Phnom Penh Post, Issue 16 / 26, December 28, 2007 - January 10, 2008
January
"It's race against time. We need to get there first. Exclusivity is very important to us. Can I fax you an exclusivity contract for you to get the girl to sign."
- Monica Kosicka, assistant producer for Fox Television Studios UK, tells the Post Jan 9, regarding feral woman Rochom P'nhieng found in Rattanakiri province.
"Corruption destroys the whole system of society because it puts pressure on civil servants to exploit those weaker than them. As a result of this the population has come to hate civil servants, teachers, policemen, and soldiers."
- Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation.
"No one can advise him [Hun Sen] that he should stop being Prime Minister. If he wants to stop, he will stop."
- Khieu Kanharith, Minister of Information and government spokesman
"The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. If I do not farm I will have no food to eat. I never get anything from the local authorities, [money and other presents] just arrive at the district and communes."
- Mann Ron, 68, from Chum Kiri, Kampot.
"I understand the point of view of international judges [who may threaten to walk]. They have their own reputations to consider. With justice you cannot compromise, you cannot bargain: law is law, international standards are international standards. If I was an international judge or prosecutor I would do the same. I wouldn't want to be seen as playing a game or [participating in] a show trial."
- Kek Galabru,
president of Licadho.
"Although she doesn't talk to us, sometimes she laughs, smiles and looks outside and talks in a language none of us understand. According to my beliefs, she is talking to the jungle spirits."
- Sal Lou, the local policeman who claimed the feral woman as his long-lost daughter.
"I had to test her to see if she was really a human. I gave her rice which she crouched down to eat like a monkey."
- Sal Lou.
"There is not even a semblance of rule of law in this country. It is not the law that is king; it is the prime minister who is king in this country."
- Basil Fernando,
director of the Asian Human Rights Commission.
"The CPP control the government, the National Assembly, the Senate, 99 percent of village chiefs, the provincial government. Their influence goes through the judiciary, through the police. There should be a much stronger balance of power and system of checks and balances."
-Western diplomat.
"The money that is spent on Cambodia is not free, it is taxpayers money. Every single one of the representatives of [foreign] governments in Cambodia must be responsible and that responsibility lies in having the courage to stand up when the poor continue to loose their land and their livelihoods, when our forests are raped, totally raped, when there is a court, a judiciary, [that is] nothing but a mockery..."
- Mu Sochua, secretary-general of the Sam Rainsy Party.
"The human rights situation in Cambodia in 2006 is better than before. We have seen an end of the pretrial detention procedure, we have reformed our prisons, the general economic situation is good, the media is also able to write freely."
- government spokesman.
February
"What's wrong with members of the royal family? Let me help my nation! I think that land grabbing, corruption, illegal immigration, illegal logging and the selling of state assets is widespread within the government, and there have been serious effects to the living conditions of the poor... We want to stay in politics because we love the nation, and we want to resolve all these problems for the Cambodian people."
- Prince Norodom Chakrapong, deputy president of Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP) .
"The kickbacks have been an open secret for months. The problem with this type of corruption is that it is woven into the fabric of society. The employees who are paying the kickbacks are benefiting. No one is inclined to talk on the record and lose their job. There is a very real fear of retaliation."
-an anonymous
source close to the KRT
"Failure now will never be forgiven by the families of the victims or by historians, regardless of what excuses are given."
- David Scheffer, former US Ambassador for War Crimes Issues, on prospect of dissolving the KRT. .
"So far, this year has had many, many differences from 2002; the candidates are more professional and they understand how to do a campaign much better than in 2002. The general public knows what to expect. They are making more demands of their candidates. It's pressure from these demands that's pushing the level of competition higher. Even the ruling party has learned the language of democracy. They've learned what to say to win votes."
- Ou Virak, executive secretary of the Alliance for Freedom of Expression.
March
"Typically, they ask [in debates] 'What did you have after Pol Pot? Just a few spoons and broken plates. Now there are more roads, more infrastructure, the economy is picking up.'"
- Jerome Cheung, country director of the National Democratic Institute, on the rhetoric on the long-ruling CPP.
"The government knows exactly who carried them out. There is almost no chance they don't know who is responsible, given their very extensive intelligence network."
- Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, on lingering practice in Cambodia of politically-motivated murders.
"It is a breakthrough when Cambodians can think they themselves can push through an agenda and not rely on a donor or the government. We want to give Cambodians the confidence to act themselves."
- Ou Virak, general secretary of AFEC - a coalitions of 28 NGOs and labor unions that organized the non-violent march from Phnom Penh to Angkor Thom.
April
"Civilizing is more important than democratizing. All democracy is founded on consensus, dignity and respect. Democracy is progressing and the process was remarkable."
- US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli, April 2, regarding the 2007 commune council elections, which drew allegations of voter fraud and registration problems.
"The story of this election is that in spite of manipulation of voter lists, in spite of countless flaws and sophisticated tactics, the SRP has emerged as the only credible opposition or alternative to the CPP."
- Sam Rainsy, April 5, on the 2007 commune elections.
"There is a common pattern [of development] in oil rich countries. You see weak government capacity to manage and allocate the windfall, a concentration of resources at the center, an absence of counter pressures such as an independent judiciary or a free press, an increase in military spending, a greater disconnect between government and citizens. Ultimately, this creates the conditions for civil war."
- Ian Gary, policy advisor for extractive industries at Oxfam America, April 11.
"The bar fees limit the freedom of choice for people to be represented as they see fit. Though the fees seem small, they are at least ten times higher than any other international tribunal has charged. So the pool of lawyers willing to work at the trial will get smaller and smaller."
- Peter Foster, spokesman for the international side of the ECCC.
May
"I think that freedom of expression in Cambodia now is worse than before 2003. We didn't celebrate May 1 [International Workers' Day] this year because we didn't want our workers to receive injuries or death when government authorities disperse them."
- Chea Mony, chairman of Free Trade Union.
"He's a dreamer, a thinker. He's deeply lost in his thoughts trying to find solutions."
- SRP parliamentarian Tioulong Saumura, on her husband Sam Rainsy, May 11.
"They don't want to look at the reality of the situation as this would challenge the assumptions on which the entire court is based. The issue is not whether they know there is a problem or not, it is whether they want to face up to that problem or not."
- Helen Jarvis, head of the ECCC press office.
"We confiscated five illegal swords (...) They confessed that the swords were meant to be used for revenge on another group of gangsters."
- Huy Song, deputy police chief of 7 Makara district, regarding the May 28 arrest of Prince Norodom Chakrapong and 9 other youths following a raid on a rented flat occupied by the suspects.
June
"There is much expectation that the co-prosecutors will define what 'senior leaders' or 'those most responsible' really means."
Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-CAM), on the expectations of KR victims.
"We cannot stop the outbreak, because it is already here."
- To Setha, head of the dengue control and research center of the National Center of Malaria (NCM), regarding the explosion of dengue fever.
"The national and international public have witnessed the fact that when the CPP is in control everyone enjoys living in peace."
-CPP Party President Chea Sim, Jun 28 speech at party headquarters.
"In our Constitution peaceful protests are a citizen's right. And in the Constitution, monks are citizens, so they have the same rights as other citizens - they cannot be prohibited from demonstrations."
- Son Soubert, member of the Constitutional Council and son of former PM Son San.
July
"Our project is first about rendering justice for crimes, providing that these crimes happened and that certain individuals are responsible. It's not about writing a history book."
-ECCC prosecutor Robert Petit, July 3.
"I have completely lost hope with the ECCC because it's been 30 years. Many people who survived and waited to see justice are rapidly dying. It is better not to wait any more, the problems [at the court] are happening again and again. I don't think the court will provide justice."
- Acclaimed artist and KR survivor Vann Nath, speaking at the opening of an exhibition of his painting.
"There needs to be a lot of work done over the next year to explain the rights of the defense. The defense is not a role people have seen in the domestic judicial process, so to see it in this context, when people have committed the word of all crimes, will be hard to understand. Everyone thinks, 'they are guilty - why not just list their crimes and be done with it.'"
- Anne Heindel, legal advisor at DC-CAM, on managing the KRT-related expectations of a public of whom nearly everyone was victim of, and witness to, the brutal leadership of the KR regime.
August
"Now [that] we have the Khmer Rouge trial we can look at the fruit but nobody has the right to look at the tree, at the root, at the soil. Nobody looks at why this grew, how the Khmer Rouge started - only if you look at everything can you prevent this from happening again."
- Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith remains skeptical as to whether Duch's testimony would allow the tribunal, with its highly limited mandate, to fill the "blank page" of Cambodia's history.
"We break religious strongholds over this city so that the multitudes will come into a deep personal relationship with God. Let's rejoice - we have the victory."
- TV evangelist Joyce Meyers at a Christian rally outside Chenla Theatre Aug 10.
"The military police were very cruel. They destroyed everything that we needed right in front of us - our mattresses, our clothes, shoes and cooking gear. They hit three or four people."
- Long Srey Lek, a 38-year old mother of two girls, who rents a home in the Drey Krahorm community, following several days of eviction protests beginning Aug 29.
September
"He is the Father of the Nation. Even though he is retired, he retains the status of Head of State and so the King Father is not obliged to testify at the court unless he decides to from his own will."
- Son Soubert, King Norodom Sihamoni's appointee at the Constitutional Council, regarding whether King Father Norodom Sihanouk could be called to testify at the ECCC.
"My 'oath'... I have taken already, today, in front of five superior Buddhist Monks and especially in front of statues and statuettes of Buddha. I do not have to swear an oath after [the one I swore] with Buddha, to debase myself to take an oat in front of the ECCC."
- King Father Norodom Sihanouk, in a Sep 5 statement.
"The tribunal is in serious trouble, and to think otherwise would be delusional. But the problems are not necessarily fatal so long as addressed aggressively, honestly and decisively. The tribunal needs aggressive life-saving surgery, not merely a band-aid. But the Cambodians are not solely to blame for what has unfolded. The diplomatic community and the U.N. have turned a blind eye to the all-too-obvious corruption and managerial catastrophe at the tribunal (...) It is time for the international community to show determination and integrity rather than political expediency."
- John Hall, Chapman University School of Law associate professor, in a Sep 21 editorial in the Wall Street Journal, which prompted the public release of the ECCC audits.
"Although it is a risk to wash one's dirty linen in public, in the long run, we think it will be better for the court."
- Helen Jarvis, head of the press office of the ECCC.
October
"I did not think that regime was so cruel. I was very shocked and cried when I saw the torture materials and the pictures of the people who were tortured. Cambodian people died without doing anything wrong. They were tortured without investigation."
- former KR soldier Yiv Sameth, 50, referring to his visit to Tuol Sleng and Cheung Ek genocide museums, Oct 5.
"We cannot compare the Cambodian investment with Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand. It looks like the cow and the elephant."
- Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh, on Cambodia's continuing inability to attract big investment in lucrative industries like electronics, while addressing a UN Conference on Trade and Development Oct 17.
"A crowd of villagers went to the plane (...) Many villagers had picked up boxes and shirts [the plane's cargo]. Some took so much they couldn't carry it all so they dropped it on the way and I picked up about 5 shirts. About an hour later the police arrived. The plane had broken into 200 pieces (...) You can see many villagers from the district flocking to the area to get a piece of the plane.
- Chan Chhock, 19, says Oct 18, the day after an Antonov cargo plane crashed near his village, Tukuch, in Kandal province.
"Our party representative found that some of the commune councils did not respect and implement the guidelines of the NEC and deleted the voter names without relevant documents and evidence to prove lost voting rights."
- Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, in an Oct 23 latter to the National Election Committee.
"Sometimes, she took a girl home to sleep at home. If sometime she brings a grenade or poison, we could be dead."
- PM Hun Sen says Oct 30 about his lesbian daughter during a speech for graduating students.
"Now they are elected, but where is the promise? We are still living in temporary shelters and now they come to evict us again."
- Kunthea, a member of the some 120 families waiting for new apartments in the Borei Keila development who are accusing their district chiefs of failing to live up to their elections' promises.
November
"I will immediately remove the rank of those officials if they use their role to intimidate the local authorities in order to rescue their children from the police stations when those children get arrested. I will resign if I cannot remove their rank."
- PM Hun Sen, speaking Nov 7 at closing of the 2006-2007 Education Conference.
"You [Kep Chuktema] are not needed as Phnom Penh Municipal governor if you cannot crack down on those children who are racing cars and motorbikes."
- PM Hun Sen, speaking Nov 7 at closing of the 2006-2007 Education Conference.
"I recognized that only 2 or 3 percent of them did that, but with minor crimes, not serious crimes."
- Phnom Penh Municipal Court Chief Chev Keng, Nov 12, on local police who accept bribes from criminal suspects in exchange for not carrying arrest warrants.
"This is the first time I saw his face, as even though I was jailed at S-21 for more than three months I never dared to look at his face then."
- Chum Mey, 77, one of only several S-21 survivors, who came to watch Duch's hearing Nov 20, the first open hearing the court has held.
explain the rights of the defense. The defense is not a role people have seen in the domestic judicial process, so to see it in this context, when people have committed the word of all crimes, will be hard to understand. Everyone thinks, 'they are guilty - why not just list their crimes and be done with it.'"
- Anne Heindel, legal advisor at DC-CAM, on managing the KRT-related expectations of a public of whom nearly everyone was victim of, and witness to, the brutal leadership of the KR regime.
August
"Now [that] we have the Khmer Rouge trial we can look at the fruit but nobody has the right to look at the tree, at the root, at the soil. Nobody looks at why this grew, how the Khmer Rouge started - only if you look at everything can you prevent this from happening again."
- Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith remains skeptical as to whether Duch's testimony would allow the tribunal, with its highly limited mandate, to fill the "blank page" of Cambodia's history.
"We break religious strongholds over this city so that the multitudes will come into a deep personal relationship with God. Let's rejoice - we have the victory."
- TV evangelist Joyce Meyers at a Christian rally outside Chenla Theatre Aug 10.
"The military police were very cruel. They destroyed everything that we needed right in front of us - our mattresses, our clothes, shoes and cooking gear. They hit three or four people."
- Long Srey Lek, a 38-year old mother of two girls, who rents a home in the Drey Krahorm community, following several days of eviction protests beginning Aug 29.
September
"He is the Father of the Nation. Even though he is retired, he retains the status of Head of State and so the King Father is not obliged to testify at the court unless he decides to from his own will."
- Son Soubert, King Norodom Sihamoni's appointee at the Constitutional Council, regarding whether King Father Norodom Sihanouk could be called to testify at the ECCC.
"My 'oath'... I have taken already, today, in front of five superior Buddhist Monks and especially in front of statues and statuettes of Buddha. I do not have to swear an oath after [the one I swore] with Buddha, to debase myself to take an oat in front of the ECCC."
- King Father Norodom Sihanouk, in a Sep 5 statement.
"The tribunal is in serious trouble, and to think otherwise would be delusional. But the problems are not necessarily fatal so long as addressed aggressively, honestly and decisively. The tribunal needs aggressive life-saving surgery, not merely a band-aid. But the Cambodians are not solely to blame for what has unfolded. The diplomatic community and the U.N. have turned a blind eye to the all-too-obvious corruption and managerial catastrophe at the tribunal (...) It is time for the international community to show determination and integrity rather than political expediency."
- John Hall, Chapman University School of Law associate professor, in a Sep 21 editorial in the Wall Street Journal, which prompted the public release of the ECCC audits.
"Although it is a risk to wash one's dirty linen in public, in the long run, we think it will be better for the court."
- Helen Jarvis, head of the press office of the ECCC.
October
"I did not think that regime was so cruel. I was very shocked and cried when I saw the torture materials and the pictures of the people who were tortured. Cambodian people died without doing anything wrong. They were tortured without investigation."
- former KR soldier Yiv Sameth, 50, referring to his visit to Tuol Sleng and Cheung Ek genocide museums, Oct 5.
"We cannot compare the Cambodian investment with Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand. It looks like the cow and the elephant."
- Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh, on Cambodia's continuing inability to attract big
investment in lucrative indu tries
like electronics, while addressing a
UN Conference on Trade and Development Oct 17.
"A crowd of villagers went to the plane (...) Many villagers had picked up boxes and shirts [the plane's cargo]. Some took so much they couldn't carry it all so they dropped it on the way and I picked up about 5 shirts. About an hour later the police arrived. The plane had broken into 200 pieces (...) You can see many villagers from the district flocking to the area to get a piece of the plane.
- Chan Chhock, 19, says Oct 18, the day after an Antonov cargo plane crashed near his village, Tukuch, in Kandal province.
"Our party representative found that some of the commune councils did not respect and implement the guidelines of the NEC and deleted the voter names without relevant documents and evidence to prove lost voting rights."
- Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, in an Oct 23 latter to the National Election Committee.
"Sometimes, she took a girl home to sleep at home. If sometime she brings a grenade or poison, we could be dead."
- PM Hun Sen says Oct 30 about his lesbian daughter during a speech for graduating students.
"Now they are elected, but where is the promise? We are still living in temporary shelters and now they come to evict us again."
- Kunthea, a member of the some 120 families waiting for new apartments in the Borei Keila development who are accusing their district chiefs of failing to live up to their elections' promises.
November
"I will immediately remove the rank of those officials if they use their role to intimidate the local authorities in order to rescue their children from the police stations when those children get arrested. I will resign if I cannot remove their rank."
- PM Hun Sen, speaking Nov 7 at closing of the 2006-2007 Education Conference.
"You [Kep Chuktema] are not needed as Phnom Penh Municipal governor if you cannot crack down on those children who are racing cars and motorbikes."
- PM Hun Sen, speaking Nov 7 at closing of the 2006-2007 Education Conference.
"I recognized that only 2 or 3 percent of them did that, but with minor crimes, not serious crimes."
- Phnom Penh Municipal Court Chief Chev Keng, Nov 12, on local police who accept bribes from criminal suspects in exchange for not carrying arrest warrants.
"This is the first time I saw his face, as even though I was jailed at S-21 for more than three months I never dared to look at his face then."
- Chum Mey, 77, one of only several S-21 survivors, who came to watch Duch's hearing
Nov 20, the first open hearing the court has held.
"It's race against time. We need to get there first. Exclusivity is very important to us. Can I fax you an exclusivity contract for you to get the girl to sign."
- Monica Kosicka, assistant producer for Fox Television Studios UK, tells the Post Jan 9, regarding feral woman Rochom P'nhieng found in Rattanakiri province.
"Corruption destroys the whole system of society because it puts pressure on civil servants to exploit those weaker than them. As a result of this the population has come to hate civil servants, teachers, policemen, and soldiers."
- Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation.
"No one can advise him [Hun Sen] that he should stop being Prime Minister. If he wants to stop, he will stop."
- Khieu Kanharith, Minister of Information and government spokesman
"The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. If I do not farm I will have no food to eat. I never get anything from the local authorities, [money and other presents] just arrive at the district and communes."
- Mann Ron, 68, from Chum Kiri, Kampot.
"I understand the point of view of international judges [who may threaten to walk]. They have their own reputations to consider. With justice you cannot compromise, you cannot bargain: law is law, international standards are international standards. If I was an international judge or prosecutor I would do the same. I wouldn't want to be seen as playing a game or [participating in] a show trial."
- Kek Galabru,
president of Licadho.
"Although she doesn't talk to us, sometimes she laughs, smiles and looks outside and talks in a language none of us understand. According to my beliefs, she is talking to the jungle spirits."
- Sal Lou, the local policeman who claimed the feral woman as his long-lost daughter.
"I had to test her to see if she was really a human. I gave her rice which she crouched down to eat like a monkey."
- Sal Lou.
"There is not even a semblance of rule of law in this country. It is not the law that is king; it is the prime minister who is king in this country."
- Basil Fernando,
director of the Asian Human Rights Commission.
"The CPP control the government, the National Assembly, the Senate, 99 percent of village chiefs, the provincial government. Their influence goes through the judiciary, through the police. There should be a much stronger balance of power and system of checks and balances."
-Western diplomat.
"The money that is spent on Cambodia is not free, it is taxpayers money. Every single one of the representatives of [foreign] governments in Cambodia must be responsible and that responsibility lies in having the courage to stand up when the poor continue to loose their land and their livelihoods, when our forests are raped, totally raped, when there is a court, a judiciary, [that is] nothing but a mockery..."
- Mu Sochua, secretary-general of the Sam Rainsy Party.
"The human rights situation in Cambodia in 2006 is better than before. We have seen an end of the pretrial detention procedure, we have reformed our prisons, the general economic situation is good, the media is also able to write freely."
- government spokesman.
February
"What's wrong with members of the royal family? Let me help my nation! I think that land grabbing, corruption, illegal immigration, illegal logging and the selling of state assets is widespread within the government, and there have been serious effects to the living conditions of the poor... We want to stay in politics because we love the nation, and we want to resolve all these problems for the Cambodian people."
- Prince Norodom Chakrapong, deputy president of Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP) .
"The kickbacks have been an open secret for months. The problem with this type of corruption is that it is woven into the fabric of society. The employees who are paying the kickbacks are benefiting. No one is inclined to talk on the record and lose their job. There is a very real fear of retaliation."
-an anonymous
source close to the KRT
"Failure now will never be forgiven by the families of the victims or by historians, regardless of what excuses are given."
- David Scheffer, former US Ambassador for War Crimes Issues, on prospect of dissolving the KRT. .
"So far, this year has had many, many differences from 2002; the candidates are more professional and they understand how to do a campaign much better than in 2002. The general public knows what to expect. They are making more demands of their candidates. It's pressure from these demands that's pushing the level of competition higher. Even the ruling party has learned the language of democracy. They've learned what to say to win votes."
- Ou Virak, executive secretary of the Alliance for Freedom of Expression.
March
"Typically, they ask [in debates] 'What did you have after Pol Pot? Just a few spoons and broken plates. Now there are more roads, more infrastructure, the economy is picking up.'"
- Jerome Cheung, country director of the National Democratic Institute, on the rhetoric on the long-ruling CPP.
"The government knows exactly who carried them out. There is almost no chance they don't know who is responsible, given their very extensive intelligence network."
- Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, on lingering practice in Cambodia of politically-motivated murders.
"It is a breakthrough when Cambodians can think they themselves can push through an agenda and not rely on a donor or the government. We want to give Cambodians the confidence to act themselves."
- Ou Virak, general secretary of AFEC - a coalitions of 28 NGOs and labor unions that organized the non-violent march from Phnom Penh to Angkor Thom.
April
"Civilizing is more important than democratizing. All democracy is founded on consensus, dignity and respect. Democracy is progressing and the process was remarkable."
- US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli, April 2, regarding the 2007 commune council elections, which drew allegations of voter fraud and registration problems.
"The story of this election is that in spite of manipulation of voter lists, in spite of countless flaws and sophisticated tactics, the SRP has emerged as the only credible opposition or alternative to the CPP."
- Sam Rainsy, April 5, on the 2007 commune elections.
"There is a common pattern [of development] in oil rich countries. You see weak government capacity to manage and allocate the windfall, a concentration of resources at the center, an absence of counter pressures such as an independent judiciary or a free press, an increase in military spending, a greater disconnect between government and citizens. Ultimately, this creates the conditions for civil war."
- Ian Gary, policy advisor for extractive industries at Oxfam America, April 11.
"The bar fees limit the freedom of choice for people to be represented as they see fit. Though the fees seem small, they are at least ten times higher than any other international tribunal has charged. So the pool of lawyers willing to work at the trial will get smaller and smaller."
- Peter Foster, spokesman for the international side of the ECCC.
May
"I think that freedom of expression in Cambodia now is worse than before 2003. We didn't celebrate May 1 [International Workers' Day] this year because we didn't want our workers to receive injuries or death when government authorities disperse them."
- Chea Mony, chairman of Free Trade Union.
"He's a dreamer, a thinker. He's deeply lost in his thoughts trying to find solutions."
- SRP parliamentarian Tioulong Saumura, on her husband Sam Rainsy, May 11.
"They don't want to look at the reality of the situation as this would challenge the assumptions on which the entire court is based. The issue is not whether they know there is a problem or not, it is whether they want to face up to that problem or not."
- Helen Jarvis, head of the ECCC press office.
"We confiscated five illegal swords (...) They confessed that the swords were meant to be used for revenge on another group of gangsters."
- Huy Song, deputy police chief of 7 Makara district, regarding the May 28 arrest of Prince Norodom Chakrapong and 9 other youths following a raid on a rented flat occupied by the suspects.
June
"There is much expectation that the co-prosecutors will define what 'senior leaders' or 'those most responsible' really means."
Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-CAM), on the expectations of KR victims.
"We cannot stop the outbreak, because it is already here."
- To Setha, head of the dengue control and research center of the National Center of Malaria (NCM), regarding the explosion of dengue fever.
"The national and international public have witnessed the fact that when the CPP is in control everyone enjoys living in peace."
-CPP Party President Chea Sim, Jun 28 speech at party headquarters.
"In our Constitution peaceful protests are a citizen's right. And in the Constitution, monks are citizens, so they have the same rights as other citizens - they cannot be prohibited from demonstrations."
- Son Soubert, member of the Constitutional Council and son of former PM Son San.
July
"Our project is first about rendering justice for crimes, providing that these crimes happened and that certain individuals are responsible. It's not about writing a history book."
-ECCC prosecutor Robert Petit, July 3.
"I have completely lost hope with the ECCC because it's been 30 years. Many people who survived and waited to see justice are rapidly dying. It is better not to wait any more, the problems [at the court] are happening again and again. I don't think the court will provide justice."
- Acclaimed artist and KR survivor Vann Nath, speaking at the opening of an exhibition of his painting.
"There needs to be a lot of work done over the next year to explain the rights of the defense. The defense is not a role people have seen in the domestic judicial process, so to see it in this context, when people have committed the word of all crimes, will be hard to understand. Everyone thinks, 'they are guilty - why not just list their crimes and be done with it.'"
- Anne Heindel, legal advisor at DC-CAM, on managing the KRT-related expectations of a public of whom nearly everyone was victim of, and witness to, the brutal leadership of the KR regime.
August
"Now [that] we have the Khmer Rouge trial we can look at the fruit but nobody has the right to look at the tree, at the root, at the soil. Nobody looks at why this grew, how the Khmer Rouge started - only if you look at everything can you prevent this from happening again."
- Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith remains skeptical as to whether Duch's testimony would allow the tribunal, with its highly limited mandate, to fill the "blank page" of Cambodia's history.
"We break religious strongholds over this city so that the multitudes will come into a deep personal relationship with God. Let's rejoice - we have the victory."
- TV evangelist Joyce Meyers at a Christian rally outside Chenla Theatre Aug 10.
"The military police were very cruel. They destroyed everything that we needed right in front of us - our mattresses, our clothes, shoes and cooking gear. They hit three or four people."
- Long Srey Lek, a 38-year old mother of two girls, who rents a home in the Drey Krahorm community, following several days of eviction protests beginning Aug 29.
September
"He is the Father of the Nation. Even though he is retired, he retains the status of Head of State and so the King Father is not obliged to testify at the court unless he decides to from his own will."
- Son Soubert, King Norodom Sihamoni's appointee at the Constitutional Council, regarding whether King Father Norodom Sihanouk could be called to testify at the ECCC.
"My 'oath'... I have taken already, today, in front of five superior Buddhist Monks and especially in front of statues and statuettes of Buddha. I do not have to swear an oath after [the one I swore] with Buddha, to debase myself to take an oat in front of the ECCC."
- King Father Norodom Sihanouk, in a Sep 5 statement.
"The tribunal is in serious trouble, and to think otherwise would be delusional. But the problems are not necessarily fatal so long as addressed aggressively, honestly and decisively. The tribunal needs aggressive life-saving surgery, not merely a band-aid. But the Cambodians are not solely to blame for what has unfolded. The diplomatic community and the U.N. have turned a blind eye to the all-too-obvious corruption and managerial catastrophe at the tribunal (...) It is time for the international community to show determination and integrity rather than political expediency."
- John Hall, Chapman University School of Law associate professor, in a Sep 21 editorial in the Wall Street Journal, which prompted the public release of the ECCC audits.
"Although it is a risk to wash one's dirty linen in public, in the long run, we think it will be better for the court."
- Helen Jarvis, head of the press office of the ECCC.
October
"I did not think that regime was so cruel. I was very shocked and cried when I saw the torture materials and the pictures of the people who were tortured. Cambodian people died without doing anything wrong. They were tortured without investigation."
- former KR soldier Yiv Sameth, 50, referring to his visit to Tuol Sleng and Cheung Ek genocide museums, Oct 5.
"We cannot compare the Cambodian investment with Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand. It looks like the cow and the elephant."
- Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh, on Cambodia's continuing inability to attract big investment in lucrative industries like electronics, while addressing a UN Conference on Trade and Development Oct 17.
"A crowd of villagers went to the plane (...) Many villagers had picked up boxes and shirts [the plane's cargo]. Some took so much they couldn't carry it all so they dropped it on the way and I picked up about 5 shirts. About an hour later the police arrived. The plane had broken into 200 pieces (...) You can see many villagers from the district flocking to the area to get a piece of the plane.
- Chan Chhock, 19, says Oct 18, the day after an Antonov cargo plane crashed near his village, Tukuch, in Kandal province.
"Our party representative found that some of the commune councils did not respect and implement the guidelines of the NEC and deleted the voter names without relevant documents and evidence to prove lost voting rights."
- Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, in an Oct 23 latter to the National Election Committee.
"Sometimes, she took a girl home to sleep at home. If sometime she brings a grenade or poison, we could be dead."
- PM Hun Sen says Oct 30 about his lesbian daughter during a speech for graduating students.
"Now they are elected, but where is the promise? We are still living in temporary shelters and now they come to evict us again."
- Kunthea, a member of the some 120 families waiting for new apartments in the Borei Keila development who are accusing their district chiefs of failing to live up to their elections' promises.
November
"I will immediately remove the rank of those officials if they use their role to intimidate the local authorities in order to rescue their children from the police stations when those children get arrested. I will resign if I cannot remove their rank."
- PM Hun Sen, speaking Nov 7 at closing of the 2006-2007 Education Conference.
"You [Kep Chuktema] are not needed as Phnom Penh Municipal governor if you cannot crack down on those children who are racing cars and motorbikes."
- PM Hun Sen, speaking Nov 7 at closing of the 2006-2007 Education Conference.
"I recognized that only 2 or 3 percent of them did that, but with minor crimes, not serious crimes."
- Phnom Penh Municipal Court Chief Chev Keng, Nov 12, on local police who accept bribes from criminal suspects in exchange for not carrying arrest warrants.
"This is the first time I saw his face, as even though I was jailed at S-21 for more than three months I never dared to look at his face then."
- Chum Mey, 77, one of only several S-21 survivors, who came to watch Duch's hearing Nov 20, the first open hearing the court has held.
explain the rights of the defense. The defense is not a role people have seen in the domestic judicial process, so to see it in this context, when people have committed the word of all crimes, will be hard to understand. Everyone thinks, 'they are guilty - why not just list their crimes and be done with it.'"
- Anne Heindel, legal advisor at DC-CAM, on managing the KRT-related expectations of a public of whom nearly everyone was victim of, and witness to, the brutal leadership of the KR regime.
August
"Now [that] we have the Khmer Rouge trial we can look at the fruit but nobody has the right to look at the tree, at the root, at the soil. Nobody looks at why this grew, how the Khmer Rouge started - only if you look at everything can you prevent this from happening again."
- Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith remains skeptical as to whether Duch's testimony would allow the tribunal, with its highly limited mandate, to fill the "blank page" of Cambodia's history.
"We break religious strongholds over this city so that the multitudes will come into a deep personal relationship with God. Let's rejoice - we have the victory."
- TV evangelist Joyce Meyers at a Christian rally outside Chenla Theatre Aug 10.
"The military police were very cruel. They destroyed everything that we needed right in front of us - our mattresses, our clothes, shoes and cooking gear. They hit three or four people."
- Long Srey Lek, a 38-year old mother of two girls, who rents a home in the Drey Krahorm community, following several days of eviction protests beginning Aug 29.
September
"He is the Father of the Nation. Even though he is retired, he retains the status of Head of State and so the King Father is not obliged to testify at the court unless he decides to from his own will."
- Son Soubert, King Norodom Sihamoni's appointee at the Constitutional Council, regarding whether King Father Norodom Sihanouk could be called to testify at the ECCC.
"My 'oath'... I have taken already, today, in front of five superior Buddhist Monks and especially in front of statues and statuettes of Buddha. I do not have to swear an oath after [the one I swore] with Buddha, to debase myself to take an oat in front of the ECCC."
- King Father Norodom Sihanouk, in a Sep 5 statement.
"The tribunal is in serious trouble, and to think otherwise would be delusional. But the problems are not necessarily fatal so long as addressed aggressively, honestly and decisively. The tribunal needs aggressive life-saving surgery, not merely a band-aid. But the Cambodians are not solely to blame for what has unfolded. The diplomatic community and the U.N. have turned a blind eye to the all-too-obvious corruption and managerial catastrophe at the tribunal (...) It is time for the international community to show determination and integrity rather than political expediency."
- John Hall, Chapman University School of Law associate professor, in a Sep 21 editorial in the Wall Street Journal, which prompted the public release of the ECCC audits.
"Although it is a risk to wash one's dirty linen in public, in the long run, we think it will be better for the court."
- Helen Jarvis, head of the press office of the ECCC.
October
"I did not think that regime was so cruel. I was very shocked and cried when I saw the torture materials and the pictures of the people who were tortured. Cambodian people died without doing anything wrong. They were tortured without investigation."
- former KR soldier Yiv Sameth, 50, referring to his visit to Tuol Sleng and Cheung Ek genocide museums, Oct 5.
"We cannot compare the Cambodian investment with Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand. It looks like the cow and the elephant."
- Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh, on Cambodia's continuing inability to attract big
investment in lucrative indu tries
like electronics, while addressing a
UN Conference on Trade and Development Oct 17.
"A crowd of villagers went to the plane (...) Many villagers had picked up boxes and shirts [the plane's cargo]. Some took so much they couldn't carry it all so they dropped it on the way and I picked up about 5 shirts. About an hour later the police arrived. The plane had broken into 200 pieces (...) You can see many villagers from the district flocking to the area to get a piece of the plane.
- Chan Chhock, 19, says Oct 18, the day after an Antonov cargo plane crashed near his village, Tukuch, in Kandal province.
"Our party representative found that some of the commune councils did not respect and implement the guidelines of the NEC and deleted the voter names without relevant documents and evidence to prove lost voting rights."
- Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, in an Oct 23 latter to the National Election Committee.
"Sometimes, she took a girl home to sleep at home. If sometime she brings a grenade or poison, we could be dead."
- PM Hun Sen says Oct 30 about his lesbian daughter during a speech for graduating students.
"Now they are elected, but where is the promise? We are still living in temporary shelters and now they come to evict us again."
- Kunthea, a member of the some 120 families waiting for new apartments in the Borei Keila development who are accusing their district chiefs of failing to live up to their elections' promises.
November
"I will immediately remove the rank of those officials if they use their role to intimidate the local authorities in order to rescue their children from the police stations when those children get arrested. I will resign if I cannot remove their rank."
- PM Hun Sen, speaking Nov 7 at closing of the 2006-2007 Education Conference.
"You [Kep Chuktema] are not needed as Phnom Penh Municipal governor if you cannot crack down on those children who are racing cars and motorbikes."
- PM Hun Sen, speaking Nov 7 at closing of the 2006-2007 Education Conference.
"I recognized that only 2 or 3 percent of them did that, but with minor crimes, not serious crimes."
- Phnom Penh Municipal Court Chief Chev Keng, Nov 12, on local police who accept bribes from criminal suspects in exchange for not carrying arrest warrants.
"This is the first time I saw his face, as even though I was jailed at S-21 for more than three months I never dared to look at his face then."
- Chum Mey, 77, one of only several S-21 survivors, who came to watch Duch's hearing
Nov 20, the first open hearing the court has held.
5 comments:
It is a race against time for these Khmer people to kill each other. That is what they're good at: killing each other.
These shit are so dumbass.
To Anon. 1:20 PM
Dumber is the dumb man who reads this dumb ass, not counting that he is crazy, stupid-er-er etc...
Fuck al Khmer people.
Regardless Khmer people are still fucked and crazy shit
Dear A Chkout
u Fuck urself. what the shit u r talking about? This country is fucking beautifully. but you take ur ash out of this country if u don't want shit anymore. Any way find another ashhole to live beside this country if you dont like these damm things.
Ah Hun Sen will be assassined by his GENERALS around him.
Someone call him ah Hun blind(blind because he is no education).
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