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| U.N. Under Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Patricia O'Brien, center, shakes hands with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An prior to a meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011. O'Brien was expected to meet with Cambodian government officials over the working of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and recent resignation of the ECCC judge Siegfried Blunk, who expressed dissatisfaction over the interference from the government. (Photo: AP) |
Friday, 21 October 2011
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
O’Brien also “expressed concern” over the developments at the court and called on government leaders and others to “respect and support the integrity and independence of the [tribunal] judicial process,” the statement said.
The UN’s top legal representative has warned Cambodian officials to cease public statements in opposition to two cases before the Khmer Rouge tribunal.
Patricia O’Brien, UN undersecretary-general for legal affairs, met with government officials Thursday night to discuss UN concerns in the wake of the resignation of international investigating judge Siegfried Blunk.
Blunk said Prime Minister Hun Sen, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith had all made statements demonstrating government opposition to cases 003 and 004, creating an atmosphere in which he would be perceived as biased, no matter his judgment on the cases.
In a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last year, Hun Sen said those cases at the court were “not allowed.”
Blunk’s resignation has fueled widespread speculation that the court is under political pressure not to fully investigate the cases, which would require the indictment of five more Khmer Rouge leaders, an act Cambodian officials have warned could destabilize the country.
O’Brien “strongly urged the royal government of Cambodia to refrain from statements opposing the progress of cases 003 and 004 and to refrain from interfering in any way whatsoever with the judicial process,” the UN said in a statement following Thursday’s meeting, which included Council Minister Sok An, who oversees the court for the government.
O’Brien also “expressed concern” over the developments at the court and called on government leaders and others to “respect and support the integrity and independence of the [tribunal] judicial process,” the statement said.
The court is in the midst of preparations for its largest, and second, trial to date, in which jailed former leaders Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith are charged with atrocity crimes that include genocide. The court is expected to open a major hearing in that case in November.
In its own statement after Thursday’s meeting, the Council of Ministers made no mention of the warnings on cases 003 and 004 or of Blunk’s resignation and his concerns for perceived political interference at the court.
However, Ek Tha, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, denied any government officials had interfered with the tribunal’s work.
“We let the court work to fulfill its duty in conformity with legal procedures,” he told reporters.
Government spokesman Phay Siphan said the two sides had not “deeply” discussed the two controversial cases.
6 comments:
Didn't judge yuons for planning and leading the killing field and other genocides against Khmer is A DENY JUSTICE and deny rights of the victims of yuon crimes
In all democratic Nations, any politician, minister, Prime Minister who dare to make public statement of any kind to any court case who have been in the court, would be called for resignation. If that person is still refused to resign, the public has their right to protest until the resignation become effective. The Police and the army will have to back up public demand because these offences have against their elected mandates.
Areak Prey
The UN must stand firm on its principals.
Stop allowing this puppet government and its Master Vietnam to kick the UN's representatives around.
Be assertive!!
If ECCC is not allowed to do its work free of political interference, then ICC and ICJ must take over the work of ECCC so that true justice can be found for the victims of the Killing Fields.
Some Khmer’s killers have been trying to stop the KRT from exposing their face to the world.
Khmer Vietminh were brainwashed and created by then North Vietnam in the 1950's.
During the Pol Pot’s era, those Khmer Vietminh worked along side with Khmer Rouge Pol Pot inside Cambodia.
Those Khmer Vietminh might have committed most of the Killings during Pol Pot’s reign.
The world should stop wondering why this KRT always has problems.
Because the Khmer Vietminh, who currently hold the power, worried that the KRT will find out about their criminal acts.
To succeed, the UN must stand firmly on its principals.
If the former Khmer Vietminh (Hun Sen’s government) and Vietnam were cleaned, why they are so apprehensive about the tribunal?
The UN must understand that the ulterior motive of Vietnam and its puppet Government is to impede, and drag the KRT from going forward until all those old Khmer rouge leaders die. So there will be no proof to reveal the truth about the killing in Cambodia to the world.
Did Vietnam and the Cambodian government comply with the 1991 Paris peace accord? What is the real purpose of Vietnam and the puppet government for not implementing such peace accord?
Instead of using the 1991 Paris peace accord, they used the bilateral treaties, signed in 1979, 81, 83, 85, and the supplemental treaty in 2005, that favored heavily Vietnam. According to Mr. Seang Peng Se, Cambodia has lost 30,000 Km2 in the ocean to Vietnam and unspecified area in land. Moreover, Vietnamese people have been moving freely to live inside Cambodia, causing tremendous concern amongst Khmer people about the prospect that Khmer people will become the minority in their own land in the foreseeable future. Kampuchea Krom (part of south Vietnam) used to be Khmer land. Vietnam took it by encouraging their people to move into that land.
If the UN asks Vietnam and the Cambodian government about “KOR 5”, a scheme deployed by Vietnam after the 1980, which killed hundred thousands of Cambodian people, then the UN might have some ideas of what was going on during the Pol Pot’s era, and might understand the ultimate goal of Vietnam for interfering all the time in Cambodia. The one who committed most of the killings may not be Pol Pot. And it is the duty of the KRT to find it out
UN is useless and a waste o the governments money. ICJ must step in to save the credibility of the justice system. Delayed Justice is Denying Justice!
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