Monday, November 13, 2006

Four Prison Cells Ready for KR Defendants [-Foreign diplomat: "In Cambodia, anything can happen (to the prisoners). We are on alert."]

Monday, November 13, 2006

By Erika Kinetz
THE CAMBODIA DAILY


An initial detention center with four cells, each equipped with air conditioning and hot water, was completed last week just outside the grounds of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, ECCC officials said Sunday.

Ten companies plan to visit the ECCC today to place bids on the construction of a more extensive facility, which will likely have eight cells and be paid for by the Cambodian government said tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath. Construction of that larger facility is expected to be completed early next year, he added.

The co-prosecutors and co-investigating judges had requested the immediate construction of the four-cell facility, which cost $45,000 and, was paid for by the Japanese government.

"They may need it before [January]," said Helen Jarvis, chief of public affairs at the ECCC. No date has been released as to when the first arrests might be made.

The four-cell facility lies just outside the fence that demarcates the court's compound. The government will be responsible for the security of the defendants at the facility according to the 2003 agreement between the UN and the Cambodian government.

Security and witness protection are major concerns for a number of tribunal observers and international donors. "The protection of detainees is crucial,'' one foreign diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

He pointed to the case of Slobodan Milosevic, the former president of former Yugoslavia, who died in March before judgment could be passed by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Medical information released in May reportedly documented a tempestuous relationship between Milosevic and his doctors, which might have hastened his demise.

Among other things, he refused to take pills, and on the day he died, guards initially decided not to examine him when he failed to move or respond to their greeting, the New York Times reported. It was only after an hour that they inspected him more closely and discovered he had no pulse, raising a question of whether he could have been revived.

"Even in The Hague this happens," said the diplomat. "In Cambodia, anything can happen. We are on alert."

Jarvis said the court also is on alert. "Everybody is taking security seriously, as you would expect" she said.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

The holding cells with air-con and hot water are heavens for average Cambodians.

And, it seems fitting to maintain a luxury lifestyle for the accused. They after all former top Khmer leaders who will be on trial that may be just a sideshow to keep some people happy.

SiS

Trials and Denials said...

That something troublesome is called 'International Standards'. The whole point of this court is to ensure that those standards are met- that includes international standards of detention, defense and all sorts of other things that the Cambodian system has not enjoyed. Its going to be a shock, but to say that the courts money should not be spent on ensuring it meets its own mandate is pretty foolish.

Or perhaps you advocate sending them all to GIMTO to be tortured, beaten then shot? The court is not trying to bring back the KR methods, it trying to show the world that Cambodia has left those ways behind. How much of the contributions from the world would remain if they decided that international standards were not needed??

Anonymous said...

Well,if the prison is equipped with A/C and hot shower then why not include big screen TV, computers, and perhap rooms service. What a joke. After all these individuals are criminal and should be hanged a long time ago.

Anonymous said...

AH PLEOUE SHIT OF UNCLE SAM!

JUST LEARN TO LIVE IN A CIVILIZED
COUNTRY OF YOUR MASTER. DO NOT SPEAK LIKE ANIMALS... THSI IS THE REASON WHY YOU ARE SECOND CLASS CITIZEN? THEY CONSIDER YOU LIKE ANIMALS BECAUSE YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY EDUCATION OR DEGREES... LORD BUDDHA PITY YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

YOU DO NOT DESERVE TO BE CALLED
KHMER YANKEE...

YOUR OWN SHADOW...

Anonymous said...

Huhhhh i seee this guy again!!! This crazy guy keep writing the stupid ideas again an again!!!

I think they provide these equipment coz they know that sooner or later the traitor hun sen will come next...

Anonymous said...

vaste!

Anonymous said...

Every time this S.O.B'S writing show up,the so-called coscience and shadow ,it just irritated me. I wondered who the fuck is that shit.

Anonymous said...

Ah chomkuot conscience and shadow!
In the next few hours,you'll be sucked in by the planet earth.So say putho arahaing now. you mother fucker you.