KI Media: “Angry calls for judge to be sacked” plus 24 more

Angry calls for judge to be sacked

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 02:49 PM PDT

http://vimeo.com/14936602

Thursday 30th Jun, 2011
By Letitia Atkinson
letitia@thesun.co.nz
Source: http://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/13923-angry-calls-judge-to-be-sacked.html

"With this document it's clear Judge (Siegfried) Blunk has sunk the credibility of the court to a new low ... Clearly, he had no ethical or moral compass to guide him and, in my mind, has joined the ranks of the perpetrators themselves in terms of harm done to victims."

A Bay of Plenty man is calling for a Cambodian judge to be 'sacked' after the judge rejected his testimony.

The testimony stated the grief he suffered from the murder of his brother by the Khmer Rouge regime.

Rob Hamill's brother was tortured and murdered by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia in 1978, with legal proceedings underway for those believed responsible.

Released documents show attempts by the co-investigating judges (CIJs), You Bunleng and Siegfried Blunk, to exclude testimonial information of the Olympic rower from being considered as evidence in tribunal investigations.

"I have always believed the reasons outlined for my rejection to be civil party in case 003 confirm interference in the court process," says Rob.

"The arguments are frail to the point of ludicrous."

Case 003 refers to the case name of the court proceedings where the United Nations-led tribunal is investigating crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge during the period from 1975 to January in 1979.

"One could understand why the CIJs would want the document to be classified confidential, if only to save the embarrassment of their peers ever reading it," he says, referring to the co-investigating judges' rejection of his civil party application.

"With this document it's clear Judge (Siegfried) Blunk has sunk the credibility of the court to a new low.

"Clearly, he had no ethical or moral compass to guide him and, in my mind, has joined the ranks of the perpetrators themselves in terms of harm done to victims."

"I call for the UN to sack Judge Blunk and for cases 003 and 004 to be transferred to the Hague," says Rob.

In a bid to promote the horrors that took place as a result of the regime, Rob has made a documentary called Brother Number One, which will be premiered at the New Zealand Film Festival in Auckland next month.

"It's a very important story that needs to be told – more people know about Adolf Hitler than Pol Pot, yet this is recent regional history and one of our nationals was directly affected by the atrocities."

Khmer Rouge survivors aghast at trial antics

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 08:44 AM PDT

June 29, 2011
Agence France-Presse

Khmer Rouge survivors reacted with dismay Tuesday as a top regime leader walked out of his genocide trial for a second day and a co-defendant sought acquittal under a 15-year-old amnesty.

The elderly suspects' defiant attitude underlined the challenges facing Cambodia's UN-backed warcrimes court in a case long awaited by victims of the 1970s totalitarian movement, which wiped out nearly a quarter of the population.

"Brother No. 2" Nuon Chea, wearing a woolly hat and his trademark sunglasses, refused to stay for the second day of proceedings focused on preliminary legal objections by his co-defendant, Ieng Sary.

Nuon Chea said he would only return to "actively participate" when his own case was discussed, and was escorted out of court by security guards.

On Monday, the 84-year-old had left the courtroom after only half an hour in protest at the handling of the investigation and legal proceedings.

The four accused face charges, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, over the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork, torture or execution during the Khmer Rouge's brutal 1975-79 rule.

"Nuon Chea is a bad person. I am quite disappointed with his behaviour," said farmer Thein Ouen, one of hundreds of people watching the hearing from the public gallery.

"I think he does not want to take part in the trial. We want him to tell us the truth about the Khmer Rouge, but he is trying to hide it."

The four elderly defendants, who also include former head of state Khieu Samphan and one-time social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, are allowed to be absent if they refuse to co-operate.

Ieng Sary, a former foreign minister, further angered victims of the regime with his claim that he should not be tried because he was granted a royal pardon and amnesty in 1996 in exchange for leading a mass Khmer Rouge defection.

The complex trial, expected to take years, is seen as vital to healing the traumatized nation's deep scars.

But Va Chhorn, who was also watching from the public gallery, said of the defendants: "They are trying to avoid their responsibilities. This is not good."

Pol Pot’s Final Four

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 08:38 AM PDT

June 29, 2011
By Luke Hunt
The Diplomat

When the surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge first walked into court an audible and collective sigh was heard across the public gallery. Efforts to find justice for the two million people who perished under their rule had found traction in an international court.

They almost all looked healthy, Ieng Thirith, the former minister for social affairs and first lady of the ultra-Maoists wore a yellow cardigan. Her husband, former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, was in business grey.

Nuon Chea looked frightening. He wore a black and white ski cap and sunglasses, apparently for protection from the air conditioning and the bright glare of the courtroom lights. As legendary photographer Al Rockoff quipped, 'he looks like the godfather of a Long Island gang.'

Nuon Chea also walked out of the court room claiming he wouldn't get a fair trial and was allowed to retire to his cell. Khieu Samphan maintained a cheeky aloofness and was supposed to follow Nuon Chea, but surprised the packed gallery with a change of heart.

All four were on form as their defence began to outline its case.

The Extraordinary Chambers for the Courts in Cambodia (ECCC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh are a long way from Pailin, the remote Khmer Rouge outpost. It was there that I first saw Nuon Chea and met Khieu Samphan almost 10 years ago.

With me was the South African journalist Robert Carmichael and French correspondent Deborah Pasmantier, the French photo editor Laurence de Suremain and Khmer journalist Suy Se.

Nuon Chea spotted us and darted out the back door of his hut while Khieu Samphan stood his ground and agreed to chat on the steps of his stilted home. He switched randomly between English, French and Khmer with ease and was well aware that efforts to try him were underway.

He was also a little disconcerting. Given the death and carnage that happened under the Khmer Rouge it was easy to imagine a demonstrable personality was lurking inside this man who on the surface at least had oodles of charm and smiled like a favourite uncle.

Throughout the interview, Khieu Samphan would consistently fall back on one argument when asked about the Killing Fields. 'Foreign influences' was a regular remark, communist cliché and excuse for anything that went wrong when Pol Pot and his followers ran amok across Cambodia.

The Americans did this, the Vietnamese did that. Cambodia was a pawn unfortunately caught in a Cold War power play, constantly being squeezed then torn between the likes of China and the Soviet Union. There were a lot of people who did a lot of killing.

His argument was that all the systematic killings and the deaths of a third of his country's population – also through disease, famine and the slave labour that allegedly resulted from his government's policies – were somehow a by-product of the shocking misdeeds of others.

Such arguments are asinine, insulting to the dead and unlikely to win any favour at the ECCC. The tribunal's mandate covers crimes only committed in Cambodia and only between April 1975 and January 1979 when Cambodia was shut down by the likes of Khieu Samphan and totally isolated from the rest of the world.

During that period, the only foreign flag that curried any influence with the Khmer Rouge was China and how much Beijing knew about what was really going on behind the scenes in Democratic Kampuchea has been an intriguing source of material for journalists, analysts and academics ever since.

Back then, Khieu Samphan's arguments had a hollow ring, and they still do today.

There were lots of stories out of the ECCC this week as the trial got off to an historic start. But given his past it was Khieu Samphan's decision not to follow Nuon Chea and walk out on the trial that was for me, the choice moment of the opening days.

He also said he had decided to support the tribunal and that he wanted all Cambodians to understand what went on back then. If he is true to his word, then the tribunal is off to a flying start.

Landmark Khmer Rouge genocide trial: Do Cambodians care?

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 08:05 AM PDT

In this photo, Cambodian Buddhist monks gather during the second trial of the top leaders of Khmer Rouge in the court hall of the UN-backed war crimes tribunal, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, June 29. The UN-backed war crimes tribunal on Wednesday held its 3rd day trial on top four surviving members of the Khmer Rouge regime, blamed for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians in the 1970s. (Mark Peters/Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia/AP)

The Cambodian government is stepping up efforts to inform the country about the Khmer Rouge's bloody rule.

June 29, 2011

By Simon Montlake, Correspondent

The Christian Science Monitor

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Inside a purpose-built courtroom, four elderly Khmer Rouge leaders went on trial here this week in a case that was hailed as a landmark for Cambodian justice under a UN-backed war-crimes tribunal.

But on the streets of the capital, many ordinary Cambodians seemed unsure about what exactly was unfolding and why they should take time out from their daily struggles to pay attention. Others expressed bafflement at the circuitous path of the hearings, the rights afforded to truculent suspects and the tribunal's lavish budget in a war-ravaged country mired in poverty.

"They spent a lot of money. So where is the verdict?" asks Kosal Kong, a motorized-cart driver who lost relatives during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 genocidal reign.

In fact, the tribunal last year convicted a prison-camp director who confessed to war crimes. But the leaders currently on trial are bigger names, particularly for Cambodians who lived through that dark period. But a survey taken in December found that most Cambodians can't name the four leaders, though overall awareness of the tribunal was on the increase. A quarter of respondents said they knew nothing about it. In 2008, the equivalent figure was 39 percent, according to the University of California, Berkley, which carried out the surveys.

Efforts to publicize trials stepped up

Officials at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), say they're stepping up efforts to publicize the latest trials. "We need to work harder to bring more people to come here. The people are the victims of the Khmer Rouge. They want to know what happened," says Neth Pheaktra, an ECCC spokesman.

During this week's hearings, the ECCC bussed in hundreds of villagers from across the country to watch from the 482-seat public gallery. At least 100,000 Cambodians have visited the tribunal since 2005, said Mr. Neth. Many others have attended public screenings of official documentaries on the court's proceedings.

The hearings are also broadcast live on radio and television, though Chea Sopha, the owner of a roadside café said her customers preferred to watch a movie channel. She said she was too busy to attend but was supportive of putting the leaders on trial so that Cambodians could know the truth. "It's good to know what the Khmer Rouge regime did in the past," she says.

At another cafe in a bus station, a middle-aged man said the government was using the tribunal to cover up its own actions. He said the Khmer Rouge had killed his mother, aunt, and grandmother, and a guilty verdict for the leaders would not bring them back.

Among court officials and human rights activists, it's an article of faith that justice and accountability can bring healing to a traumatized nation like Cambodia, despite the lapsed time since the crimes. For some victims of the Khmer Rouge, a dwindling population, there is a measure of satisfaction in seeing notorious killers in the dock.

But the idea that a war-crimes tribunal can provide "therapy," as well as justice, is debatable, says Peter Maguire, the author of "Facing Death in Cambodia," who has taught on the laws of war at Columbia University. He says international opinion shifted in the 1990s toward a broader notion of post-war justice than simply trying suspects for their crimes, without any evidence that it works.

"A tribunal isn't a forum for teaching lessons. It's a forum for adjudication," he says.

Lengthy trials that allow ideologues to expound their views can also stoke sympathy, as some scholars have found after the Nuremburg Trials of Nazi leaders, according to Mr. Maguire, though this doesn't apply to Khmer Rouge leaders in Cambodia.

Sensitive topics

For many years, Cambodians knew little about the historical forces that shaped the Khmer Rouge. Teachers shied away from this and other sensitive topics, mindful of political tensions over who did what. Parents told their children of their pain and suffering, but were either unwilling or unable to explain the mass executions, or why some killers still lived freely among those they terrorized.

Gradually, high schools have begun to teach about the Khmer Rouge period at grade 12 using documentary materials from war-crimes researchers. While these initiatives haven't come from the tribunal itself, it opened up political space for teachers and students, says Anne Heindel, a legal adviser to the Documentation Center of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.

Students are "interested in the trial because they learn about it in school, then they come in and see it," she says.

At the Lycée Sisovath, an elite colonial-era school whose alumni include Khieu Samphan, one of the accused leaders, students in the outdoor cafeteria seem keen to know more about their country's darkest chapter. Khon Sovansreyneth, a student in grade 11, says she's heard stories of hardship from her parents and seen the tribunal on television. "It's important. We're Khmer. We have to know about the terrible history," she says.

Court hears submission on reparations for Khmer Rouge victims

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 07:53 AM PDT

Jun 29, 2011
DPA

Phnom Penh - Lawyers for victims of the Khmer Rouge told a UN-backed tribunal Wednesday they planned to seek a combination of memorials, psychological support and educational initiatives as reparations.

The tribunal has charged four surviving leaders of the ultra-Maoist movement with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Any awards are contingent on the court handing down a guilty verdict against the accused, and on sufficient funding being found to pay for them.

Victims had also suggested an annual remembrance day and a museum, said Pich Ang, co-lead lawyer for the civil parties.

'And civil parties will request the preservation of killing sites,' he said. 'We need to study in detail which sites were those where a large number of people were executed.'

Earlier the tribunal heard legal arguments surrounding Cambodia's 10-year statute of limitations, which was extended by 30 years in order to permit the court to bring charges against the accused under the national law in force in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took control.

Among those alleged crimes are homicide, torture and suppression of religion.

Defence lawyers said the extension amounted to a breach of their clients' rights since it meant applying the law retroactively.

'It is also problematic because (the extension) applies only at the tribunal,' said defence lawyer Ang Udom. 'This means that Ieng Sary (the Khmer Rouge's former foreign minister) could be charged with a crime that a similarly situated accused in any other court in Cambodia could not. This violates his right to equality before the law.'

All four defendants appeared in court on the third day of preliminary hearings. However Nuon Chea, who was deputy to the late Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, left early.

He was followed soon after by Ieng Sary, who cited ill health. The other two defendants are former head of state Khieu Samphan and Ieng Thirith, the former minister for social affairs.

The four deny the array of crimes allegedly committed during their government's rule from 1975 to 1979.

This week's preliminary hearing concerns arguments over witness lists and procedural elements ahead of the likely start of the trial proper in September.

In its first case the court last year sentenced the regime's security chief, Comrade Duch, to 30 years in prison after finding him guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Duch has appealed his conviction.

The tribunal estimated that 1.7 million to 2.2 million people died in less than four years of rule by the Khmer Rouge, which emptied Cambodia's cities as it advocated a rural, agrarian society. It said 800,000 of those deaths were violent with the rest attributed to overwork, starvation and illness.

Is Judgment Day too late for Engineers of Cambodian Genocide?

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 07:50 AM PDT

June 29, 2011
By Michael Martin
Business & Law

Has judgment day come too late for the ailing Khmer Rouge engineers of the Cambodian Genocide, now on trial at a UN-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh?

The accused are between 79 and 85 years of age.

Some 36 years ago, at the close of the genocide, a life sentence may have meant more to the then-40 and 50-year-old inner circle of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot.

"Personally I think it's too late. They are all old now," said Rorng Sorn, executive director at the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia and a survivor of the genocide, "We were crying for 30-something years for justice."

"Taking those four people to trial is symbolic of injustice, but it doesn't make any difference in my life."

Now age 43, Sorn was only nine years-old when she was separated from her family and relocated to a commune, where children were forced to carry water to canals and fix potholes.

It was 1976, Pol Pot's Year Zero, when the Khmer Rouge regime emptied cities and relocated everyone in the country to communes, where they were forced to work toward a Communist agrarian utopia. During that time, some 1.7 million people, over 20 percent of the Cambodian population at the time, were killed, often for disloyalty to the regime.

From a rural family, Sorn says commune leaders didn't target her as much as city children, who were often starved and publically humiliated for disobeying orders.

Unlike Sorn, some Cambodians believe a symbolic conviction is just what Cambodia needs.

"I think this tribunal cannot satisfy and cure the trauma of all direct victims and victims' relatives who are still alive, but it is a symbol of justice for victims and a model of criminal leader condemnation," said professor of Khmer and Southeast Asian history at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Sotheara Vong.

"The trial can frighten future criminal leaders into not committing crimes like the Khmer regime," he added.

The Cambodian government has been working together with the United Nations to try the ex-Khmer Rouge, many of which surrendered in what was a final blow to the Pol Pot regime and given royal amnesty.

Vong believes that two decades of political instability after the Khmer Rouge's fall prolonged trials like the one that commenced this week. But also complicating the issue is the fear that a legal battle against the ex-Khmer Rouge would lead to the trials of high-ranking officials in the contemporary Cambodian government.

Hun Sen has been the Prime Minister of Cambodia since 1998. In 1976, he was a low-ranking soldier in the Khmer Rouge, but escaped to Vietnam before Pol Pot's fall in 1979.

The Khmer Rouge who fled to Vietnam before 1979 received royal pardons, largely because "These people fled to Vietnam to ask for the help of the Vietnamese government," Vong said, "Vietnam used this group's appeal to drive the Khmer Rouge out. Most of the Khmer victims were then salvaged from the open killing fields."

Vong's own family was saved by early defectors like Hun Sen.

Similar to Hun Sen, former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary defected to the Cambodian government in 1996, bringing with him many of the soldiers who fought in the protracted insurgency that followed Pol Pot's fall.

Analysts say that unlike Ieng Sary, there is no evidence to prove Hun Sen engaged in the mass-slaughter that characterized Cambodia's years in the killing fields, but still there are some who wouldn't rule out a trial.

"I think all Khmer Rouge cadres and soldiers must have blood debt," Vong said, "On the other hand, they were the power tools of the top leaders. I have never seen the criminal courts sentencing basic level soldiers like them."

"It's hard to say, although legally speaking, those who commit crimes must be punished by the law," said Sopheada Phy, a Cambodia expert and Peace Research Scholar at the University of Pittburgh's Center for International Studies.

Phy believes that the costs would outweigh the benefits in terms of Cambodia's nascent political stability.

"From a peace perspective, based on the status quo of Cambodia, trying the Prime Minister Hun Sen is no benefit for the country as it will not only debilitate the current Cambodian government, but also create more conflicts in the country," he said.

Victims demand key role at KRouge trial

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 07:42 AM PDT

Wed, Jun 29, 2011
AFP

PHNOM PENH - Victims who suffered under the Khmer Rouge more than 30 years ago took centre stage Wednesday at a key trial at Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court, setting out their demands for reparations.

A remembrance day, memorials, education projects and free therapy for survivors were among the ideas listed by the civil parties, as the victims are known, on day three of the trial of four top regime leaders.

"This is part of the justice that we want," said Luk Sao, who lost her parents and five siblings at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. "It's right to demand reparations so victims can heal their trauma."

The 52-year-old is one of the 3,850 civil parties taking part in the trial of the regime's most senior surviving members, including "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea.

The accused face charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes over the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork or execution during the communist movement's brutal 1975-79 rule.

All four deny the allegations.

Their long-awaited trial is seen as vital to healing the nation's deep scars, and the sheer number of victims taking part in the case is unprecedented in the history of war crimes tribunals, observers said.

"This court is paving the way on victim participation," said court monitor Clair Duffy from the Open Society Justice Initiative. "This potentially could be the biggest success of this process."

Civil party co-lawyer Elisabeth Simonneau Fort stressed that her clients were "on equal footing" with other players in the courtroom. (sic!)

Even so, civil parties can only seek moral and collective reparations, not financial compensation.

Of the four elderly suspects, only ex-social affairs minister Ieng Thirith and former head of state Khieu Samphan stayed in court for the duration of the session.

For the third day in a row Nuon Chea, 84, wearing his now-familiar woolly hat and sunglasses, refused to stay for a hearing not focussed on his case. Defendants are allowed to be absent if they decline to cooperate.

Ieng Sary, 85, was also excused after complaining of back pain.

Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the movement emptied Cambodia's cities and abolished money and schools in a bid to create an agrarian utopia before they were ousted from the capital by Vietnamese forces.

More questions for KRT Case 003

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 07:35 AM PDT

Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Thomas Miller
The Phnom Penh Post

Senate president Chea Sim yesterday appeared to endorse Prime Minister Hun Sen's stated opposition to prosecutions at the Khmer Rouge tribunal beyond its second case, while the visiting United States ambassador for war crimes urged the court to resist political interference.

Chea Sim, who is also president of the Cambodian People's Party, said that his party "supports" the court's process "along the line of what was stated" by Hun Sen to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon during a meeting in the capital on October 27 last year.

In that meeting, Hun Sen "clearly affirmed that Case 003 will not be allowed", Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters at the time, fuelling speculation that the government was meddling in judicial decisions.

"The court will try the four senior leaders successfully and then finish with Case 002," Hor Namhong added.

Speaking yesterday at the 60th anniversary of the CPP, Chea Sim said his party "supports the process" of the court "to try the crimes committed by the most senior leaders of the regime".

While the court's mandate gives it jurisdiction to try two categories of people – "senior leaders" and "those most responsible" for the atrocities of the regime – Chea Sim mentioned only the first.

Government officials have repeatedly stated that trying mid-ranking cadres, such as the three suspects in Case 004, could spark unrest and plunge the Kingdom back into civil war.

Both cases remain officially open but the court's co-investigating judges have apparently sabotaged the Case 003 investigation, which concerns former KR navy commander Meas Mut and air force commander Sou Met. No information has been released on the Case 004 investigation.

In comments to the press yesterday during a visit to Phnom Penh, the United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, Stephen Rapp, said the US expected decisions at the tribunal to be based on the law and the facts of the case.

"We know that people would like to see this tribunal finished at the end of Case 002, but that is not a political decision. The decision is to be made by this court according to the statute, according to the law, according to the facts that are developed," he said.

Clair Duffy, a trial monitor for the Open Society Justice Initiative who attended the press briefing, said yesterday that Rapp's statement "fail[ed] to recognise that previous statements of this nature have had no impact on the situation".

"Right now, action – in the form of an independent inquiry – is what's required here, not general statements about judicial independence," Duffy said.

OSJI has called for an investigation into claims that Case 003 had been deliberately botched by the co-investigating judges – who did not interview suspects or investigate crime sites – amid political pressure.

Duffy said Chea Sim's comments were "definitely suggestive" of pressure on the court.

"Why would there be need for any reference to the executive in talking about an independent judicial process, particularly knowing that the Prime Minister expressed clear opposition to Cases 003 and 004 during that 27 October meeting?" she said.

Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said the government respected the mandate of the court.

"But we do have a right to express ourselves as a government too, or as a political party, too," he added.

CCHR commends calls for ECCC to be free from political interference

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 07:29 AM PDT

CCHR Media Comment, Phnom Penh, 29 June 2011

Media Comment: CCHR commends calls for ECCC to be free from political interference

Chea Sim, the President of the Senate and the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), yesterday appeared to endorse Prime Minister's Hun Sen's stated opposition to any further prosecutions at the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia (the "ECCC") beyond Case 002, while conversely the visiting United States Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues urged the court to resist political interference such as that seemingly applied by the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC).

Speaking at yesterday's 60th anniversary of the CPP, Chea Sim is reported in an article titled "More questions for KRT Case 003" that appeared in today's Phnom Penh Post as saying that the CPP "supports the process" of the court "along the lines of what was stated" by Hun Sen to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in October 27 2010. At that meeting Hun Sen, according to comments made by Foreign Minister Nor Namhong, stated that Case 003 would not be permitted to proceed. In the same Phnom Penh Post article, Stephen Rapp, the US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues is quoted as stating that "people would like the tribunal finished at the end of Case 002, but that it is not a political decision. The decision is to be made by this court according to the statute, according to the law, according to the facts that are developed."

The statements come amid allegations that the Office of Co-Investigating Judges (the "OCIJ") is bowing to political pressure in relation to the investigations into Case 003, pressure which is said to have led to recent resignations of staff and a consultant at the OCIJ. According to the ECCC's own interpretation, which can be deduced from its conviction of prison chief Kaing Guek Iev in Case 001, its jurisdiction is not limited to a handful of leaders that are alleged to have occupied senior political positions within the Khmer Rouge. A decision to close the ECCC with the conclusion of Case 002 is not therefore based in law but rather it is a political one.

Commenting on the need for judicial independence at the ECCC, Ou Virak, President of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, a non-aligned, independent, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect democracy and respect for human rights throughout Cambodia, and a victim of the Khmer Rouge – whose father was murdered at the hands of the brutal regime – said:

"The ECCC has been plagued with allegations of political interference. These allegations are detrimental to the tribunal's work and potentially harmful to its legacy. I welcome the comments of Stephen Rapp as a reminder to the Royal Government of Cambodia that whether or not the tribunal ends following the completion of Case 002 is not a political decision for them to make; rather it should be determined independently by the judges in accordance with the law. I am pleased with the conviction of Duch which confirms the parameter's of the jurisdiction of the court also includes those who bear the most responsibility for enacting the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime. With this in mind, the full and frank investigation of Cases 003 and 004 is the very minimum the tribunal owes to this country and the victims of the Khmer Rouge."

For more information contact:

Ou Virak, CCHR President

Telephone: +855 12 40 40 51

Please find this media comment attached in pdf.

Thank you and kind regards

--

The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) is a non-aligned, independent, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect democracy and respect for human rights throughout Cambodia. For more information, please visit www.cchrcambodia.org.

Thai premier denies planning Cambodia offensive to delay election

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 01:19 AM PDT

Jun 29, 2011
DPA

Bangkok - Thailand will not escalate a border conflict with Cambodia in order to delay a general election scheduled this weekend, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Wednesday.

Abhisit was responding to comments reportedly made by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that Thailand would use a conflict over a border dispute to attack Cambodia as a excuse to postpone the election, the Bangkok Post online news service said.

Abhisit, who was campaigning for votes in Samut Sakorn province Wednesday, said there was no reason for Thailand to clash with Cambodia and the election would 'definitely not be cancelled.'

Thailand and Cambodia have been at loggerheads over joint claims to a 4.6-square-kilometre plot of land adjacent to the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, perched on a mountain range that defines their common border.

The International Court of Justice ruled the temple to be on Cambodian soil in 1962, but stopped short of defining the border.

A 2008 decision by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to designate the ruins as a World Heritage site over Thai objections has led to several border clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops over the past three years.

On Saturday, a Thai delegation attending a UNESCO meeting in Paris announced plans to withdraw from the World Heritage Committee over the issue.

Official withdrawal would need to be decided by the next Thai government.

The general election pits the Democrat Party, leaders of the government, against the Pheu Thai Party, whose de facto leader is fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin, prime minister from 2001-06, was overthrown by a coup.

A Pheu Thai victory at the polls is expected to irk the Thai military.

'If the Pheu Thai win the election, after three months there will be problems if it fails to negotiate a deal with the military,' said Chuvit Kamolvisit, founder of the Love Thailand Party.

'But if the Democrats win, its likely that the protesters will return to Bangkok,' he said.

The capital was wracked by anti-government protests from March to May last year, with demonstrators calling on Abhisit to dissolve parliament and call for elections.

The protests led to street battles that left 92 dead and about 2,000 injured.

Abhisit dissolved parliament on May 13 and called a new election.

Kiwi rejected from Case 003/004: Revelation of ECCC secret documents shows the tribunal’s shame

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 01:13 AM PDT

Rob Hamill (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

29 June 2011
By Meas Mony
Free Press Magazine Online
Translated from Khmer by Soch
Click here to read the original article in Khmer

Documents considered ECCC secret document were publicly revealed on Monday when they were posted online. A New Zealander, whose relative was killed by the KR and who was rejected as a civil party to Case 003/004, indicated that these documents bring shame to the KR Tribunal (KRT).

The New Zealand-based Scoop website published these sensitive documents. Scoop also indicated that Rob Hamill's attempt to become part of the civil party to the criminal Case 003/004 which involves the murder of his brother, Kerry Hamill, in 1978 was rejected by the Co-Investigating Judges (CIJs) in April.

The CIJs, the German Siegfriend Blunk and You Bunleng, his Cambodian counterpart, claimed that Case 003 which also involved the arrest of foreigners off the coast of Cambodia – including the arrest of Kerry Hamill – does not affect Rob Hamill directly even though the case involved the murder of Kerry Hamill, Rob Hamill's brother. The documents posted by Scoop on Monday revealed all the facts above. However, KRT officials said that the posting of these documents violate the tribunal's secret.

Wednesday's edition of The Cambodia Daily quoted Keith Locke, a New Zealand Green Party MP, as saying that his country is very much interested in the progress of the KRT, especially with Rob Hamill's involvement in the various cases. Keith Locke (?) added: "I think that it is important for New Zealand's MPs in their discussion about the progress made by the hearings against the former KR leaders. Based on the strong evidence provided by the CIJs, it is reasonable to pursue Case 003/004 against Sou Met, Meas Muth, Ta An, Ta Tith and Im Chaem."

Rob Hamill seems to be deceived that his request to become a civil party to this criminal case was rejected. Through an email we received yesterday, he said that the revelation of the order to reject his request to become a civil party to Case 003 shows the Cambodian government's interference to the tribunal proceeding."

Boeung Kak Lake residents call for help from the EU

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 12:06 AM PDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15P_4OsSdD8&feature=player_embedded

US official satisfied by KR trial

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 12:01 AM PDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1buXQBxyaA&feature=player_embedded

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: 60th Anniversary of CPeePigC

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 11:59 PM PDT

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Thailand’s hard stance on UNESCO under scrutiny [-Thailand Foreign Ministry does back the withdrawal]

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 11:55 PM PDT

June 29, 2011
Boris Sullivan
Thailand Business News

Thailand announced its departure from the World Heritage Convention with‬ ‪immediate effect on Saturday, after the World Heritage Committee failed to heed its request seeking postponement of the Cambodias unilaterally-proposed Preah‬ Vihear Temple management plan, as Thailand fears that it may threaten national sovereignty.

Thailands Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, leading the Thai‬ delegation at the 35th session of the WHC meeting in Paris, earlier notified Mr Mounir‬ Bouchenaki, director-general of International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and‬ ‪Restoration of Cultural Property, who represents the director-general of United Nations‬ ‪Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNESCO, that Thailand would leave the World‬ Heritage Convention and would also withdraw from the 21-member World Heritage Committee as the‬ body continues to ignore any negative consequences which may arise from the consideration of the temple management plan which he said overlooks sensitive issues which could adversely affect Thailands sovereignty and territory.‬

However, the withdrawal was not fully backed by the Foreign Ministry, a government source said.

Officials from the Foreign Ministry who attended the meeting together with Suwit in Paris were satisfied with their negotiations with the Cambodian delegation on the draft of the World Heritage Committee's decision.

The Thai business opportunities in Cambodia in the long-term inevitably will be harmed if the border conflict persists.

Suwit, who led the Thai delegation to the World Heritage Committee meeting in Paris last week, reported to the Cabinet on his decision to walk out of the session and the announcement of denunciation. The action is to protect Thai sovereignty over the territory adjacent to the Preah Vihear Temple, Panitan quoted Suwit as telling the Cabinet.

Abhisit backed Suwit's decision and most of ministers in the Cabinet agreed with him, but the caretaker government decided not to carry out the procedure of denunciation, Panitan said.

‪Mr Suwit also said the World Heritage Centre, instead of revising the wording of the draft, decided to put it on the agenda of the WHC meeting in Paris, despite Thailands request to have the plan deferred, pending border demarcation with Cambodia. ‬‪Thailand is opposed to the terms of "urgent repair and restoration" but preferred using the wording "protection and conservation" in the draft.‬ ‪The head of the Thai delegation also said the pullout means that any WHC resolution will not be binding to Thailand.‬‪

The withdrawal has resulted in the Director General of the Fine Arts Department, Mrs Somsuda Leyavanija, one of 21 members of the WHC, to leave her post.‬‪ Mr Suwit earlier posted a message on his Twitter account late Saturday night saying, "Thailand has no choice but to withdraw as the meeting has resolved to put the issue on agenda."‬

via Thailand pulls out of World Heritage Convention ‬.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Tuesday said the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova has sent a letter expressing her regret over Thailand's decision to withdraw from the World Heritage Convention.

Director-General Irina Bokova has sent a letter expressing her regret over Thailand's decision to withdraw from the World Heritage Convention.

Mr Abhisit, before the weekly cabinet meeting, showed reporters a letter from the UNESCO chief and said briefly that he would address a news conference on Thailand's stance after today's Cabinet meeting.

National Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, as head of the Thai delegation to the World Heritage Committee meeting in Paris, will report the issue to the Cabinet and agencies concerned will study the implication of the UNESCO agency's resolution on Cambodia's management plan for Preah Vihear after Thailand leaves the convention.

In her letter dated June 26, Ms Bokova has expressed deep regret with Mr Suwit's declaration on the Thai intention to leave the 1972 World Heritage Convention.

"The World Heritage Committee did not discuss the management plan of the Preah Vihear temple nor did it request for any reports to be submitted on its state of conservation. Moreover, it needs to be clarified that UNESCO's World Heritage Centre never pushed for a discussion of the Management Plan by the Committee," Ms Bokova said in the letter.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting yesterday, Mr Suwit denied he would benefit from the decision to withdraw from the convention.

He said the decision was not premature and was intended to protect the country's dignity and territorial integrity.

During the past three years he had done everything he could to lobby and convince member nations that the management plan was a sensitive issue and that approving the plan could lead to problems.

He said a resolution relating to Preah Vihear adopted at the Paris meeting of the World Heritage Committee had allowed Cambodia to carry out maintenance and repair work for Preah Vihear and the areas surrounding it and to seek financial assistance from Unesco.

Mr Suwit said he found the resolution unacceptable because it could lead to the loss of Thai territory.

If Thailand had accepted the resolution, it would have given Cambodia a chance to use it to fight at the International Court of Justice for ownership of the disputed areas around the temple.

[Thai] 2nd Army: No reinforcements to border

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 11:34 PM PDT

29/06/2011
Bangkok Post

No troop reinforcements have been sent to the border with Cambodia, there has been only routine rotation of units, Army Region 2 commander Lt-Gen Thawatchai Samutsakhon said on Tuesday.

He said it was necessary for soldiers to be on alert around the clock. Thai and Cambodian troops had long confronted each other along the border and a clash could occur at any time without warning.

However, Army Region 2 had not sent reinforcements to the border, he said.

Lt-Gen Thawatchai advised the people who want to visit Ta Muen Tom temple in tambon Ta Miang of Surin's Phanom Dong Rak district to postpone their trip for safety reason.

A military source said the cross-border trade at the Chong Chom - O'Smach border checkpoint in Kap Choeng district of Surin province went on as usual on Wednesday.

Cambodian people came over to Thailand to buy consumers goods and to sell wild products, while Thai gamblers continued to travel through the checkpoint to casinos on the Cambodian side of the border.

The 2nd Army Region is responsible for the Northeast down to Prachin Buri, which is within the 1st Army Region.

Abhisit: Border issue won't derail polls

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 11:30 PM PDT

29/06/2011
Bangkok Post

The longstanding border conflict with Cambodia is not a factor which could derail Sunday's general election, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said while campaigning in Samut Sakhon on Wednesday morning.

The caretaker prime minister was referring to reported comments by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, that Thailand would launch an attack across the border into Cambodia and then use the border conflict as a reason to cancel the election.

Mr Abhisit said he did not worry about the border situation because he was confident the Thai military was ready to protect the country.

He said there was no reason for Thai forces to clash with Cambodian soldiers and the election would definitely not be cancelled.

However, he admitted that polling in certain localities could still be postponed for other reasons.

Hun Sen should not be trying to interfere in Thai politics, he said.

Swiss TV : Land grabbing in Cambodia

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 11:22 PM PDT

Dear All,

Swiss TV program will report on Land grabbing in Cambodia at 8:50PM 29/06/11 (Swiss time) and it is equavilent to 1:50am morning of 30/06/11 Cambodia time.

Repeats: 

Thursday, 30/06/2011, SF 1 at 2:45 -
Thursday, 30.06.2011, 11:20 on SF 1
Thursday, 30/06/2011, 8:00 - 12:40 on SF info
Friday, 01.07.2011, 00:25 on 3sat
Sunday 07/03/2011, 9:50 and 12:15 on SF info

Download it after the broadcast at:

http://www.sendungen.sf.tv/rundschau/Sendungen/Rundschau/Archiv/Rundschau-vom-29.06.2011

Best,

NGETH Moses
Communications Coordinator
Community Legal Education Center
Office: #54, Street 306,
Sangkat Boeung Keng Kang 1,Khan Chamka Morn, Phnom Penh
Kingdom of Cambodia.
P.O. Box 1120
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Tel: (855) 23 215 590
Tel/Fax: (855) 23 211 723
Email: moses@clec.org.kh
website: www.clec.org.kh

Ex-sex king takes aim at Thai corruption

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 11:11 PM PDT

Tuesday, Jun. 28, 2011
TODD PITMAN
BANGKOK
Associated Press

As the super-pimp who once ran Thailand's biggest brothel empire and then exposed the police kickbacks he had to pay for it to flourish, Chuvit Kamolvisit feels uniquely qualified to lead the country's fight against corruption.

In his quest to win a parliamentary seat in elections Sunday, the 49-year-old one-time massage parlour king is betting a public tired of divisive, hypocritical leaders will agree.

Politicians "are like diapers – you have to change them," Mr. Chuvit said in an interview, referring to a campaign poster that features him cradling a toddler. "Otherwise it's too dirty."

Mr. Chuvit's bid to become a lawmaker is no joke. He first won a national assembly seat back in 2005, only to be disqualified the following year because he had not been a member of his party long enough before the poll.

He's also run for Bangkok governor twice, coming in a distant third both times. His last campaign nose-dived after he punched a newscaster in the face for asking questions he didn't like – then kicked him when he fell to the ground.

"When I got into politics, I didn't know that it's too dirty for me – even me," Mr. Chuvit said ruefully.

"Maybe I'm stupid for jumping into it," he added. "I pray some day I can stop. It's like you are gambling ... you know you're gonna lose all the money but you keep" playing anyway.

If elected, Mr. Chuvit has vowed not to join any ruling coalition. Instead, he would stand alone as an independent outsider regardless of the outcome – a one-man, anti-corruption reality check on government.

With the air and swagger of a mafia don, the stocky, mustachioed Mr. Chuvit plays the part of former sex boss well. Since selling off his brothels, he has become a kind of pimp-turned-Robin Hood – exploiting his own sordid past to legitimize his crusade against graft.

It all began in 2003, when he was accused of the unauthorized, overnight demolition of scores of unlicensed bars and shops from a downtown Bangkok block he owned. The brutal move erupted into a major public scandal, and when the police failed to protect him, Mr. Chuvit fought back by exposing the behemoth bribes he had to pay to keep his mighty empire of flesh running.

Confirming that open secret turned him into an unlikely folk hero among Bangkok residents, eclipsing the demolition itself and underscoring public revulsion against official corruption. The Nation, an English-language daily newspaper in Thailand, declared him "Person of the Year."

Eight years on, he said, corruption is still "eating this country and nobody cares." He admits there's not much he can do about it, but whoever listens will "hear the truth ... the street truth."

Prostitution is illegal in Thailand but rarely prosecuted. Mr. Chuvit's massage parlours were thinly-disguised brothels, and he doesn't see anything wrong with them – except the payoffs police demanded ($300,000 a month, he claims, not to mention the Rolex watches and free services thrown in on top).

Chalidaporn Songsamphan, who teaches political science at Thammasat University, said Mr. Chuvit "might appear to be a clown, but he's very serious about politics."

"He's been able to touch the hearts of people in Bangkok because he's straightforward," she said. "He speaks the language of many in the middle class who are not happy with the Thai leadership, and they view him as a real alternative."

Mr. Chuvit's campaign trail has taken him all over the country, and last week it led to electoral ground in the capital no other candidate has dared touch: one of the city's sleaziest red-light districts.

"I'm not asking for much," Mr. Chuvit called out as he wandered through neon-lit alleyways of Patpong. "If you are a family of 10, just give me five votes!"

Patpong, he said, is symbolic of the nation's hypocrisy: A part of society "which everybody outside Thailand knows – but no one [here] accepts."

"No one accepts even that they have sex in Thailand, that they have a sex business," he said, shaking his head. "The Thai people always, you know, they always smile as you can see, but they never talk the truth."

That's why one campaign poster shows a smiling Mr. Chuvit proudly shaking the paw of his four-year-old white bull terrier, Moto Moto. Honesty, trustworthiness – "Why they have that in the dog," he asked, "and you don't have that in the politics?"

Mr. Chuvit clearly relishes the role of maverick. He may be the only candidate to have tweeted a photo of himself "planking" – the Internet craze in which people lie face down in a public place and upload it online.

His Rak Thailand ("Love Thailand") party has erected hundreds of placards in English so the rest of the world "can know what is happening" here. The signs say simply: "Against Corruption."

Mr. Chuvit spent several years in the United States while in his 20s, attending a string of colleges but graduating from none. Still, he garnered an appreciation of American-style capitalism, and a penchant for outspokenness.

After returning home, he made a fortune during a late 1980s real estate boom. When a client took him to an upscale massage parlour, he had an epiphany. "I said 'Oh wow, it's good!' It's like a Hugh Hefner: You know, surrounded by the beautiful girls, making money."

In his heyday, Mr. Chuvit commanded half a dozen jacuzzi-filled pleasure palaces – Victoria's Secret, Honolulu Love Boat, Copa Cobana – employing more than 1,000 women who lined up behind huge glass "fishbowls" with numbers pinned on skimpy dresses for customers to choose.

He sold his slice of the sex business years ago, and says he's done with it for good. But when people ask about his former life, "I say yes ... I should go back to the massage parlours," he sighed. "Because that was better – cleaner than politics."

In politics you have to "look smart, talk smart, but it's not good," Mr. Chuvit said. "This is real life, and the people in real life look like me."

Andrew MacGregor Marshall: "Thailand's Moment of Truth - A Secret History of 21st Century Siam"

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 10:58 PM PDT

Warning: This book is deadly for anyone in Thailand to even be around it.

Note: If you click on the citations in blue, it will lead to you US confidential cables.

THAILAND'S MOMENT OF TRUTH (Part 1)
http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/58949963?access_key=key-21kklow8zaxz8i55i27x

THAILAND'S MOMENT OF TRUTH (Part 2)
http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/58950116?access_key=key-2byuiisqebbh4xpd8erm

Hun Xen's death is a hot topic indeed...

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 10:31 PM PDT

Sent over by an anonymous reader

Landmines kill 20, injure 75 Cambodians in 5 months

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 10:17 PM PDT

June 29, 2011
Xinhua

Cambodia has seen 95 landmine casualties in the first five months of this year, with 20 killed and other 75 injured, a report said on Tuesday.

According to the report from the Cambodian Mine and Explosive Remnants of War Victim Information System, from 1979 to May 2011, a total of 63,901 mine/ERW casualties were recorded. Of the casualties, 19,595 were killed and 44,306 injured from mine/ERW accidents.

It added that 81 percent of the victims were men, 8 percent were women, and 11 percent were children.

Cambodia is one of most mine affected nations in the world as the result of 30 years of armed conflict. Mines had been laid in Cambodia during the decades of chronic conflicts from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s.

Cambodia's five most mine-laid provinces are Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Oddar Meanchey, Pailin and Preah Vihear.

Cambodia approves 2.61 bln USD investments in 5 months, up 182 pct

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 10:12 PM PDT

June 29, 2011
Xinhua

The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) on Tuesday reported that the domestic and foreign investments in Cambodia in the first five months of this year reached 2.61 billion U.S. dollars, 182 percent rise from 925 million U.S. dollars in the same period last year.

The figure showed that from January to May this year, investments in tourism have hit 2.18 billion U.S. dollars, up from just 17 million U.S. dollars in the same period a year ago.

Besides tourism, there were investments in telecommunication maintenance services, garment industry and agriculture.

A CDC's senior official said more and more investors have been seeing Cambodia's potentials for their business ventures and have more confidence in this country.

"This year, they flocked to invest in tourism as this sector has a lot of room to grow," said Yuon Heng, director of the CDC' s Evaluation and Incentive Department.

The statistics showed domestic investors rated No.1 with 1.23 billion U.S. dollars, followed by China with 1.1 billion U.S. dollars and the United States with 95 million U.S. dollars.

In 2010, Cambodia approved the investment projects worth 2.69 billion U.S. dollars.

Trial of 4 Khmer Rouge Leaders For Crimes Against Humanity Begins

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 10:06 PM PDT

June 28, 2011
By Kristina C.
Care2.com

The trial of the four most senior surviving members of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge began today with one of the defendants, 84-year-old Nuon Chea — "Brother Number Two" who is widely believed to the Khmer Rouge's chief ideologue — leaving court after saying "I am not happy with this hearing." Chua, former president Khieu Samphan, ex-foreign minister Ieng Sary and former social affairs minister Ieng Thirith are charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for atrocities committed three decades ago. They are being tried in the multi-million dollar Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), a joint tribunal of the United Nations and Cambodia that has, says the New York Times, lasted for five years and cost more than $100 million.

The trial is "intended finally to lay the past to rest," "the past" being one of the worst horrors of the twentieth century, the ultra-Maoist "Killing Fields" revolution in which, under "First Brother" Pol Pot, a quarter of Cambodia's population — an estimated 1.7 million — were killed through torture, execution, starvation and exhaustion from 1975 to 1979. But Chea's exit from the courtroom is a sign of the "legal maneuvering" that may characterize the trial. While many in Cambodia and around the world see the trial as a chance to "clarify for history" the murderous actions of the Khmer Rouge, the defendants have all denied the charges. Detained since 2007 and questioned 46 times by judges, all four are elderly and in frail health, and there are fears that they may not survive what will be a lengthy trial.

Chea, according to his lawyers, cites an "alternate" version of the history of the Khmer Rouge in which they were Cambodia's "national liberators, guarding against Vietnamese incursions and motivated by heavy American bombing in a secret campaign during the Vietnam War." Ieng Thirith has "angrily professed her innocence in a pretrial hearing" and blamed Chea for the killings; her husband, Ieng Sary, was convicted in 1979 after the Vietnamese toppled the Khmer Rouge's route; in 1996, he was given a royal pardon and amnesty, which will very likely be brought up at the trial. Only Samphan has been willing to cooperate with the court, but he has written a book saying he did not know about the killings, and will present his version of events at the trial.

Last July, the ECCC convicted Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, the commandant of the S-21 or Tuol Sleng interrogation center and prison where approximately 14,000 died. He was sentenced to 35 years, but his term was reduced to 19 years and, says the Guardian, is "seen by many Cambodians as too lenient":

The closest any of the former cadres have come to disclosure is seen in an award-winning documentary film yet to be released in Cambodia entitled "Enemies of the People", in which Nuon Chea, during six years of recorded interviews with a journalist, admitted those seen as threats to the party line were "corrected" at the behest of the regime.

The filmmakers have said they would not hand over tapes if asked by the court, but judges say material from the film can be used by prosecutors once in the public domain.

Prime Minister Hun Sen — a "former Khmer Rouge cadre" — has "made no secret of his disdain" for the court. Last year, he informed the head of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, that "further indictments were 'not allowed.'" The decision not to pursue a third case against two senior Khmer Rouge military commanders has led to "resignations by court staff and outrage from rights groups complaining of political interference by Cambodia's government and inaction by the United Nations." The BBC reports that the court is in disarray, with head of a victims' association, Theary Seng, calling on the court's director and the UN-appointed administrator of the tribunal to resign.

All of this is a terrible tragedy in and of itself. Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, says that the second trial is a "cathartic moment" for a traumatized country. As he said, the crimes of the Khmer Rouge

"…remain ingrained in Cambodia's collective psyche. I hope that this trial … provides all victims with some sense of justice, however delayed that justice may be."

Many who survived the killings including photojournalist Dith Pran. whose story was the basis for the 1984 movie The Killing Fields, lost most or all of their families. As Al Jazeera's Aela Callan says, "for many Cambodians, this is as close as they can get to seeing justice."

[Thai] Army 'has no plan to attack'

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 09:58 PM PDT

29/06/2011
Bangkok Post

Commander of Army Region 1 (Northeast) Lt-Gen Udomdej Sitabutr insisted on Wednesday that Thailand has no plan to attack Cambodia.

"The army chief has made it a clear-cut policy that Thailand will not invade any country first, but if our country is invaded, the armed forces are ready to protect it," Lt-Gen Udomdej said, responding to unsourced rumours.

The commander of Army Region 1 said Cambodia had reinforced its infantry along the Thai-Cambodian border but not by many, and the reinforcements had no effect on the Thai armed forces.

He said border trade in Sa Kaew province continues as usual.

Lt-Gen Udomdej said the border dispute has nothing to do with the July 3 election and that the polls will take place as planned.

He denied as baseless a report that the military had lobbied people to support a particular political party, insisting that the military will definitely stay impartial.