KI Media: “Doubt impairs Cambodia struggle” plus 24 more |
- Doubt impairs Cambodia struggle
- Leaked Documents Suggest UN Backing Off Khmer Rouge Trials
- Leaked ECCC documents pertaining to Cases 003 and 004 published by Scoop
- "If I die...": Hun Xen
- Another French Member of Parliament, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan takes the defense of Sam Rainsy whose appeal starts to resonate
- Gift for the 60th anniversary of the Cambodian Killer Party
- Close watch on Cambodia border trade
- UNESCO chief regrets Thailand's decision to quit World Heritage Convention
- Abhisit: Next [Thai] govt to decide on WHC
- Cambodia Denies Troop Reinforcement Along Border with Thailand
- US War Crimes Envoy Seeking Support for Tribunal
- No remorse shown as Khmer Rouge leadership put on trial
- On crimes against humanity
- Case 002: Day 2
- Dutch lawyers in Cambodia mega-trial
- At Opening of Cambodia War Crimes Trial, Anger, Doubt and Suspicion Linger
- Defense lawyer in Cambodia's Khmer Rouge trial challenges case against former foreign minister
- In Hearing, Ieng Sary Defense Seeks His Release
- Amnesty deal focus of second day of Khmer Rouge trial
- Victims upset as Khmer Rouge leader snubs court
- Top surviving Khmer Rouge leaders finally face justice before Cambodia war crimes tribunal
- Cambodian Victim of Khmer Rouge Gives Tour Notorious Prison
- Khmer Rouge leadership balk at proceedings in U.N.-backed trial
- "Who killed Chea Vichea?" - Poem in Khmer by Kaun Neak Sre
- CCHR Press invitation-Public Forum in Siem Reap Province
| Doubt impairs Cambodia struggle Posted: 28 Jun 2011 01:25 PM PDT  Jun. 29, 2011 A. Gaffar Peang-Meth PACIFIC DAILY NEWS Said Buddha, "There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed." And, "Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most." Two thousand, five hundred years ago, Lord Gautama Buddha taught: "Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills." He said, "There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt." Indeed, it remains so, and it will continue to be a destructive emotion. Doubt raises the question of trust, the fundamental foundation of human relationships. Raise the level of doubt, increase the level of mistrust. Respect is diminished. As the great Chinese teacher Confucius asserted, "Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?" This brings to mind English philosopher Thomas Hobbes' "poor, nasty, and brutish" kind of world: A state of nature. French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau thought that in such a state of nature, humans are mere wild beasts driven by unbridled instinct. Fourth-century B.C. Indian brahman Chanakya Kautilya advised his emperor that in order to protect his and India's interests, he must amass power, the beginning of realpolitik. Later, Italian Renaissance thinker Niccolo Machiavelli, known as the father of the science of politics, presented the concept of power as a natural survival behavior. But Confucius, who said, "It's easy to hate and difficult to love," preached: "The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large." He warned, "To see and listen to the wicked is already the beginning of wickedness." The younger Buddha, who said, "Nothing is permanent," called on mankind to "Fill your mind with compassion," and to accept and live up to what "agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all." Buddha taught: "There has to be evil, so that good can prove its purity above it." Raising doubt. Today, some individuals make it a business to detract, defame, disinform and misinform, dig dirt, engage in character assassination -- with the purpose of diminishing human trust and undermining a person's credibility. But Buddha assured: "Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth." The truth likely is that those who are most hateful in their characterizations of others are those who have the most to hide from public scrutiny. They put forth "straw men" to draw attention from their own corruption. As responsible citizens, we have an obligation not to be swayed by hateful rhetoric, but to inform ourselves and make our own decisions based on the most objective information we can acquire. Buddha's teaching of the "Four Reliances" that represent the foundational elements of life includes: rely on the spirit and meaning of the teachings, not on the words; rely on the teachings, not on the personality of the teacher; rely on real wisdom, not superficial interpretation; rely on the essence of your pure wisdom mind, not on judgmental perceptions. I write often in this space about people who are entrenched in destructive intolerance, characterized by a lack of civility. A couple of years ago I wrote about psychology professor Jonathan Haidt's "The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom." Haidt posited that we don't live in a world of rocks, trees, and physical creations, but a world of our own creations -- "a world of insults, opportunities, status symbols, betrayals" created by humans who "believe in them." He sees human beings in all cultures possessing an "excessive and self-righteous tendency to see the world in terms of good versus evil," or "moralism" that "blinds people" into believing "We're good, they are evil." On his website, CivilPolitics.org, Haidt observes that over the past 20 years, political leaders, political parties and mass media outlets have become "more polarized, strident and moralistic." He says: "When political opponents are demonized rather than debated, compromise, and cooperation become moral failings and people begin to believe that their righteous ends justify the use of any means." And so, here we are coming full circle: believing in one's "excessive and self-righteous" ends allows one to inject into relationships and into civil debate what Buddha called "poison," "thorn" and "sword that kills" by sowing doubt. Haidt cited "The Perfect Way," a poem by eighth-century Chinese Zen master Sen-ts'an, who brands an individual's "judgmentalism" as "the mind's worst disease (as) it leads to anger, torment, and conflict." "The perfect way is only difficult for those who pick and choose" -- between like and dislike, "for" and "against." The Zen master taught "nonjudgmentalism." And Buddha taught mankind to meditate to calm down and not to be agitated by the "petty provocations of life." Some readers may be wondering how I will tie this column to the contemporary political context in Cambodia, as I usually do. As Hun Sen and members of his ruling party assuage their greed, they suck into their orbit the "willing executioners" who do their bidding, hoping for a small share of the ill-gotten largesse. Meanwhile, those who assert their opposition to autocracy are riven with doubt that is a byproduct of the rumors and accusations initiated by Hun Sen and his followers or, worse, insinuated by political colleagues who perpetuate the fractures in the opposition by adhering to a single charismatic individual rather than to a set of principles. Said Buddha, "There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed." And, "Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most." And he said: "One thought leads to heaven, one thought leads to hell." A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.  | ||
| Leaked Documents Suggest UN Backing Off Khmer Rouge Trials Posted: 28 Jun 2011 10:44 AM PDT Monday, 27 June 2011 Article: Selwyn Manning Leaked Documents Suggest UN Backing Off Khmer Rouge Genocide Trials Report – By Selwyn Manning and Alastair Thompson. Scoop Media, New Zealand: Documents leaked to Scoop suggest the United Nations-led tribunal may be backing off fully investigating crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge during the period from 1975 through to January 1979. The documents show attempts by the Co-Investigating Judges, You Bunleng and Siegfried Blunk, to exclude testimonial information of New Zealand national Rob Hamill from being considered as evidence in Tribunal investigations. [Scoop Editor's Note: The documents (see links to pdf files below) were not leaked by Rob Hamill, nor Keith Locke. The source will remain confidential.] On Thursday June 23 2011, Scoop understands the documents were given to the New Zealand Parliament's foreign affairs select committee by New Zealand Green Party MP, Keith Locke. It is unclear whether the Foreign Affairs select committee will accept the documents or allow public access to the documents. Scoop has decided to publish the documents on the basis that they are highly important from a justice point of view, also due to the fact that the decisions made by the two Co-Investigating Judges relate to the murder of a New Zealand national, Kerry Hamill, by members of the Khmer Rouge regime. The Judges' decisions (contained in the documents) communicate a ruling on how relevant, from an evidential viewpoint, are victim impact testimonies. In particular the Judges have rejected an application by Rob Hamill to give testimony to Case 03 and 04 on the basis that the crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge against his brother did not "directly" affect Rob Hamill. Clearly, these issues are matters of high public and national interest. Document 1 (pdf) details the application of New Zealand national Rob Hamill requesting to be party to the proceedings in Case 003 and Case 004 "for the injury he suffered as the alleged direct consequence of crimes... further to the death of his brother Kerry Hamill. The Co-Investigating Judges ruled out Rob Hamill's application due to their definition of the word 'directly', stating that they "cannot follow the reasoning... that the applicant has shown that his 'harm was a direct consequence of the crimes...'" The Judges also state in the documents that they were "aware that they admitted the Applicant as a Civil Party in Case 002..." but that their earlier decision regarding Case 002 was "not binding". Scoop understands that there are moves for Case 003 and 004 to be concluded or abandoned, perhaps without full and relevant evidence being admissible nor examined. As this aspect of the Tribunal's considerations involves a New Zealand national, Scoop believes it is vital that Rob Hamill's application to have his testimony considered be accepted and be relevant to proceedings. Document 2 (pdf) and Document 3 (pdf) detail the reasons for the Co-Investigating Judges' decision. Other documents (Cambodia Second-Introductory Submission.redacted.pdf and Cambodia-Third Introductory Submission.redacted.pdf) published here are important as they provide a summary of crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge during its reign of terror in Democratic Kampuchea (later renamed Cambodia) between 1975 and 1979. Millions died as a result of the Khmer Rouge's extreme policies which have been deemed crimes against humanity. The Introductory Submissions summarise the Khmer Rouge era as:
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| Leaked ECCC documents pertaining to Cases 003 and 004 published by Scoop Posted: 28 Jun 2011 10:42 AM PDT ECCC Cambodiadocument1 http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1106/Cambodiadocument1.pdf ECCC Cambodiadocument2 http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1106/Cambodiadocument2.pdf ECCC Cambodiadocument3 http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1106/Cambodiadocument3.pdf ECCC Cambodia Second Introductory Submission.redacted http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1106/CambodiaSecond_Introductory_Submission.redacted.pdf ECCC Cambodia Third Introductory Submission.redacted http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1106/CambodiaThird_Introductory_Submission.redacted.pdf  | ||
| Posted: 28 Jun 2011 10:31 AM PDT  KI-Media The Cambodia Daily reported in its 28 June 2011 edition: Finally, after speaking about his youth as a pagoda boy, Mr Hun Sen began to discuss preparations for his own death. "If I die, I have already prepared everything, like wich son must be ordained and which grandson must be ordained [for the funeral]," he said. "When I prepared like so, my youngest son was crying."  | ||
| Posted: 28 Jun 2011 10:23 AM PDT  Another French Member of Parliament, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan takes the defense of Sam Rainsy whose appeal starts to resonate NICOLAS DUPONT-AIGNAN: "SAM RAINSY VICTIM OF A RELENTLESS JUDICIAL PERSECUTION" BECAUSE HUN SEN WANTS "TO SILENCE HIM" Mr. Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, a French National Assembly Member who does not belong to any political group, wrote on 15 April 2011 to Mr. Alain Juppé, the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, to ask him to intervene with the Phnom Penh Authorities on the case of Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy who is currently living in exile in France. Here are the main points in MP Nicolas Dupont-Aignan's letter: « My attention has been drawn […] to the case of Cambodian Member of Parliament Sam Rainsy. Because he tirelessly denounces corruption, human rights violation, and murderous border conflicts, Mr. Sam Rainsy has been persecuted for 15 years by the Phnom Penh Authorities. After having survived in 1997 an assassination attempt which instead killed many members of the opposition party that he presides over, Sam Rainsy is now victim of a relentless judicial persecution. Even though his action is supported and acknowledged by the international community, and the European Parliament, in its 21 October 2010 resolution, had denounced the crackdown on the opposition in general and Sam Rainsy in particular, the Cambodian Government has expulsed him from the National Assembly, stripped him of his parliamentary immunity and handed down a heavy jail sentence to him in order to silence him. Sam Rainsy's case illustrates the real nature of the Cambodian regime which, behind a façade of parliamentary democracy, has kept the autocratic reflexes of the previous dictatorship. The European Union must not ignore the repression targeting the representatives of the opposition in Cambodia, and must intervene with that country's Government in order for Sam Rainsy and all elected representatives of the people to resume their role in Parliament and to recover their freedom of expression as in a democratic society. Therefore, I would be very grateful if you could pass on Sam Rainsy's appeal to your Cambodian counterparts. » [End of quote] --------------------------- 26 juin 2011 Un autre Député français, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan prend la défense de Sam Rainsy dont l'appel commence à résonner NICOLAS DUPONT-AIGNAN: "SAM RAINSY VICTIME D'UN ACHARNEMENT JUDICIAIRE" PARCE QUE HUN SEN VEUT "LE FAIRE TAIRE" Mr Nicolas DUPONT-AIGNAN, Député de l'Essonne n'appartenant à aucun groupe politique, a écrit le 15 avril 2011 à Mr Alain JUPPÉ, Ministre des Affaires étrangères et européennes, pour lui demander d'intervenir auprès des Autorités de Phnom Penh sur le cas du chef de l'opposition cambodgienne SAM RAINSY qui vit actuellement en exil en France. Voici les points les plus importants dans l'intervention du Député Nicolas DUPONT-AIGNAN : « Mon attention a été attirée […] sur la situation du Député Cambodgien SAM RAINSY. Au motif qu'il dénonce inlassablement la corruption, la violation des droits de l'homme, et les conflits frontaliers meurtriers, Monsieur SAM RAINSY est persécuté depuis 15 ans, par les Autorités de Phnom Penh. Après avoir échappé en 1997 à un attentat ayant coûté la vie à [de nombreux] membres du parti d'opposition qu'il préside, SAM RAINSY est aujourd'hui victime d'un acharnement judiciaire. Bien que son action soit soutenue et reconnue par la communauté internationale, et que le Parlement européen, dans sa résolution du 21 octobre 2010, ait dénoncé les agissements perpétrés à l'encontre de l'opposition en général et de SAM RAINSY en particulier, l'Exécutif Cambodgien l'a expulsé de l'Assemblée nationale, privé de son immunité parlementaire et condamné à une lourde peine de prison pour le faire taire. Le cas de SAM RAINSY illustre la vraie nature du régime Cambodgien qui, sous couvert d'une apparence de démocratie parlementaire, a conservé les réflexes autocratiques de l'ancienne dictature. L'Union européenne ne saurait ignorer la répression dont sont victimes les représentants de l'opposition au Cambodge, et se doit d'intervenir auprès du Gouvernement de ce pays pour que SAM RAINSY et tous les Elus qui incarnent le suffrage universel retrouvent leur place au sein du Parlement et leur droit de parole dans la cité. C'est pourquoi, je vous serais très reconnaissant de bien vouloir relayer l'appel lancé par SAM RAINSY auprès de vos homologues cambodgiens. » [Fin de citation]  | ||
| Gift for the 60th anniversary of the Cambodian Killer Party Posted: 28 Jun 2011 10:14 AM PDT   | ||
| Close watch on Cambodia border trade Posted: 28 Jun 2011 09:44 AM PDT June 28, 2011 The Nation The Commerce Ministry is strictly monitoring cross-border trade with Cambodia for any fallout from Thailand's withdrawal from Unesco's World Heritage panel. Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai said yesterday that the ministry would keep a close eye on the border situation, as it could affect export growth. Cambodia accounts for 10 per cent of Thailand's total cross-border trade. If any conflict surfaces, the ministry will immediately report it to the Cabinet at today's meeting, she said.  | ||
| UNESCO chief regrets Thailand's decision to quit World Heritage Convention Posted: 28 Jun 2011 09:39 AM PDT BANGKOK, June 28 (MCOT online news) -- 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. 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 Bogova said in the letter. "The decision of the World Heritage Committee on the Preah Vihear Temple World Heritage site in Cambodia only reaffirms the need to ensure the protection and conservation of the property from any damage, the world cultural body chief said, "It further encourages the two countries to use the 1972 Convention as a tool to support conservation, sustainable development and dialogue." The UNESCO director-general expressed the hope that Thailand "will carefully consider its future course of action in respect of this important Convention and will continue to be an active participant in the international cooperation for the protection of the world's outstanding heritage." Meanwhile, Panithan Wattanayakorn, deputy secretary-general to the prime minister, said Thailand has no objection to the work of UNESCO in preservation and protection of the world's cultural and natural properties, but it should not have any eventually impact on border disputes. Under the management plan, Cambodia wants to use the entire area surrounding Preah Vihear, so that Thailand must reject the plan, Dr Panithan said. The acting government spokesman also affirmed that the overall situation at the Thai-Cambodian border remains normal, without the troop reinforcements claimed by Cambodia, adding that Thailand is ready to cooperate with Cambodia and the international community to solve the dispute but would not let Cambodia encroach into Thai territory.  | ||
| Abhisit: Next [Thai] govt to decide on WHC Posted: 28 Jun 2011 09:35 AM PDT 28/06/2011 Bangkok Post The next government will decide whether or not Thailand should rejoin the World Heritage Convention, caretaker Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Thailand announced its withdrawal from the WHC on Sunday night. Mr Abhisit said he had received a letter from Unesco director-general Irina Bokova, who informed him that the World Heritage Convention had not considered Cambodia's proposed management plan for the Preah Vihear temple. She hoped Thailand would reconsider its decision. Mr Abhisit said since the matter will have legal implications, it would be better if it were decided by the next government. Thailand's withdrawal from the World Heritage Convention would not have any affect on historical sites and national parks which had earlier been listed as world heritage sites, he said. Mr Abhisit said he held no grudge against Hun Sen for claiming victory in the WHC forum, saying the Cambodian prime minister might have felt a loss of face.  | ||
| Cambodia Denies Troop Reinforcement Along Border with Thailand Posted: 28 Jun 2011 09:31 AM PDT 2011-06-28 Xinhua Cambodia's Ministry of Defense on Tuesday issued a statement to deny that it has reinforced troops and added weaponry at Cambodian-Thai border. The rejection came after Thailand's Army Region 2 spokesman Col Prawit Hookaew said on Monday that there was some redeployment and reinforcement of Cambodian troops along the border followed Thailand's withdrawal of its membership from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Convention on Saturday. He added that there were some arms training taking place, such as using grenade launcher and artillery on Cambodian side. However, Cambodia rejected the claim in the statement. "Royal Cambodian Armed Forces absolutely reject this bad-willed fabrication by Thai troops to slander Cambodia and to prepare scenario to intoxicate and lie to national and international communities," said the statement. "This fabricated information by Thai troops is just a groundless argument in advance, aiming at attacking and invading Cambodian territory sometime in the future," it added. Thailand announced to pull out from the UNESCO's World Heritage Convention on Saturday as the World Heritage Committee (WHC) put the Phnom Penh-proposed management plan for the 11th-century Preah Vihear Temple on the meeting agenda during the 35th session of WHC in Paris. Thai government has insisted the WHC postpone consideration on the plan as it fears that the plan may threaten national sovereignty. The International Court of Justice awarded Preah Vihear Temple to Cambodia in 1962. The conflict between Cambodia and Thailand occurred just a week after Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple was enlisted as World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008. Thailand claims the ownership of 4.6 square km (1.8 square miles) of scrub next to the temple. Since then, both sides have built up military forces along the border and periodic clashes have happened, resulted in the deaths of troops and civilians on both sides.  | ||
| US War Crimes Envoy Seeking Support for Tribunal Posted: 28 Jun 2011 09:29 AM PDT Tuesday, 28 June 2011 Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
The US war crimes ambassador, Stephen Rapp, is in Phnom Penh to support the UN-backed tribunal as a hearing for four jailed Khmer Rouge leaders gets under away. Rapp said Tuesday that the trial of Case 002, for four top leaders of the regime, was "the most important in the world." Former Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith are facing charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and others for their leadership roles in a regime that oversaw the deaths of up to 1.7 million people. They have all denied the charges against them. Rapp said their trial has been a high priority for US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "I believe that at this time it is the most important in the world," Rapp said. "The crimes still have an effect on everyone in this country." Rapp told reporters he is meeting court officials, judges, prosecutors, investigating judges and representatives of victims. He will be working with donors "to make sure this court has resources that it needs to do the job." The hybrid tribunal has suffered a series of financial setbacks and has battled repeated accusations of mismanagement and corruption—as well as political interference. The investigating judges are in a public row with the UN prosecutor over their handling of a third case, which they hastily concluded in April to the dismay of victims and legal monitors. Those issues are out of the limelight this week, however, as Case 002 proceeds. Bernard Valero, spokesman for France's foreign ministry, said in the statement this trial, the court's second, will uncover those responsible for the most egregious crimes enacted by the Khmer Rouge while it was in power.  | ||
| No remorse shown as Khmer Rouge leadership put on trial Posted: 28 Jun 2011 09:25 AM PDT Tuesday 28th June, 2011 Albuquerque Express
The Khmer Rouge leadership, appearing for the first time together in court, have complained about the proceedings of the UN-backed trial, pitting the will of prosecutors in the new Cambodian government, against the resentful leadership of the old. The trial, known as Case Number Two, is a joint trial of key members of the Khmer Rouge leadership – Leng Sary, the former Khmer Rouge foreign minister and his wife, Leng Thirith, former social affairs minister for the regime; Khieu Samphon, the nominal head of state and Nuon Chea, the prime minister also known as Brother Number 2. The infamous Pol Pot, known as Brother Number 1, was the head of the famously harsh dictatorship, but died in 1998 before the creation of the UN-backed court to prosecute Khmer Rouge officials. All the defendants are over the age of 77 and this was a factor used by the defendants to delay proceedings; 84-year-old Nuon Chea, through his attorney, asked the court to allow him to wear his warm hat and sun glasses to keep warm in the air-conditioning and protect his eyes from the glare of court lights. The court agreed. Such an agreement would not have been made in a Khmer Rouge court. The four defendants are charged with devising the policies that made the Khmer Rouge regime one of the most hated and feared in the world, a dictatorship so barbaric its legacy has become part of the fabric of history in the world's imagination. The most serious crimes they face are instigation of torture, genocide and war crimes, all of which led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Cambodia during its brief reign from 1975 to 1979. Despite the charges, the defendants appeared to show little remorse, with Nuon Chea attacking the court proceedings through his counsel. The former prime minister's defendants called for the proceedings to be terminated due to the "harmful" and "unfair" nature of the investigations into his clients actions as prime minister. The defense for Leng Sary said the case against him should be dismissed, on grounds of double jeopardy – he was convicted in 1979 by the Vietnamese after they drove out the Khmer Rouge and was later pardoned in 1996 by the Cambodian King. Many legal experts have accused the court of not going far enough in its investigations in the former leadership of the Khmer Rouge. The International prosecutor wants to try several more defendants in cases 003 and 004, but the Cambodian government, eager to put the trials to bed, wants Case Number Two to be the last of the Khmer Rouge trials. The decision is likely to arouse public anger in a country struggling to come to terms with its history. "They killed so many of people, so they have to be punished," said 79-year-old Pem Song, a Cambodian monk who was enslaved by his own government and forced into farm labour during a famine created by the regime's enforcement of new and ineffective farming techniques.  | ||
| Posted: 28 Jun 2011 08:44 AM PDT Jun 29, 2011 By Pepe Escobar Asia Times Online PHNOM PENH - The undated photo, by the Documentation Center of Cambodia, is as chilling as it is casual; right beside a black Mercedes, senior Khmer Rouge brass - in their trademark black pajamas, sandals and krama around the neck - pose nonchalantly. We see "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, his second-in-command Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Vorn Vet. This is what Hannah Arendt meant when exposing "the banality of evil". This Monday, in a specially built complex on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the initial hearing of the starkly named Khmer Rouge Tribunal took place by calling some of the most reviled characters in recent history - including "Brother Number 2" Nuon Chea and the relatively sophisticated "Foreign Minister" Ieng Sary, who convinced quite a few diplomats, Americans and Europeans included, that the Khmer Rouge were just trying to build a new, agrarian society; and that entailed the ritual killing over two million Cambodians in a 20th century Asian holocaust. Sary in fact has previously admitted in secret meetings that the Khmer Rouge wanted to shrink the population of Cambodia from 7 million to 1 million, more than enough for this agrarian dream - conceptualized by Khieu Samphan in a Sorbonne thesis, much lauded by the French at the time - to blossom. The angel of history intervened by having Vietnam overthrow the Khmer Rouge in January 1979 - much to the displeasure of Cold War Washington, which later presented to the world the sorry spectacle of supporting the Khmer Rouge at the United Nations. Cambodia is run by a so-called "democratic dictator" - the wily Hun Sen - who has made sure none of his former Khmer Rouge comrades would have to face their crimes against humanity. Moreover Hun Sen - with Cambodia as part of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and subject of massive Chinese investment - will never run the risk of facing North Atlantic Treaty Organization liberation via humanitarian war. He's one of "our" bastards - sort of. Still two generations of modern Khmers - who in the past built one of the most sophisticated empires in Asia - are waiting for some measure of justice for the Khmer Rouge via a UN-backed court. The prospects are not good. Hun Sen wants this to be the last Khmer Rouge trial. Only Duch - the notorious torturer who ran the horrendous Khmer Rouge prison of Tuol Sleng - has been tried and sentenced in the so-called Case 001. Pol Pot planned his exit strategy by dying in 1998. Some of the charges against Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and his high-ranking wife, social action minister Ieng Thirith make a mockery of their state-organized genocide; they are accused, among other acts, of capturing and killing American yachtsmen and Vietnamese fishermen. Chea, 84 and Sary claim they are old and ill. Sary even got a pardon from then-king Norodom Sihanouk in 1996 after being convicted in absentia by the Vietnamese in 1979. Khieu Samphan has always managed to be too ill to face justice. Substantive hearings in Case 002 will not begin for several more months. The good thing so far is that the hearings this week are being broadcast live across the Kingdom. Yet no one knows whether Chea, Sary and others will speak during the hearings, or collaborate with the court for that matter. Chea had the gall to take off his large dark glasses in court this Monday to say "I am not happy with this hearing" and then have his co-counsel get into details. Have war will travel It may be tempting to have historical perspective dissolve in bustling Phnom Penh, among the young, educated and connected drinking mojitos in terrace bars facing the Tonle Sap River and the glitzy headquarters of pan-Asian trading companies. But it's impossible not to connect the Khmer Rouge and the American Empire. It was Richard Nixon's illegal war in Cambodia - call it VietCam, a precursor to the current AfPak - plus support for yet another tin-pot dictator, Lon Nol, instead of King Sihanouk, that created the conditions for the emergence of the Khmer Rouge and its power grab in 1975, just as the last American helicopter was abandoning Saigon in disgrace. Washington didn't care much about the Asian genocide and even grumbled when Vietnam toppled the Khmer Rouge. And that takes us to the circular ways of Empire; Khmers would portrait it as a naga biting its own tail. Think of eternal Cold Warrior US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, recently arguing that failure in Afghanistan is "unacceptable", regardless of the costs of war (just as failure in Vietnam was unacceptable). Think of Gates telling Newsweek, "I've spent my entire adult life with the United States as a superpower, and one that had no compunction about spending what it took to sustain that position." Functionaries of Empire parroting His Master's Voice can't get clearer than this. There's more; "Frankly, I can't imagine being part of a nation, part of a government ... that's being forced to dramatically scale back our engagement with the rest of the world." "Engagement" meant extending a war, illegally, from Vietnam to Cambodia, and creating the conditions for an Asian holocaust. "Engagement" means extending a war, illegally, from Afghanistan to Pakistan, and sowing extra chaos in South Asia. "Engaging" means extending an illegal war over Libya - sowing extra chaos in Northern Africa. "Engaging" means letting the House of Saud bribe everyone in sight in its reactionary, counter-revolutionary drive all across MENA (Middle East/Northern Africa). So mass murderer Nuon Chea may well be excused for thinking, "I was just implementing the dream of an egalitarian, agrarian society. It's the Empire that should be in the dock for crimes against humanity, not me." The real Year Zero may not even have begun. Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War (Nimble Books, 2007) and Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge. His new book, just out, is Obama does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009). He may be reached at pepeasia@yahoo.com.  | ||
| Posted: 28 Jun 2011 08:38 AM PDT
Tuesday, 28 June 2011 James O'Toole The Phnom Penh Post THE Khmer Rouge tribunal continued today with the second day of hearings in the trial of the four most senior surviving leaders of Democratic Kampuchea, with debate focusing largely on the 1996 pardon and amnesty granted to former KR foreign minister Ieng Sary. In addition to Ieng Sary and his wife, former KR social action minister Ieng Thirith, the case also features former KR head of state Khieu Samphan and Brother Number 2 Nuon Chea. For the second day in a row, Nuon Chea left the hearing early in the morning, telling the judges that he would return to the Trial Chamber when his own case was considered. Today's hearing instead focused on Ieng Sary, who received a pardon signed by then-King Norodom Sihanouk upon defecting to the government in 1996. Sihanouk pardoned Ieng Sary in relation to his 1979 conviction at the People's Revolutionary Tribunal, where he was sentenced to death in absentia along with regime leader Pol Pot, and granted him amnesty from prosecution under the 1994 Law to Outlaw the Democratic Kampuchea Group, which criminalised membership in the Khmer Rouge. In a decision earlier this year, the court's Pre-Trial Chamber ruled that this pardon and amnesty were no bar to Ieng Sary's current prosecution. The pardon, they said, related only to Ieng Sary's 1979 conviction in absentia at the People's Revolutionary Tribunal, set up shortly after the Khmer Rouge; the amnesty, they said, applied only to the 1994 law and not to the charges under domestic and international law that Ieng Sary currently faces at the tribunal. However, this ruling is not binding on the court's Trial Chamber, and defence lawyers argued today that the tribunal could not prosecute him. "Mr Ieng Sary negotiated that he would only reintegrate [with the Cambodian government] if he received an amnesty from any future prosecutions for any alleged acts," defence lawyer Ang Udom said. "This was a non-negotiable condition." Prosecutors argued, however, that the amnesty did not apply to genocide and other charges listed in the current indictment against Ieng Sary, and in any case, that amnesties may not be given under international law for crimes of such gravity.  | ||
| Dutch lawyers in Cambodia mega-trial Posted: 28 Jun 2011 08:32 AM PDT  By Johan van der Tol Radio Netherland Worldwide Two Dutch lawyers are involved in the historic genocide trial which started in Cambodia this week. It centres around four leaders of the Khmer Rouge, the Communist movement which instigated a reign of terror in the latter half of the 1970s. The Dutch lawyers, together with a Cambodian colleague, are defending the regime's deputy leader, Nuon Chea, also known as Brother Number 2. They say obstruction by the Cambodian authorities has been their biggest problem. Victor Koppe and Michiel Pestman have been involved in a variety of international tribunals. But, Koppe says, this one is unique: "It has been called the biggest trial since Nuremberg. It's also the first time a Maoist or Communist regime has been put on trial. These two factors make it different from every other trial so far. It's an historic trial and that makes it extremely interesting." Very worrying The lawyers and international organisations following the trial have already complained about corruption at the tribunal and interference by the Cambodian authorities putting pressure on the judicial process. "The direct influence of the Cambodian government on the judges in particular is a major problem. In the months to come we shall see whether that will become problematic to the extent that a fair and honest trial is no longer possible. But there is undoubtedly a great deal of obstruction and that is a very worrying observation." Walk out So are foreign lawyers being used to give a dishonest trial an international stamp of approval? Koppe does not believe things are that bad. "There is a cut-off level, though. And if we fall below that, our client will no longer be prepared to appear in court. He already walked out of the first procedural session because he will not be allowed to challenge a number of things in the new few days." Between 1975 and 1979 an estimated two million Cambodians died under the Khmer Rouge regime. Many of them died as a result of exhaustion, physical abuse and executions in the 'Killing Fields', rural locations where the urban populations were deported by their Maoist leaders. The charges ranged against Nuon Chea include genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and murder. Vietnam & US So what arguments can a defence lawyer bring to bear? Koppe is not prepared to go into detail but he does point out that a great deal remains to be said about the time in which the Khmer Rouge came to power and gained control over the country. "We will attempt to focus on the factors which led him to take decisions and how those decisions were taken. These include the role of neighbouring Vietnam and the consequences of the US bombing campaigns of 1975. Those are just a couple of the many factors our client would like to put before the court." The trial is expected to last two years. The two Dutch lawyers will spend approximately one year each in Cambodia.  | ||
| At Opening of Cambodia War Crimes Trial, Anger, Doubt and Suspicion Linger Posted: 28 Jun 2011 08:19 AM PDT Tuesday, June 28, 2011 By Douglas Gillison / Phnom Penh Stooped from old age and disease, the four surviving leaders of Pol Pot's communist revolution of 1975, which left perhaps 2 million people dead, at last entered the dock to stand trial at a special tribunal here on Monday. Facing charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, they are accused of leaving this tiny nation in ruins after nearly four years of mass murder and enslavement with the greatest number of victims in any trial since the Third Reich. But the court, created by the United Nations and Cambodian government in 2003, is marking what should be its greatest success amid the standing accusation that, as it brings some Khmer Rouge leaders to justice, it is also whitewashing other related investigations with little to no objection from the international community. The Open Society Justice Initiative, an organization monitoring the court has called for an investigation of judicial misconduct, saying judges have deliberately failed to investigate prosecutors' allegations in other Khmer Rouge cases. UN officials continue to walk off the job in frustration, citing what one consultant called a "toxic atmosphere of mutual mistrust." Describing the current trial as among the most complex ever prosecuted, court officials had long expected the proceedings to be a challenging enterprise, not least because it will include four different defense teams and uncooperative suspects pursuing divergent arguments. As trial began Monday, Nuon Chea, 84, perhaps the most important criminal defendant anywhere in the world today, told judges he found the proceedings to be unfair and would return to his cell. "I am not happy with this hearing and I would like to allow my co-counsels to explain the reasons behind this," he said, after instructing his lawyers to seek judges' permission to wear a knit ski cap, to protect him from the courtroom's air conditioning, along with his trademark black sunglasses, to shield him from the lighting. His departure drew angry reactions from audience members. "It is just an excuse," said Chum Mey, 80, who survived torture and internment by the secret police, which was briefly controlled by Nuon Chea. "Of course he was quite rude." Other defendants soon left the courtroom as well: former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, 85, complained of discomfort and watched via video linkup in a special ground-floor room. His wife, Social Action Minister Ieng Thirith, 79, also claimed to be unwell and returned to her cell. Only the former head of state, Khieu Samphan, 79, remained throughout the day. After seizing Phnom Penh to end a civil war in 1975, Khmer Rouge forces emptied Cambodia's towns and cities at gunpoint, forcing millions of people into the countryside, instantly creating a class of slaves who were the most prone to execution, overwork, mistreatment and sickness. The new government banned private property, decreed that Cambodians comprised only a class of workers and peasants and that opposing the state was punishable by death. In a relentless search for supposed internal enemies accused of "boring from within," the new government executed up to a million people, or one in eight Cambodians, at 200 prisons, torture houses and an unknown number of other execution sites across the country. Nuon Chea, who told investigators his birth name was Lao Kim Lorn, was elected deputy chairman of the communist party in 1960 and has been known since the regime as Brother Number Two, second in authority only to Pol Pot. Judicial investigators say he played a central role in the formation of virtually all government policy, including the disastrous forced movements of millions of people around the country; the search for, torture and execution of the regime's "enemies;" the genocide of people of Vietnamese origin and of the predominantly Muslim Cham ethnic minority; and the government's deadly campaign of forced labor as well as a policy of forced marriage that prosecutors equate with rape. As part of an alleged common criminal plan, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith, and Khieu Samphan, 79, are likewise accused with Nuon Chea of contributing to these policies and making themselves jointly responsible for the resulting crimes. (Read about Pol Pot's regime going on trial at last.) But UN prosecutors say another five suspects, who currently roam freely around the country, are responsible for a separate wave of criminality that left hundreds of thousands of people dead and will not be addressed by the current trial. However the court has allowed these cases to lie fallow - concluding one case after questioning neither suspect - drawing accusations political interference. Hun Sen, Cambodia's strongman prime minister, has publicly dictated which suspects the court may pursue and which witnesses it may summon - and said that the trial which began here on Monday will be the court's last. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this month forcefully denied that the world body had told a German judge to cooperate with Hun Sen's demands. Since the start of negotiations in 1999, Cambodian authorities have always maintained that the court should try as few people as possible, with Hun Sen reassuring former Khmer Rouge combatants and officials, of which he himself is one, that only "four or five" would be prosecuted. While agreeing that the number of prosecutions would likely be small, UN officials insisted that the court's prosecutors be free to choose whom to pursue. In a 1999 memo to UN headquarters, Ralph Zacklin, who was then UN assistant secretary-general for legal affairs and a negotiator in establishing the court, said a "trial of selected Khmer Rouge leaders, which would shield other leaders presently situated in Cambodian territory from legal process, would be an unacceptable form of selective justice." Twelve years later, both the United Nations and donor countries appear to have taken the diametrically opposite view. In an interview, a diplomat representing one of the court's financial backers said that if some of the court's work proved to be less than perfect, this would not detract from its other valuable achievements. "It's a package deal. We look at the court as an institution. At the end of the day, there will be things it did right," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Anne Heindel, a legal advisor to the Documentation Center of Cambodia and an expert in international humanitarian law, said the handling of one of the court's cases was already cause for concern. "If it's a blatant sham, if it's clear that there was no investigation, then that's going to harm the legitimacy of the whole court," she said. - With reporting from Kuch Naren Douglas Gillison has covered the Khmer Rouge trials since 2006. His research is supported by the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute.  | ||
| Defense lawyer in Cambodia's Khmer Rouge trial challenges case against former foreign minister Posted: 28 Jun 2011 08:12 AM PDT Khmer Rouge defendant challenges genocide tribunal Tuesday, June 28, 2011 By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press One of the four former Khmer Rouge leaders charged with genocide challenged the right of Cambodia's U.N.-backed tribunal to try him Tuesday, saying he already had been convicted of the crime and pardoned. Former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary joined three other infirm defendants in their late 70s and 80s in going on trial Monday in a long-sought case aimed at the architects of Cambodia's Killing Fields more than three decades ago. Lawyer Ang Udom argued that Ieng Sary, 85, should not be tried again for genocide because a Vietnamese-backed tribunal convicted him of that charge in 1979 after the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot was ousted from power and downgraded to a jungle guerrilla movement. Cambodia's king later pardoned Ieng Sary when he led a mass defection of the guerrillas to the government, sparing many lives and possibly avoiding a continuation of the conflict to this day, Ang Udom said. The arguments, on the second day of trial sessions covering legal procedures, are unlikely to succeed, because the tribunal already rejected a similar appeal during pretrial hearings earlier this year. The court will begin hearing testimony from witnesses in August or September. "I am waiting to see what level of justice can be brought for the victims," said Tieng Rith, 53, who lost his parents and three brothers under the Khmer Rouge and has followed the proceedings at the tribunal's trial chamber on the outskirts of the capital. Also on trial are Nuon Chea, 84, Pol Pot's No. 2 and the group's chief ideologist; Khieu Samphan, 79, its former head of state; and Ieng Sary's wife Ieng Thirith, 79, who was minister for social affairs. Pol Pot escaped justice with his death in 1998. The charges against them include crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, homicide and torture and religious persecution. During their 1975-79 reign, the Khmer Rouge tried to implement a communist utopia, but ended up killing as many as 1.7 million their countrymen through executions, medical neglect, overwork and starvation. Prosecutors challenged the arguments of Ieng Sary's lawyers. "I urge your honors to reject this in order to protect the interests of and provide justice to the victims and to those who died during the Khmer Rouge regime," Chan Dara Reasmei, the Cambodian deputy co-prosecutor, told the court, saying the amnesty did not cover the charges against him. International deputy co-prosecutor William Smith of Australia told the court it had "an independent and fundamental obligation under international law to not allow an amnesty to protect Ieng Sary from facing this trial for genocide and other crimes." Challenges against the authority of the court are likely to continue. Fireworks are anticipated from Khieu Samphan's French lawyer, Jacques Verges, well known for defending Nazi war criminals and terrorists and putting politics at the forefront of his pleas. It is the second trial for the tribunal, which started operations in 2006 and is officially known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Last year, Kaing Guek Eav - also known as Duch - was sentenced to 35 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity. His sentence was reduced to a 19-year term due to time served and other technicalities, bringing angry criticism from victims who called the penalty too lenient. Cambodia has no death penalty. Duch, now 68, headed the Khmer Rouge's notorious Tuol Sleng prison, known as S-21, where only a handful of prisoners survived. Up to 16,000 people were tortured under Duch's command and later taken away to be killed.  | ||
| In Hearing, Ieng Sary Defense Seeks His Release Posted: 28 Jun 2011 08:01 AM PDT
Reporters, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
Defense lawyers for Ieng Sary, the former Khmer Rouge foreign minister, said Tuesday he should be released from the UN-backed tribunal, claiming he was already tried for genocide under the Vietnamese occupation when the movement was ousted in 1979 and was protected by an amnesty deal years later. In the second day of a preliminary hearing that marks the opening of a landmark trial of four former Khmer Rouge leaders, defense told the court its attempt to try Ieng Sary amounted to double jeopardy. Ieng Sary was tried in absentia at the Vietnamese court and sentenced to death for genocide, in what most legal experts consider an illegitimate trial. Ieng Sary went on to help lead the Khmer Rouge in a guerrilla insurgency that lasted nearly two decades. He defected with 20,000 soldiers in 1996, under a broad government amnesty. Legal experts say the current tribunal is unlikely to accept the defense arguments, given the wide array of serious crimes he is now facing. Ieng Sary is charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and other crimes related to the Khmer Rouge leadership, under which up to 1.7 million Cambodians died. He has denied those charges, as have defendants Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Thirith. In interviews with VOA Khmer, former Khmer Rouge cadre who were visiting the court Monday said they want their former leaders to be freed or have reduced sentences, in part due to their old age. Khim Kheng, 53, a former cook and cleaner at the foreign affairs ministry, led by suspect Ieng Sary, said she only saw him commit good acts. "He told us to save food in order to help poor people in rural areas," she said. "About torturing his own people, I never saw that." In meetings held at the ministry, Ieng Sary discussed poverty reduction and development, she said. He never discussed a policy of killing, and when the Khmer Rouge was ousted, all of the officials from the ministry were still alive. Um Ros, 82, a former Khmer Rouge soldier in the Southeastern Zone, said soldiers there did not have a policy of killing but built boats for people to use for fishing. The killing was the work of soldiers in the Southwest Zone, led by "The Butcher" Ta Mok, he said. "My first request is that Duch and Khieu Samphan be freed, because the two of them were used by the top leaders," he said. "Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Ta Mok and Nuon Chea should be punished heavily, because they ordered people killed."  | ||
| Amnesty deal focus of second day of Khmer Rouge trial Posted: 28 Jun 2011 07:53 AM PDT Jun 28, 2011 DPA Phnom Penh - A 1996 amnesty granted to the Khmer Rouge's former foreign minister, Ieng Sary, dominated Tuesday morning's session of a genocide trial against the Maoist movement's four surviving leaders. Ieng Sary's 1996 defection to the Cambodian government with thousands of troops helped to precipitate the collapse of the Khmer Rouge although the movement had grown increasingly isolated since the end of the Cold War. His defence team said the court had no jurisdiction to rule on the amnesty granted by the Cambodian government while also arguing it was a valid one. 'National jurisdictions have the capacity to grant amnesties even when we are talking about crimes such as we find in this indictment,' defence lawyer Michael Karnavas told the five judges of the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal on the second day of the trial, which is taking place more than 30 years since the Khmer Rouge was ousted from power. The elderly defendants are accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and an array of other charges allegedly committed during their government's rule from 1975 to 1979. The four denied all the charges in the second case before the tribunal. The prosecution is to argue its side of the amnesty later Tuesday. Also in court Tuesday were Ieng Thirith, the Khmer Rouge's social affairs minister, and Khieu Samphan, its former head of state. The fourth defendant - Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea, who as the deputy of the late Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot was known as 'Brother Number Two' - walked out of court Monday and said he would not return until the court addressed his complaints including the court's refusal to discuss a list of 300 defence witnesses and what his lawyer said was 'strong evidence' of government influence on the proceedings. Ieng Sary also left the court during Tuesday's session, citing ill health. This week's preliminary session is hearing arguments concerning lists of witnesses and experts as well as procedural elements ahead of the start of the trial proper, which is likely to happen this year. Last year, the court in its first case 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. One of the issues the court will have to confront is the age of the defendants. The youngest is 79, and all are in varying degrees of health. There are fears one or more could die before the trial concludes. 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. The court estimated 800,000 of the deaths were violent with the rest attributed to overwork, starvation and illness.  | ||
| Victims upset as Khmer Rouge leader snubs court Posted: 28 Jun 2011 12:37 AM PDT Tuesday, June 28, 2011 AFP PHNOM PENH — A top Khmer Rouge leader on trial for genocide and other atrocities walked out of Cambodia's UN-backed court on Tuesday for a second straight day, to the dismay of survivors. "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, wearing a woolly hat and his trademark sunglasses, refused to stay for proceedings that will focus on preliminary legal objections by co-defendant Ieng Sary, a former foreign minister. "I will walk out and return to my detention facility," Nuon Chea said, adding he would only return to "actively participate" when his own case was discussed. The 84-year-old was then escorted out by three security guards. 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's defiant actions mirrored those on the first day of the trial on Monday, when he left the courtroom in protest at the handling of the investigation and legal proceedings, saying he was "not happy". The four elderly defendants are allowed to be absent if they refuse to cooperate. Their complex trial, expected to take years, is seen as vital to healing the traumatised nation's deep scars, and the regime number two's walk-out upset Khmer Rouge survivors. "Nuon Chea is a bad person. I am quite disappointed with his behaviour," said farmer Thein Ouen who was one of hundreds 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 other three accused, who also include former head of state Khieu Samphan and one-time social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, remained seated and appeared to be paying close attention the proceedings. 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.  | ||
| Top surviving Khmer Rouge leaders finally face justice before Cambodia war crimes tribunal Posted: 28 Jun 2011 12:33 AM PDT  "We cannot try ghosts," Theary Seng said. "As a victim, I desire truth and justice from the defendant which is best obtained when he or she is coherent and alert." (Photo: DAP-news) Top surviving Khmer Rouge leaders go on trial Jun 27, 2011 By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press The top four surviving members of the Khmer Rouge regime blamed for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians in the 1970s appeared for a second day Tuesday before a U.N.-backed tribunal aimed at finally achieving justice. Chief Judge Nil Nonn said the hearing would address objections from former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary's lawyers that the 85-year-old cannot be tried because he received a royal pardon in 1996 when he led a mass defection to the government. With the aging leaders all in their late 70s or early 80s and with Khmer Rouge overlord Pol Pot long dead, the trial before the U.N.-backed panel represents the last, best chance for Cambodia to bring accountability to the Khmer Rouge leadership blamed for the deaths. All four defendants say they are innocent. "This is, at this time, the most important trial in the world," Stephen Rapp, U.S. envoy on war crimes issues, said Monday. "It's a message to others who might commit similar crimes that there will be consequences. That it may not happen tomorrow or the next day. But eventually, you'll be in the dock as well." During their 1975-79 rule, the Khmer Rouge tried to implement a communist utopia, but ended up killing as many as one-quarter of their countrymen through executions, medical neglect, overwork and starvation. In addition to Ieng Sary, the others on trial are Nuon Chea, 84, who was Pol Pot's No. 2 and the group's chief ideologist; Khieu Samphan, 79, the former head of state; and Ieng Thirith, 79, who served as minister for social affairs. Nil Nonn opened the trial Monday with procedural matters, including reading out the charges against the four, which include crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, religious persecution, homicide and torture. Cambodian victims' advocates have decried how long it has taken to launch the trial, saying the proceedings are needed to shed light on a dark period and that time is running out for drawing meaningful testimony from the defendants. Although all four defendants were present for the start of the trial Monday, three were allowed to exercise the right to excuse themselves for reason of poor health, leaving only Khieu Samphan in the courtroom. On Tuesday, Nuon Chea left the courtroom again. Theary Seng, a human rights advocate representing some victims who are allowed a role in the proceedings, said it was fair to excuse the defendants because of their infirmity, but that it would be a shame not to hear their statements. "We cannot try ghosts," Theary Seng said. "As a victim, I desire truth and justice from the defendant which is best obtained when he or she is coherent and alert." Testimony and presentation of evidence is expected to begin in August or September, 32 years after the Khmer Rouge were ousted from power in 1979 with the help of a Vietnamese invasion. For more than a decade afterward, they waged a bloody insurgency against the Phnom Penh government. Pol Pot escaped justice with his death in 1998, then a prisoner of his own comrades as his once-mighty guerrilla movement was collapsing. Michiel Pestman, representing Nuon Chea, said a full accounting of the historical context of the Khmer Rouge should include a probe of the massive wartime U.S. bombing of Cambodia and Vietnam's role. The tribunal started operations in 2006. Its first defendant was Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, commandant of Tuol Sleng prison, where only a handful of prisoners survived. Up to 16,000 people were tortured under Duch's command and later taken away to be killed. Duch, now 68, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity. His sentence was reduced to 19 years because of time previously served and other technicalities, bringing angry criticism from victims who called the punishment too lenient. Cambodia has no death penalty. (This version CORRECTS spelling of human rights advocate's name in paragraph 11 to Seng instead of Sang, lawyer's name in paragraph 15 to Michiel instead of Michel)  | ||
| Cambodian Victim of Khmer Rouge Gives Tour Notorious Prison Posted: 28 Jun 2011 12:20 AM PDT June 27, 2011 Daniel Schearf, VOA | Phnom Penh As the United Nations begins a long-awaited trial of four former Khmer Rouge leaders, a survivor of the regime's most notorious prison gives VOA a tour of the place of his torture and suffering. Chum Mey's video transcript: This is me, among the seven who survived. I was 48 at that time, now I'm 80. Of the seven only three survived, Bum may, Van Nath and me. They took off my clothes in that room, my pants, my shirt, and only left my underwear. And they handcuffed me and they took a scarf to blindfold me. Then we did not see the stairs so they pulled our ears, they said "you walk up the stairs". When we go down, they said "you go down the stairs", pulling down our ears because they already blindfolded us. This is where I was kept. When I got here they dragged my ear and said to get inside. I was made to sit down and my legs were chained like that. Then they released the handcuff and took off my blindfold and they put on a curtain so that we could not see each other and talk to each other. And this is for us to defecate, but made sure we did not spill our waste on the floor, otherwise we will be forced to lick it because there is nothing I could use to wipe it off. They beat me for 12 days and nights in a row and my back swelled so hard that I could only sleep on one side. Then I made a sound with the chain. We were beaten with a stick for 200 times because they accused us of trying to break the chain. I had nothing to sleep on only my underwear. And I have to sleep on the floor. I was given only two spoons of porridge per day, not rice, only watery porridge. And they gave us a little water and told us not to ask for more. If we did, we would be beaten. They locked us like this. And they put a padlock here. They have a typewriter here on the table. When they questioned a prisoner they asked: "When did you joined the CIA? How many of you joined it?". Then they typed the answers. If we did not answer, they would beat us and started asking us again. How many of you joined the CIA or the KGB. If we did not answer, they keep beating us. They only asked about CIA and KGB. They asked nothing else. I can survive because only I could fix the typewriter when it broke down. That was why they kept me alive but they said I would be destroyed later. I have to tell my children, grandchildren and the world what happened [here]. No matter what nationality; Chinese, Vietnamese, Cham (an ethnic minority in Cambodia & Vietnam) and (Javanese), I will tell all of them. I don't hide anything. If they come, I will tell them.  | ||
| Khmer Rouge leadership balk at proceedings in U.N.-backed trial Posted: 28 Jun 2011 12:11 AM PDT June 28, 2011 By Sara Sidner, CNN STORY HIGHLIGHTS (CNN) -- It has only happened a few times in history. This time the legal anomaly is taking place in Cambodia. It's known as Case Number 2, a joint trial for the remaining top leadership of the now defunct Khmer Rouge government for crimes against humanity, murder and torture. There are four defendants in the case -- Ieng Sary, the former Khmer Rouge foreign minister; his wife, Ieng Thirith, former social affairs minister for the regime; Khieu Samphon, the nominal head of state; and Nuon Chea, the prime minister also known as Brother Number 2. The head of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, was known as Brother number 1, but he died in 1998, long before the U.N.-backed court came into existence. For the first time the defendants all appeared in court together because Monday was the start of their trial. All the defendants are over the age of 77. Only a few minutes into the proceeding, 84-year-old Nuon Chea through his attorney asked the court to allow him to wear his warm hat to keep warm in the air-conditioning. He also asked if he could keep on his large dark glasses to avoid the glare of the court's lights. The court agreed. The physical state of the four does not square with the crimes they're accused of. They are charged with devising the policies that led to the murders of hundreds of thousand of people, torture, genocide, and war crimes just to name a few. It has been more than 30 years since they were in power but on the first day of this historic trial defendant Nuon Chea takes off his glasses to inject a strong opinion about the court proceedings: "I am not happy with this hearing and I would like to make uh to allow my co-counsels to explain the reasons behind this." His co-counsel, Michiel Pestman, argued the court had denied hearing from 300 of his witnesses and gone against every argument they made. "Our main objections were against the judicial investigation carried out by the investigative judges that was so unfair and so harmful to the rights of our client, Noun Chea, that we think these proceedings should be terminated," Pestman said. The court said it would take it into consideration and make a decision. The court began hearing other motions. The defense for Ieng Sary said the case against him should be dismissed, on grounds of double jeopardy -- a defendant cannot be tried twice for the same crime. When the Vietnamese drove out the Khmer Rouge they quickly put Ieng on trial and convicted him in absentia in 1979. When he defected from what remained of the broken Khmer Rouge regime in 1996 the Cambodian king pardoned him. Again the judges agreed to look at the legal merits of the argument. They are not the only ones watching this process very closely. Some have accused the court of not going far enough in its investigations into other potential cases. The International prosecutor wants to try several more defendants in cases 003 and 004, but the government of Cambodia wants case 002 to be the end of the Khmer Rouge trials. "A lot of it at this stage isn't very public, so there's a lot of rumor about how its happening but once we get to the closing orders that decided whether to proceed or not to proceed with the case then there will be appeals where I think people can judge the process for themselves," said Steven Rapp, U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues. He arrived at the court to observe and said the court appeared to be doing its legal duty. To give you an idea of just how important this trial is to the Cambodian people, every single seat in the gallery was taken -- all 500 of them. Thousands more people from all over the country have signed up to see the trial. "I want to know how the court proceedings work," said 79-year-old Pem Song, a Cambodian monk. He said he traveled 250 kilometers just to spend one day here along with several others from his monastery. Pem remembers the days of the Khmer Rouge, how they took him into custody and forced him into farm labor. "They killed so many of people, so they have to be punished," he said. For that to happen, the court must do what it has been commissioned to do to -- investigate and find the truth about those who were most responsible for the Khmer Rouge's cruel and deadly practices.  | ||
| "Who killed Chea Vichea?" - Poem in Khmer by Kaun Neak Sre Posted: 28 Jun 2011 12:03 AM PDT   | ||
| CCHR Press invitation-Public Forum in Siem Reap Province Posted: 27 Jun 2011 11:43 PM PDT    Press Invitation Public Forum on Human Rights and Development – Siem Reap Forum Date: 30 June 2011 Forum Location: Banteay Srei village, Khnar Sanday commune, Banteay Srei district, Siem Reap province Time: 8.00 am – 11.30 am Speakers: H.E Nou Phalla, Deputy Governor of Siam Reap province H.E Sao Rany, Norodom Ranarith Party, H.E Yem Punharith, Human Rights Party H.E Nhek Bunchhay, FUNCINPEC Party, H.E Ke Sovannaroth, Sam Rainsy Party Mr. That Bunchoeun, Head of Office of Agriculture, Siam Reap Mr. Meong Vuthy, Governor of Banteay Srei district Mr. Chut Vuthy, President of Natural Resource Conservation Group Mr. Lun Kanal, Head of Office of Environment, Siam Reap Hundreds of residents from Siem Reap province whose rights has been violated will attend a public forum organized by the Cambodian Center for Human Right (CCHR). The CCHR has organized the forum for residents living in remote areas whose rights have been violated so that they can express their opinions, raise their concerns, make requests and ask questions to their parliamentarians, local authorities, and other stakeholders in the hope of reaching a peaceful resolution to violations affecting them. For further information, please contact: Mr. Chhim Savuth, Project Coordinator, +855 12 899858 or savuth@cchrcambodia.org Mr. Suon Bunthoeun, Project Officer, +855 12 483546 or bunthoeun@cchrcambodian.org.  |
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