Saturday, 6 December 2008
By Eleanor Ainge Roy
Scoop (New Zealand)
Year Zero. April 17th, 1975. The Khmer Rouge soldiers enter Phnom Penh. Young men in black pyjama’s and chequered scarves walk the streets with a stealthy calm.
Within three days Phnom Penh’s entire population had been forced to leave the city. Nearly one million people were marched South, West and North to labour camps across Cambodia. The young, the weak and the sick were left by the side of the road where they fell, the first victims of Pol Pots genocidal regime.
By 1979, when the Vietnamese Army invaded, up to two million Cambodians had perished. They were killed by the Khmer Rouge’s drastic attempt to re-invent Cambodia as an agrarian society, to rid the land of bourgeoisie and intellectual influence, and to instigate Communism in its most heinous form. (Image: A victim of the Khmer Rouge.)
Following the Vietnamese liberation, Cambodia fell into more than a decade of civil war, and in 1997 requested aid from the UN in prosecuting the leaders of the Khmer Rouge, most of whom still roamed free across the land, some repentant for their crimes, others fighting from their stronghold on the border with Thailand.
In 2001 the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia was created (known as the ECCC), a joint UN –Cambodia project to try the surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge.
In 2003 it was agreed the ECCC would be made up of a combination of Cambodian and International staff, the first hybrid court of its kind - a Cambodian court subject to international standards. As the website boasts ‘It will provide a role model for court operations in Cambodia’.
The court officially started operating in 2006, and now nearing the end of 2008, the people of Cambodia are still waiting for justice to be served.
Oung Heng, 56, is one of few who still have patience for the beleaguered court.
"I think we have a very bitter history and it is very sad. We hope that nothing like this ever happens again in the future. The ECCC is a consolation for the survivors and we have to help them seek peace. It is a heavy lesson for our country to learn but very important"
The ECCC has been plagued by problems, some unavoidable, others self created.
Of most pressing concern for many is the age of the detained - five in custody and not one younger than sixty. When Cambodia's life expectancy is still just 59 years, all of those in detention are decidedly old men.
There are warning signs that have people worried. Seventy seven year old Khieu Samphan, former head of state, was hospitalized in May following a minor stroke, and former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, 82 was hospitalized this year when medics discovered blood in his urine. There are very real fears afoot that some of the detained will not live to stand trial, and escape into death like their comrade Pol Pot in 1998.
The Court has also been plagued by allegations of kickbacks and corruption, a problem endemic to Cambodian courts, but a real embarrassment for a UN institution.
In mid 2007 an audit of the court was commissioned and undertaken by an independent international auditing firm. A UN investigation was also launched into the alleged corruption cases.
Although the investigation has concluded the results have still not been released, and public confidence in the court is now widely threatened.
“"I don't trust the courts here, I would do anything to avoid them.” says Heng. Justice is rarely served and you only end up paying a great deal of money. Everyone knows taking your problem to court will not get it solved ".
Hopes were high this year that the first trial would begin in September, starting with the trial of former Tuol Sleng prison chief sixty five year old Kaing Guek Eav - or ‘Duch’ as he is more commonly known. Duch oversaw the torture of more than 20,000 inmates at Tuol Sleng prison, also referred to as S-21, a former elementary school in the capital.
But appeals by Duch and others for release from pre-trial detention has stalled the start of his trial, as have requests for the translation of official court documents from Khmer and English into French for Duch’s lawyer - a process which has taken three months.
The victims of the Khmer Rouge are losing their patience. Nuon Sapan, 36, lost five members of his extended family to the regime.
"I think many people are beginning to question if these trials will ever get off the ground. So much money has been spent I think a lot of people are re-considering the necessity for 'justice''. Maybe all these millions of dollars would have been better spent on development, which would surely lead to improved courts in the future anyway"
And the ECCCs greatest problem of all is money. The court was initially granted funding of $60 million dollars from the Cambodian Government, the UN and donor countries. The court was expected to be in operation three years, and would be dissolved upon completion of the trials.
But in early 2008 the Court admitted it was near bankruptcy and requested extra funding of $30 million. On top of this the court projects that to complete its work it will require an extra $80 million over the coming years, though no official request has been made.
The extra $30 million has been granted, in drips and drabs, but it is unclear how much more the international community will invest in the project which, after eight years of planning and nearly three full years of operation, has yet to hear a single case.
Now that so much money has been spent the court cannot be abandoned. ECCC officials say the first trial should take place by February of 2009, but skeptics in Phnom Penh scoff at this hope, and cynicism is beginning to spread into further reaches of society.
As the months pass five old men lose a few more hairs from their grey heads, and sleep a little less soundlessly each night. The time is coming for them to face their crimes against humanity - but will they still be living when the court is ready for them?
*******
Eleanor Ainge Roy is a New Zealander working in Cambodia for the English language daily The Phnom Penh Post.
Within three days Phnom Penh’s entire population had been forced to leave the city. Nearly one million people were marched South, West and North to labour camps across Cambodia. The young, the weak and the sick were left by the side of the road where they fell, the first victims of Pol Pots genocidal regime.
By 1979, when the Vietnamese Army invaded, up to two million Cambodians had perished. They were killed by the Khmer Rouge’s drastic attempt to re-invent Cambodia as an agrarian society, to rid the land of bourgeoisie and intellectual influence, and to instigate Communism in its most heinous form. (Image: A victim of the Khmer Rouge.)
Following the Vietnamese liberation, Cambodia fell into more than a decade of civil war, and in 1997 requested aid from the UN in prosecuting the leaders of the Khmer Rouge, most of whom still roamed free across the land, some repentant for their crimes, others fighting from their stronghold on the border with Thailand.
In 2001 the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia was created (known as the ECCC), a joint UN –Cambodia project to try the surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge.
In 2003 it was agreed the ECCC would be made up of a combination of Cambodian and International staff, the first hybrid court of its kind - a Cambodian court subject to international standards. As the website boasts ‘It will provide a role model for court operations in Cambodia’.
The court officially started operating in 2006, and now nearing the end of 2008, the people of Cambodia are still waiting for justice to be served.
Oung Heng, 56, is one of few who still have patience for the beleaguered court.
"I think we have a very bitter history and it is very sad. We hope that nothing like this ever happens again in the future. The ECCC is a consolation for the survivors and we have to help them seek peace. It is a heavy lesson for our country to learn but very important"
The ECCC has been plagued by problems, some unavoidable, others self created.
Of most pressing concern for many is the age of the detained - five in custody and not one younger than sixty. When Cambodia's life expectancy is still just 59 years, all of those in detention are decidedly old men.
There are warning signs that have people worried. Seventy seven year old Khieu Samphan, former head of state, was hospitalized in May following a minor stroke, and former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, 82 was hospitalized this year when medics discovered blood in his urine. There are very real fears afoot that some of the detained will not live to stand trial, and escape into death like their comrade Pol Pot in 1998.
The Court has also been plagued by allegations of kickbacks and corruption, a problem endemic to Cambodian courts, but a real embarrassment for a UN institution.
In mid 2007 an audit of the court was commissioned and undertaken by an independent international auditing firm. A UN investigation was also launched into the alleged corruption cases.
Although the investigation has concluded the results have still not been released, and public confidence in the court is now widely threatened.
“"I don't trust the courts here, I would do anything to avoid them.” says Heng. Justice is rarely served and you only end up paying a great deal of money. Everyone knows taking your problem to court will not get it solved ".
Hopes were high this year that the first trial would begin in September, starting with the trial of former Tuol Sleng prison chief sixty five year old Kaing Guek Eav - or ‘Duch’ as he is more commonly known. Duch oversaw the torture of more than 20,000 inmates at Tuol Sleng prison, also referred to as S-21, a former elementary school in the capital.
But appeals by Duch and others for release from pre-trial detention has stalled the start of his trial, as have requests for the translation of official court documents from Khmer and English into French for Duch’s lawyer - a process which has taken three months.
The victims of the Khmer Rouge are losing their patience. Nuon Sapan, 36, lost five members of his extended family to the regime.
"I think many people are beginning to question if these trials will ever get off the ground. So much money has been spent I think a lot of people are re-considering the necessity for 'justice''. Maybe all these millions of dollars would have been better spent on development, which would surely lead to improved courts in the future anyway"
And the ECCCs greatest problem of all is money. The court was initially granted funding of $60 million dollars from the Cambodian Government, the UN and donor countries. The court was expected to be in operation three years, and would be dissolved upon completion of the trials.
But in early 2008 the Court admitted it was near bankruptcy and requested extra funding of $30 million. On top of this the court projects that to complete its work it will require an extra $80 million over the coming years, though no official request has been made.
The extra $30 million has been granted, in drips and drabs, but it is unclear how much more the international community will invest in the project which, after eight years of planning and nearly three full years of operation, has yet to hear a single case.
Now that so much money has been spent the court cannot be abandoned. ECCC officials say the first trial should take place by February of 2009, but skeptics in Phnom Penh scoff at this hope, and cynicism is beginning to spread into further reaches of society.
As the months pass five old men lose a few more hairs from their grey heads, and sleep a little less soundlessly each night. The time is coming for them to face their crimes against humanity - but will they still be living when the court is ready for them?
*******
Eleanor Ainge Roy is a New Zealander working in Cambodia for the English language daily The Phnom Penh Post.
11 comments:
Very well put article.
How can cambodian people have any faith in western governments, systems of justice etc when the ECCC is discovered to be infected with corruption, inefficiency and poor compliance to established procedure and then the UN buries the report into same?
It sets a poor example and is well understood by cambodians as per Mr Hengs comment that "Justice is rarely served and you only end up paying a great deal of money. Everyone knows taking your problem to court will not get it solved"
UN court of Khmer court, it makes no difference
most khmer victims of the KR would like for the court to go all the way to the end, no matter how long it can take; this is crucial for the people of cambodia. some people may argue that it's not a top priority for cambodia right now, however, it shouldn't be dissolved either. the show must go on for the justice of the cambodian people, and even world can learn something from it as well. thank you and god bless.
The judges,the prosecutors,the lawyers all want to prolong this trial as long as they can.They all getting rich with that.i heard one judge can earn up to $5000.00/month.Hey ! it's not bad at all.
This is the opportunity for the Viet invaders to use the KR trial to cover up their VIETNAMISATION OF CAMBODIA.
It won't serve to find the JUSTICE for Khmer Victims, but it is for the interestds of the Vietnam and her Viet illegal immigrants to flocking more and more into Cambodia, and granted khmer citizenship very easily by the ruling viet puppet regime of mafia leader Hun Sen and his cronies, and shared the international aids intentionally for khmer people , the owners of the country.
They are over 5 millions now, the Viet settlers, and SOFT POWER to swallow Cambodia into Viet Indochinese Federation in the near future.
Author of Norna Chea Kheatakors Reas Khmers ?
The fucken Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) is nothing more than a freak show aiming to destroy the image of the Khmer people! The whole world were misled into believing that it is the Khmer leaders who are the one that killed million of their own people and they must be condemned to the full extend of the law! And may I ask what law to hold these Khmer leaders accountable? Why does it takes so long to hold these Khmer leaders for their crime? Well! It is not hard to make these Khmer leaders pay for their crime and the fact that the whole process of the fucken ECCC is just fucken a freak show! As long as the fucken freak show still make money and the fucken freak show would still go on and on and on!
It is time to stop dehumanize Khmer leaders and stop the freak show and it is time to hold some of the major foreign powers hold accountable for the genocide of Cambodian people! Remember Cambodia was a neutral country and as a neutral country Cambodia doesn't have war and doesn't have weapon! The question is who destroy Cambodian neutrality and force Cambodia into inferno for 30 years through the war,civil war,genocide, economic enslavement, sex trade, puppet government, the most dirt poor nation on Earth?
7:14AM and 9:41am so both of you think that POLPOT,TAMOK,DUCH ,NUON CHEA ,KHIEV SAMPHAN,IEANG SARY and his wife were all innocence ?.Are you an Anlong Veng resident ?
To answer the question to this article. The answer is " no " !
Its fake democrazy in cambodia for one thing, the other it was intentionally a fake setup trial !
After almost 30 years, Still no justice, no truth revealed! What make me things that this trial gonna be successful? Saddam hussien was distroyed and hung in about 3 years, case closed. CAMBODIA, KHMER ROUGE, TRUTH, JUSTICE???? I doubt it ! I won't believe justice until its revealed on the news or being celebrated!
10:04 AM,
How about N.Sihanouk, the main actor of the Khmer Killing Fields who did ask Vietnamese troops to help Pol Pot fighting Lon Nol armies ????
How about K-5 which killed almost 1million khmer people ???
KR's leaders were and are criminal, but so did Viet invaders and Sihanouk, plus Hun Sen and his cronies too.
Who destroyed our fishstock in Tonle sap ?
Who destroyed our forests ???
Author of Norna Chea Kheatakors ?
The tribunal is a scam for Ah Sbek Sor to show they're doing something about Pol Pot and for AH KHMER SROK KHMER to make money. That's all. If Ah Khmer Srok Khmer care about justice, they would put Ah Kissinger on trial too.
Ah Khmer srok Khmer do not understand what the hell justice or democracy are, but they talk about it everyday to put each other down. You are pathetic, Ah Khmer srok Khmer.
LOK Khmer New Zealand
will someone please tell the aurhor of this that the defendants are not all men, they do not all have grey hair and these money figures are all wrong and that's just for starters
Hello All readers!
I am happy to read all your commends, for me, I’ve got some new ideas which I found from a lot of documents of history of Cambodia throughout regimes. I quoted 6 points from those documents to add as commends here;
1. Who’ve live in Phnom Penh and other provincial town nowadays? The answer is Vietnamese, why they are there? Who are owner of the houses in Phnom Penh and other town(Khmer),Where are they now?(died), who killed them in order to dispute over Khmer houses, to get good jobs, to make better and high education for their children, and to get into leading position in the country, like Loa today.
2. When Khmer were killed? Very early period of Khmer Rouge won, this meant that all KR leaders were not coming to the position. The process of killing is that Khmer people were cheated to go by trucks to welcome Samdach Orv (King, Sihanouk) returning to Cambodia, or go to study at this and that places, and then they were fired crowdedly. Those were killed, people in the capital and provincial town during a very short period of 19 to 23 April 1975.
3. 1979 coming, the Khmer people were replaced by Vietnamese. Those Vietnamese have been living in Cambodia for long time, some of them came to Cambodia during Sangkom Reas Niyoum, some of them came during Lorn Norl regime, they learnt and spoke Khmer very well. 1975 those Vietnamese were sent back to Vietnam by testing who can speak Vietnamese were allowed to go. 1979 while returning to Cambodia, those Vietnamese were allowed to inter Cambodia for whose can speak Khmer by shifting different places of living from capital to province and province to capital. Khmer people knew nothing about this and thought that those who are living in the capital and town are Khmer, but actually those are Vietnamese. It is a reason why people were not allowed to go into Phnom Penh because only Vietnamese were allowed to go in first.
4. In 1975, plan of killing government official and soldiers who live in the capital and town to get their houses until 1979, the next plan is to kill Khmer at rural because at capital are almost Vietnamese. That’s why there was a plan of K5 that all soldiers at the rural were killed.
5. Early 1979, a lot of Khmer people were killed as well, day time, Vietnam acted as good actors, but night time Vietnam acted as killers to kill Khmer more and more in order to eliminate Khmer from the nation. Phnom Penh is just a nest of birds when they grew up, they will fly different places. Vietnam is the same, Phnom Penh is a very central place of their living, Chhbar Ampoav, Oreusey, Olumpic, Neak Loeung, and Chroy Chang Va, all are Vietnamese. They will go to other province while they can speak Khmer. Every Khmer people can see and consider if you really love Khmer.
6. All killings above accused “Ang Kar”, where Ang Kar were from? Unfortunately, the history can not be hidden, South Vietnam were same Cambodia situation, North Vietnam did their politic the same Khmer politic, government officials and soldiers were collected but they were not killed, only jailed. The question was made, Ang Kar in Khmer and in South Vietnam were the same, who learnt from who? Or both Ang Kar was in one. Khmer People can think of the Khmer Rouge Regime, how can KR leader kill Khmer people? because a period of killing, those KR leaders were not coming to the position, so how can they do to kill Khmer? Thus, all KR leaders said “they didn’t know the killing was true”. Actually, Ang Kar from Vietnam were the killers.
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