Loung Ung's Blog, page 14

Cambodia’s wily leader marks 30 years in power

NEAK LOEUNG, Cambodia (AP) — Hun Sen, Cambodia’s tough and wily prime minister, marked 30 years in power Wednesday, one of just a handful of political strongmen worldwide who have managed to cling to their posts for three decades.

Taekwondo Gold Medalist Returns to Hero’s Welcome

Cambodian taekwondo champion Sorn Seavmey received a hero’s welcome when she returned home to Phnom Penh from South Korea on Sunday night with her country’s first ever Asian Games gold medal.

In Taekwondo, Cambodia Wins First Asian Games Gold

By Ouch Sony | October 4, 2014

Sorn Seavmey, a 19-year-old from Phnom Penh, made history Friday when she won an Asian Games taekwondo final in South Korea to take Cambodia’s first gold medal at the games.

John Pilger: “What the US Did to Cambodia was an Epic Crime”

Phnom Penh Post: Since his early days as a correspondent covering the wars in Southeast Asia in the 1960s and 1970s, documentary filmmaker and journalist John Pilger has been an ardent critic of Western foreign policy. Following in the footsteps of Martha Gellhorn, Pilger set out to cover the Vietnam War from the perspective of those most affected by it: the people and US draftees.

Cambodia Tribunal Announces Date for Next Khmer Rouge Trial

PHNOM PENH—

Cambodia’s International Tribunal has announced that the second phase of the trial for two former Khmer Rouge leaders will begin on October 17.

The date will mark the beginning of the final phase in the trial of Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, which was broken into two parts for expediency. Trial officials said hearings will continue three days per week.

New Book: The Year of Zero by Ty Seng

Publishers Weekly’s Genocide Survivor’s Story: Seng Ty’s Long Road

Author Seng Ty experienced firsthand the terrors of the Khmer Rouge genocides — horrendous events that left Cambodia ravaged in the 1970s. Within weeks, he and his family went from living a peaceful life in the Cambodian countryside to surviving in conditions comparable to those of a concentration camp. Find this Book!

Happy Monday! “You can’t claim heaven as your own if you ...

Happy Monday! “You can’t claim heaven as your own if you are just going to sit under it.” ~ Cambodian proverb

Somaly’s Story: ‘I Didn’t Lie.’

An explosive report in Newsweek last spring raised questions regarding the legitimacy of Cambodian anti-trafficking activist Somaly Mam, tainting the nearly two-decades-long work on behalf of victims that catapulted her into the global spotlight. But how do the allegations hold up? In her first interview since the scandal dominated headlines—and left her career and reputation in shambles—Mam tells her side of things.

Let the Khmer Rouge Record Show

August 26, 2014 New York Times, PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Earlier this month a United Nations-assisted tribunal in Cambodia handed down long-overdue judgments against Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan for their roles in the catastrophic Khmer Rouge regime of 1975-79. Nuon Chea, the deputy secretary of the communist party, and Khieu Samphan, the president of the Khmer Rouge state, were sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity.

Spiral-bound history: Rare Cambodia diary offers haunting account of life under Khmer Rouge

40 years ago, Poch Younly risked everything to write in his diary, “one of just four known firsthand accounts penned by victims and survivors while the Khmer Rouge were in power…” http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/08/...