Cambodia: Evidence at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
By Chhunny Chhean
Global Voices Online

VOA Khmer interviewed former Khmer Rouge rebels who doubt there will be sufficient evidence to convict the five leaders waiting to stand trial at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. Sok Pheap, a general in the army who had defected from the Khmer Rouge in 1996, challenges,

I didn’t know [who the killers were]; I was the soldier in the forest, and when I came back home also my relatives had gone missing, killed, and most of villagers had died.

Another former Khmer Rouge member, Meas Mouth, states that:

For instance, the skull bones that have been displayed: the court must know which skull belonged to a person killed by the Vietnamese, which belonged to a person killed by B-52 bombers, or any of the Khmers who did not die by the Khmer Rouge.

A lawyer from the Cambodian Defenders Project agreed that because the events occurred 30 years ago, evidence and witnesses could be hard to come by.

However, Youk Chhang of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, stated there are hundreds of thousands of documents to link the accused to the war crimes.

In addition to documentary evidence, testimonies of survivors are being gathered, including in Long Beach, California, where many Cambodians resettled after the genocide.

Victims and their relatives have the right to file complaints through the Victims Unit of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Instructions on how to file a complaint are found here.

Photo capturing faces of the Tuol Sleng prison by Yarra64 and licensed through Creative Commons.

Cambodia: Foreign aid continues during economic crisis

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
By Chhunny Chhean
Global Voices Online

Reports of foreign aid to Cambodia continue despite the global economic crisis. CAAI News Media shares news that the United States will give Cambodia $21 million USD over four years in a program to alleviate poverty in rural parts of the country.

According to a story posted by Cambodian News, the U.S. provided a total of $5.6 million USD in aid in 2008.

On the issue of foreign aid, Socheata Vong posts an interview from the Phnom Penh Post with political commentator Lao Mong Hay where he says,

“…[F]oreign aid basically serves foreign policy. Look at the American government. So long as recipient countries pursue policies in conformity with American foreign policy, they will give aid.

Mr. Semoun and Hort Sroeu post about South Korean investment into Cambodia. Sroeu's blog states:

In 2007, Cambodia became the 6th biggest host of South Korean investment after China, the U.S., China’s Hong Kong region, Vietnam and Malaysia, [South Korean ambassador to Cambodia Shin Hyun-suk] said…Initially, South Korean investment was concentrated on the garment manufacturing sector, he said, adding that banking, agro-industry, manufacturing, real estate development and IT sectors are the dominating fields of South Korean investment in Cambodia now.

However, the country must deal with projected decreases in garment exports and tourism. As Khmer Young reports,

Cambodia's economy [is predicted] to shrink 0.5 percent this year, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday. That is a big turnaround from the 4.8 percent growth the IMF had forecast in November.

The International Monetary Fund statement is available here.