VOA Khmer
Washington
21/11/2006
A U.S. university professor expresses confidence in Cambodia's judges, and believed that they will not be swayed by political influence and corruption in the trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders
Speaking to reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, Dr. Steven D. Roper, associate professor at the Department of Political Science of Eastern Illinois University, says that "no one is going to be able to bribe the Cambodian judges".
Cambodian judges and prosecutors in the Extraordinary Chambers of Cambodia have been criticized for being incompetent and bias towards the ruling party.
Opposition party legislator Eng Chhay Eang agrees that this trial will not become corrupted, but admitted that the trial could be subjected to political influences.
"The judges and the prosecutors were [only] selected to be within a political framework", said Eng Chhay.
Cambodia Center for Human Rights' (CCHR) director Kem Sokha says that the trial might be more politically inclined than be unfair, due to corruption.
The Khmer Rouge regime was blamed for the death of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians between 1975-1979.
The U.S. says that it will not contribute to funding the Khmer Rouge Trial, unless the tribunal meets international standards.
The trial is expected to last 3 years and will likely cost more than $56 millions. The Khmer Rouge tribunal is expected to start in 2007.
Speaking to reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, Dr. Steven D. Roper, associate professor at the Department of Political Science of Eastern Illinois University, says that "no one is going to be able to bribe the Cambodian judges".
Cambodian judges and prosecutors in the Extraordinary Chambers of Cambodia have been criticized for being incompetent and bias towards the ruling party.
Opposition party legislator Eng Chhay Eang agrees that this trial will not become corrupted, but admitted that the trial could be subjected to political influences.
"The judges and the prosecutors were [only] selected to be within a political framework", said Eng Chhay.
Cambodia Center for Human Rights' (CCHR) director Kem Sokha says that the trial might be more politically inclined than be unfair, due to corruption.
The Khmer Rouge regime was blamed for the death of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians between 1975-1979.
The U.S. says that it will not contribute to funding the Khmer Rouge Trial, unless the tribunal meets international standards.
The trial is expected to last 3 years and will likely cost more than $56 millions. The Khmer Rouge tribunal is expected to start in 2007.
7 comments:
Who is this hot-shot U.S. professor guaranteeing the credential of Cambodian judges? He just needs to talk to ordinary people, not the judges themselves, to determine whether the general population has any confidence in Cambodian judges. Obviously, Cambodian judges for the KR tribunal don't need bribes because they will be well-paid. But, they are still members of the ruling political party and they must toe the party line. They cannot make any judgement without consulting with their party leaders first.
Perhaps, this U.S. professor hopes to get Cambodian citizenship, or a preferential treatment when he wants to do business here, from Hun Sen for giving a rosy assessment of the CPP-affiliated judges. In fact, there are foreigners being granted Cambodian citizenship by Hun Sen (the King just signs the paper as instructed) for serving the CPP interests in the international community.
There are a few instances whereby the PHD acronym is translated as Permanent Head Damage. Let's hope Dr. S. D. Roper is still in good health.
hot-shot U.S. professor?
If you want to know what kind of PhD and professor this guy is, go to http://www.stevendroper.com/
and check out his c.v.
The professor may be right. The trials will be closely watched by both the national and international community. Besides, it involves just a few people who had already lost their power. They have nothing else to lose, I think.
Well, if I were one of the judges, I would not risk the image of my own and of my nation, taking bribe. It is not about indvidual, but about the reputation of Cambodia as a whole. Would you do corruption if you were one of the judges? Before you answer, think over the world pressure on you, the reputation of your own and the country as a whole to the world and the benefits the trial would bring to Cambodia.
To me, I doubt whether or not the trial is worth doing and spending multi millions of dollars on. Will this reveal the dark history of the Khmer Rouge regime to the world? Will it answer the question - Why did they kill? - posed not only a Cambodian like me but also the whole world?
Professor do you ever heard about coecion gainster style!
back favor, future favor, destroye who you love or what love ?
Can we judge ourselve and be fair to the other ?
Think again and say it to god !
Dr Steven is a Political Science professor, but he is not specialized in Cambodian plitics. I am afraid he just makes an assumsion on this matter based on his short observation. Before he makes this statement, he should study this matter carefully by vigorously inderstanding Cambodian political culture, history, and current situation. Based on what he said, he is not well informed about Cambodian politics and completely do not understand about our culture. when you have a PhD. degree, dose not mean you know every thing until you spend enough time to study and research it based on facts.
Cambodia's national elections were also closely watched by the local watchdogs and the international community. What did we get? Elections that were still full of irregularities. Despite protests from the local and international communities, the CPP-controlled NEC did not give a monkey's toss whether the elections were deemed free and fair by them or not. It is the win-win strategy adopted by the CPP leadership that they had to comply with.
Why did the negotiation with the U.N. to establish the KR tribunal drag on for so long? Hun Sen and Ranariddh requested the U.N. Secretary General to help establish the KR tribunal. After he purged Ranariddh from power, he wanted to change his mind as all the KR defectors, with the exception of Ta Mok, sided with the CPP after the coup. But, having stated his commitment with the U.N. he could not just go back on his words as he would with the Cambodian people. The usual delay tactics were deployed and plan was drawn up to give Cambodian judges and prosecutors a greater degree of control over the tribunal. It has been over 9 years since that letter of request was sent to the U.N., and we only get to this far. Doesn't that tell anyone something is not quite right?
Most members of the Khmer Rouge are living freely and holding the power in the present day Cambodia. What are the chances that Sihanok,Kiev Samphan,Ieang Sary (pardonned by the King), Hun Sen and companies will admit their roles in Khmer's genocide? But I do believe that justice will be served one day......
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