VZCZCXRO8835
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHPF #1803 2770027
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 040027Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7411
INFO RUEHZS/ASEAN COLLECTIVE
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 1837

UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 001803 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR G/TIP, EAP/MLS and EAP/RSP, DS/IP/EAP, DS/ICI/CIL, BANGKOK FOR 
ICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KWMN CB ASEC
SUBJECT: RSO/ICE/NGO MEETINGS ON COMBATTING CRIMES AGAINST 
CHILDREN. 
 
 
¶1.  Summary.  On September 26, the Regional Security Office (RSO) 
and the Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) Bangkok Attachs of 
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) organized a meeting with 
NGOs to discuss the challenges facing NGOs in combating sex crimes 
against children.  The RSO encouraged the NGOs to inform the Mission 
of any leads they may have on crimes committed by American citizens 
against children.  ICE officers briefed participants of ICE 
responsibilities, their challenges, and expectations.  End Summary. 
 
 
Mission Seeks Greater NGO Cooperation 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  In coordination with Bangkok/ICE, the RSO organized and 
sponsored a meeting with twenty representatives from nine different 
NGOs to discuss our common goal of fighting sexual abuse of children 
in Cambodia.  RSO John Davis opened the meeting by thanking the NGOs 
for their attendance.  He said that child sexual abuse is an issue 
that touches both the NGO community and the Embassy, and encouraged 
the NGOs to work with the Mission and DHS ICE. 
 
¶3.  Ann Hurst, ICE Attach based in Bangkok, briefed participants 
about DHS ICE, the PROTECT Act and the challenges in conducting 
investigations of sex crimes against children.  She said that ICE 
would like to set up an ICE office in Cambodia in the future, but 
funding constraints currently preclude this.  Hurst underscored the 
strong Bangkok-Phnom Penh cooperation, without which ICE would not 
have been as successful in their work to date. 
 
¶4.  Hurst also touched on the challenges that confront both the NGOs 
and the Mission, including government corruption and weakness in the 
implementation of Cambodian laws.  She encouraged the NGOs to 
consider the issue of child pornography in their future programs to 
combat child sexual exploitation.  Hurst mentioned that the 
perpetrators of these crimes are turning to the internet as another 
avenue of access to underage children.  She also stated the 
perpetrators will typically document their activity through 
photographs or video, and use the internet to distribute the 
material.  While arresting perpetrators is desirable, ICE added that 
the ultimate goal is to have a successful prosecution against those 
perpetrators.  Therefore, evidence is very important and ICE 
encouraged the NGOs to work with the police to secure physical 
evidence during the arrest for eventual handover to ICE agents. 
 
¶5.  Hurst commented on the excellent cooperation ICE and the Mission 
have received from the Cambodian government involving Protect Act 
cases.  While not denying that the RGC has much to do to improve the 
government's capacity to handle such crimes, she said that RGC 
cooperation has been indispensable for successful operations.  She 
noted that there are good individuals within the RGC who are 
committed and willing to make the changes; more training and support 
is needed from donors. 
 
NGOs:  Security Issues Paramount 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  The NGOs expressed concern over security issues -- for the 
victims as well as for NGO staff.  Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE) 
asked whether there exist any mechanisms to ensure the safety of 
their staff related to the investigation.  World Vision was 
concerned with traumatizing child victims of sexual abuse during the 
legal process by having them repeat their ordeals and facing the 
perpetrators who abused them.  Overall, victim and witness 
protection has been the main challenge for the NGO workers. 
 
¶7.  Comment:  While the Embassy and Bangkok/ICE office have 
developed good relations with individual NGOs working on sexual 
abuse of children, this meeting was the first attempt to better 
coordinate efforts among all the NGOs as well as USG officials.  The 
NGOs appreciated the information they received, especially the 
guidance as to what to do and who to contact for intervention in the 
course of their own work.  End Comment. 
 
CAMPBELL