AFP
PHNOM PENH — Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court should press on with new cases against former Khmer Rouge leaders or risk a "legacy of impunity," a trial-monitoring group said Wednesday.
The tribunal, dogged by allegations of political interference, has yet to announce whether it will go ahead with two more cases against five as yet unnamed former leaders of the brutal 1975-1979 regime.
If it decides not to proceed with those new trials, "the court will be left with a legacy of impunity rather than justice," said the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) in a new report.
The court completed its first case in July, sentencing a former prison chief to 30 years in jail for overseeing the deaths of 15,000 people.
In September, it indicted four top regime leaders for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in connection with the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork and execution between 1975 and 1979. Their joint trial is due to start next year.
Cambodian and international prosecutors have openly disagreed on whether the court should pursue more suspects.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told visiting United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon in late October that a third case was "not allowed" because it could plunge the country back into civil war.
Hun Sen was himself once a mid-level Khmer Rouge member before turning against the movement.
"Such blatant political interference in the court's work is of course contrary to basic fair trial standards," said the report.
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan called the report "an insult to the government."
Cambodia and the UN had not yet reached "an agreement" on cases three and four, he told AFP, adding that funding was a key concern. "We are worried about the budget," he said.
The cash-strapped court faces a budget shortfall of more than 40 million dollars for 2010 and 2011.
A spokesman for the tribunal said the court "was conducting its operations according to its mandate and its current caseload, which is cases one to four."
"Any deviation from this would require changes in the legal framework," Lars Olsen said, which would be a matter for the Cambodian government and the UN.
The Khmer Rouge emptied the cities and abolished money and schools in a bid to create an agrarian utopia, wiping out nearly a quarter of the country's population before they were ousted from the capital by Vietnamese forces.
11 comments:
The Irony is, those who want Khmer Rouge trial to continue is the ones who condemn Hun Sen and his party for join hands with the Vietnamese to over throw the Khmer Rouge regime!
Who Save millions of Cambodian from certain dead under the Khmer Rouge? Hun Sen or Sam Rainsy?! When Hun Sen lead his troop to fight with the Khmer Rouge, where is Sam Rainsy? Never heard of of him.
11:34 PM
Please don't be cry...do not start from 7/1/1979. You must start from the day of communist in indo-china born 1930. The mastermine killer killed million of khmers is youn, but not pol pot. Now, youn and CI-PEE-PEE scares of that, youn asks hun sen to block the court KRT like further investigation....
Whoever say youn help khmer, that is completely wrong..is out of mine. 7/1/1979 was just a new way or tactic to kill more khmer.
Only the former Khmer Rouge still believe Youn did all the killing, and Pol Pot is not guilty. These same people are strong supporter of Sam Rainsy. While they are accusing HS to be former KR and try to attach the guilt of the killing field to him, they make every kind of excuse for Pol Pot and his clique.
Why the Khmer Rouge hate HS so much, because HS is the one who over throw Khmer Rouge regime.
1:12AM! don't you think than Hun Sen should leave the court alone for real justice!!!
Be a real Hero , HUn Sen!!!!! don't protect the killers and faul the justice!
11:34 go iron your mother!
11:34PM! when Hun Xen pretended to fight with Pol Pot ! Rainsy was preparing to kick Hun Xen's ass!!!
You stupid blind that why yoou do not see the evil of the group of khmerrouge!
And I sure raisy was not with Duch, Hor Nam Hong, Sim Ka, Keith Chorn, Pol Pot and the rest of the motherfuckers!
The trials simply must go on. Doesn't matter how long it takes.. what matters is that it must continues. I want to see all the CPP members, including the Viet get implicated for this. Khmer Rouge is definitely NOT the only guilty one here. I want to see Mr HUn Sen and cronies to have the exact same faith as Saddam Hussein!
Long Live Khmer!
ECCC must go on with other cases as well,case 003 and case 004.
Thank you for your support UN and ECCC decisive team.
Khmer victims
CPP leaders are all Yuon and Yuon Viet Minh, Khmer Viet Minh as fellow:
1. Chea Sim ( former Khmer Viet Minh, Khmer Rouge , CPP )
2 .Heng Samrin ( former Khmer Viet Minh, Khmer Rouge , CPP )
3 . Hor Namhong ( Khmer Rouge former prison chief of B 32 )
4 Meas Sophea ( Yuon born in Vietnam serving as army general in Hun Sen regiem )
5. Hun Sen ( former Khmer Rouge )
Yuon handling KR Trial or ECCC , not Khmer.
11:34 PM,
Save millions my ass! the vietcongs did not come to save your or anyone's ass.
It was an internal breakdown between the vietcong group and the fanatic Pol Pot group. CPP monkeys ran to their boss in Hanoi to save their own asses, not yours or mine. W were all just lucky bystanders.
Just because some girl smiled at a handsome guy, and you were in front of that guy, meant she was hot for you. So, give up that crap about how the vietcongs or CPP monkeys saved any cambodian's life. You just keep it for yourself, if you believe they actually saved your ass.
To be credible, ECCC needs to bring in both the Pol Pot/China cliques and the vietcong cliques KR to answer the court. Case 01 and 02 were from the china clique, except one other major figure. Case 03 and 04 might involve the vietcong cliques.
Ban Ki Moon, or any being with a sliver shadow of intelligence could see that to end the process with just cases 01 and 02, ECCC would become the butt of the joke that no potential genocidal perpetrator would seriously care about international tribunal.
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