Thailand’s Proposed Amnesty Law Sows Seeds of Discontent

Published on Aug 7, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — The rumor mill in Thailand is working overdrive again. Protestors are taking to the streets ahead of government plans to pass an amnesty law that would protect hundreds from prosecution and perhaps clear a path for the return of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat. .

Sar Kheng also Warns of Conflict

Published on Aug 6, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Interior Minister Sar Kheng on Monday warned of “trouble” if opposition leader Sam Rainsy does not return to the negotiating table to hammer out a solution to a stalemate between the CPP and the opposition over irregularities during the July 28 national election. Read more from  Hul Reaksmey in The Cambodia Daily. .

Trial by Media in Pol Pot’s Dock

Published on Jul 18, 2013 by Luke Hunt

By Luke Hunt ASIAWATCH — Almost four decades after the Khmer Rouge marched Into Phnom Penh the work of journalists and photographers from that tragic era is finally being laid bare before a war crimes tribunal which prosecutors hope will put away Pol Pot’s remaining henchmen. Importantly, the scope of their evidence and who can testify is limited by the court’s mandate which is consigned to judging crimes and hearing evidence from events that occurred strictly under the Khmer Rouge rule, from April 17, 1975 to January 9, 1979. Among the most prominent was the New York Times correspondent Sydney Schanberg who spoke of the forced evacuations ordered after the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh and how one Khmer woman....

EDIT Free Papua Movement Leader Vows to Fight On

Published on Jul 12, 2013 by Luke Hunt

In a rare interview, the one-legged commander of a Papuan militant group, Danny Kogoya, has vowed to return to the jungle to fight and continue a 50-year struggle against Indonesian rule in the country’s far-east and resource-rich province of Papua.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Vietnam Declared Free of Weapons Grade Uranium

Published on Jul 11, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — After ten years of painstaking planning and meticulous work, Vietnam has been declared free of weapons-grade uranium by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after an international effort at the Dalat national research center, which was powered by nuclear fuel supplied by Russia. Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat. .