Monday, March 11, 2013

letter from Pastor Brian Mulheran 11th March


I will respond to this letter from Pastor Mulheran when time permits. At present I am busy helping Chanti and Chhork renovate their house in the small Prey Veng village in which Chhork's extended family lives - a village that neither Citipointe nor any representative of MOSAVY has visited once in the past close to five years.

Dear James,

I refer to your letter dated 7th March 2013, "A final invitation to Citipointe to answer questions and correct any errors of fact I may have made in this blog".

We agree with your statement:

"In producing CHANTI’S WORLD it is imperative that I have all of my facts right; that I cannot be accused,  when the film is screened worldwide of either (a) having made errors of fact or (b) of not checking the facts at my disposal with those who may wish to dispute the facts – in this case, Citipointe church. This is not simply a legal necessity but a moral obligation for myself to fulfill to the best of my ability."

We disagree with your statement (highlighted below):

"Over a period of several years now I have invited Citipointe to dispute any of the facts that I have presented in my letters, my emails and on my blog. Citipointe has not taken advantage of my invitation to date but I offer it again." 

In our letter to you (21st February 2013) we outlined a number of confidential issues relating to the legal nature of the girls being in our care on behalf of the Cambodian Government. This letter outlined, in good faith and in confidence, a number of errors of fact concerning your understanding of numerous elements. This letter (21st February 2013) in no way is an exhaustive list of corrections to errors of fact in your material. We reserve our right. You continue to disregard the legal facts and the confidential nature of the related material.

As stated previously the revealing of the identity of the girls and their association with our organisation (and associated organisations such as Chab Dai and Lichardo) and our staff  is in direct contravention of Article 49 of the Cambodian Exploitation Law. All such information is confidential and private and must not be circulated in mass media (Blog and documentary "screened worldwide").

Cambodian law prohibits us to "appear on camera" within your documentary due to the association of your intent to reveal the identity of the girls. Again we stress to you that you are also legally bound by Cambodian law not to disclose the identity of the girls or information leading to their identity within your Blog and also within your documentary Chanti's World. Cambodia law therefore prohibits us from defend ourselves within your documentary.

We also continue to assert that significant portions of the information you have published on other websites and your Blog http://citipointechurch.blogspot.com and what you intend to show in Chanti's World about Citipointe Church and the SHE Rescue Home is defamatory and liable in nature. We would require a considerable amount of time to identify these specifically. Again we reserve our right.

Even if you had complete disregard for Cambodian law to conceal the girl's identities and disregard toward us, then surely your "moral obligation" (as stated in your letter) that you desire "to fulfill to the best of my ability" would resound within your heart that you have an obligation to the girls to respect their privacy and dignity and not to display them before the world. To take issue against Citipointe Church or the SHE Rescue Home is one thing, to reveal the identity of the girls in mass media due to an impasse between yourself and us is altogether inappropriate morally.

In closing we can assure you that we both have one unified goal, the reintegration of the girls with their family. We will continue to strive to work with MOSAVY to that end as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Brian

Ps Brian Mulheran
Executive Pastor
Citipointe Church
Secretary
Citipointe Committee of Management

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