounding it belonged to Cambodia, and excluding the surrounding areas would be costly for Cambodia in terms of its integrity.

Criticism will certainly be surging in the weeks to come, given that the general election in Cambodia is counting down. Negative nationalism has unfortunately been fanned, of course in favour of the ruling government of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

A ceremony was held at Wat Phnom at which a message was read from King Sihanouk in support of the International Court's ruling on Preah Vihear at the 46th anniversary of the ruling on June 15.

There is no doubt strongman Hun Sen would like to see Preah Vihear listed as a World Heritage site along with his likely triumph in the coming election.

He inaugurated last month a project to build a 118-kilometre road linking provincial capital T'beng Meanchey with the temple, to be completed within 45 months. The road, partially funded by the Chinese, would also link the Angkor Wat World Heritage Site in Siem Reap province through Kampong Thom province. This would mean less dependence on the traditional entry point to the temple from Si Sa Ket province in Thailand.

Meanwhile, an Indian company has unveiled a multimillion-dollar proposal to build an airport serving Preah Vihear, while a Japanese firm reportedly wants to construct a cable car route up the steep Cambodian side.

What's more, ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra reportedly plans a casino investment not very far from the future World Heritage Site.

Despite all the moves to capitalise on the heightened tourist appeal of Preah Vihear, Thai officials are orchestrated in affirming that Cambodia has compromised, which should be considered a mini-triumph for Thailand.

"For its part, the Kingdom of Cambodia, in a spirit of goodwill and conciliation, accepted to inscribe the Temple of Preah Vihear on the World Heritage List, at this stage, without a buffer zone on the north and west of the Temple," says an official Cambodian document. This implies that Cambodia has agreed to Thailand's claims to ownership of parts of the complex and access route.

Sending the Wrong Signal

Many are wondering why the Samak government was so keen to endorse Cambodia's move on Preah Vihear in the absence of an amicable agreement on the territorial dispute. Why not push for a joint application? The endorsement is sending a signal that Thailand will never try to reclaim Preah Vihear.

Former Thai ambassador Sompong Sucharitkul has said this seems a truly unforgivable diplomatic blunder. He is among the many that feel the integrity and authenticity of the site can only be maintained through joint listing and joint management.

Pisit Charoenwongs, a renowned Thai scholar and director of the SEMEAO Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts, said at a recent seminar organised by the Senate Committee on Religion, Ethics, and Culture that Thailand has become a villain in the eyes of the international community because of the dispute with Cambodia .

He added that Thailand needs to seek global partners, and explain in a straightforward and clear manner that opponents of Cambodia's unitary application are behaving reasonably, and ultimately for the sake of preservation of the Preah Vihear temple.

"The Thai delegation needs to argue with strong evidence and in a comprehensive and systematic manner that it would set a bad precedent if only the temple and not the functional vicinity of the whole property is listed," said the senior Southeast Asian arts expert.

The ball will therefore lie in the court of WHC members Australia, Bahrain, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, South Korea, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia and the US, whose membership in the WHC will voluntarily end by the end of next year.

Sawitree Sunwansathit, a former senior Education Ministry official and adviser to the Culture Ministry, had a sour note for the Thai public. She said many of the members have successfully lobbied to throw their support for Cambodia, and that no matter how well or vehemently argued, the Thai points may have little weight in the committee's consideration.

Ms Sawitree also said application for a parallel listing for Thailand at the Quebec meeting will not also be possible. As the name implies, this would be somewhat less cooperative than a joint listing.

Tharapong Srisuchat, head of the Fine Arts Department's Archaeological Bureau, said it might take some 3-5 years before Thailand could come up with its own proposal.

Mr Pisit, however, believed the World Heritage Committee is required to understand that the wholeness of the sacred temple needs to be preserved when considering the merit of Cambodia's application - particularly to little details such as how small or large the buffer zone for the site would be.

If the buffer zone is too large, it will penetrate into Thailand, and if the space is not adequately allotted, it will cause an eyesore, as in Ayudhaya. So, said the scholar, Thailand is justified and deserving of sympathy in a request that the government have more time to study the more appropriate joint listing and joint management of the site.

Ms Sawitree added that visitors would be treated to a more graceful and sacred atmosphere with an entrance from Thailand, as opposed to the casino-dotted landscape on the Cambodian side.

She said it should be explained to the committee that it is important to understand the real function of this temple, which in ancient times was serving the indigenous community on the eastern side (now Thailand) and not on the west, as is distortedly reported in Cambodian documents.

Pongpol Adireksarn, newly-appointed head of the Thai delegation to the WHC, believes a joint listing is the best option, but Thailand might also seek a parallel listing, as is the case of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park which straddles the US-Canadian border.

But the case of Zimbabwe and Zambia on the joint management of the Victoria Falls, which was listed a World Heritage Site in 1989, might be a hard lesson. The two nations did not sign a joint management plan until 2007.

Indonesia and Malaysia filed separately for nomination of Borneo as a World Heritage Site in February and June 2004, respectively. The Committee has yet to endorse their applications.

The academics believe that now Thailand should work on the document already submitted by the Fine Arts Department to Unesco recommending certain areas and stupas be listed along with the Preah Vihear temple to complete the cultural landscape.

The important places on the Thai side include linga sculpture that represent a site to pay homage prior to entering the higher and more sacred ground, as well as Sa Trao swamp, which had an irrigation function for the indigenous community, as well as the Pha Mo E-Daeng archeological site in the northeastern part of the temple complex.

Traces of indigenous and ancient communities rich in Thai, Lao and Khmer culture straddling the temple complex should also be considered in order to preserve the authenticity and integrity of the site.

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Khmer Temple Takes Central Role in Thai Political Debate

A 900-year-old Khmer temple on the Thai and Cambodian border has taken center stage in efforts to oust Thailand's prime minister. Samak Sundaravej's government is under intense pressure over an agreement with the Cambodian government about the temple, as well as its handling of the economy. As Ron Corben reports from Bangkok, the parliament is in the third day of debate on a no-confidence motion.

Thai tourists visit the Preah Vihear temple near Thai border in Preah Vihear province, north of Phnom Penh (File)

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's government agreed earlier this year to back Cambodia's plan to list the Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage Site under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

For centuries, the two countries have disagreed over ownership of the temple, which sits near their border. In 1962, the International Court of Justice granted sovereignty to Cambodia, but adjacent land is under Thai control.

During parliamentary debate this week on a no-confidence motion, the opposition has accused the government of signing the agreement in haste and surrendering Thai sovereignty. The government rejects that allegation.

Panitan Wattanayagorn, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, says the public questions Cambodia's right to solely file for World Heritage status.

"The issue of the Preah Vihear temple is one clear significant question that the government needs to clear up the misunderstandings around that quick decision to support the Cambodia to register that temple with UNESCO," said Panitan. "That is one issue that needs to be cleared quickly because it arouses the nationalist sentiment among many Thai voters."

Panitan says Thais had expected both countries to jointly seek the UNESCO designation.

The Khmer Kingdom during its height reached the far western provinces of Thailand. In past centuries, Cambodia and Thailand fought repeatedly over territory.

Some members of the opposition allege that the temple agreement is linked to plans by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to invest in Cambodia, which the government denies. Mr. Thaksin was ousted in a coup in 2006, after months of opposition protests against his government.

The temple is just one of several issues the opposition has raised this week in three days of debate on the no-confidence motion. Opposition leaders have called Mr. Samak incompetent and criticized his handling of the economy.

Thousands of people have been protesting outside Mr. Samak's offices all week, demanding he step down. His coalition government is seen as being too closely tied to Mr. Thaksin, whom the opposition says was corrupt and abused power.

A vote on the no-confidence motion is expected on Friday. While political analysts here say Mr. Samak probably will survive, news reports Thursday say the foreign minister and the commerce minister may be replaced after the vote.

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Cambodia shuts Thai border crossing to disputed temple

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia has closed its border with Thailand at the disputed Preah Vihear temple after a group of Thai protesters rallied near the ruins, an official said Tuesday.
Senior Minister Var Kimhong, chairman of the Cambodian government's border committee, told AFP the border crossing was closed Sunday evening when a group of Thai protesters rallied near the checkpoint. "The reason is Thai protesters demonstrated near the gate to the temple and authorities feared that something could happen to visitors to Preah Vihear temple," Kimhong said, adding he did not know when the crossing would reopen. The protesters rallied against a decision last week by Thailand's cabinet to allow Cambodia to apply for the Preah Vihear temple to be listed as a World Heritage Site. The deal has sparked claims that Thailand would lose territory to Cambodia around the small but emotive site. Thailand's foreign minister, Noppadon Pattama, who has been criticised for sealing the deal without seeking parliament's approval, told reporters in Bangkok that he was working to have the site reopened. He insisted that he had done nothing wrong and said Thailand would consider listing the entrance to Preah Vihear on Thai soil as a separate World Heritage site. "We cannot seek a joint World Heritage listing as Cambodia has already rejected that idea, so we would have to seek our own listing," he said.
Democrats were expected to grill Samak and Noppadon on the Preah Vihear issue Tuesday afternoon as part of a no-confidence debate against the government. Cambodia last year attempted to have the ancient Hindu site, perched on a mountaintop on the Thai-Cambodia border, listed by the UN's cultural body UNESCO. But that effort failed, amid rumours Thailand had blocked the deal. Cambodia began seeking World Heritage status for Preah Vihear nearly six years ago, but the temple has long plagued relations between the two countries. Both countries have historically laid claim to the site, which sits on Cambodian soil but can only be easily accessed from Thailand. Former Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk took Thailand to the World Court in 1962 over the two countries' claim to Preah Vihear. The court ruled the temple belonged to Cambodia. A spat in 2003 over Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple -- the most significant symbol of the country's ancient Khmer empire -- sparked a night of riots in which Thailand's embassy and several Thai-owned businesses were burned and looted.

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Cambodia closes Thai border entrance to disputed ancient temple

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodia shut a border gate leading from Thailand to an 11th-century temple claimed by both nations, an official said Tuesday, as Thai protesters gathered outside and opposition politicians in Thailand's Parliament accused the prime minister of yielding sovereignty over the site. The closure of the border crossing at the Preah Vihear temple was the latest flare-up in a long-standing dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over ownership of the area. Preah Vihear is located on the top of a cliff in the Dangrek Mountains, about 150 miles (245 kilometers) north of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. However, it is more easily accessible from Thailand than from Cambodia. The two countries have been at loggerheads over ownership of the temple, located in still-disputed territory, although it was awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962. The latest conflict arose last week when Thailand's government endorsed Cambodia's bid to register the temple as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Critics in Thailand say Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej bypassed Parliament when his government endorsed Cambodia's application and accused him of violating national sovereignty. They say Thailand and Cambodia should apply jointly for World Heritage status for the site. Thai opposition lawmakers debating a wide-ranging no-confidence motion against Samak have made the temple dispute a prominent part of their accusations.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, head of the opposition Democrat Party, said he intends to prove to Parliament that the government "caused damage to the country" by supporting Cambodia's bid. "Preah Vihear is the knockout punch" for the no-confidence motion, Abhisit told reporters. Hundreds of Thai protesters gathered Sunday along the border near the entrance to the temple, shouting that the temple belongs to Thailand and telling Cambodians who live on the hill to move away, said Hang Soth, director-general of the Preah Vihear Authority. Smaller protests were held Monday and Tuesday. "We decided to shut down the border entrance because we are afraid that Thai demonstrators will reach the temple and cause problems with our people who live the near the temple," Hang Soth said. Authorities will consider reopening the entrance "when the situation becomes normal and Thai demonstrators stop protesting in front of the temple," he said. The 21-nation World Heritage Committee plans to consider Cambodia's application during its annual meeting next month in Quebec, Canada, he said. The World Heritage list currently includes Cambodia's Angkor archaeological site, where Angkor Wat, the country's main tourist attraction, is located. World Heritage status helps attract funds for preservation of a site as well as raising its tourism profile.

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Cambodia leapfrogs to 3G

John Kjellemo, CEO Morten Eriksen and CMO Are Mathisen are a group of ex-Telenor guys trying to become Cambodia's No. 2 telco by leapfrogging decades of developing and hitting the market with advanced 3G services from day one.

Think of 3G and advanced mobile data services such as streaming television and high speed broadband replacement, one of the last countries that comes to mind is Cambodia. But the kingdom's new QB network is promising to deliver these advanced services to a public that has no traditional alternative so to speak, and by doing so leapfrog the competition and bypass a decade of development.

QB (cube), the brand used by Cambodia Advance Communications or Cadcomm, is the fifth entrant to what is rapidly becoming a crowded Cambodia telecom market. Three big incumbent networks have been around for more than 10 years and a few more are now waiting in the wings. However, by betting on a pure 3G network with mobile triple play (voice, broadband and television) with advanced HSDPA and positioning themselves as a media and broadband company first, they hope to prove the critics wrong.

Morten Eriksen, CEO, explained that when he was invited to do a 3G project in Cambodia, his initial reaction was that "they must be crazy" and only after reluctantly travelling to Cambodia did he see the potential in a market with three incumbents providing bad, expensive service and where a 256Kbps ADSL line cost over $600 (19,900 baht) a month.

The project formally started in 2004 and they finally got a licence in 2006 before signing a turnkey network agreement with Ericsson in June 2007. Groundwork started in October 2007 and the first test call was made a month later. Finally on March 15, QB was launched with over 57,000 subscribers signing up on launch day courtesy of a huge concert and free SIM packages.

In retrospect, Eriksen said that the licensing delay was a blessing in disguise as it allowed them to take advantage of lower costs for 3G equipment both for network equipment and handsets.

"We are delivering broadband. We are talking differentiation. We decided to take what is intrinsically seen as advanced services, to give to everybody - Internet and mobile TV," he said.

The price for unlimited data for personal use is $35 a month or just $30 for students. The network has been tested to deliver up to 7.2Mbps but the current speed offered commercially is only 1.6Mbps.

Streaming television over 3G does put a heavy load on the network, but next year Ericsson is coming out with a multicast software upgrade which will considerably lower network traffic.

At launch, over 80 per cent of network traffic was data rather than voice and sms, a percentage that rivals developed countries such as Singapore.

On the distribution side, QB also removed the master dealer and is treating its resellers as partners, with better training and a larger revenue share. It also has installed fingerprint readers to speed the sign-up process. Cambodian law requires a photocopy of an ID and a signature or fingerprint for SIM activation and by doing it electronically, they can cut long queues.

"You can view it as an expensive phone or a cheap Internet access terminal," said CTO John Kjellemo, referring to the higher price of 3G phones compared to cheap 2G only devices.

With low GDP and a small high-end market, many question would anyone consider Cambodia as a 3G market? But Cambodia also severely lacks a fixed line infrastructure (around 30 to 35,000 fixed lines are installed and some say that only half of them are working) and the demographics show a young population with median age of 21. This means that more people are open to learning new technologies

"By 2010, the GSM Association forecasts more customers on HSPA than on 2G. 2G will be a 20-year-old technology by then. 3G also has environmental benefits with much lower power consumption and much higher capacity," he pointed out.

With new antenna technology, the QB CTO said that he was getting outdoor coverage distances on his 2,100MHz WCDMA network comparable to old 900MHz GSM networks (lower frequencies travel further). In-building coverage was still a challenge today but already, Kjellemo was looking to the next big step which he strongly believes will be WCDMA on the 850MHz band. The new generation of so-called power cells on 850 with a huge 120km radius will be the key to providing affordable rural coverage, he feels.

Both WCDMA 850 and WCDMA 900 involves re-farming 2G CDMA or GSM spectrum, respectively. However, he believes that WCDMA 850 will win and provide the industry with the stronger in-building coverage and wide area coverage it needs because of a combination of momentum (850 is firmly established in Australia and Latin America) and the fact that there is more spectrum around 850 than there is with 900, not to mention the fact that 900 will have to be shared with legacy GSM for some time to come.

"Today you see a ratio of 95 to 5 between 850 and 900," he added.

QB does not block Skype or other VoIP technologies which many telcos fear so much. "Of course you can try to lock out the market but it can be a driver for increased network usage. History has shown that anyone who tries to be a monopolist will lose in the long run and you get a very bad reputation."

That said, Kjellemo does not expect price to be the main people use Skype for international calls as QB offers a very competitively priced VoIP gateway of its own at just 25 a minute to most countries. Rather, he sees it used for chat and Skype to Skype calls.

He also noted that VoIP in general is a regulatory grey zone with many governments fearing IDD bypass and losing control.

A very important market is the corporate market and QB provides high speed ADSL replacement and IP VPN (virtual private network) services. He expects this market to really take off with HSUPA which offers even higher speeds and much higher upload speeds.

Another popular service is for remittances and for sending money to relatives upcountry.

Kjellemo also had some interesting things to say about IP versus traditional ATM networks and backhaul. He explained that while legacy microwave equipment may indeed have capacity problems for 3G backhaul, today's PDH microwave systems have around 100 to 150Mbps of capacity which is more than enough for a typical 3G cell site.

"But for ATMs versus IP out to the Node B, if you need to save bandwidth on your network, then ATM is the way to go," he said, contradicting what most vendors have been preaching.

This is because that with ATM, the operator gets much better quality of service control than on a pure IP network. With fibre-connected base stations, bandwidth is virtually unlimited and IP does make sense. For microwave connections, operators need good QOS and need to save bandwidth, thus favouring ATM.

"There's nothing about voice or SMS and its everything about music," said Are Mathisen, Chief Marketing Officer who was responsible for the QB launch extravaganza that was the first of its kind, filling the Olympic Stadium with over 100,000 people to a huge concert that was broadcast live on prime time television.

Mathisen was keen to point out that none of the teaser ads prior to launch was about telephones and the showed the latest round of television advertisements which was also all about music and media The next step will be email and QB expects an entire new generation of users to be accessing email primarily thorough their mobile.

QB as recently signed a distribution agreement with MTV for online content the first of its kind in the region, and it is now being used as a basis for further contracts in more developed countries.

Aside from Ericsson for network, Cadcomm selected Canadian-based Redknee for its billing system which Kjellemo said provided a much more flexible and personal touch than the larger, more established names. Oddly it also has a diesel fuel partner as during summer months, power outages can reach over a hundred hours a month and land mine clearing partners.

So where does QB hope to be by next year? Ericksen said that they started fifth in the market, but managed to overtake the forth placed operator within just two weeks of launch. By the end of 2009, he hopes to see QB as Cambodia's number two telco and also operating in the black.

Whether that can be done remains to be seen.

With every operator claiming to be aiming for the number two spot after Mobitel, competition will be fierce. But while all the operators are focusing on traditional voice services, it will remain to be seen if QB's ultra modern data-centric open approach will work, of whether this team of ex-Telenor consultants and engineers go down in history as the crazy bunch who once thought they could bring advanced data services to Cambodia.

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Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan out of hospital, back in jail

Khmer Rouge top cadre Khieu Samphan has been released from hospital following his latest health scare. Former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan, whose ailing health has sparked concern among those who want to see him tried for crimes allegedly committed by the 1970s regime, has been released from hospital and is back in the custody of Cambodia's genocide tribunal.

"Khieu Samphan has been released from the hospital and has now been returned to the detention facility of the ECCC," Peter Foster, spokesman for the UN side of the joint tribunal, said on June 4, referring to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

"No further details are available at this time," he added.

The 76-year-old, who was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity after his arrest last year, was rushed to hospital on May 21 with high blood pressure.

His lawyer and some family members say that Samphan's health has deteriorated significantly since his incarceration, and say he should be released from pre-trial detention.

Five top cadres have been arrested so far by the tribunal, including Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea, the most senior surviving leader of the 1975-79 regime that oversaw the deaths of 1.7 million people from starvation, overwork and execution as it sought to forge an agrarian utopia.

During that time, cities were emptied and their populations exiled to vast collective farms, while schools were closed and religion banned.

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Cambodia: Lift Ban on ‘Burma Daily’

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Suspension Undercuts Credibility of ASEAN Initiative on Burma Cyclone

(New York, May 23, 2008) – The Cambodian government should stop protecting Burma’s junta from foreign press scrutiny by lifting the ban on copies of the Burma Daily, a new English-language insert in the Cambodia Daily newspaper, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Burma Daily was launched on May 16 as a four-page insert in the Cambodia Daily and carried primarily English-language wire service reports about Burma and Cyclone Nargis, which struck on May 2-3, killing tens of thousands. With the publication of its second edition on May 19, the Cambodian Ministry of Information illegally ordered police to remove copies of the Burma Daily from newsstands.

The newspaper’s suspension comes ahead of a May 25 “pledging” conference in Rangoon organized by the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a 10-country bloc that includes Cambodia, to address Burma’s reconstruction and how to deliver aid to cyclone victims. ASEAN operates by consensus, so any country, including Burma or Cambodia, can stop coordinated action by the grouping that insists Burma open up to aid and humanitarian workers.

“Cambodia’s press censorship on behalf of Burma’s abusive military government is shameless,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “When ASEAN members like Cambodia go to bat for Burma’s generals, it makes it hard to believe that the association will genuinely lean on Burma to allow international aid for desperate cyclone survivors.”

Cambodia Daily publisher Bernard Krisher, who said he launched the Burma Daily only temporarily as an insert in the Cambodia Daily before launching it as an online publication at www.burmadaily.org, announced on May 21 that the Burma Daily would no longer appear in the Cambodia Daily. At present, the online version has articles only until May 21.

In a speech on Cambodian national television last December after Burma’s crackdown on widespread protests, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen criticized the United Nations for “opposing and putting pressure” on Burma, rather than letting Burma solve its own problems. “Now, Burma has proceeded smoothly, but they go and disturb it again,” Hun Sen said.

On May 21, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith threatened to file a legal complaint against the Cambodia Daily for launching the Burma Daily without obtaining government permission. Kanharith stated that the Burma Daily could negatively affect relations with Burma, according to the Cambodia Daily. Despite the prohibition on the English-language insert, Kanharith has publicly stated that the government will allow the Cambodia Daily – which has been registered with the government since 1993 – to cover news about Burma in its regular international section.

Cambodia’s 1995 Press Law requires new publications to submit names and addresses of their editor and printing house to the Ministry of Information and authorizes the government to ban, suspend, or confiscate publications deemed to violate “national security and political stability.” While publications that do not file applications with the Information Ministry are subject to fines, the Press Law does not specify that such publications are illegal or subject to confiscation.

Outspoken editors and journalists in Cambodia are regularly threatened, subject to physical attacks, or even assassinated. The government also periodically confiscates, bans, or suspends controversial publications. In 2007, the Khmer Amatak newspaper was suspended for refusing to retract a story alleging that political rivals of Funcinpec party leader Norodom Ranariddh had removed his name from a school. Publications that were confiscated by authorities in 2007 included a report by Global Witness, an international environmental advocacy group that alleged government complicity in illegal logging, and Free Press Magazine, a Cambodian-language publication that carried articles critical of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Cambodian authorities have recently threatened Buddhist monks with eviction from their pagodas or deportation to Vietnam for circulating bulletins published by the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Federation (KKKF), an organization that advocates for the rights of Khmer Krom people (ethnic Khmer originally from southern Vietnam). One of the allegations against Khmer Krom monk Tim Sakhorn, who was arrested and deported from Cambodia in June 2007 and subsequently jailed in Vietnam, was that he had circulated copies of the KKKF bulletin.

“The Cambodian government has a sad tradition of using its press law and other tactics to silence criticism not only of Hun Sen and other top leaders, but of neighbouring countries with which Cambodia has strong economic and political ties,” said Adams.

While foreign-language publications in Cambodia have generally been more immune to threats of confiscation or closure, in 2007 the owners of the French-language daily Cambodge Soir buckled to government pressure by firing the paper’s Cambodian news editor for publishing an article about the Global Witness logging report. The paper’s management decided to close the paper after staff went on strike to protest the editor’s dismissal, reopening several months later with a much less critical editorial tone.

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Mexico gay unions

	Gay rights protesters demonstrated while legislators voted

The legislative assembly in Mexico City has approved a bill recognising same sex civil unions for the first time in the country's history. This report from Emilio San Pedro:

Listen to the story

The bill, which grants same sex couples the same social benefits extended to heterosexual married couples, such as inheritance and pension rights, was approved by a vote of forty-three to seventeen. It was backed by the left-wing PRD party which controls the city's legislative assembly but opposed by the governing conservative PAN party and the Catholic Church in Mexico, which has condemned gay marriages and same sex unions as going against the sanctity of the sacrament of marriage, which it maintains should only be between a man and a woman.

And although the new law recognises civil unions between gay and heterosexual couples, it doesn't recognise the right of gay people to go through an official marriage ceremony.

That hasn't stopped gay rights groups in Mexico from celebrating. They've heralded the approval of the bill as an important sign that the traditionally Catholic country was shedding its ultra-religious machista image. The leader in Mexico City of the left-wing PRD party, Marti Batres, described the move as a first step, which he said could lead to a national debate on same sex unions and similar legislation being approved in other parts of the country.

In fact, a civil unions bill is currently being debated by the local congress in the northern state of Coahuila, on the border with Texas. But the power of the Church in Mexico, the second largest Catholic country in the world, guarantees that the approval of such measures will be met with strong opposition.

Emilio San Pedro, BBC

Listen to the words

backed by
supported and encouraged by

legislative assembly
the government department which makes new laws

the sanctity of the sacrament of marriage
the great religious importance of marriage that has to be kept

to go through
here, to have

heralded the approval of the bill
publicly and positively acknowledged the introduction of the new law

was shedding its ultra-religious machista image
was getting rid of its reputation of being too religious and acting in a way seen as traditional male behaviour

a national debate
a public discussion around the whole country

border
boundary, frontier, line dividing two countries

measures
here, new laws

met with strong opposition
people will express strong opinions against it

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