06 September 2007By Huy Vannak Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
The opposition leader of Cambodia declared on Tuesday that the only incarceration of the former Tuol Sleng (S-21) jail warden, Kaing Kek Iev alias Duch, for the genocide under the Khmer Rouge regime is unfair.
Sam Rainsy’s criticism was made when the president of the KR Tribunal (KRT) provided 30 days for the public or other organizations to provide their opinions on whether to continue detaining Duch, or he should be allowed a bail.
Sam Rainsy said: “There are many suspects in the Khmer Rouge affair, why only Duch is arrested? Only one person is arrested, how about the other people? Why they are not arrested and jailed also? This is discrimination, it’s like a political gain for those who surrendered to the government, they remain free.”
Sam Rainsy did not say whether Duch should be released or not, he only asked for fairness in this case.
However, Chum Mey, a former victim of the Tuol Sleng jail, demands that the KRT continues to detain Duch. “Relatives of many of people died in Tuol Sleng, there is no trial yet, why release Duch? In Duch’s case, he is guilty already, and to support him to remain outside of jail, I do not agree with it,” Chum Mey said.
Seng Theary, executive director of the Center for Social Development, welcomes the fact that the KRT gives the opportunity for the public to participate in the KRT legal process regarding Duch’s case: “I believe that this is the ECCC legal process, and I highly value the lawyers, the legal officials who have deep expertise. Furthermore, I congratulate the tribunal to provide the opportunity, and I personally also want to know about people’s opinion and interest in Duch’s subject.”
Meanwhile, Thun Saray, director of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC) which represents more than 30 organizations in Cambodia, said that even if the court received the appeal file from Duch’s co-lawyers, the co-investigating judges must continue their investigations, in order to guarantee the tribunal lasting operation.
The tribunal took this action on an accused person after Duch’s co-lawyers, Kar Savuth and François Roux, filed a complaint to the appeal court to oppose the decision to continue detaining Duch, and the charge of (perpetrating) a criminal act against humanity.
Up until now, the KRT did not yet reveal the names of the other 4 KR leaders who have been designated for questioning.
Sam Rainsy’s criticism was made when the president of the KR Tribunal (KRT) provided 30 days for the public or other organizations to provide their opinions on whether to continue detaining Duch, or he should be allowed a bail.
Sam Rainsy said: “There are many suspects in the Khmer Rouge affair, why only Duch is arrested? Only one person is arrested, how about the other people? Why they are not arrested and jailed also? This is discrimination, it’s like a political gain for those who surrendered to the government, they remain free.”
Sam Rainsy did not say whether Duch should be released or not, he only asked for fairness in this case.
However, Chum Mey, a former victim of the Tuol Sleng jail, demands that the KRT continues to detain Duch. “Relatives of many of people died in Tuol Sleng, there is no trial yet, why release Duch? In Duch’s case, he is guilty already, and to support him to remain outside of jail, I do not agree with it,” Chum Mey said.
Seng Theary, executive director of the Center for Social Development, welcomes the fact that the KRT gives the opportunity for the public to participate in the KRT legal process regarding Duch’s case: “I believe that this is the ECCC legal process, and I highly value the lawyers, the legal officials who have deep expertise. Furthermore, I congratulate the tribunal to provide the opportunity, and I personally also want to know about people’s opinion and interest in Duch’s subject.”
Meanwhile, Thun Saray, director of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC) which represents more than 30 organizations in Cambodia, said that even if the court received the appeal file from Duch’s co-lawyers, the co-investigating judges must continue their investigations, in order to guarantee the tribunal lasting operation.
The tribunal took this action on an accused person after Duch’s co-lawyers, Kar Savuth and François Roux, filed a complaint to the appeal court to oppose the decision to continue detaining Duch, and the charge of (perpetrating) a criminal act against humanity.
Up until now, the KRT did not yet reveal the names of the other 4 KR leaders who have been designated for questioning.
25 comments:
Where are the real defenders? China, Vietnam, US, Thailand? King Sihanouk is a key witness, but if King Sihanouk is scared to testify against them for he may be shot like Kennedy, then go by the book. Bring China, Vietnam, US and Thaialnd to testify.
Sam Rainsy is right keeping Duch alone is unfair like killing Lee Oswald for the sins of the CIA Mafia J. EDgar Hoover. Duch a prison guard then why is he the only one who is standing trial after Pol Pot, Ta Mok were all eliminated by assassination?
These powerful MAFIA Nations cannot be touched and King Sihanouk is scared to testify, but the innocence man (Duch) will be condemned while the guilty ones, China, Vietnam, US and Thaialnd go free.
Who should be responsible or should pay the price of this genocide? It should be CHINA, VIETNAM, US and Thailand. These Capitalism and Communism fought each other and blame on King Sihanouk alone is unfair either.
Now pay KHmer and close this misery chapter so Cambodia can move on.
I agree with Sam ransy criticism.Mr Duch he worked under the masterminded guy from vietmin secret spies.eccc should searching further more.
The whole ECCC creation is riddled with foreign influent since day one!
It is kind of sad to see only Cambodian people are being framed and accused in the UN Court trial for all that happen to Cambodia in the 1960,1970,1980...
Cambodia is a very small poor neutral country that just emerged from the French colony and for these foreigners to use and to destroy Cambodia back to the Stone Age without a thought is unspeakable and on top of that they make Cambodian people responsible for everything that happened! As far as I am concern these foreigners with all their money and experts have become very successful in painting Cambodian people as the most monstrous and barbaric people on Earth!
Please give a second thought abut the whole process of UN court procedure! Just a second thought to see that justice is served for all Cambodian people and others who are the victims of political game by major powers during the cold war! Cambodian leaders and Cambodian people are all victims in this whole drama and I can not stress that hard enough!
Keep on blaming at each other, foreigners certainly will take advantage of that. Let mature up and let the court decides. Learn the process and rules the professional ways.
Duch should be free as everyone who's a War Criminal.
I listen Beijing's radio almost everyday since Sihanouk was the Broadcastor no 1 of Beijing's radio.
Without him I do not think Khmer Rouge would have the Victory of March 18,1975.
Why only Duch ,in the massive of Khmer-Killing Field ?
Sihanouk knew himself that he's not an innocent in this genocide.
In the past ,late 60,Sihanouk was so proud himself by telling in National Radio that he could sleep well,no bad dream; by ordering his polices to arrest & kille a several
hundred students & teachers at Palaing High school,Kompong Thom who were demonstrating against the his government.
He added :" I feel good cuz I can sleep without nightmare !!! ".
Would he became a Criminal against his own people ?
And plus Khmer Rouge's affairs.
In his hands,Sihanouk has so much Khmer-Blood were stained.Can he wash it and walk free as an innocent ?
As long as Hun Sen rules,no one can touch Sihanouk...cuz the both are criminals .They rule,live together in the same Political-Habitat,that's why I call them :
Sath Yoki-Yokear
You saw only the pictures shown on the screen and voices but you didn't know who brought the disaster into Indochina Region.
The war between Communist China & Soviet against Capitalism US brought this genocide. As a politician and a leader King Sihanouk did his very best to save his country. King Sihanouk was not a traitor or a murderer as some of your hate group labeled him.
The vast majority of the people in Cambodia not only love the King, but they understood.
9:24 AM, we understand your predicament. Unfortunately, you don't have a choice to be critical of anyone or anything, because being so could get you into Prey Sar. In a totalitarian regime, fear and intimidation are the primary modes of operation of those who hang on to power, and over time, you will convince yourself that you are in love for these powerful manipulators. With more education and time, more and more people will start to see why democracy is better than totalitarianism. How could you say that your current leaders are the best, if you never had a chance to see anyone else becoming new leaders? Eventually, corruption, impunity, intermidation, cronyism, will push people to see that these things actually impede progress and development; and that is when revolution or change occurs.
You see black you called black, and when you see white you called white. This world "politics" is not what you saw, it is a lot of gray areas that King Sihanouk played just like other political world leaders do.
I don't advocate the totalitarian regime but your group's activities strength this regime.
In response to 9:24 AM -
I was too young to know or remember King Sihanouk's achievement prior to year 1970, but since March 1970, I was forced to observe and understand both domestic and geo/regional politics. I cannot totally accept that the King has saved Cambodia from anything; the only achievement noticeable was the restoration of the monarchy, which really means almost nothing in term of the lives of regular people. The King engineered so well, that all those people who lost lives in the civil war after 1979 sacrificed in vain. Cambodia is still under the yokes of the same group that started Cambodia in the path of the Vietnam War - the alliance between the same players with Vietnamese communists (Sihanouk + Viet Minh/Cong and Current regime + Viet Minh/Cong)
If you meant to say that Sihanouk saved Cambodia from the USA, I would accept that it could be valid for more interpretation, but other than that, the King did not save Cambodia from anything!!!
He may, based on some evidents, be alleged to have aided and comforted the Khmer Rouge. It was a partnership of convenienece. He used the Khmer Rouge to defeat the USA and Lon Nol, while the Khmer Rouge used him to advance their cause - so, should not this be a guilt-by-association? A good leader or King at that time should have worked toward reconciliation with Lon Nol, (or pursued legal channel to contest the Coup) instead of instigating/abating with the Khmer Rouge to destroy Cambodia.
It turned out that the Khmer Rouge were not too comfortable with the Vietnamese, and that Sihanouk and China had then already become reciprocally indebted to one another. When the Vietnamese leaned toward the former Soviet Union (to protect themselves from China and its lackey, KR), Khmer Rouge and Sihanouk became China's proxy and lost out to the more powerful and clever Vietnamese. So, based on all these examples, the King is obviously someone who would ally himself with just anybody who could help him stay a King.
We are seeing history about to repeat itself. This time it is about military and economic issues, while the last time it was more about ideological cold-war. The current leaders must make it clear to both super powers what they want for Cambodia. There must be a policy which will not provide any advantage to any one of these two big powers over the other. These two powers owe it to the innocent Cambodians that no more tragedy will bestowe on this land.
These are my answers to your questions.
You see black you called black, and when you see white you called white. This world "politics" is not what you saw, it is a lot of gray areas that King Sihanouk played just like other political world leaders do.
I don't advocate the totalitarian regime but your group's activities strength this regime.
Which ever way King Sihanouk chose to play, your hate group will never be satisfied.
You still failed to convince me what the King has saved Cambodia from?
B ecivilized and rational, back up your claim and stop labeling. It is not hate nor love for the King, but to debate the truth.
addition from 11:58 AM
the gray area is currently providing the shade, and helping to hide the truth about what happened in the killing field.
The gray area is also where it is difficult to have transparency and accountability. Even thieves like the dark shadow! I am not against being political and standing for individual belief, but I expect people to be responsible for their action and conviction.
Why do you want him to convince you if you keep adding more salt and pepper? You are not looking to understand others' opinions but you started to trash them already.
"Gray area" with respect to the politics that the politician use his strategy against his opponent (nation vs. nation) not in the KRT.
When you demanded others to be civilized but you yourself aren't.
11:58 AM. You cannot handle the truth. This gray area is not a transparent object. You already made believe that the King is no good then what is the point?
You said you were young in 1970, but I was not yet born. The age has nothing to do with the person's knowledge. What I see but you don't, so what more do you want to know?
To 11:42AM from me Hean KONG,
Prime Minister Hun Sen has declared and then decreed King-Father Norodom Sihanouk as Preah Moha Vireak Ksatr (the valorous King) which means much more than a hero. The King Father was obliged and called the Prime Minister the greatest hero Cambodia has ever produced (sic). Now we come to the siplest question: Are these two leaders true heroes? People who have gained some sort of privilege or benefit from either King-Father Norodom Sihanouk or Prime Minister Hun Sen will, of course, say YES. Unfortunately, families of millions of victims of the Khmer Rouge atrocities will certainly say NO, and you call them "the hate group". Is it fair? Definitely NOT.
Psychologically speaking, no one in the face of this planet earth cam impose LOVE, nor can they command HATE. You do good to me repetetively and then I will love you. Conversely, when you hit me again and again, you deprive me of everything including my dignity as a human being, you kill some of my relatives, there is no way in the world that you can command LOVE from me. I must hate you. My children will hate you. My children's children will certainly nurture this hatred towards you for centuries to come.
My friend, please remember that there will never be a fully acceptable national reconciliation without total justice being rendered to families of millions of victims of the Khmer Rouge atrocities. The best the ECCC-UN can do is to explain to the world as to why the tragedy of the Killing Fields has happened under the nose of the United Nations and look for ways of preventing it from happening again in the future. And I underline the phrase "the best the ECCC-UN can do".
Yes I support your ideas Mr. SRS. I still remembered Ta Mok said "Si kuyteav ma tok Mok chenh luy m'neak eng "
1:18 PM, I am still waiting for you to tell what did the King save Cambodia from, and to back up that claim. I am open to accept and analyze any information you can provide on that question. the King is 85 years old, why everything is still in the gray area for him??? You, too, have to clarify what "gray area" means to the people! Does it mean some kind of top secret information? you said I cannot handle the truth, what truth, if you have been keeping it in the "gray area?"
I already told you, it is not hate, nor love for the king. I believe I have enough mental and intellectual capacity to understand right and wrong.
Do you know the Khmer Rouge kept forcing their truth to all Cambodians for almost five years, but still people survived to see beyond their "gray area?"
12:53 PM, I called him to be more civilized because he kept calling people "trouble makers" and "haters."
Did you just say and mean that Sihanouk is still strategizing under the "gray area" of politics and plotting against opponents and other nations? Give me a break, please.
Is "gray area" above the law? If the King claims the gray area, can other Khmer Rouge leaders also claim they are also in gray area?
Let me ask,is Mr.Sam Rainsy a
-Sihanoukist?
-Monarchist?
-Populist?
-Humanist?
-Buddhist?
-Socialist?
-Autocratic?
-Democratic?
-Revisionist?
-Reactionary?
-Revolutionary?
-Dictator?
-Absolutist?
laslty,a opportunist?
Appreciate your candor.
If he was elected and leads the country, only then we could observe and judge him. If he was elected and it turned out that he is a no good leader, vote him out the next term. I know these talks are all bull crap, because it is not going to affect the current entrenched culture at all. People just have to keep lying to themselves that everything is good as long as we keep things the way they have been (shhhhh..shhhhh, peace and stability, reconciliation, understand?)
Your group never understood before and you still don't understand now. You can write but you cannot properly ask the questions.
You claimed you have enough mental and intelligence capacity to understand right or wrong, but I disagree with you, I said that you DON'T. You don't have enough intelligence in this particular area to understand the King's strategy against the superpower Communism and Capitalism.
That's right you cannot handle the truth and you don't have enough intelligence to understand it.
I don't have to clarify to you and your uncivilized group anything. You didn't understand from the begining then you don't understand now.
Why I said "uncivilized group"? Just read your questions, one knows that they are not intelligent questions as you have claimed you do have intelligence, your questions are irrational questions.
I'm and my group are not here to make war with you and your group, but we understood what the King tried to do for his country. The genocide was not created by the King as you and your group claimed, but by the war between Communism against Capitalism, and the King did his best job to save his country. Whatever the results may be the King did save his country.
Because of that we the vast majority who understand the King's strategies, we love the King and even for the principal defender.
If the UN does not invite the real defenders China, Vietnam, US, Soviet and Thailand, especially Vietnam, the source of the war which led to cause the civil war and genocide in cambodia, then you cannot accuse the King as he is the killer who killed his own people.
Cambodian people went through many wars and genocide by foreigners, now they at least have a little peace, albeit they are facing the poverty; and this peace and calm must be protected; and whoever can protect this peace and stability the Cambodian people don't care as long as they can have peace.
1118pm is the winner. How's the weather in Rhode Island?
I am totally supporting the idea of Samrainsy for his brilliant response and standing firmly on standard of laws.
More than this, I learn many things from your intellectual debates in this forum.
In summery, I can see that the methods that our King Father has been always using are exactly promoting his personal fame (if I am not wrong, you can check again to political strategies of King Faith Sihanouk).
The questions are:
1. Why King Father truthfully sided with China and supported his blatant barbaric enemy like Pol Pot?
2. Why King Father chose to fully support Ho Chi Minh and blindly believed the promises of Ho?
3. Why King Father chose to compromise loser to be co-premier, Hun Sen and Rannarith? In that time, the world was astonished by King's reconciliation method...one thing we can see is that the King became the father of Cambodians (is it real?), father of reconciliation. But what failed? Democracy and Cambodian people are failing from that reconciliation.
4. King Father requested for immunity like a King following Cambodian constitution is contradict the Cambodian national constitution that recognized only one king. If his request is successful, Cambodia would have two Kings (father and son)...I am really experiencing political diarrhea is it becomes true.
5. King Father should not choose to play "gray politics" in current transitional time. He should not distort ECCC-UN though sometime this institution has been intentionally deprived by CPP or not believable that it can bring justice for Cambodia, but at least, it can create model or state of law in Cambodia. King Father should not hope or admire the protecting words from Chea Sim or Hun Sen or Kiev Kannarith...etc Legally, they have no legitimacy to protect the King, but why they said so because they are only using King Father as their instrument to gain popular from Cambodian people.
King Father should not expose himself as their political instrument. King Father should try to side with the laws, actual laws of Cambodia, ECCC and International.
Firstly, I don't want the issue of King Father with KRT being publicized...but now it is occurred though sometime it is just the political strategy of some political party (especially CPP)...King Father has to use this current changing situation to cleanse himself to become real Hero of Cambodia for future generaton (not like previous one: Father of National Reconciliation between Rannarith & Hun Sen..sic).
With my respectful to King Father.
KY
KY,
Please if you have a few minutes or so read my group respond to..
http://ki-media.blogspot.com/2007/09/king-father-stop-pestering-me-with-this.html
Anonymous said...
Who disagrees that war between Capitalism and Communisn was not the war of idealogies? This war is still going on until today. If not why is China & Russia against US?
I Totally disagree with you for saying that this war between these superpower nations was not part of the source of civil war and genocide in Cambodia. Cambodia has to face many wars: war against the former invader (Vietnam) and the war of the superpower nations.
Cambodia has no friends with her neighbors: Thailand and Vietnam.
These two have always looked for the opportunities to swallow Cambodia.
This war between Capitalism and Communism gave the Vietnamese to use it as a pretext while the Vietnamese have already built a giant army since the French colony, and they spread their doctrine all over in Cambodia before King Sihanouk was King.
Cambodia was already infected by the troops of the Vietnamese; she was under mud. To join them so she may be survived or to go againt them the Vietnamese and their communist troops China and Soviet would destroy her?
The leaders of Cambodia get to act fast, if not then the whole population would be dumped onto the river, the same as Lon Nol dumped the Vietnamese troops in civilian clothes into the river.
Cambodia had only two choices: Join with the enemy whose troups sheep are dipped into Cambodia since the French colony, so she may be survived or to join with the US? How much do Khmers know about the US's foreign policy toward a small useless Nation like Cambodia?
Your analysis lacks of the source of the cause. We can ask you the same thing. Why did you or the Vietnamese create the Indochinese Communist Party? Why did you or Vietnnamese Communist recruit the Khmer Rouge since in 1930?
To say the Khmer Rouge were not Robot and who created them? What were the purposes of creating the Khmer Rouge and teach the Khmer Rouge? How can you speak on behalf of the Vietnamese Communist after Pol Pot was already cremated and he no longer can defend himself?
That is right who created and controlled them? Do you recognize one of the Khmer Rouge member HE Hok Lundi, former Mr. Nguyen Van Son? Do you recognize Dr. Tioun Mom and his family members?
Is it not true that the Vietnamese Communist create Khmer Rouge?
Is it not true that China and Vietnam both fought to control Cambodia that's why Khmer Rouge divided to 2 factions?
If you said no, and why did China invade Vietnam?
If The Vietnamese create its own puppets Khmer Rouge and since the Vietnamese controled Cambodia before French, during French and now, why do you think the Vietnamese should be freed from testifying what caused this genocide in Cambodia?
The Vietnamese created the Khmer Rouge, the Vietnamese said the evil is Pol Pot, and anyone that replacing Pol Pot is better, so the Vietnamese created another one is Hun Sen.
Now Hun Sen is being shown as the Khnmer Rouge's enemy, but sadly Hun Sen is still another Khmer Rouge, not China faction, but the same Khmer Rouge that created by the same creator, Vietnamese.
This Khmer Rouge Trial should invite the creator, Vietnamese to testify, then China.
And the Soviet, US and Thailand should also pay the damage.
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