 |
| Rob Hamill |
April 8, 2011
James O'Toole
The Phnom Penh Post
FORMER Olympic rower Rob Hamill has announced plans to file a civil party application at the Khmer Rouge tribunal in relation to the court's controversial third and fourth cases.
The New Zealander's application targets former Khmer Rouge navy commander Meas Muth and air force commander Sou Met, and follows a similar application lodged by local activist Theary Seng on Monday, the first in relation to Cases 003 and 004.
These cases, still in the preliminary investigation stage, feature five suspects who have not yet been arrested or charged and whose identities remain confidential. Theary Seng said this week, however, that she was confident Meas Muth and Sou Met were among those being investigated based on public documents and her own research.
Hamill's brother Kerry was captured by the Khmer Rouge in 1978 while sailing with friends in the Gulf of Thailand before being taken to S-21 prison in Phnom Penh and executed. Rob Hamill appeared to testify about the ordeal in 2009 during the tribunal's first trial, that of former S-21 prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch.
Speaking by phone from New Zealand, Rob Hamill said yesterday that his new civil party application had been inspired by Theary Seng's, and that he hoped it would help end "the stalling of the process" in Cases 003 and 004.
Prime Minister Hun Sen and other Cambodian officials have expressed opposition to these cases, which have apparently progressed little since they were first submitted for investigation by prosecutors in 2009.
"The experience of the court I've found very rewarding, and from a moral perspective, I think it's been a great process to go through, with the exception of this last case," Hamill said.
"I shouldn't have to be in a position where I have to speak out to reignite a process that should be moving along."
Tribunal officials reacted angrily to Theary Seng's announcement this week, declining to confirm whether Meas Muth and Sou Met are indeed being investigated and calling the allegations "reckless" and "irresponsible".
United Nations court spokesman Lars Olsen said yesterday that the court "has already said publicly what its reaction is to the naming of individuals in the public domain".
"I find it unfortunate that it seems like a practice of naming individuals based on speculation is continuing by another civil party applicant," Olsen said.
Both Hamill and Theary Seng, whose loved ones were killed under the Khmer Rouge regime, said in statements this week that they held Meas Muth and Sou Met responsible for the deaths of their family members, for the role the men played in the "common purpose and design in the arrests and executions, specifically in their respective divisions and generally for the whole of Cambodia".
Hamill said yesterday that Meas Muth bore particular responsibility for the death of his brother, who was captured by the Khmer Rouge navy.
"I see Meas Muth's role as critical, almost potentially more important than the role Duch played, in the sense that his role ... that he played to take my brother's freedom away was the critical moment in my brother's life," Hamill said.
"If he had shown an ounce of human decency at that time, our lives as a family here in New Zealand would have been completely different."
3 comments:
The island's history is as old as any Asian mainland. An 1856 record mentions the island: "... King Ang Duong (of Cambodia) apprise Mr. de Montigny, French envoy in visit to Bangkok, through the intermediary of Bishop Miche, his intention to yield Koh Tral to France (cf. “The Second [French] Empire of IndoChina”)". Such a proposition aimed to create a military alliance with France to avoid the threat of Vietnam on Cambodia. The proposal did not receive an answer from the French.
While the war between Annam, France, and Spain was about to begin, Ang Duong sent another letter to Napoleon III to warn him on Cambodian claims on the lower Cochinchina region: the Cambodian king listed provinces and islands, including Koh Tral, under Vietnamese occupation since several years or decades (in the case of Saigon, some 200 years according to this letter). Ang Duong asked the French emperor to not annex any part of these territories because, as he wrote, despite this relatively long Vietnamese occupation, they remain Cambodian lands. In 1867, Phu Quoc's Vietnamese authorities pledge allegiance to French troops just conquering HaTien.
After Cambodia gained independence from France, sovereignty disputes over the island were raised since there was no colonial decision on the island's fate. Dating back to 1939, the Governor-general of French Indochina, Jules Brévié had drawn a line to delimiting the administrative boundaries for islands in the Gulf of Thailand: those north of the line were placed under the Cambodian protectorate; those south of the line were managed by the colony of Cochinchina. Brévié made the point that the decision merely addressed police and administrative task, and that no sovereignty decision had been made. As a result, Phu Quoc remains under Cochinchina administration.
Phu Quoc has been a sleepy historical backwater most of its life. The temple on Cau rock was built in 1937. During the Vietnam War the island housed South Vietnam's largest prisoner camp (40000 in 1973, cf. Ngo Cong Duc, deputy of the Vinh Binh province, quoted in "Le régime de Nguyen Van Thieu à travers l'épreuve", Etude Vietnamienne, 1974, pp. 99–131).
After Mainland China fell under the control of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, General Huang Chieh led 30,000 Republic of China Army soldiers to Vietnam and they were stationed at Phu Quoc Island. Later, the army moved to Taiwan in June 1953. There is currently a small island in Kaohsiung, Taiwan's Chengcing Lake that was constructed in November 1955 and named Phu Quoc Island in memory of the fleeing Chinese soldiers in 1949.
In 1967, during the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, Norodom Sihanouk aimed to make the border internationally recognized; in particular, in 1967, the North Vietnamese government recognize theses borders. As written in an article from Kambudja magazine in 1968 (and quoted in the Sihanouk website), entitled "border questions", this border definition recognize that Phu Quoc island is in Vietnamese territory, even if Cambodian claims have been made later.
On May 1, 1975, a squad of Khmer Rouge soldiers raided and took Phu Quoc Island, but Vietnam soon recaptured it. This was to be the first of a series of incursions and counter-incursions that would escalate to the Cambodian–Vietnamese War in 1979.
By Dr. Hun Manet,
Koh Tral Island must not be forgotten
By Ms. Rattana Keo
Why do Koh Tral Island, known in Vietnam as Phu Quoc, a sea and land area covering proximately over 10,000 km2 [Note: the actual land size of Koh Tral itself is 574 square kilometres (222 sq miles)] have been lost to Vietnam by whose treaty? Why don’t Cambodia government be transparent and explain to Cambodia army at front line and the whole nation about this? Why don't they include this into education system? Why?
Cambodian armies are fighting at front line for 4.6 km2 on the Thai border and what's about over 10,000km2 of Cambodia to Vietnam. Nobody dare to talk about it! Why? Cambodian armies you are decide the fate of your nation, Cambodian army as well as Cambodian people must rethink about this again and again. Is it fair?
Koh Tral Island, the sea and land area of over 10,000 square kilometres have been lost to Vietnam by the 1979 to 1985 treaties. The Cambodian army at front line as well as all Cambodian people must rethink again about these issues. Are Cambodian army fighting to protect the Cambodia Nation or protecting a very small group that own big lands, big properties or only protecting a small group but disguising as protecting the Khmer nation?
The Cambodian army at front lines suffer under rain, wind, bullets, bombs, lack of foods, lack of nutrition and their families have no health care assistance, no securities after they died but a very small group eat well, sleep well, sleep in first class hotel with air conditioning system with message from young girls, have first class medical care from oversea medical treatments, they are billionaires, millionaires who sell out the country to be rich and make the Cambodian people suffer everyday.
Who signed the treaty 1979-1985 that resulted in the loss over 10,000 km2 of Cambodia??? Why they are not being transparent and brave enough to inform all Cambodians and Cambodian army at front line about these issues? Why don't they include Koh Tral (Koh Tral size is bigger than the whole Phom Phen and bigger than Singapore [Note: Singapore's present land size is 704 km2 (271.8 sq mi)]) with heap of great natural resources, in the Cambodian education system?
Look at Hun Sen's families, relatives and friends- they are billionaires, millionaires. Where did they get the money from when we all just got out of war with empty hands [in 1979]? Hun Sen always say in his speeches that Cambodia had just risen up from the ashes of war, just got up from Year Zero with empty hands and how come they are billionaires, millionaires but 90% of innocent Cambodian people are so poor and struggling with their livelihood every day?
Smart Khmer girl Ms. Rattana Keo,
In respone to Dr. Hun Manet by Ms. Rattana Keo,
KAMPUCHEA KROM AT A GLANCE
Kampuchea Krom is composed of 68,965 square kilometers, 21 provinces and municipalities, two large islands - Koh Tral and Koh Tralach, 171 districts, 1,368 communes, 14,778 villages, more than 13 million Khmers, more than 567 Buddhist pagodas and more than 20,000 Theravada Buddhist monks.
99% of populations are Theravada Buddhists.
The Khmer kings, governments, regimes and citizens have never relinquish (give up) this part of their country to foreigners.
Kampuchea Krom has been under an ongoing colonial control since her division from motherland, Cambodia.
June 4, 1949 is the date that the Khmer Kampuchea Krom citizens grieve. The Khmer Kampuchea Krom people have organized Buddhist Service annually to honor the fallen Khmer Buddhist monks and heroes, who sacrificed their lives for Kampuchea Krom and Theravada Buddhism.
Colonial France divided, ceded and transferred Kampuchea Krom to colonial Vietnam on this date. The freedom of Khmer Kampuchea Krom has been mostly stripped by the Vietnamese ruling regimes and governments since. The French colonial administration committed injustice upon the more than 13 million Khmers of this beautiful fertile land.
Justice remains elusive for Cambodia, Kampuchea Krom and her citizens.
And...The struggle to regain freedom and human rights by the Khmers in Kampuchea Krom continues as long as injustice commits by the ruling Vietnamese regime(s) has not produced a fruitful result.
Koh Tral (Tral Island)
in Vietnamese - Phu Quoc island
circa 1939 Vietnamese encroached and conquered
Koh Tral Island has an area of 567 square kilometers; about 62 kilometers long and between 3 kilometers and 28 kilometers wide. The island physically is located closest to Cambodia's Kep seaside city. Visitors can see Koh Tral Island from the coastline of Kep. It is about a 30-minute motorized boat ride.
Post a Comment