Law and Money

There was an interesting piece broadcast today on ABC Radio National by reporter Peter Lloyd filed under that headline "Action yet to back Cambodia's law rhetoric".

It suggests that the Cambodian Government's promise to crackdown on lawless behaviour will need to produce tangible results or it risks losing future foreign fiscal support.

Aid donors, who sustain the country with hundreds of millions of dollars each year, are beginning to lose patience with Cambodia's culture of impunity, and have been putting pressure on the Government to make some changes.

Lloyd cites examples as the seeming reluctance of authorities to halt the sale of bootleg CDs and DVDs at Phnom Penh market, hushed-up instances of murder and rape, and the continued taunts of escapee Chhouk Rin who eluded recapture.

But for Peter Lloyd:

The greatest demonstration of what people call Cambodia's culture of impunity is of course the failure so far to launch a war crimes tribunal to prosecute surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime.

As mentioned previous in this blog, the topic of the United Nation's backed trial will grow and assume a higher prominence in the Australian media as the year progresses.

Click here for a transcript from Lloyd's report.
Or listen to the story in Real Audio and Windows Media formats.