"For those who have the power and influence and bad faith to obstruct (the court), there are many more opportunities to do so" - Seng Theary, Center for Social Development
PHNOM PENH (AFP) — The arrest of the Khmer Rouge regime's top surviving leader will lend much-needed credibility to Cambodia's beleaguered UN-backed genocide court, analysts say, but is only a small step on the road to justice.
They warn that the complicated process of bringing former regime leaders to justice could yet become tangled in the bickering and allegations of political interference that have marred the proceedings so far.
Nuon Chea, who became the communist movement's chief ideologue and is said to have engineered its sweeping execution policies, was arrested Wednesday and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity by the court.
Aged 82, he is the first of several former leaders still living freely in Cambodia to be seized for atrocities committed under the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule, during which up to two million people were executed or died of disease, starvation or overwork.
Although not immune from arrest, Nuon Chea did enoy some protection after striking a 1998 surrender deal with the government that effectively doomed the Khmer Rouge and ended Cambodia's long civil war.
"In the minds of many Cambodians he represents the highest political figure of the era," tribunal co-prosecutor Robert Petit told AFP.
It follows the arrest of Khmer Rouge jailor Duch in July, while three other leaders who have not been publicly named remain under investigation.
But the tribunal does not expect to hold public trials until 2008 and badly needs to shed its image as a lethargic, bureaucratically hobbled court.
"It's a sense of relief and a sense that something has been done," said Youk Chhang, a top genocide researcher whose Documentation Centre of Cambodia has been instrumental in gathering evidence.
Others said the arrest was a test of political will to push ahead with the prosecutions.
It "is definitely a positive reflection on the government in allowing the legal process to go forward," said Cambodian-American lawyer Theary Seng, head of the civil society organisation Centre for Social Development (CSD).
However, she cautioned, "this arrest is only one step -- a very significant but not sufficient step -- in the long, entangled legal proceeding."
Cambodia's government is widely believed to exert powerful influence over the country's weak judiciary, and local jurists are thought by some observers to be picked more for loyalty to the ruling party than legal competence.
Others warn that the government is keen to see the proceedings watered down to avoid uncomfortable scrutiny of some of its own members who are themselves former Khmer Rouge.
Authorities made an aborted attempt recently to transfer one of Cambodia's most skilled jurists, co-investigating judge You Bunleng, from his job when he was determining which suspects would be brought to court.
Also, calls by a little-known US-based group to call Cambodia's former king Norodom Sihanouk to the court have escalated into a row between the government and United Nations.
Some lawmakers and senior politicians have urged the tribunal to be closed, saying forcing the ex-monarch to testify would violate the constitution.
The result is that many survivors are still sceptical that the tribunal is any closer to finding justice for them.
"I believe in the trial, but it goes backwards and forwards like a tug of war," said one former Khmer Rouge soldier who now works as a motorcycle taxi driver.
The CSD's Theary Seng warned that the battling is not likely to be over as the court reaches the half-way point of its expected three-year lifespan with still no guarantee of justice.
"The atrocities and crimes occurred 30 years ago which affect the loss of evidence, the loss of witnesses, which will all factor into if there will be a conviction," she said.
"For those who have the power and influence and bad faith to obstruct (the court), there are many more opportunities to do so."
They warn that the complicated process of bringing former regime leaders to justice could yet become tangled in the bickering and allegations of political interference that have marred the proceedings so far.
Nuon Chea, who became the communist movement's chief ideologue and is said to have engineered its sweeping execution policies, was arrested Wednesday and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity by the court.
Aged 82, he is the first of several former leaders still living freely in Cambodia to be seized for atrocities committed under the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule, during which up to two million people were executed or died of disease, starvation or overwork.
Although not immune from arrest, Nuon Chea did enoy some protection after striking a 1998 surrender deal with the government that effectively doomed the Khmer Rouge and ended Cambodia's long civil war.
"In the minds of many Cambodians he represents the highest political figure of the era," tribunal co-prosecutor Robert Petit told AFP.
It follows the arrest of Khmer Rouge jailor Duch in July, while three other leaders who have not been publicly named remain under investigation.
But the tribunal does not expect to hold public trials until 2008 and badly needs to shed its image as a lethargic, bureaucratically hobbled court.
"It's a sense of relief and a sense that something has been done," said Youk Chhang, a top genocide researcher whose Documentation Centre of Cambodia has been instrumental in gathering evidence.
Others said the arrest was a test of political will to push ahead with the prosecutions.
It "is definitely a positive reflection on the government in allowing the legal process to go forward," said Cambodian-American lawyer Theary Seng, head of the civil society organisation Centre for Social Development (CSD).
However, she cautioned, "this arrest is only one step -- a very significant but not sufficient step -- in the long, entangled legal proceeding."
Cambodia's government is widely believed to exert powerful influence over the country's weak judiciary, and local jurists are thought by some observers to be picked more for loyalty to the ruling party than legal competence.
Others warn that the government is keen to see the proceedings watered down to avoid uncomfortable scrutiny of some of its own members who are themselves former Khmer Rouge.
Authorities made an aborted attempt recently to transfer one of Cambodia's most skilled jurists, co-investigating judge You Bunleng, from his job when he was determining which suspects would be brought to court.
Also, calls by a little-known US-based group to call Cambodia's former king Norodom Sihanouk to the court have escalated into a row between the government and United Nations.
Some lawmakers and senior politicians have urged the tribunal to be closed, saying forcing the ex-monarch to testify would violate the constitution.
The result is that many survivors are still sceptical that the tribunal is any closer to finding justice for them.
"I believe in the trial, but it goes backwards and forwards like a tug of war," said one former Khmer Rouge soldier who now works as a motorcycle taxi driver.
The CSD's Theary Seng warned that the battling is not likely to be over as the court reaches the half-way point of its expected three-year lifespan with still no guarantee of justice.
"The atrocities and crimes occurred 30 years ago which affect the loss of evidence, the loss of witnesses, which will all factor into if there will be a conviction," she said.
"For those who have the power and influence and bad faith to obstruct (the court), there are many more opportunities to do so."
4 comments:
High Calories or poison?
Here is another dead man following Ta Mok and Pol Pot.
Viet Cong are smiling and drinking tea to see their SHOW trial makes their enemy China so shy.
Vietnam and China already did obstruct justice.
China spent years by lobbying to not having KRT, whereas Vietnam stays calm but their agents sent Pol Pot and Ta Mok to hell already.
The King will not dare to testify against China. His bodyguards are Korean Communists and those men are with China. Since Vietnam just ceded a big piece of land to China and may be more treaties behind the scene, China has to protect Vietnam for her own interest.
So the King cannot testify against both of them.
I think it is mistake to have KRT in Cambodia; because this KRT was organized by the Vietnamese/CPP.
I don't trust the UN that much because what they did in the past. They took the bribes from Vietnamese to tell lies about the Viet troops in Cambodia but claimed it was not then allowed Hun Sen to keep arms in 1993.
U.S. Interests in Cambodia, major U.S. goals in the Kingdom of Cambodia, although Cambodia is a small but strategically important country to the U.S in the Asia Pacific region, include promoting good governance, democracy, and human rights, reducing the threat of terrorism, facilitating trade, and bringing the country’s former Khmer Rouge leaders to justice. Some policy experts urge that greater U.S. assistance and involvement in Cambodia, through not only foreign aid but also enhanced trade, diplomacy, and educational and cultural exchange, may help to achieve U.S. goals. Furthermore, some experts assert that greater U.S. engagement with the kingdom may help to counter PRC economic and political influence from China and Vietnam in Cambodia. Some foreign observers have criticized U.S. policy, arguing that more forthcoming U.S. support would help the Khmer Rouge tribunal court to succeed. The United States has provided nearly $7 million towards efforts involving the documentation of Khmer Rouge atrocities. We Khmer have to create stronger vibration to move their AZZ (the United States)
To avoid forcing to participating in KRT, may be it is best for King Sihanouk temporarily moved to Beijing or Pyong Yang with full protection from their governments??He can always use his excuse of being ill.
Post a Comment