 |
| Meas Muth (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post) |
Lindsay Murdoch
smh.com.au
THE Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, has pledged a further $1.61 million of taxpayers' money to a United Nations tribunal that is set to allow a Khmer Rouge commander who sent two Australians to their deaths to escape justice.
Senator Carr pledged the money days after the tribunal was rocked by the resignation of the Swiss judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet, who had been blocked from pursuing prosecutions of former Khmer Rouge commanders, including Meas Muth, a former navy commander.
Meas Muth, now in his 70s, sent the yachtsmen Ronald Keith Dean and David Lloyd Scott to Cambodia's notorious Tuol Sleng interrogation centre where they were tortured and killed in 1978.
Making his first overseas trip as Foreign Minister, Senator Carr praised the tribunal for convicting Tuol Sleng's former head Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, but made no mention of cost over-runs and disputes that prompted mass resignations at the tribunal established in 2006. He made an indirect reference to claims of political interference at the tribunal: ''The independence of the judiciary and the [court] must be allowed to operate free from any external interference.''
Mr Kasper-Ansermet was the second judge in two months to quit the tribunal, citing the blocking of the prosecution of Meas Muth and Sou Met, the Khmer Rouge's air force chief.
Cambodia's Prime Minister, Hun Sen, has told the UN he will not allow further trials after the conclusion of hearings against five ageing Khmer Rouge leaders, including Duch.
Meas Muth and Sou Met were next to face prosecution over the deaths of at least 1.7 million people during the Khmer Rouge's rule from 1975 to 1978. The UN and other investigators have found the men were responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. Neither could be contacted for comment.
Mr Dean, a 35-year-old Sydney hotel and club worker and Mr Scott, from Western Australia, suffered extreme torture at Tuol Sleng. They signed false confessions saying they were CIA agents in an apparent attempt to avoid their executions. A guard at Tuol Sleng told the tribunal that one Westerner at the centre, possibly one of the Australians, was burned alive.
The UN has condemned political interference at the tribunal as its judges and staff have been blocked from pursuing more suspects. Australia is the second largest donor to the tribunal after Japan. The latest contribution brings Australia's total support to $18.3 million.
6 comments:
i told you, god is always blessing my country cambodia. of course god know and understand that there are more to cambodia than some political opposition group of unruly people, you know.
Bob Carr, you party just lost the QLD election. The second judge resigned his position.
On the other hand, you pledge to give out more money to the Cambodian government, knowing fully aware of the corrupted system and the government interruption into the case.
Maybe you are not fit to your position as a Foreign Minister. Are you also aware the the person shaking hands with you, Comrade Hor Nam Hong, is also a Vietminh during the Pol Pot regime.
When shaking hands with this Vietminh, did you ask him how many he had killed in one of the Pol Pot killing camps.
Pourquoi le grand chef khmer rouge Norodom Sihanouk alias
(Sdach Peal ស្ដាចន៍ពាល) est toujours absent au Tribunal Khmer
Rouge?
为什么真正的红色高棉领导人诺罗敦·西哈努克又名（SDACH PEALស្ដាចន៍ពាល）没有出席在红色高棉法庭?
Why the real Khmer Rouge leader Norodom Sihanouk aka ( SDACH PEAL ស្ដាចន៍ពាល) did not attend at the Khmer Rouge Court ?
គួរតែព្រះមហាវិរក្សត្រទ្រង់យាងមកកាន់ សាលាក្តីខ្មែរក្រហមដើម្បីបំភ្លឺការពិតឲ្យដល់ កូន ចៅ ចៅទួត ចៅលួត ចៅលា កូនក្នុងខោ កូនក្រៅខោ កូនធើ បងធើ ក្មួយធើ និងអាម៉ីអាថោង បានដឹងច្បាស់ថាៈ
ព្រះអង្គគឺមិនមែនជាស្តេចកំសាកញីទេ!
Post a Comment