CHICAGO, May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cambodia Tribunal Monitor Web site today posted exclusive video interviews by TV journalist, producer and former CBS news anchor Bill Kurtis with the last three surviving prosecutors of post-World War II trials held in Nuremberg, Germany about their perspective on the upcoming Cambodia Tribunal. Senior officials of the Khmer Rouge regime are expected to be tried over the next several years for atrocity crimes in Cambodia during their 1975-79 rule. The pre-trial hearings of some of the regime leaders are currently underway.
Kurtis interviewed prosecutors Ben Ferencz, Henry King and Whitney Harris, asking them to reflect on the significance of the Nuremberg trials on international law, what lessons we learned, how far we've come and what advice they have for the Cambodia Tribunal currently underway in Phnom Penh.
Kurtis, with the consortium responsible for the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor Web site, posted these exclusive interviews with the surviving Nuremberg prosecutors on the Web site in an effort to raise awareness about the need to punish war crimes and crimes against humanity, no matter how long ago those crimes were committed.
Speaking about the significance of interviewing the Nuremberg prosecutors, Kurtis said, "These are the voices of history speaking. They provide an important historical context and precedent from the post-World War II era that can be applied to today's tribunal in Cambodia. I thought it was especially important to draw from their experience and hear their perspective, as their insights will inform the trials -- and procedures of those trials -- for today's alleged war criminals."
When Kurtis asked if it is still worth it for Cambodia to have a tribunal after 30 years since the crimes were committed, former prosecutor Ben Ferencz said, "Of course it's still worth it. Because it tells the people of Cambodia, we have not forgotten ... And we are trying, within the limits of our capacity, to recognize that what happened to you and your people and your loved ones and the victims was a crime, it was an outrage, and we will never tolerate that as an acceptable human behavior."
Henry King told Kurtis that he would offer the following advice to the Cambodia Tribunal, "Take the long view. Be persistent. Never give up. We didn't ever give up at Nuremberg ... Think of future generations ... because the weapons of destruction are becoming so violent that we'll destroy ourselves if we don't have a rule of law in the world."
From April 1975 to January 1979, an estimated 1.7 million Cambodian citizens died under the Khmer Rouge regime. After nearly 10 years of negotiations, this special war crimes tribunal has commenced. The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), as the special Cambodian court is formally known, will oversee the proceedings and is a joint partnership of the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia.
Video and transcripts in English are now posted on http://www.CambodiaTribunalMonitor.org. The media will be notified when French voiceovers of the video and French transcripts of the interviews are available in the coming weeks.
Biographies of Nuremberg Prosecutors:
Benjamin Berell Ferencz: Ferencz is a graduate of Harvard Law School. Following the Nuremberg trials, Ferencz became a vocal advocate of the establishment of an international rule of law and of the International Criminal Court. From 1985 to 1996, he was Adjunct Professor of International Law at Pace University.
Henry T. King, Jr.: King is a legal practitioner and an academic writer. King received his B.A. degree in 1941 from Yale College, and his LL.B. in 1943 from Yale Law School (1943). Following his service at Nuremberg, King had a long career as counsel for several corporations, including the TRW Corporation. A former chairman of the American Bar Association's Section of International Law and Practice, he served on the ABA's special task force on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and was the U.S. chairman of a joint working group, organized by the American, Canadian, and Mexican bar associations, on the settlement of international disputes. Currently, King teaches International Arbitration and is U.S. director of the Canada-U.S. Law Institute.
Whitney R. Harris: Harris is author of Tyranny on Trial (1954), a major book about the Nuremberg Trials. In recent years he generously funded the establishment of The Whitney R. Harris Institute for Global Legal Studies at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, bringing together experts from around the world to expand understanding of real-world issues and prepare lawyers for the professional challenges of the 21st Century. In addition to teaching law during his post-Nuremberg career, Harris was director of the Hoover Commission's Legal Services Task Force; served as the first Executive Director of the American Bar Association; and was Solicitor General of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in St. Louis where he practiced law until his retirement. In 1998, Harris was a non-governmental delegate to the United Nations-sponsored conference that resulted in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Background on the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor Web site:
The Cambodia Tribunal Monitor Web site is the leading independent source of news and information on the upcoming trials of senior officials of the Khmer Rouge regime for atrocity crimes. The Web site posts timely news updates and guest commentaries by leading international experts on the recent history of Cambodia, politics, human rights and international law. It also provides background information on the history of the Khmer Rouge and ECCC and important resources such as court documents and bibliographies of scholarly articles and books. Complete videotaped trial footage will be available throughout the court proceedings.
The Cambodia Tribunal Monitor was developed by a consortium of academic, philanthropic and non-profit organizations committed to providing public access to the tribunal and open discussion throughout the judicial process. The academic manager and sponsor of the site is Northwestern University School of Law's Center for International Human Rights, joined by co-sponsors Documentation Center of Cambodia and the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. The prime sponsor of the site is the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation.
The Web site was conceived by Illinois State Senator Jeff Schoenberg, a Chicago-area legislator who also advises the Pritzker family on its philanthropy. In January 2007, Schoenberg participated in a trip sponsored by Build Cambodia, a U.S. based not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping Cambodians build their lives and society. As a result of the experience, Schoenberg enlisted the support of the aforementioned sponsors, and with their assistance the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor was created.
Kurtis interviewed prosecutors Ben Ferencz, Henry King and Whitney Harris, asking them to reflect on the significance of the Nuremberg trials on international law, what lessons we learned, how far we've come and what advice they have for the Cambodia Tribunal currently underway in Phnom Penh.
Kurtis, with the consortium responsible for the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor Web site, posted these exclusive interviews with the surviving Nuremberg prosecutors on the Web site in an effort to raise awareness about the need to punish war crimes and crimes against humanity, no matter how long ago those crimes were committed.
Speaking about the significance of interviewing the Nuremberg prosecutors, Kurtis said, "These are the voices of history speaking. They provide an important historical context and precedent from the post-World War II era that can be applied to today's tribunal in Cambodia. I thought it was especially important to draw from their experience and hear their perspective, as their insights will inform the trials -- and procedures of those trials -- for today's alleged war criminals."
When Kurtis asked if it is still worth it for Cambodia to have a tribunal after 30 years since the crimes were committed, former prosecutor Ben Ferencz said, "Of course it's still worth it. Because it tells the people of Cambodia, we have not forgotten ... And we are trying, within the limits of our capacity, to recognize that what happened to you and your people and your loved ones and the victims was a crime, it was an outrage, and we will never tolerate that as an acceptable human behavior."
Henry King told Kurtis that he would offer the following advice to the Cambodia Tribunal, "Take the long view. Be persistent. Never give up. We didn't ever give up at Nuremberg ... Think of future generations ... because the weapons of destruction are becoming so violent that we'll destroy ourselves if we don't have a rule of law in the world."
From April 1975 to January 1979, an estimated 1.7 million Cambodian citizens died under the Khmer Rouge regime. After nearly 10 years of negotiations, this special war crimes tribunal has commenced. The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), as the special Cambodian court is formally known, will oversee the proceedings and is a joint partnership of the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia.
Video and transcripts in English are now posted on http://www.CambodiaTribunalMonitor.org. The media will be notified when French voiceovers of the video and French transcripts of the interviews are available in the coming weeks.
Biographies of Nuremberg Prosecutors:
Benjamin Berell Ferencz: Ferencz is a graduate of Harvard Law School. Following the Nuremberg trials, Ferencz became a vocal advocate of the establishment of an international rule of law and of the International Criminal Court. From 1985 to 1996, he was Adjunct Professor of International Law at Pace University.
Henry T. King, Jr.: King is a legal practitioner and an academic writer. King received his B.A. degree in 1941 from Yale College, and his LL.B. in 1943 from Yale Law School (1943). Following his service at Nuremberg, King had a long career as counsel for several corporations, including the TRW Corporation. A former chairman of the American Bar Association's Section of International Law and Practice, he served on the ABA's special task force on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and was the U.S. chairman of a joint working group, organized by the American, Canadian, and Mexican bar associations, on the settlement of international disputes. Currently, King teaches International Arbitration and is U.S. director of the Canada-U.S. Law Institute.
Whitney R. Harris: Harris is author of Tyranny on Trial (1954), a major book about the Nuremberg Trials. In recent years he generously funded the establishment of The Whitney R. Harris Institute for Global Legal Studies at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, bringing together experts from around the world to expand understanding of real-world issues and prepare lawyers for the professional challenges of the 21st Century. In addition to teaching law during his post-Nuremberg career, Harris was director of the Hoover Commission's Legal Services Task Force; served as the first Executive Director of the American Bar Association; and was Solicitor General of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in St. Louis where he practiced law until his retirement. In 1998, Harris was a non-governmental delegate to the United Nations-sponsored conference that resulted in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Background on the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor Web site:
The Cambodia Tribunal Monitor Web site is the leading independent source of news and information on the upcoming trials of senior officials of the Khmer Rouge regime for atrocity crimes. The Web site posts timely news updates and guest commentaries by leading international experts on the recent history of Cambodia, politics, human rights and international law. It also provides background information on the history of the Khmer Rouge and ECCC and important resources such as court documents and bibliographies of scholarly articles and books. Complete videotaped trial footage will be available throughout the court proceedings.
The Cambodia Tribunal Monitor was developed by a consortium of academic, philanthropic and non-profit organizations committed to providing public access to the tribunal and open discussion throughout the judicial process. The academic manager and sponsor of the site is Northwestern University School of Law's Center for International Human Rights, joined by co-sponsors Documentation Center of Cambodia and the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. The prime sponsor of the site is the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation.
The Web site was conceived by Illinois State Senator Jeff Schoenberg, a Chicago-area legislator who also advises the Pritzker family on its philanthropy. In January 2007, Schoenberg participated in a trip sponsored by Build Cambodia, a U.S. based not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping Cambodians build their lives and society. As a result of the experience, Schoenberg enlisted the support of the aforementioned sponsors, and with their assistance the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor was created.
7 comments:
As khmer, we should learned as much about our history and the story similiar to us like the "Nuremberg".
From it, we can be a better person and better for cambodia. And nothing like the khmer rouge or the vietcong.
These people are cowardice, evil, and have nothing to brag about, but be ashame of.
Bullshit, there is nothing wrong with Vietcong get rid of pests and rats (Ah Khmer-Yuons)from their land. Everyone does it.
What I have seen since after 18 March 1970 KR of VN and KR of CHINA killed each other until today.
Amekhmer publication - October 13 2005 - Partners genocide, document film in Khmer - French
REPONSE D'UN " SIHANOUKOPHOBE " A NORODOM SIHANOUK
---- Original Message -----
From: Billon UNG
Reçu de M. Bernard HAMEL
REPONSE D'UN " SIHANOUKOPHOBE " A NORODOM SIHANOUK
Dans un texte diffusé sur votre site, en date du 1/ 09/ 05, vous m'avez - une fois de plus - mis en cause en me qualifiant de "sihanoukophobe à 5000 %". Cette appellation, incompatible avec l'arithmétique la plus élémentaire, m'a beaucoup amusé - ainsi d'ailleurs que de nombreuses personnes.
Je m'abstiens, en règle générale, de répondre à vos diatribes lorsqu'elles me concernent, pour éviter des polémiques futiles. Cette fois-ci, cependant, je prendrai la peine de vous répondre pour vous préciser notamment pourquoi je suis devenu votre "ennemi" ( et sans doute aussi un "traître" ) après le 18 Mars 1970.
Voici donc mes précisions :
1) - J'ignorais, jusqu'à ce jour, que j'étais considéré à Phnom-Penh, avant 1970, comme un "super-Ministre". Quel honneur pour ma modeste personne !
2) - Je n'ai jamais utilisé le ridicule pseudonyme "Bê Hâm" pour signer des articles dans vos revues ("Réalités Cambodgiennes" et "Kambuja"). Je les signais de mon nom ou de mes initiales.
3) - Je ne me suis jamais senti "Sangkumien", car je ne pouvais pas l'être en tant qu'étranger.
4) - Si vous avez fait appel à ma collaboration, ainsi qu'à celle de MM. Charles Meyer et Jean Barré, pour vos revues et votre secrétariat particulier, c'est en raison de votre profonde méfiance envers vos compatriotes (ce que je déplore).
5) - Tous les documents et photos que je possède encore proviennent, pour une large part, de votre Ministère de l'Information de l'époque "sangkumienne". Ils ne peuvent donc en aucun cas avoir été "truqués" par moi (ou par d'autres personnes).
6) - Si je suis devenu votre "ennemi" après le 18 Mars 1970, ce n'est absolument pas pour des raisons d'ordre personnel. C'est parce que votre attitude après cette date m'a paru révoltante et ignominieuse. Votre pays - j'étais sur place pour mon Agence (Reuter), je tiens à le rappeler - a été agressé et envahi par les forces communistes vietnamiennes le 29 Mars 1970 sans ultimatum ni déclaration de guerre. Il s'agissait d'une agression étrangère caractérisée, mais vous avez fait alors cause commune avec les agresseurs de votre propre pays. En outre vous avez fait pire encore en vous jetant, à Pékin, dans les bras des Khmers Rouges, que vous traitiez vous-même de "Khmers dékhmérisés" avant 1970 lorsque vous les combattiez implacablement (en 1967, 68 et 69). Vous avez ainsi ouvert la voie au génocide.
7) - Toutes vos actions et vos innombrables déclarations après votre destitution ont été inspirées uniquement par votre désir de vous venger, parce que vous aviez été écarté du pouvoir par des voies légales. Vous avez vous-même proclamé à maintes reprises à Pékin votre intention de vous venger des soi-disant "traîtres républicains". Et ce désir de vengeance a finalement coûté deux millions de morts au peuple cambodgien.
Alors, devant une attitude aussi condamnable, comment ne pas être "sihanoukophobe" ? ...
Bernard HAMEL
English version
(Unofficial translantion by Sacrava from origin text in French)
Answer of Bernard HAMEL to NORODOM Sihanouk
Received from Mr. Bernard HAMEL:
In a text diffused on your site, on 1/09/05, you - once more - blamed me by describing me as "sihanoukophobe at 5000 %". This name, incompatible with arithmetic the most elementary, amused me much - thus besides that many people. I abstain from, in general, to answer your diatribes when they relate to me, to avoid polemic futile. This time, however, I will take the trouble to answer you to specify, in particular, why I became your "enemy" (and undoubtedly also a "traitor") after 18 the Mars 1970. Here thus my precise details:
1) - I was unaware of, so far, that I was considered in Phnom-Penh, before 1970, like a "super-Minister". What a honor for my modest person!
2) - I never used the ridiculous pseudonym "Bê Hâm" to sign articles in your reviews ("Kampuchean Realities "and" Kambuja"). I signed them of my name or of my initial.
3) - I never smelled myself "Sangkumien", because I could not be it as a foreigner.
4) - If you called upon my collaboration, like that of MISTERS Charles Meyer and Jean Barré, for your reviews and your particular secretariat, it is because of your deep mistrust towards your compatriots (which I deplore).
5) - All the documents and photographs which I still possessed them, come, to a large extent, of your Ministry for the Information of the time "sangkumienne". They cannot thus in no case "to be faked" by me (or by other people).
6) - If I became your "enemy" after 18 the Mars 1970, it is absolutely not for the reasons of personal nature. It is because of your attitude after this date which appeared to me revolting and ignominieuse. Your country - I was on the spot for my Agency (Reuter), and I hold to point it out - was attacked and invaded by the communist forces Vietnameses 29 Mars 1970 without ultimatum nor declaration of war. It was about a characterized foreign aggression, but you made then causes common with the attackers of your own country. Moreover you made worse by throwing yourself in Peking, in the arms of the Khmer Rouges, whom you treat yourself of "Khmers dekhmerized" before 1970 when you fight them implacably (in 1967, 68 and 69). You thus opened the way to the genocide.
7) - All your actions and your innumerable declarations after your dismissal were inspired only by your desire to avenge, because you had been isolated from power y by legal ways. You proclaimed yourself on several occasions in Peking your intention to avenge for supposedly the "treacherous republicans". And this desire of revenge finally cost two million died to the Cambodian people. Then, in front of such a condemnable attitude, how not to be "sihanoukophobe"? ...
Bernard HAMEL
Killing field, complots, crime against humanity, conquest wars or simple local conflits as some tried to indique. Here are some interesting opinions : Sihanouk's crime in French - in Khmer | Khmer rouge and the Vietnamese communists 1 | Khmer rouge and the Vietnamese communists 2 | 17 april 75 victory and the free pillage of Cambodian patrimony to Vietnam by the Khmer rouge | Profil of Pol Pot | Brother N°1 | K5 -2nd vaque of Angkar leu genocidal policy | Angkar leu ou Angkar Cap Tren 1 | Angkar leu ou Angkar Cap Tren 2 | Angkar leu ou Angkar Cap Tren 3 | Angkar leu ou Angkar Cap Tren 4 | Angkar leu ou Angkar Cap Tren 5 | Hanoi scheming | Double murderous: Soviet and the Vietnamese communists | Vietnanmese leaders and crime against humanity1 | Vn and crime against humanity2 | Vn crime and the killing field | Ho Chi Minh | Genetic influence | Parasite | Pol Pot and microbs | Update October 2007
Ah Khmer-Yuon is responsible for the Khmer Rouge risen to power. They must not go unpunished for their crime against Khmer people and Indochinese in the entire region.
Without the existence of Ah Khmer-Yuon, there wouldn't be such thing as Khmer Rouge genocide on this planet.
12:3oPM
I know how frustraed you are, facing khmer compatriot keeping an eye on your new style of colony on cambodia and at the same time,Khmer Krom, who you call them Khmer Youn currently are fighting for their independence.
Big colony did not last, so as your colony will fail. you can only cheat those ignorant, but you never fool khmer compatriots.
Long live Khmers!!!
Khmer my arse. Ah Khmer-Yuon is no Khmer but Khmer Enemy. Actually, Ah Khmer-Yuon is the world enemy. They don't have a single friend on this planet. So don't even try to claimed us (Khmer) as your friend. You got that?
Hang all these bloody Viets trollers/pimp/parasites on KI-Media!
The viet must know the universal language:
"The world sees and knows the true color of the Viet too well already!"
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