VZCZCXRO1609
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #1308/01 2900947
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170947Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY PRIORITY 0019
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PHNOM PENH 001308 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, EAP/MLS AND EAP/RSP 
PORT MORESBY FOR EDWARD FAJARDO -- PLEASE PASS TO G/TIP 
VISITOR SALLY NEUMANN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KWMN CB
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA TIP ACTION PLAN RECEIVED WITH INTEREST, 
INTENT, DOUBTS 
 
REF: A. PHNOM PENH 1307 
     ¶B. NEUMANN-DORSEY-DEUTSCH EMAIL 8/13/07 
 
PHNOM PENH 00001308  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Royal Government of Cambodia anti-TIP 
contacts eagerly received the Cambodia Tier 2 Watch List 
Action Plan and stated their intent to work towards the goals 
of the plan's high-priority action items.  MOJ Secretary of 
State Chan Sotheavy was not confident that anti-TIP court 
activity will increase during this interim reporting period. 
While the Minister of Justice ordered provincial courts to 
focus on TIP cases, doubts remain whether courts will show 
they can follow through.  RGC efforts to strengthen and 
coordinate anti-TIP institutions are going well, and we heard 
reference to a few successful cases of complicit police 
officials transferred out of their positions.  The suggestion 
to focus on non-Western sex tourists was mostly avoided, and 
ministry officials consider the draft anti-TIP law a done 
deal, even though it looks like the law will not be passed 
before the end of the interim reporting period. 
 
ACTION PLAN WELL-RECEIVED 
------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Post delivered English- and Khmer-language versions 
of the Cambodia Tier 2 Watch List Action Plan to Royal 
Government of Cambodia (RGC) anti-trafficking in persons 
(TIP) leaders Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior 
Sar Kheng, Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vathana, Minister of 
Women's Affairs Ing Kantha Phavi, and National Task Force 
(NTF) Chair and Ministry of Women's Affairs Secretary of 
State You Ay.  Comments on the action plan were solicited 
through discussions with ministry interlocutors who generally 
received the plan with interest and intent to work towards 
the goals of the high-priority action items by the November 
17 interim report deadline. 
 
COURT GOALS AMBITIOUS 
--------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Secretary of State Chan 
Sotheavy was not confident that action plan high-priority 
item two -- suggesting the RGC significantly increase the 
number of criminal prosecutions and convictions of 
traffickers -- will be achieved.  (Note: An increase of 25 to 
50 percent over the 2007 TIP Report would be 18 to 21 
convictions per quarter.  End note.)  She said the Minister 
of Justice recently issued an order to provincial courts to 
prioritize TIP cases and to punish TIP offenders with maximum 
sentences.  She stated she has "always" tried to get court 
staff to report TIP activity to her and will respond to 
Embassy requests for information on TIP court cases.  Chan 
Sotheavy stated that courts lack computers and communications 
systems to share information about their TIP cases. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) She furnished what she said were the MOJ's most 
up-to-date TIP court case statistics.  The stats showed two 
Phnom Penh Municipal Court TIP cases decided in 2007 out of 4 
cases that have been sent to the Phnom Penh Court this year. 
In 2006, 59 TIP cases were sent to the nation's courts, of 
which less than half have been decided -- 26 at the Phnom 
Penh Municipal Court, and two at the Siem Reap Court.  These 
numbers differ from those the Embassy has compiled from the 
Phnom Penh Court and NGO contacts for 2007 quarterly TIP 
reports which show, in the first six months of 2007 alone, 
the Phnom Penh Court tried 13 TIP cases.  There were an 
additional six TIP cases convicting 12 offenders tried at the 
Appeals Court, Sihanoukville and Svay Rieng provincial courts. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) National Task Force (NTF) Chair and Ministry of 
Women's Affairs (MOWA) Secretary of State You Ay was 
noncommittal about the RGC's ability to meet court goals and 
stated that the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) could use help 
boosting the capacity of its courts including court 
prosecutors and judges.  She asked if the Embassy had 
informed DPM Sar Kheng about the suggestion to increase court 
activity. (Comment: Sar Kheng is one of the RGC's most active 
high-level anti-TIP players and is aware of the role the 
courts will have to play to meet the action plan suggestions. 
 End comment.) 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Deputy Commissioner General of the National Police 
and Leading Task Force (LTF) Secretariat Chair General Neth 
Savoeun said LTF activity is in line with the action plan 
suggestions.  However, Neth Savoeun expects technical 
problems collecting information to show increases in both 
court and law enforcement activity, repeatedly expressing a 
 
PHNOM PENH 00001308  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
desire for a national data collection system.  (Note: The NTF 
structure includes a cluster group working-level body charged 
with research and data collection.  The cluster group 
recently did a study of data collection methods in Cambodia 
and plans to use the research to develop best practices and 
data collection standards. End note.)  The LTF is aware that 
the MOJ asked provincial judges to prioritize TIP court cases 
and the LTF Secretariat will also attempt to follow up with 
the courts.  He said a lack of judges is part of the problem 
in getting the TIP cases to trial.  He also stated there has 
been a lack of cooperation between police officials and the 
courts.  Sometimes when court officials do not have enough 
information on TIP cases they hold up the cases for lack of 
evidence rather than contacting the police for more 
information.  In line with statistics from Chan Sotheavy, 
Neth Savoeun stated that there are many TIP cases pending 
that have not yet gone to trial. 
 
POSITIVE REACTIONS TO OTHER ACTION ITEMS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) You Ay and Neth Saveoun stated that the 
strengthening of the RGC's anti-TIP institutions through the 
National Task Force, now led by the Leading Task Force, are 
signs of government commitment to combating TIP.  Neth 
Saveoun described recently established anti-TIP working 
groups in the 26 provinces and municipalities.  As described 
in ref A, 20 of the working groups are up and running, six of 
which are already active.  The LTF Secretariat Chair expected 
to be able to report provincial- and municipal-level 
activities to LTF Chair Sar Kheng once per month. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) MOI General Commissariat of National Police 
Department of Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection 
Director Police Major General Bith Kimhong reacted positively 
to action plan point three suggesting an increase in criminal 
investigations, prosecutions, convictions and sentencing of 
government officials.  He said he is generally trying to 
strengthen the integrity of his officers but has had limited 
success.  He said he transferred one lax unit office chief to 
an inactive post in the police personnel department.  He is 
trying to go after another anti-TIP police official by asking 
DPM Sar Kheng to remove the officer.  He said both of these 
unnamed, unidentified officials were once convicted by the 
Phnom Penh Court but both appealed and their court cases have 
not moved since.  He said by law the police have no authority 
to arrest the individuals while they wait appeal so he has 
sought their removal from their positions.  Bith Kimhong was 
named to replace Un Sokunthea as Anti-Human Trafficking and 
Juvenile Protection Director in July. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) LTF Secretariat Chair Neth Saveoun told Poloff that 
the RGC is not yet finished investigating government 
officials who were involved with the Chhay Hour II corruption 
case resulting in the release of trafficking in persons 
perpetrators (ref B).  Neth Saveoun said that the RGC is 
pursuing sufficient evidence to take to trial former Appeals 
Court Judge Ly Vouch Leng, who was removed for her 
involvement with bribes for acquittals in the Chhay Hour II 
trafficking case.  Ly Vouch Leng was transferred to an 
inactive position in the MOJ. 
 
LESS CONCERN OVER EFFORTS AGAINST NON-WESTERN SEX TOURISTS 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) On high-priority action item four, RGC anti-TIP 
contacts generally stated that expanded law enforcement and 
other anti-TIP activity would impact Asian and other 
non-Western child sex tourists.  NTF Chair You Ay 
brainstormed the idea of creating a blacklist of foreign 
child sex tourist offenders.  LTF Secretariat Chair Neth 
Saveoun described LTF hopes to combat the child sex tourism 
problem through prevention efforts. 
 
DRAFT ANTI-TIP LAW 
------------------ 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Ministry contacts considered their role with the 
draft anti-TIP law to be completed.  The draft was passed by 
the Council of Ministers on August 24 but, according to CPP 
Parliamentarian Khoun Sodary, a member of the National 
Assembly Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and 
Reception of Complaints, the draft law has not yet arrived at 
the National Assembly for passage.  While NTF Chair You Ay 
had previously told Emboffs that the draft law could be 
passed by the end of 2007, Khoun Sodary described a National 
 
PHNOM PENH 00001308  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Assembly process that includes a public discussion phase and 
that would likely lead to passage no earlier than the spring 
2008 session.  The current National Assembly agenda -- which 
is updated every few weeks -- does not include the draft TIP 
law. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) The dedicated RGC anti-TIP cadre appears motivated 
and understanding of the issues at hand.  They accepted USG 
suggestions for improvement but also have been proactive to 
create the Leading Task Force.  The LTF initiated the idea of 
provincial working groups and their oversight structure on 
its own.  The LTF needs to build its TIP-combatting track 
record over the coming months.  As it does, and as it fully 
embraces the final goal to eliminate trafficking in persons 
in Cambodia, the LTF may follow a different, but potentially 
more sustainable set of law enforcement measures than found 
in the action plan. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Cambodia lacks resources and capacity in the areas 
of law enforcement, judicial expertise, and data collection. 
Corruption, particularly among court officials, is known to 
be rampant.  The RGC will be challenged to show a significant 
increase in the number of criminal prosecutions and 
convictions of traffickers by the November 17 deadline. 
MUSSOMELI