Clinton backs UN rights office, silent on new war crimes prosecutions

Nov 1, 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday described the United Nations' human rights office in Cambodia as 'a valuable resource,' less than a week after Phnom Penh threatened to close it, claiming it was a mouthpiece for the opposition.

Speaking at a press conference with Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Clinton said the UN human rights office provided technical assistance to the government as well as non-governmental organisations on areas such as trafficking and the rule of law.

'So the High Commissioner's office is active in ways that we think are very complementary to what the Cambodian government is committed to doing, and we think the work is important and we would like to see it continue,' she said.

And in a moderation of Hun Sen's comments last week, Hor Namhong added that the government was in no rush to shut the office, not least since its mandate to operate lasts until January 2012.

Clinton arrived in Cambodia late Saturday as part of a two-week tour to improve relations with a number of Asia-Pacific states, and was scheduled to leave late Monday for Malaysia.

Last week, Prime Minister Hun Sen also told visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that he would not allow the war crimes tribunal to prosecute a further five former Khmer Rouge cadres.

If the tribunal decides to prosecute the cases, which are currently under investigation, they would constitute the court's third and fourth trials.

Hun Sen's comments set off a predictable storm of criticism over renewed political interference in the judicial process.

Hor Namhong reiterated that line Monday, saying the trial of five lower-level cadres 'could jeopardise peace and stability in Cambodia.'

'Who will be responsible for that?' he asked, adding that further conflict would hinder the country's development.

Clinton sidestepped a question seeking clarification on the US position on further prosecutions.

Instead she said 'the first and most pressing piece of business' was to secure funding for the tribunal's second case, scheduled to start next year, of four former Khmer Rouge leaders.

'There is not yet the funding available to do that trial - the estimate is somewhere between 46 and 50 million dollars will be needed,' Clinton said.

She also said Washington had agreed to send a team of experts to seek a solution to the 445-million-dollar debt owed to the US by Cambodia's US-backed Lon Nol regime, which preceded the Khmer Rouge takeover of the country in 1975.

'We very much want to see this matter resolved,' Clinton said of the debt, which Cambodia has previously said should be written off.

Clinton is scheduled to meet separately with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and members of the political opposition before flying out to Malaysia later Monday.

She arrived in Cambodia's western city of Siem Reap late Saturday and spent Sunday touring the Angkor Wat temple complex and a US-funded refuge for victims of sex trafficking.

It is the first trip to Cambodia by a serving US secretary of state since Colin Powell visited in 2003.