Global Witness’s 95-page report, “Cambodia’s Family Trees: illegal logging and the stripping of public assets,” has raised grave concern about deforestation of catastrophic proportions.

I am in no position to question the report’s accuracy or to judge the government’s denial of involvement in logging scandals. However, I think the government should produce any evidence it has to counter Global Witness’s allegations and to prove its innocence, especially if it is confident, as one Forestry Administration official said, that “Global Witness lied on every page.” (Global Witness Decries Report Ban; Probe Ordered,” June 5, page 1).

Producing such evidence would encourage more accountability and transparency.

Vong Socheata,
Phnom Penh

I welcome Samdech Prime Minister Hun Sen’s very proactive stance in resolving the notorious land grabbing controversy, (“This is War, Hun Sen Tells Land Grabbers,” Tuesday, page 1).

Firing a general would certainly constitute an effective response to our current situation and would send a clear warning to other land grabbers. Such a measure will be triumphantly celebrated once it has been carried out. I really hope that the public will have access to information about such firings.

I strongly appeal to Hun Sen and the influential CPP Central Committee to take firm measures against affluent and powerful individuals who have abused the poor by grabbing their land. This would have restore poverty, as it is outlined in the government’s agenda.

Vong Socheata,
Phnom Penh

I am profoundly frustrated that the bar association dispute has dragged on for almost two years, solely orchestrated by a few obsessively power-oriented and highly politicized people.

It is a crying shame that political convenience and gain have been attempted instead of a solution to the conflict.

In a system with a corrupt judiciary, the legal profession is one of the most important means in preserving justice.

The bar’s leadership has a crucial role to sustain this.
The bar’s credibility has been eroded in the eyes of its members, donors and, above all, in the eyes of the Cambodian population.

[Everyday that the dispute continues, my utmost sympathy goes out to Cambodians who are helplessly facing injustice in a very corrupt system, while the bar is being severely undermined.]

Everyday that the dispute continues, my utmost sympathy goes out to Cambodians who are helplessly facing injustice in a very corrupt system, while the bar is being severely undermined.

The bar’s leaders should learn to be more responsible toward their members and the Cambodian public before they decide to do battle over a position they not even deserve.

Vong Socheata,
Phnom Penh

It is a sad irony that Cambodia, while proclaiming to be a democracy, has taken a move backward by hurting freedom of expression, one of the most fundamental rights for a democratic society (“Legislators Vote to Limit Their Own Speech,” Thursday, page 1)

I was shocked that our lawmakers, the so-called people’s representatives, who were elected by the people to speak for them, have chosen to abandon their mission by adopting a law to criminalize parliamentarians’ voices.

Shamefully, while the voices in parliament are silenced, Cambodians’ endeavors to make their voices heard, to contribute to development and to improve the nation through their elected representatives will be in vain.

Are we going back to the stage when we will all have to remain silent? When this core value of free expression is threatened, the country itself is diminished.

[Cambodian leaders should embrace criticism.]

Cambodian leaders should embrace criticism and be more responsible with every single decision they make.

Vong Socheata,
Phnom Penh

While the approaching Khmer Rouge tribunal has inspired a great sense of justice, the deteriorating health of former rebel commander Ta Mok has prompted grave concerns that his death will prevent him from standing trial.

In the long wait for the trial, some of the regime’s top officials have died: Pol Pot in 1998 and most recently former KR Health Minister Thiounn Thioeun in June.

Former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan and Brother Number Two Nuon Chea are also aging. I strongly appeal to the tribunal and the public to pay close attention to their health.

I strongly hope that justice will be served for the 1.7 million people who were brutally killed and for survivors who are haunted by the nightmares of Cambodia’s most notorious chapter in history.

Vong Socheata,
Phnom Penh

I was greatly saddened by a comment made by a government official in the story “Khmer Krom Mark 57 Years Since VN Handover”(Monday, page 11).
More than 3,000 people turned out to mark the 57th anniversary of the 1949 loss of Kampuchea Krom.

The commemoration inspired great hope and dreams, but I was shocked and almost burst into tears by the comments of one government official who said that the rally and the expressed demands “will make the Vietnamese government put further pressure on Khmer Kampuchea Krom.”

I am not sure of the meaning of this comment and whether it was intended to discourage any demands by the Khmer Krom community or does it mean that any activity including this peaceful assembly will result in further pressure from Hanoi?

I should take this time to reflect on the fact that many monks and ordinary people have been physically and mentally persecuted and ill-treated by the Vietnamese authority, which prompted many of them to flee to Cambodia.
Here they hoped they would be recognized as Khmer, but unfortunately they have been denied.

[While I feel great pain over the historical loss of Khmer Kampuchea Krom territory…I am even more saddened by our current government ignoring the situation.]

While I feel great pain over the historical loss of Khmer Kampuchea Krom territory, which was conceded to Vietnam by colonial France, I am even more saddened by our current government ignoring the situation.

It is indeed a very sad irony that the government is very inactive in resolving this controversy while it is as the same time proactive in discouraging Khmer Krom, whose very blood they share, from exercising their rights.

Vong Socheata,
Phnom Penh

May 1 marked the 120th International Labor Day, where workers around the world assemble to make large protests to demand better working conditions.

Under the Cambodian Constitution, Cambodian people have the right to a peaceful assembly or march. But have their rights so far been properly exercised?

The government often raises the fear of affecting social order, and banning protests is common. But have there been solutions concerning wage increases?

I read the story on Monday “Workers Rally for May Day Despite Gov’t Ban”(page 1) and saw a comment from one top government official saying that raising wages and reducing work hours would deter investors. I wonder if demands for a wage rise were met, would it result in deterring foreign investment?

Look at the current living conditions of workers and public teachers. Their wages remain the same but the price of goods for daily consumption continues to get higher.

It is unbelievable to compare the low wages with the high price of goods.
Who feels the pain of workers? Who knows the difficulties of their lives?
Has the 1997 Cambodian Labor Law effectively ensured workers’ rights and their working conditions?

Do Cambodia teachers and workers have to continue surviving under such poor living standards?

Vong Socheata,
Phnom Penh