In Pailin, Judges Find Questions of Trust

You Bunleng, a Cambodian judge, right, and Marcel Lemonde, left, a U.N.-appointed judge sit during a meetings with local officials and residents in Pailin, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold, Cambodia, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008. Forging ahead with its work of prosecuting former Khmer Rouge leaders, Cambodia's U.N.-backed genocide tribunal has embarked on an unusual mission to win the hearts and minds or at least the grudging cooperation of the group's old loyalists. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Pailin
15 January 2008

Khmer Rouge tribunal judges met for the first time with former rebels in the remote mountains of the northwest Monday, in an effort to curb fears of further arrests of low- and mid-level cadre.

In a three-hour, closed-door meeting in Pailin, the judges and former Khmer Rouge discussed the mandate of the tribunal, which is to prosecute only top leaders of the regime.

Pailin authorities, police, and military officials met with judges and about 150 former Khmer Rouge.

“There were many questions,” said Pailin Deputy Governor Keut Sothea, a former Khmer Rouge cadre, of the meeting. “The questions were meant to clear any doubt. Other participants said they were given enough explanations to trust” the judges.

Tribunal investigating judge You Bunleng said the meetings were aimed to allay fears of Pailin residents who live among former Khmer Rouge. Pailin was a Khmer Rouge stronghold, and many former supporters of the regime still live in the area.

Two top leaders, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, who were both arrested in late 2007 and charged with atrocity crimes, lived in Pailin.

“We know that the ECCC can proceed because of a clear understanding and cooperation from local authorities,” You Bunleng said, referring to the tribunal by its official name, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. “And the people have to understand too.”

Pailin Governor Y Chhean, who is close to former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, told reporters in Pailin he was cooperating with tribunal officials.

Some former cadre in the area, however, expressed concern about the fate of their former leaders, all of whom await trials while detained at a tribunal center in Phnom Penh.

In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge court goes to the Khmer Rouge

Tue, 15 Jan 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - About 150 former Khmer Rouge attended meetings with the prosecuting judges of the impending Khmer Rouge tribunal Tuesday, although many of their leaders did not, officials said. The visit by the prosecuting judges and officials of the joint UN-Cambodia 56-million-dollar tribunal followed concerns the rank and file members of the movement from former stronghold Pailin would not cooperate with the tribunal.

Court media officer Reach Sambath said the ice was broken and the two-day visit, which ends Wednesday, was a success. Some local officials in the remote municipality on the north-western border with Thailand, around 500 kilometres from the capital, expressed doubt.

"We feel it was a success. Many people asked questions, and we answered," Sambath said from Pailin by telephone.

However local officials said many of the majority former Khmer Rouge residents remained unconvinced that trying their aging former leaders, five of whom are currently in custody and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, was necessary and remained scared they may yet be targeted.

Officials said Pailin governor and former Khmer Rouge commander Y Chhien was not there. The area's parliamentary representative Ieng Vuth, whose mother Khieu Thirith and father Ieng Sary are both in jail awaiting trial at the hearings, was also not present.

"Many people asked why jail them when they are so old and why only focus on the 1975-79 period," local deputy director of religion, Sam Savouen, said.

Other officials, most of whom are former Khmer Rouge and many of whom still credit former deputy prime minister of the regime, Ieng Sary, with brokering a deal with the government in 1996 which ended the fighting while leaving the Khmer Rouge in charge of the resource-rich area, declined comment and did not attend.

Sambath said the court would visit a pagoda and speak with more people Wednesday before ending the visit, hopefully winning more hearts and minds along the way with honesty and detailed answers.

"We want their trust and we need their participation," he said.

Up to 2 million people died during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 ultra-Maoist Democratic Kampuchea regime which sought to abolish social classes, markets, religion and even money in a drive to create an agrarian utopia.

U.N.-tribunal meets Khmer Rouge cadres to calm fears

Tue Jan 15, 2008
By Ek Madra

PAILIN, Cambodia (Reuters) - French and Cambodian judges of the U.N.-backed "Killing Fields" tribunal met former Khmer Rouge fighters in one of Pol Pot's final strongholds on Tuesday to allay their fears about the long-awaited trials.

Even though the $56 million court was set up to investigate only those "most responsible" for the deaths of the Khmer Rouge's estimated 1.7 million victims, many ageing former guerrillas are worried they will be sucked into the process.

However, French investigating judge Marcel Lemonde assured government officials in Pailin, a Khmer Rouge redoubt on the Thai border, this was not the case and asked for help in convicting five top cadres already charged with atrocities.

"The court cannot achieve its goal without participation from the local authorities and public," Lemonde said.

Sam Yet, a 49-year-old former black-shirted guerrilla, said he was ready to provide evidence against his former commanders, a rare expression of support for the court in a region where Pol Pot is still revered as a national hero.

"The leaders of the Khmer Rouge should be held accountable and punished for their roles," he told Reuters as he walked with his wife down the main street in Pailin, a wild border town under Khmer Rouge control until a 1997 surrender deal.

"Brother Number One" Pol Pot died in the final redoubt of Anlong Veng, also on the Thai border, in 1998, nearly two decades after his four-year ultra-Maoist regime was removed by a Vietnamese invasion.

However, his right-hand-man, Nuon Chea, as well as former president Khieu Samphan, former foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife were charged with crimes against humanity or war crimes last year.

The other suspect in detention is Duch, commandant of the notorious "S-21" interrogation and torture centre in Phnom Penh's Tuol Sleng high school. Duch has already confessed to mass murder and implicated members of Pol Pot's inner circle.

Pailin governor Ee Chhean, one of Pol Pot's messengers during his time in the jungle, said he believed the trials would not stir up too much dirt in a region where all survivors have dark secrets.

"The government is not going to have a trial that causes social unrest," he said.

Officials Seek to Reassure Pailin Rebels

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 January 2008

Top officials of the Khmer Rouge tribunal arrived in the former stronghold of Pailin Monday to allay fears among low-level cadre they could share the fate of their arrested former leaders.

Five former top leaders are in tribunal custody, including Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, who both lived in Pailin until their arrest. The laws governing the tribunal do not include the prosecution of low- or mid-level cadre.

Tribunal investigating judges for three days will meet with former Khmer Rouge to explain the role of the courts and their mandate, tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said.

“We have come here to meet and chat with the people who are officials and local authorities in Pailin,” Reach Sambath said. “Among them are a number of people who are former separatists, and who joined the Cambodian government.”

The rebels will ask judges “some questions to quell misunderstandings and unclear ideas” about the tribunal, he said.

Hisham Moussar, a tribunal monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said the three-day forum in Pailin was “important” to show the tribunal has “two voices.”

“So at the time of prosecution, there will be uncontested justice,” he said.

Tribunal judges travel to former Khmer Rouge stronghold: official

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Top officials from Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal travelled for the first time to the regime's former stronghold Monday to allay fears of mass arrests of former rebels.

Judges investigating the murderous Khmer Rouge regime joined other court officials for the three-day visit to the western, Pailin region to "meet and talk" with former rebels, said tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath.

"The aim of the meetings is to explain to them about the role of tribunal and its mandate -- that this court will only try the most senior and the most responsible Khmer Rouge leaders, and the ordinary Khmer Rouge officials should not be worried," he told AFP.

The visit also aimed to clear up misunderstandings about the joint Cambodian-UN tribunal in the hope of convincing many to give evidence for the prosecution in upcoming trials, Reach Sambath said.

"We need cooperation from many of them because they could be key witnesses in order to assist the trials," he said.

Pailin, near the Thai border, was one of the final refuges of the brutal regime which was driven out of power in 1979, and many soldiers and officials fled to the remote region to regroup and try and battle the new government.

Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork or were executed under the Khmer Rouge, which emptied Cambodia's cities, exiling millions to vast collective farms in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia.

The tribunal, established in July 2006 after nearly a decade of negotiations between Cambodia and the United Nations, seeks to prosecute crimes committed by senior Khmer Rouge leaders.

Five heads have been detained to face charges for crimes committed during the regime's 1975-79 rule. Trials are expected to begin in mid-2008.

All the defendants claim to be suffering from serious health ailments, causing concern among those hoping to find justice before the alleged perpetrators die.

Tribunal to Hold Public Forum in Former KR Stronghold

By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
08 January 2008

The Khmer Rouge tribunal will hold a public meeting in Pailin next week, in an effort to allay fears of lower ranking cadre they could be arrested too, officials said Tuesday.

Pailin, in the mountainous jungles of northwest Cambodia, had been the home of chief ideologue Nuon Chea and nominal head Khieu Samphan before their arrests late last year. Many of their family members and supporters still live there.

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said the goal of the forum would be to reassure former low-ranking Khmer Rogue soldiers they would not be similarly prosecuted.

Co-investigating judges will explain to participants that the tribunal's mandate is to indict top leaders only, he said.

Pailin authorities will disseminate information ahead of the meeting in an effort to include as many participants as possible, he said.

Ly Kimseng, wife of Nuon Chea, said Tuesday she had not received information on participation.