By Chey Sachak
Moneakseka Khmer
Translated from Khmer and posted online
International jurists based in New York City told the media last Thursday that "there were allegations of corruption in the court for trying the former Khmer Rouge leaders" and they demanded that these corruption allegations be investigated most thoroughly and quickly.
In their accusation, this group of international jurists claimed as if they were 100 percent sure that Cambodian judges and court personnel in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia [ECCC] must kick back a significant portion of their salaries to Cambodian government officials in exchange for their positions on the court.
However, the spokesman for the ECCC completely rejected the charges, claiming that "these allegations are without proof and are totally unfounded. Therefore, we cannot accept them and we do not want to see such bad cooperation."
This spokesman of the Khmer Rouge trial court went on to say, "In general, the Administrative Office of the ECCC has been working transparently since the beginning as we have auditors from foreign countries through the good offices of the UNDP. The auditors from Malaysia came here two or three times already and they all said that everything was fine. Therefore, we just do not understand why this group of jurists made these allegations, and we cannot accept them."
There have been many corruption allegations about the US$56-million budget for the operations of this hybrid tribunal as various excuses have been used to repeatedly postpone the ECCC hearings. Anyway, it has been heard that this great half-breed tribunal might hold a full hearing in 2007.
Although it was maintained that this tribunal to try the former Khmer Rouge leaders would proceed with transparency, an organization called the Open Society Justice Initiative [OSJI] said in a statement issued on Thursday that "Cambodian court personnel, including judges, must kick back a significant percentage of their wages to Cambodian government officials in exchange for the positions they have received in this court."
The statement underscored, "These allegations, if proven, would undermine the credibility of the ECCC, and they must be most thoroughly and swiftly investigated."
A high-ranking foreign diplomat told the media without revealing his name that if these allegations were true it would be a problem of serious concern and it would be better if urgent counter-measures are taken.
However, most of the personnel in this Khmer Rouge trial court, including the judges, have denied the charges, saying that they were not aware of any request for kickbacks of part of their wages by any government officials.
Nevertheless, ECCC Public Affairs Officer Peter Foster was of the opinion that if there were serious allegations about corruption, then there must be an investigation by both sides in this tribunal.
A source close to the New York-based OSJI told the media that at least 182 ECCC staffers, both Cambodian and international, who are working in the court to try the former Khmer Rouge leaders are paid wages ranging from $300, $700, and $1,700 to $2,000-3,000 and more than $5,000 a month depending on their positions from janitors, laborers, and assistant personnel to judges and court officials. And if they are Cambodian officials and personnel, they must give part of their wages to government officials, he said.
The same source said in detail, "The payment of part of the wages amounting to at least some 20 percent must be made every month. On paper, everything looks fine because full wages are signed away."
However, an ECCC official claimed that an international accounting firm has been commissioned by the UNDP, which is holding the funds of more than $56 million in trust for the court, to audit the human resources practices on the Cambodian side of the ECCC.
At the same time, the ECCC press officer told the media that this oversight was the first of its kind since the court started operations. He said that the results would be made public soon.
This court spokesman further said that the Cambodian side of the ECCC has been subjected to two financial audits already, that is, once in November 2006 and another time in January 2007. However, no remarkable serious misdeeds as alleged have been found.
The news about these allegations has been profoundly disturbing to most Cambodians because this court has so far spent time and resources only on making itself civilized and pretty. It has not yet done anything that can be construed as part of a search to find justice for the nearly 2 million Cambodian victims of the Khmer Rouge regime because of a protracted deadlock on the ECCC internal rules.
Therefore, it is not certain that this half-breed tribunal will be able to find justice for the Cambodian victims, for it could be just a preposterous creature as criticized by the New York-based OSJI.
In their accusation, this group of international jurists claimed as if they were 100 percent sure that Cambodian judges and court personnel in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia [ECCC] must kick back a significant portion of their salaries to Cambodian government officials in exchange for their positions on the court.
However, the spokesman for the ECCC completely rejected the charges, claiming that "these allegations are without proof and are totally unfounded. Therefore, we cannot accept them and we do not want to see such bad cooperation."
This spokesman of the Khmer Rouge trial court went on to say, "In general, the Administrative Office of the ECCC has been working transparently since the beginning as we have auditors from foreign countries through the good offices of the UNDP. The auditors from Malaysia came here two or three times already and they all said that everything was fine. Therefore, we just do not understand why this group of jurists made these allegations, and we cannot accept them."
There have been many corruption allegations about the US$56-million budget for the operations of this hybrid tribunal as various excuses have been used to repeatedly postpone the ECCC hearings. Anyway, it has been heard that this great half-breed tribunal might hold a full hearing in 2007.
Although it was maintained that this tribunal to try the former Khmer Rouge leaders would proceed with transparency, an organization called the Open Society Justice Initiative [OSJI] said in a statement issued on Thursday that "Cambodian court personnel, including judges, must kick back a significant percentage of their wages to Cambodian government officials in exchange for the positions they have received in this court."
The statement underscored, "These allegations, if proven, would undermine the credibility of the ECCC, and they must be most thoroughly and swiftly investigated."
A high-ranking foreign diplomat told the media without revealing his name that if these allegations were true it would be a problem of serious concern and it would be better if urgent counter-measures are taken.
However, most of the personnel in this Khmer Rouge trial court, including the judges, have denied the charges, saying that they were not aware of any request for kickbacks of part of their wages by any government officials.
Nevertheless, ECCC Public Affairs Officer Peter Foster was of the opinion that if there were serious allegations about corruption, then there must be an investigation by both sides in this tribunal.
A source close to the New York-based OSJI told the media that at least 182 ECCC staffers, both Cambodian and international, who are working in the court to try the former Khmer Rouge leaders are paid wages ranging from $300, $700, and $1,700 to $2,000-3,000 and more than $5,000 a month depending on their positions from janitors, laborers, and assistant personnel to judges and court officials. And if they are Cambodian officials and personnel, they must give part of their wages to government officials, he said.
The same source said in detail, "The payment of part of the wages amounting to at least some 20 percent must be made every month. On paper, everything looks fine because full wages are signed away."
However, an ECCC official claimed that an international accounting firm has been commissioned by the UNDP, which is holding the funds of more than $56 million in trust for the court, to audit the human resources practices on the Cambodian side of the ECCC.
At the same time, the ECCC press officer told the media that this oversight was the first of its kind since the court started operations. He said that the results would be made public soon.
This court spokesman further said that the Cambodian side of the ECCC has been subjected to two financial audits already, that is, once in November 2006 and another time in January 2007. However, no remarkable serious misdeeds as alleged have been found.
The news about these allegations has been profoundly disturbing to most Cambodians because this court has so far spent time and resources only on making itself civilized and pretty. It has not yet done anything that can be construed as part of a search to find justice for the nearly 2 million Cambodian victims of the Khmer Rouge regime because of a protracted deadlock on the ECCC internal rules.
Therefore, it is not certain that this half-breed tribunal will be able to find justice for the Cambodian victims, for it could be just a preposterous creature as criticized by the New York-based OSJI.
7 comments:
What else is new? Obviously, this
allegation among others is
politically motivated to paint a
bad picture of the CPP for the
coming election. The opposition,
just trying to take Cambodia
away to destroy it as they did
in the 70's. The SISOWATT
Sarimatakis people will not give
up until Cambodia is perished from
this planet, but little do they
know that Khmer people will not
allowed them (evils) to destroyed
Cambodia again.
Hanoi behind this for sure...good job VC!qwselsqf
Oh, in that case it is okay then.
Yes if the SEE PEE PEE keeps stealing the votes from the people and allow Ah Youn to vote for the his party. Ah Kvak is not going to live forever. He will be out of of power and become a cry-baby like he did in 1993 when the election was held under the control of the UN.
Bullshit, in 1993, people was
voting for Somdach Euv, and since
Somdach Euv is not allowed to rule,
the CPP have the right to fill
Somdach Euv's shoes because they
are very close friend, and everyone
know that, right?
No, 2:57PM, you are not right. The CPP threatened to secede the Eastern half of Cambodia if they were not allowed to share the power after they had lost the national election. Of course, the Yuons were only too happy to help the Shit Pee Pee carry out their threat.
They are a poor loser, and everyone knows that. Stop being so blind to the truth.
Yeah, but even if what you said is
true, it doesn't matter because
the FUNCINPEC deceived the public
to vote for Sihanouk. So when
people voted for Sihanouk and
Sihanouk can't be PM, then it meant
we have position to be shared.
Why should Ranarith get everything
when people are not voting for
him but his father. Plus, the guy
rarely follows his father advices,
which is why he's in deep trouble
these days.
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