Australia in a hurry to see salary kickbacks at the ECCC perpetuated?

Australia Pushes for Release of Tribunal Funds

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
07 May 2009

Australia has urged the UN and Cambodia to reach an agreement over how to handle corruption at the Khmer Rouge tribunal and has officially demanded that the UNDP release $456,000 for administration of the court, an official said Wednesday.

“We continue to urge the Cambodian government and the United Nations to intensify their efforts to develop a credible anti-corruption mechanism which builds on progress to date,” Fiona Cochaud, deputy chief of mission at the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh, told VOA Khmer by e-mail.

“Like other donors, Australia is concerned about allegations of corruption in relation to the administration of the ECCC,” she said, referring to the tribunal by its initials, for Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. “And we welcome the work undertaken to date by the Cambodian government and the United Nations to ensure that the ECCC administration operates in a transparent, fair and efficient manner.”

The tribunal, established in 2006 after a decade of wrangling between the UN and government, has been hounded by allegations by Cambodian staff they paid kickbacks for their jobs, in accusations strongly denied by tribunal officials.

The allegations have proven strong enough to give some donors pause, causing a budget crisis on the Cambodian side of the hybrid court, even as the first trial, of Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch, is underway.

Cochaud said Thursday that Australia is satisfied with the “broad progress” made by the courts in addressing corruption concerns, and it wants to ensure the administration will be able to support the functions of the tribunal.

“We are currently working with the UNDP on the modalities of the funds' release,” she said.

UNDP has not changed its position, the agency said in a statement Tuesday. “We are in discussions with our partners, but allegations of corruption must be resolved and genuine governance reforms must be put in place before UNDP is in a position to release funds.”

CAMBODIA: Corruption Allegations Undermine Khmer Rouge Tribunal

Written by Robert Carmichael

PHNOM PENH, May 1 (IPS) - The voice of Comrade Duch reverberates daily through the speakers at the 500- seat courtroom in Phnom Penh as he gives testimony in his trial for crimes against humanity.

Duch was the former commander of the notorious Khmer Rouge execution centre S21 in Phnom Penh in which 17,000 people are thought to have died between 1975 and 1979.

Another four senior surviving Khmer Rouge leaders are in custody awaiting trial.

The tribunal, a hybrid creation between the United Nations and the Cambodian government, has seen a number of controversies in its long gestation and brief life. The latest - and also one that crops up often - involves plausible allegations that Cambodian staff on the administration side of the tribunal paid kickbacks to senior staffers in return for their jobs.

This led donor nations to refuse to release more funds until the government established a mechanism to allow local staff to report corruption without fear of being fired. It hasn’t yet done so to the U.N.’s satisfaction, so the result is that Cambodian tribunal staff - some 250 people - have been paid late a number of times in the past year. That has happened again this month.

In early April a senior U.N. negotiator arrived in a final bid to hammer out a deal with the government to set up the anti-corruption mechanism. One day of talks became two days, which went into a third. But out of the blue the Australia government stunned observers by announcing during the U.N. negotiations that it wanted the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), which is holding back a half-million dollar Australian loan, to release that cash to pay court salaries.

The government saw the move as an endorsement of its position. The U.N. was undermined, and the meeting broke up without a deal.

Observers of the trial process were staggered. Was Australia’s timing accidental or by design they wondered?

Heather Ryan is a trial monitor for the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), an NGO funded by billionaire George Soros.

"It is inexplicable to me why the Australian government would take a step like that," Ryan says. "It so obviously does undermine the negotiating position of the U.N. [and others] who are trying to eliminate or reduce corruption in the court."

The Australian embassy in Phnom Penh would not comment - by its own admission the matter is too sensitive - and referred enquiries to Canberra. An emailed reply from the Australian government department of foreign affairs did not directly answer questions over what had happened. Instead the reply laid out a series of broader strokes.

The government spokesman wrote that Australia’s request that the UNDP release the money was based on two points. The first was the "broad progress" made by the Cambodian government to address the corruption issue. The second was to ensure that the court’s work would continue at this critical juncture."

"Australia’s decision to make this request took into account the views of other donors and the United Nations, including in Phnom Penh," the spokesman wrote - although he did not say whether the other partners agreed with the decision. "The Cambodian government is keenly aware of the need to ensure that corruption concerns are addressed."

If the undermining of the U.N.’s negotiating position was the first surprise, then the second was the refusal by UNDP to release the funds.

UNDP country manager Jo Scheuer explains that the organisation can only release the money once the corruption allegations are addressed by Phnom Penh, reforms are put in place to make sure it cannot happen again, and money previously released by UNDP is accounted for.

Scheuer says one reason UNDP rejected Australia’s request is because the tribunal must meet international standards on the dispensation of justice. Allegations of corruption undermine that.

"The second reason is because we are the fund manager. We are the ones accountable for the proper use of what at the end of the day is taxpayers’ money," Scheuer says. "We have said for the last nine months that we need to see allegations resolved and mechanisms put up before we can resume our role."

Court-watchers are concerned that the allegations could damage the trial - possibly fatally.

Perhaps more significant than corruption allegations on the administration side, are several reports in the media that some Cambodian judges paid kickbacks to secure their posts. As Scheuer points out, some of the defence lawyers have already stated that the corruption allegations mean their clients cannot get a fair trial.

But Scheuer says UNDP has seen no evidence of corruption involving Cambodian judges. "I can 100 percent say of all the work we have done, the extent of our knowledge of the allegations is limited to the administration of the court," he says.

That leaves the court’s immediate concern the payment of April salaries. They will certainly be paid late, says tribunal spokesperson Helen Jarvis, but she is confident money will come in to cover the salaries.

But, it won’t come from UNDP. Scheuer says that even if funds were approved for immediate release - and they have not been - it would take another eight weeks to work through the disbursement process. The only logical conclusion is that someone else will pay this month’s bill.

Ryan at the OSJI says it is distinctly possible that other donor nations could follow Australia’s lead in disbursing funds before an anti-corruption mechanism is set up. And she fears that could further undermine the U.N.’s position.

"We are watching carefully to see if other donors follow suit with [Australia] or if they continue to stand firm [on] an adequate agreement before they release any additional funds to the Cambodian side," Ryan says.

Monthly salaries aside, more important is the damage this episode has done to the court’s reputation. Scheuer says all parties want to see the problem resolved so that comment about the court can revolve around the delivery of justice rather than corruption.

There remains much concern that the court could yet collapse. If that happened sooner rather than later, it would leave Comrade Duch as the only one to face trial for the crimes of the Khmer Rouge regime that killed as many as two million people.

Corruption allegations continue to taint KR tribunal

April 27, 2009
ABC Radio Australia

The Khmer Rouge Tribunal currently underway in Phnom Penh has seen controversy in many forms.

The latest revolves around allegations of corruption, which have dragged on for months and seen donors freeze funding for the salaries of Cambodian staff.

Presenter: Robert Carmichael
Speakers: Heather Ryan, trial monitor for the Open Society Justice Initiative; Jo Scheuer, UNDP's country manager

Click here to listen to the audio program in English (Windows Media)

CARMICHAEL: This is the voice of Comrade Duch, former commander of the notorious Tuol Sleng execution centre in Phnom Penh. He's testifying at the Khmer Rouge tribunal where he's charged with crimes against humanity. But the credibility of the tribunal is at stake with long simmering allegations that Cambodian administrators paid kickbacks to senior staffers in return for their jobs. Most international donors have declined to release more funds to the tribunal until the Cambodian government resolves the issue.

But one donor has bucked the trend. Earlier this month Australia announced it would release funds while a senior UN official was in Phnom Penh trying to resolve the corruption allegations.

Heather Ryan is a trial monitor for the Open Society Justice Initiative.

HEATHER RYAN: It is inexplicable to me why the Australian government would take a step like that, that so obviously does undermine the negotiating position of not only the UN but others who are committed to trying to eliminate or trying to reduce corruption in the court and here in Cambodia in general.

ROBERT CARMICHAEL: The Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh refused to comment, saying the matter was too sensitive. But a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra said by email the decision was based on what he called "broad progress" in the Cambodian government's efforts to address corruption concerns, and to ensure that the court could continue its work.

Despite his comments that Australia had consulted with other donors and the UN before making its move, the UN Development Programme - which holds the money in a frozen trust - refused Australia's request to release the funds.

UNDP's country manager is Jo Scheuer.

JO SCHEUER: We are the ones accountable for the proper use of what at the end of the day is taxpayers' money. We have said for the last nine months that we need to see allegations resolved and mechanisms put up before we can resume our role, and that today is still the same position.

ROBERT CARMICHAEL: Lawyers for some of the defendants have used the corruption issue to argue their clients won't get a fair trial. And possibly worse than that, there have been some media allegations that Cambodian judges paid kickbacks to get their positions - a potentially fatal flaw for the tribunal.

Mr Scheuer says the UNDP has seen no evidence that happened.

JO SCHEUER: From the work we have done with the court we have no information whatsoever that anything happened on the judicial side of the national side of the court. It has been talked about, it has obviously been mentioned by some of the defence teams of some of the accused. I can 100 per cent say of all the work we have done, the extent of our knowledge of the allegations is limited to the administration of the court.

ROBERT CARMICHAEL: A tribunal spokesperson says April salaries for staff will be paid late, but is confident that money will come in. But the UNDP remains adamant the cash won't come from its funds. Heather Ryan at the Open Society Justice Initiative thinks it's possible other donors could follow the Australian lead. And that could potentially undermine the UN's insistence on fixing the corruption problem.

HEATHER RYAN: I am concerned about that and there is some evidence of that. I think the Australian's efforts to release their funds now without an agreement is evidence of that, and we are watching carefully to see if other donors follow suit with them or if they continue to stand firm that they want an adequate agreement before they release any additional funds to the Cambodian side.

ROBERT CARMICHAEL: And while monthly salaries are one thing, the bigger issue is the damage the corruption allegations have done and continue to do to the court's credibility. As UNDP's Jo Scheuer says: Everybody just wants to close this chapter and move on. But that requires action from Phnom Penh. For now, the ball remains in the Cambodian government's court.

Australia in controversy over Khmer Rouge trials [-Australia is undermining the UN]

AUDIO from Connect Asia: Corruption allegations at the Khmer Rouge tribunal

Mon, 27 Apr 2009
Robert Carmichael, Phnom Penh
ABC Radio Australia

Australia is mixed up in a controversy surrounding the credibility of the Cambodian tribunal hearing cases against former Khmer Rouge officials.

Allegations that Cambodian court employees paid kickbacks to senior staff of the hearings in return for their jobs have simmered for some time.

Most international donors have declined to release more funds to the tribunal until the Cambodian government resolves the issue.

But Australia has bucked the trend, announcing earlier in April that it would release funds.

Heather Ryan, a trial monitor for the Open Society Justice Initiative, told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program it is "inexplicable" why the Australian government would take such a step.

'Undermines UN'

She said it undermined the negotiating position of the UN and others committed to trying to eliminate or reduce corruption in the court and in Cambodia in general.

The Australian embassy in Phnom Penh refused to comment, saying the matter was too sensitive.

But a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra said the decision was based on what he called "broad progress" in the Cambodian government's efforts to address corruption concerns, and to ensure the court could continue its work.

At present, the court is hearing the case of Comrade Duch (Kaing Guek Eav), former commander of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh, who is charged with crimes against humanity.

The Foreign Affairs Department says Australia consulted with other donors and the UN before making its move.

Refused to release

But the UN Development Program (UNDP) - which holds the money in trust - has refused Australia's request to release the funds.

UNDP country manager, Jo Scheuer, says: "We are the ones accountable for the proper use of what at the end of the day is taxpayers' money.

"We have said for the last nine months that we need to see allegations resolved and mechanisms put up before we can resume our role, and that today is still the same position."

Lawyers for some of the defendants have used the corruption issue to argue their clients will not get a fair trial.

Allegations about judges

There have been some media allegations that Cambodian judges paid kickbacks to get their positions - a potentially fatal flaw for the tribunal.

Mr Scheuer says the UNDP has seen no evidence that happened.

"From the work we have done with the court we have no information whatsoever that anything happened on the judicial side of the national side of the court."