CAMBODIA: H&M investigates mass faintings at factory

Source: Just-Style

Author: Petah Marian | 26 August 2011

H&M has said that it has not found any plausible causes for a series of mass faintings that have taken place in a Cambodian factory making its clothes.

The statements follow local press reports that a total 284 workers at an M&V International Manufacturing site fainted on Tuesday and Thursday. According to the reports, workers smelled something bad coming from the shirts.

A spokesperson for the retailer told just-style today (26 August) that it was aware of the incident and that the "government, local authorities and International Labour Organisation have done investigations and have not found any plausible causes so far".

The spokesperson said H&M has also carried out an initial probe, with local staff immediately visiting the affected factories for an inspection and interviews with workers, but said the cause is "difficult to establish".
It said it has partnered with external experts and is in "close contact with the Better Factories Cambodia and the Employer Association GMAC" to figure out the root causes and solutions to these "discomforting incidents".

Inneke Zelderust, co-ordinator of the Clean Clothes campaign, said this is not the first time that there have been mass faintings in a Cambodian garment factory, citing a similar situation at a Puma factory in April.
An investigation following that incident found that overtime, poor chemical storage and heat were the causes for the faintings.

Zelderust described as "nonsense" M&V's excuse in the local press that the faintings were a "psychological phenomenon."

She suggested that high inflation levels are eroding salaries so that workers are not earning a living wage. "Workers are foregoing meals and doing lots of overtime which is leading to low nutrition levels," said Zelderust.

Zelderust called for other brands to be "proactive" in investigating worker health and occupational health and safety in their factories following the incidents, suggesting that it might be difficult to "pinpoint one cause" driving these mass faintings. "Take these as indicators of a broader problem," she emphasised.

According to a report released last week by the ILO's Better Factories Cambodia initiative, while working conditions in Cambodian garment factories are continuing to improve, there are still persisting worries over discrimination, overtime and occupational health, and safety.

Donor governments asked to review Cambodia aid if NGO law is passed Human rights groups call on UK, US and Australia to apply pressure on Cambodia if severely restrictive draft law is adopted

Mark Tran
guardian.co.uk, Friday 26 August 2011 14.19 BST

Cambodia's PM Hun Sen is under fire from human rights groups over a proposed law requiring NGOs and associations to register. Photograph: Rolex Dela Pena/EPA
Human rights organisations are calling on donor governments to reassess their aid programmes to Cambodia if the country passes a law that can be used to muzzle local and foreign NGOs.

Ten groups have written to William Hague, the foreign secretary, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, and Australia's foreign minister Kevin Rudd, sounding the alarm on a draft law now before Cambodia's council of ministers.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), Global Witness and others say the draft law, if passed in its present form, threatens to severely restrict civil society's right to freedom of association and expression.

"As such, the law will limit the ability of Cambodia's development partners to ensure that programmes reach their intended grass-roots beneficiaries," the letter says.

The letter urges the foreign ministers to make it clear to the Cambodian government that, if the proposed changes are adopted, they will reassess their aid programmes and urge multilateral aid agencies to review their assistance.

The key concern for human rights groups is a provision under the law which states that associations and organisations cannot operate in Cambodia unless complex registration applications have been formally approved by the government.

"The draft law will effectively authorise arbitrary decision-making by officials as it fails to adequately define terms or set clear guidelines, and it creates burdensome and expensive registration and reporting processes that will particularly disadvantage grassroots citizens' associations and groups," the letter says.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of HRW's Asia division, said the Hun Sen government was seeking to stifle the one clear source of opposition to the government, having reduced the opposition to rump status and cowed the international community.

"Hun Sen is growing increasingly sensitive to critical NGO voices which are working with local people facing dispossession of their land for commercial use for cash crops such as sugar cane," said Robertson. "There has been a plague of land seizures and it is an issue that goes to corrupt governance."

An estimated 30,000 people are driven from farmland or urban areas every year to make way for property developments or mining and agricultural projects.

The World Bank earlier this month suspended new lending to Cambodia in a dispute over the eviction of thousands of poor landowners to make way for a property development in the capital, Phnom Penh.

Two thousand people have been evicted already and another 10,000 face eviction to make way for the project in the Boeung Kak lake area. The development is led by China's Inner Mongolia Erdos Hongjun Investment Corp, an unlisted firm that has pledged to spend $3bn in Cambodia on property, metal processing and power generation, and which has close ties to Hun Sen. Robertson said the Cambodian government has since agreed to put back on the table an onsite resettlement plan, which showed that international pressure can work.

"The lesson is when push comes to shove, when development partners threaten to take action, that kind of thing makes the Cambodian government sit up and take notice," he said.

The Cambodian government recently suspended a local NGO, the Sahmakum Teang Tnaut, which has been working with communities affected by major projects in Phnom Penh, including the Asian Development Bank/USAid-funded railway rehabilitation project, and the Boeung Kak lake development.

The suspension, say human rights groups, shows how the Cambodian government may use the draft associations and NGO law if it is passed.

In other recent moves against critics, the government earlier this month closed down two newspapers reproachful of the Cambodian ruling party – the Water & Fire News, and the World News. Their publishing licences were revoked because of "a perceived insult to the ministry of information".

Five men have also been convicted of "provocation" for distributing pamphlets critical of the state. They revealed the Cambodian government's ties to the Vietnamese government and accused Hun Sen of selling land to foreign countries, calling him a "traitor" and a "puppet of Vietnam".

One of Asia's poorest countries, Cambodia receives between $50m and $70m a year from the World Bank. It is looking increasingly to China for aid and development. China is Cambodia's biggest source of foreign direct investment, with stated plans to spend $8bn on 360 different projects during the first seven months of 2011.

Cambodia Did Good and Avoided Harm

By Pheng Heng*
20 August 2011
 
​Based on his Theory of Justice, Jeremy Bentham raised three main points namely justice based upon happiness; all judgments of action should produce a great benefit for a great number of the people; and do good avoid harm.
 
​In this theory, I want to mention some management of events in Cambodia in 1993. Particularly I focus on election run by the United Nation Transitional Authority in Cambodia, UNTAC and the formation of Royal Government of Cambodia in 1993.
 
​I want to show the theory and the real practice, even it’s hard to understand about theory of Justice of Jeremy Bentham because it’s far from the ideas of the old saying which says that it can’t take both “Rabbit is running back into the forest while if they’re catching snake fish”. But Jeremy Bentham wants to get justice, great benefits for a great amount of the people and avoid harm. His theory referred to finding happiness for a great amount of the people in society. He wants to help the majority but he also wants to avoid harm.
 
​This theory seems difficult to support the Legal Justice. Because Justice is referred to law or rule that everyone has to respect and equals before the law. Otherwise in democratic principles, the majority is the winner. This principle shows that if we help produce a great benefit for a great number of the people, how can we do well and avoid harm for the minority?
 
​In 1993 the management for Cambodia revealed that election system and the formation of Royal Government of Cambodia was the two-third majority in national assembly decision. I will discuss these points as follows:
 
1- Election system:

UNTAC used proportional system by political party list for the candidates in provincial-capital constituency for the election and the formula of calculating parliament seats is the majority rest of the valid ballots. According to this system, the initial seat allocation gives to each party the whole number of seats its proportion of the vote would justify. If there are additional seats to be filled, the party whose fractional remainder is the largest receives the first unassigned seat in the constituency. The party with the next largest fractional remainder receives the second unassigned seat, and so forth. The greatest remainder system allocates seats in a way that favor small parties. This showed that the winners in National Assembly are majority and minority representatives. This formula made the minority have its voice in the National Assembly and the minority was also happy. So in the society, there was no harm and there was Cambodian national reconciliation in 1993. This formula allowed all parties to have their representatives in the National Assembly and they were happy with this solution. Concerning this solution, we can say that Cambodia produced a great benefit for a great amount of the people.
 
2- Formation of  Royal Government of Cambodia:

After counting ballots of the 1993 election, Cambodian People Party, CPP denied the result of the election and then moved their forces to occupy some provinces in the east of the Mekong River. With this situation, other political movement, Khmer Rouge was occupying some areas in the west of the Mekong River too. In this event the King father, Norodom Sihanouk, was the leader who did not want Cambodia to fall into a civil war again, he proposed the winner, Funcinpec1 Party to share its power with CPP. Then CPP accepted the proposal to share power in royal government of Cambodia that led by Co-Prime Minister, 1st Prime Minister and 2nd Prime Minister in 1993 and all the winners were in national assembly and worked in the royal government together. We can say that this solution shows that “Cambodia does well and avoids harm”.
 
3- Two-third majority in national assembly decision:

Two-third majority in national assembly decided to adopt Cambodian constitution in 1993. The Constitution is very important for Cambodian national reconciliation. It does not mean two-third majority puts barrier for creating the new government or some other important bodies. The proportional system and formula of two-third majority in the national assembly are very important for the developing countries. It can strengthen the unique nation, democracy with respecting the minor. A two-third majority requirement could protect the interests of minorities and unique nation.
 
This is the kind of Justice for Cambodian leaders 1993.
 
*Mr. Pheng Heng is a LLD Student, PUC.  He can be reached at phenghenglaw@yahoo.com  
 UN Peacekeeping in Cambodia: Untac's Civil Mandate (International Peace Academy Occasional Papers)

International Conference on University Capacity Building in Academic Research

By Chea Sophal
26 August 2011

Phnom Penh:  Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE) and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung organized a one-day workshop on University Capacity Building in Academic Research at InterContinental Hotel.  The main topics include Education Quality Assurance and Academic Research Policy, Rule and Research Activities, Quality of Research Paper and Academic Ethics, Ph.D Program (Opportunities and Challenges).

H.E. Ngoy Yuok, Rector of RULE expressed the minimum standards of educational quality by looking at the Mission, Management and Master Plan Infrastructure, Curriculum, Staff, Students and Services, Educational Services, Physical Material Location, Budget Management, and Information Dissemination.

The curriculum would be taken into the consideration on the grounds of developing curriculum committee with clear role and responsibility, content of curriculum, curriculum organization, process of credit studies and credit transfer, teaching and learning efficiency, student evaluation, research, system ensuring internal education quality, system of managing and maintaining students' work, and revision of curriculum.

H.E. Ngoy pointed out that main factor for educational quality also involves in students and services such as school entrance requirements, requirements for issuing degrees including public announcement, school feed determination, scholarship provision process, service provision for students, and service provision for the community.  Cambodia still has limited facilities in providing the above-mentioned factors.

The 2011-2015 Master Plan for Research Development in the Education Sector reveals major objectives to enhance the quality of education in Cambodia, increase new knowledge and develop the society, economy and the culture by:
- ensuring that a wide range of research is conducted;
- improving the capacity of researchers and higher education institutions;
-  promoting resect for research ethics;
- encouraging wide dissemination of research results; and
- promoting research that leads to the development of new knowledge and inventions.

H.E. Dr. Neth Barom explained the Cambodia's higher education overview to the participants on several points such as enhancing quality of higher education to meet the labour market demands through providing budget for institutional operation and research activities to HEIs (ESSP, 2005, p15), research is still in a dark stage for Cambodian higher education (Chet, 2009, p161), University research has not received any significant or concrete emphasis in Cambodian national policy (Kwok, 2010, p29), and there have been a need for research policy, national and sub-national, as the guidelines and decisions expressed in directives, regulations, or laws with regard to funding and regulation of research activities.

The challenges and issues faced by Cambodia includes lack of research capacity, academic professionalism, research facilities, budget for university research, and administrative management.  

‘Forced overtime’ claim in H&M mass fainting

The Phnom Penh Post
THURSDAY, 25 AUGUST 2011 15:03 TEP NIMOL AND VINCENT MACISAAC  

Staff at the garment factory in Kampong Chnnang where more than 100 workers fainted on Tuesday morning while making knitwear for global brand H&M had been forced to work overtime of up to six hours a day for about two months prior to the incident, a representative of their union said yesterday.

“The factory’s boss forced workers to work an extra four to six hours a day during the past two months,” union representative Norn Leakhena said, adding that from January to March they were forced to 
work until 11:00pm. She also said fainting was commonplace at the factory, especially in areas adjacent to the laundry room, which emitted fumes that made workers dizzy. 

An executive with M&V International Manufacturing Ltd, however, denied allegations of forced overtime and a toxic working environment, saying the fainting was caused by a “strange psychological phenomenon”.

“In China, this kind of thing is unthinkable. We can’t understand how this happens so often in Cambodia,” said the executive who declined to identify himself by name. 

“The workers don’t pass out at once, they pass out in succession. One worker passes out, and when another sees this and she passes out, then another and another and another. It’s beyond my comprehension,” he explained.

The factory is run by a Macau-owned company that produces items for several global brands, including Benetton and H&M, at factories in China and Cambodia. 

The Kampong Chnnang facility produces knitwear for H&M, the executive confirmed.

He said poor health was an underlying cause of the fainting. “The workers’ health is poor. They don’t eat breakfast and come to work very tired.” 

Moeun Tola, head of the labour programme at the Community Legal Education Center, said factory staff reported that at least three or four workers fainted every day at the facility after inhaling an insecticide sprayed inside it. He also pointed to the legal wage, about US 30 cents an hour, as an underlying cause. 

“The monthly $61 basic salary [for 48 hours per week] is insufficient so employees have to work overtime. They don’t get enough sleep and they don’t get enough to eat so they are susceptible to fainting,” he said. 

The factory was inspected by monitors from the International Labour Organisation earlier this month as part of its Better Factories Cambodia programme, ILO communications officer Ying Bun said.  He also said that the factory would be inspected again. 

“When an incident such as mass fainting happens, our monitoring team visits, and approaches the factory, workers, unions, and victims to seek further information and keep buyers informed,” he said. 

Ying Bun said that Better Factories Cambodia did not disclose information on particular factories, but provides an overview of the industry and allows each company to decide for itself whether it will disclose the results of the ILO monitoring to its potential suppliers. 

It released a report earlier this month that found that garment factories were, for the most part, compliant with national laws and international labour standards.

Rising Asia and the future of Thai foreign policy

• Bangkok Post 25/08/2011

Before looking ahead to the future, I think I will be telling a big lie if I do not accept from the outset that I have been somewhat disappointed with Thailand's foreign policy of late. I saw no justifiable reason for our relationship with one of our Asean next door neighbours, Cambodia, to deteriorate from bad to worse and from worse to hitting rock bottom. This relationship kept plummeting without any real and serious attempt at salvation.

Cambodian vendors pass through a border gate at Chong Jom pass in Kap Choeng district of Surin on July 26, to do business in Thailand. Border trade is active once again, as locals grow confident of peace despite delays in establishing the demilitarised zone near the Preah Vihear Temple as ordered by the International Court of Justice.

Sour relationship moved to skirmishes, skirmishes moved to a battle zone. A series of exchanges of fire resulted in damage and casualties. Who was to gain and what has been gained from all of this? Only politicians in respective capitals have the answer. Certainly, innocent people along the border of both countries gained absolutely nothing and stood to lose everything.

I do not think that is the way we deal with our Asean neighbours.

I often like comparing the formulation of foreign policy with the shape of the rings of a dart board where Thailand is placed at the bull's eye. The nearer the ring to the bull's eye, the more important as well as the more delicate and difficult it is to score. The clear difference, however, is that these rings, unlike those on a real dart board, must be drawn to overlap each other. These rings will never be so clearly separate, for foreign policy is not a case of a separate and unrelated relationship. How to manage the overlapping of these rings is as important as how to manage the relationship within each ring itself.

These are rings of our foreign policy. The closest of the rings represents our immediate neighbours with common borders. All of them are not just neighbours with shared common boundaries but we are all Asean members with shared common values and visions. Our closest proximity must be considered in every aspect: physical, political, economic, social, cultural or even environmental.

Because this ring is the closest to the bull's eye, it must be aimed at with greatest attention. Once hit accurately, it will be handsomely scored. But once missed, it could be a big opportunity lost. And the conduct of our foreign policy in the past decade or so has seen this both well scored and badly missed.
I do hope that for the next decade we will pursue just the right policy towards these neighbours of ours and keep producing excellent scores.

Yes, countries with thousands of miles of common border must have problems. But the key is there must be bilateral mechanisms to resolve them and each mechanism must be functioning at all times for conflict prevention and peaceful resolution of disputes. Territorial dispute as a result of historic colonial powers influencing the delimitation must be handled with care and understanding. Boundary delimitation must be depoliticised, leaving it to technical experts of maps and international law to argue at the table in a smoke-filled room, never allow public nationalistic emotion to get involved which would lead to the battlefield. Cooperation on joint development of national resources and cultural assets in areas where there are overlapping claims should be explored, designed and implemented, with agreement that such cooperation will have no prejudice on each side's legal claims. Trust and mutual respect is, therefore, key to producing excellent scores in policy with neighbours.

Apart from our bilateral ties which must be kept real warm at all times, our cooperation with them also comes in different dimensions. Existing strategic multilateral ties must continue to be enhanced while new initiatives established. The existing ACMECS _ Ayawadee, Chaophraya, Mekong, Economic Cooperation Strategy _ must be strengthened to its utmost extent. This cooperation among Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam is the only economic cooperation strategy in the Mekong sub-region that comprises exclusively Asean members.

The Mekong sub-region, where Thailand and our neighbours are situated, is economically highly strategic for Southeast Asia. Being shared by five riparian Asean countries and China, the Mekong River and its region has attracted a number of economic cooperation projects. Apart from the GMS _ the Greater Mekong Sub-region _ which is the cooperation between all the six riparian states, namely, China and all five Asean members, some non-Mekong states have also expressed their keen interest in this sub-region. Japan has set up the Japan-Mekong Cooperation, whose membership is all of the GMS minus China, but plus Japan's membership. The United States, similarly, also wants to be a Mekong State too.

Thailand's foreign policy must, therefore contain the Mekong strategy as part of our policy towards our immediate neighbours. The foreign policy regarding this innermost ring to the bull's eye must not merely receive the highest priority, it must be strategically well-thought-out since we have more players than just our neighbours. The power balancing of Thailand and four Asean Mekong riparian states, vis-a-vis China and other non-mainland Southeast Asian powers must be well handled.

Moving outward to the next ring is that of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. This regional grouping is moving towards fully-fledged regional integration with the establishment of the Asean Community in 2015, with three major pillars: the Economic Community, Socio-Cultural Community, and Political and Security Community. The success of Asean is the success of Thailand. We must draw a masterplan to be implemented by all sectors, both government and non-government, leading to the 2015 objectives. We must be able to deliver to all our Asean citizens the benefits they should gain from the establishment of the Asean Community that must be felt in the conduct of their everyday life.

Accordingly, regarding the dispute between Cambodia and Thailand surrounding the issue of the Temple of Preah Vihear, both countries must cooperate more with Asean on peace and conflict resolution, otherwise confidence in Asean's mechanism for conflict avoidance and resolution will be greatly affected and eroded. Although the nature of conflict between Thailand and Cambodia is bilateral, the path to solution has been multilateral, that is Asean and beyond. My final observation on this issue is that perhaps Thailand should draft up her multilateral strategy in handling this conflict in the United Nations Security Council, Asean, World Heritage Committee and the International Court of Justice.

Because Asean is widely recognised as a strong regional grouping, it has generated several trans-regional cooperation initiatives where Asean is placed in the driving seat. Geography is no longer relevant when we come to a willingness to cooperate. The East Asia Summit or Asean +6 countries is no longer strictly East Asian, as it has incorporated a number of countries that are hardly East Asian such as India, Australia, New Zealand and newcomers the US and Russia.

Thailand must take a more proactive role not only in the realisation and implementation of the Asean Community but also in making Asean a political and economic strategic focus of the world throughout the next decade.

We strongly need a truly outward-looking policy. We must understand and build a strategic partnership with our Asian friends, not only just China and India. Thailand can be a strategic linkage between South Asia and Southeast Asia.
China's interest in Thailand and Asean is tremendous. In turn, it is important for us to fully understand China's regional development policy. In addition to the Asean-China Free Trade Agreement, this regional policy of China will create trade and economic partnership with different parts of Southeast Asia. Our cordial, close, warm, understanding and special relationship with China must always be maintained. I am sorry to notice that the past two or three years may have seen this relationship waning a little. It is time Thailand rectified and fully restored that.

The "Look East" policy of India and of increasing numbers of West Asian countries should be met with a carefully crafted "Look West" policy of Thailand, in order to benefit its economic growth and sustainability, and to enhance this country's proactive and balanced role in Asia in the next decade.

Japan and South Korea have been our long-term traditional allies and there is every reason to believe they will always remain so. At the same time, Central Asia has gained a much more distinguished prominence on the global radar. Emphasis should also be made on closer relations with many African countries, as they are Thailand's export markets, especially for agricultural and small- and medium-enterprise products.
The rise of Asia has been, to a large extent, due to the significant fast growth of countries in the region. Therefore, the need to manage our wealth and capital as a result of such growth in order to maintain our sustainability and stability is equally important. Thailand once played a key role in the Chiang Mai Initiative which later evolved into the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation in 2009.

By the same token, it was Thailand who initiated the first Asian continent-wide cooperation under the name Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) with strong, wholehearted support of Asean and a number of major Asian countries. It incorporates almost all Asian countries as its members. Again, it is a pity that in the past 2-3 years, Thailand's foreign policy has trivialised these efforts. These were the efforts on which we strongly hoped to help build the future of Asia, especially in the case of ACD, which would lead to our hope of an Asian Community. The rise of Asia must be accompanied by a strong pan-Asian cooperation to help maintain common Asian purposes and to ensure that Asia as a continent, despite its huge diversity, will grow together.
All in all, the essence of our foreign policy is that Thailand cannot afford to have itself faded out of the world radar screen when things are moving so fast on all fronts. The world of interdependence is all round in every aspect. The world stage of diplomacy is clearly moving from boundary security to trade, commercial, financial and, most importantly, human security. Thai foreign policy must fully reflect this reality. If we have not done so, it is high time we did.

---

Surakiart Sathirathai is a former foreign minister. He is at present President of the Saranrom Institute of Foreign Affairs Foundation. The above article is an edited version of a speech he delivered at the international conference on "Asia in the Next Decade", which was held in Bangkok yesterday.

 

Theory of Justice: “John Rawls’s theory of justice”

By Sang-Bonn Soth*

August 23, 2011, Phnom Penh

We have recently discussed in class about theories of justice by philosophers namely Aristotle, Bentham, Norick, Immanuet Khant and John Rawls. Each theory has its advantages and disadvantages. However, I am in favor of John Rawls’s theory of justice for the following reasons:

1.     According to John Rawls’s theory of justice, it is a form of fairness.  John Rawls used the term social contract with his argument to show that justice particularly the distributive justice is a form of fairness.  From the outset, we can distinguish between law and justice. Law is the legal rule that applies in a certain area at a certain period of time. The question regarding to the law can be best answered by lawyers, whereas Justice is the question of fairness. This question cannot be answered by lawyers. It is a question of philosophy. Mostly:          Just / fair = good, Unjust / unfair = bad and in conclusion, Law has to be just = good.

2.      In order to obtain justice John Rawls required the respect of basic rights of individuals shall absolutely be protected. The legal rights are not subject of abuses, but instead, it is to be promoted by a catalog of basic rights and guaranteed by the Constitution as a supreme law of the nation. Rawls also required individuals to enjoy equal opportunities.

3.     Rawls viewed that in order to make fair contract unless the parties don’t know the backgrounds. Likewise, a fair decision can be made if the judge sticks to the core value of moral and don’t know the background of the parties to the dispute.

Example:

Recently, there was a case of violence in Oudong District of Kompong Speu Province.  Hundreds of armed police and villagers clashed over a land dispute. At least 10 people were injured on both sides, including seven seriously. The armed forces mobilized to protect private interests, at the expense of the public interest.

The clash caused casualties and the casualties were the result of the enforcement of the court order made by the Supreme Court. The decision of the court made with less clear investigation and was not based on the core value of moral and respect of basic rights as required by John Rawls, thus, unfairness occurred and violence erupted.    

Disclaimer:  The view points from the articles posted in this academic forum do not reflect the opinions or ideas provided by the Nokor Khmer.  They are genuinely the opinions of the article author.

* Sang-Bonn Soth is an LL.D Student at PUC, he can be reached at sangbonn@yahoo.com

       

Review Workshop of the Implementation and Enforcement of Sub-decree No. 133

By Chea Sophal
23 August 2011

Phnom Penh, Ministry of Health (MoH) in collaboration World Health Organization organized one day workshop to review the implementation and enforcement of the sub-decree No. 133 on Marketing of Product for Infant and Young  Child Feeding  on 23 August 2011 at Phnom Penh Hotel.  The workshop aims at:
   -  reviewing the implementation and enforcement of the Sub-Decree and Joint Prakas of all four line ministries-MoH, Ministry of Industry Mines and Energy (MIME), Ministry of Information (MoI), and Ministry of Commerce (MoC);
  -  identifying achievements, strengths and weaknesses and ways to improve the implementation and enforcement of the Sub-Decree and the Joint Prakas; and
 -  agreeing on recommendations and way forward for the improvement of the implementation and enforcement by the four line ministries and development partners,

Dr. Prak Sophonneary, Deputy Director of National Maternal and Child Health Centre (NMCHN), MoH, presented about the Nutrition Situation of Children in Cambodia focusing on undernourished children 0-59 months, key  success factors for reducing child mortality from 2000 to 2010 due to immunization, vitamin A supplementation, breastfeeding, and improved socio-economic conditions.

Dr. Prak pointed out the successes in implementation of sub-decree via infant and young child feeding (IYCF) including the facility-based interventions on the establishments of Baby Friendly Hospital (BFH) Initiative (13 public hospitals out of 78 certified as BFH and Infant and Young Child Feeding integrated with HIV counseling) and Baby Friendly Community Initiative (more than 4,421 villages joined this initiative as of December 2010, out of more than 13,000 villages in Cambodia).

The challenges in the implementation and enforcement of the Sub-Decree include limited monitoring and enforcement of the violation of the Sub-Decree in all places; limited of the violation of the Sub-Decree in private and public health facilities;  no widely received information related to violation of Sub-Decree from implementers and other development partners; and violation of Sub-Decree lead to misleading information that prevent good practice of IYCF. 

Mr. Pich Chan, Deputy Director of Technical Affairs and Public Relation Department, Directorate-General of Camcontrol, MoC, expressed their roles and responsibilities,  legislative support for law enforcement of Camcontrol, the import permit from MoH, Procedures of import goods, market surveillance on food safety and implementation of sub-decree No. 133, obstacles of implementation and enforcement of sub-decree no. 133, and proposed action plan to implement sub-decree no. 133.  

The legal instruments for law enforcement of Camcontrol consist of Law on Management of Quality and Safety of Products and Services dated 21 June 2000, Law on Standard of Cambodia dated 24 June 2007, Sub-decree No. 21 Facilitating Trade Through Risk Management System dated 1 March 2006, Sub-decree No. 209 December 2007 promulgated the list of prohibited and restricted goods that are subject to border control, Sub-decree No. 47 on Food Hygiene for Human, Sub-decree No.133 on Marketing of Products for Infant and Young Child Feeding, Inter-Ministerial Prakas No. 61 on Implementation of Sub-decree No.133, and Inter-Ministerial Prakas No. 868 on Implementing and Coordination of Food Safety System from Farm to Table dated 22 October 2010.

Dr. Ou Kevanna, Manager of National Nutrition Programme, NMCHC, showed about the existing violations of the sub-decree no. 133 which include fake promotional messages, images, billboards, announcements, brand names for instance, "Frisolac-unique and complete balance of nutrients" , "Dumex- Bringing up brighter champions", "Raising an intelligent child is no longer a dream- Use Nan", "Lactogen.... good for brain, bones, and body", and "Meiji - Almost a Brest Milk...".   The positive marketing practices following the Sub-decree 133 include promotion of breastfeeding is the best from birth to 2 years in local language, producing labels in Khmer, withdraw pictures of baby or attractive logos, and promotion of cup feeding instead of bottle feedings. 
 
Cambodian Women: Childbirth and Maternity in Rural Southeast Asia (ASAA Women in Asia Series) (English and English Edition)

Where is the Poverty-Environment Nexus? Evidence from Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam [An article from: World Development]

How Is John Rawls’s Theory of Justice Reflected and Applied in Cambodia?

By Yin Sarom*

22 August 2011

Since it appeared in 1971, John Rawls's A Theory of Justice has become a classic and it has especially shared with American conservatives one fundamental principle: the inviolability of the individual. A "Theory of Justice" is a technical work aimed at professional philosophers, political scientists, and constitutional law specialists. Rawls aims to express an essential part of the common core of the democratic tradition--justice as fairness--and to provide an alternative to utilitarianism, which had dominated the Anglo-Saxon tradition of political thought since the nineteenth century. Rawls substitutes the ideal of the social contract as a more satisfactory account of the basic rights and liberties of citizens as free and equal persons. Advancing the ideas of Rousseau, Kant, Emerson, and Lincoln, Rawls's theory is as powerful today as it was when first published[1]. 

A Theory of Justice is known as "justice as fairness"[2] of John Rawls comprises two main principles of liberty and equality. First, Rawls believes that each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others. That means the basic liberties of citizens are, roughly speaking, political liberty (i.e., to vote and run for office), freedom of speech and assembly, liberty of conscience, freedom of personal property; and freedom from arbitrary arrest. As basic liberties, they are inalienable: no government can amend, infringe or remove them from individuals—legal rights. Second, Rawls states that the equality is the component of justice as fairness establishing distributive justice. Rawls presents that "social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both: (a) to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged, and (b) attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity."  This principle maintains that "offices and positions" should be open to any individual, regardless of his or her social background, ethnicity or sex. It is stronger than formal equality of opportunity' in that Rawls argues that an individual should not only have the right to opportunities, but should have an effective equal chance as another of similar natural ability. And inequalities are permitted only if it works to the benefits of the least advantaged members of society. [3]

Reflecting the above John Rawls's A Theory of Justice to Cambodia’s existing supreme law, it’s clear that liberty or basic rights and obligations, and equality are guaranteed.[4] Principles of educational freedom and equality to ensure that all citizens have equal opportunity to earn a living, receive equal pay for equal work, the right to vote and to stand as candidates for the election are fundamentally safeguarded. [5] Among other, key international human rights law to which Cambodia is a party, namely: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCRP) was partly influenced by John Rawls’s theory of justice. Hence given the contents enshrined in Articles 31, 36, 44, 66 and 76 of the Cambodian Constitution, it is correct to conclude that John Rawls’s theory of justice is clearly expressed in Cambodia’s supreme law. Although, the provisions to some extents are considered as narrowing, broadening and inconsistent to scope and meaning expressed in international law, ICCPR.[6]     

Since democratization process incepted in 1993, Cambodia has relatively enjoyed peace, political stability and economic development, and reintegrated to regional and international communities. As provided by law, Cambodian citizens have also enjoyed both their civil and political rights. However with notable progress made, challenges are also being faced especially concerning the political rights and property rights. Some of these challenges are contrary to the Cambodian constitution and John Rawls's A Theory of Justice. For instance, according to the recent findings of a study into land conflicts, 223 land conflicts have been reported on in Cambodia since 2007. These cases affect at least 5% of Cambodia’s total land area of 181,035 square Kilometers, and Phnom Penh has the highest number of land conflicts.[7] At the same time, the violations of citizen’s rights resulting from land conflicts were widely reported as well. Excessive armed police clashed with villagers in Kampong Speu in June 2001 which ten people were seriously injured. Whereas peaceful Beoung Kak lake protesters were beaten and arrested by armed anti-riot police and military police officers in Phnom Penh.[8] These few cases mentioned, if not properly solved, can potentially cause social injustice which might lead to anger, greed and disharmony. The right to confiscate properties from any person shall be exercised only in the public interest as provided for under the law and shall require fair and just compensation in advance.[9]

When liberty or basic rights and equal opportunity are respected and recognized as legal rights and guaranteed by the supreme law—Constitution, therefore they are absolutely protected and cannot be subject to abuses. As mentioned early, American individual liberties and democracy were influenced by John Rawls's A Theory of Justice and Cambodia has optimism as it has fundamentally embodied this powerful legal theory into its supreme law. For decades, Cambodian citizens have pursued justice and fairness to be prevailed in their society but the full realization remains to be seen as the application process for this young democracy faces challenges along the way. 

*YIN Sarom is an LL.D Student at PUC, he can be reached at yinsarom@gmail.com

Disclaimer:  The view points from the articles posted in this academic forum do not reflect the the opinions or ideas provided by the Nokor Khmer.  They are genuinely the opinions of the article author.  

Reference

1.      John Rawls, A Theory of Justice: Revised Edition (Belknap), 1999

2.      Phillip Schuchman, Readings in Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy, 1979

3.      Cambodian Yearbook of Comparative Legal Studies, Volume 1, 2010

4.      Cambodian Center for Human Rights, www.sithi.org

5.      Press Releases, Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), www.licadho.org

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[1] John Rawls, A Theory of Justice: Revised Edition (Belknap), 1999, Abstract

[2] Phillip Schuchman, Readings in Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy, 1979, p.1004

[3] Ibid. 1979, p.1007

[4] The Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Article 31

[5] Ibid. Article 34, 36, 66, 76

[6] Cambodian Yearbook of Comparative Legal Studies, Volume 1, 2010, p. 134

[7] Cambodian Center for Human Rights, www.sithi.org

[8] Press Releases, Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), www.licadho.org

[9] The Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Article 44