Absence of Tribunal Administrator Raises Concerns

Sok An (L) and Sean Visoth (R)

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 23 June 2010

“The non-resolution of Sean Visoth’s position provides opacity and doubt that will affect the whole process.”

Khmer Rouge tribunal officials say the prolonged sick leave of its top Cambodian administrator, who faded from his position at the height of corruption allegations at the UN-backed court, has not affected operations.

Some independent observers, however, say the more than one-year absence of Sean Visoth will hurt the court, if it goes unresolved.

Sean Visoth requested leave for health reasons in November 2008, as international donors were considering corruption allegations by Cambodian staff at the court, who said they were paying kickbacks to senior officials in order to keep their jobs.

Approximately $700,000 were withheld from the tribunal, despite assurances from court and government officials that corruption was not taking place t the court.

Several months earlier, Sean Visoth had promised to leave his job if corruption were found in his department.

Sean Visoth has never been officially replaced, but officials at the Council of Ministers told VOA Khmer in recent interviews he has taken a position there.

Sean Visoth now works closely with Council Minister Sok An, who also overseas the tribunal for the government, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

Knut Rosanhaug, the UN deputy administrator for the tribunal and Sean Visoth’s international counterpart, told VOA Khmer in a recent interview he was unaware of the personal health situation his colleague.

Rosanhaug said he would work with whomever the government appointed.

“It is the privilege of the government to appoint its staff at the court,” he said, adding that his current working relationship with the acting director, Kranh Tony, is “excellent.”

Reached by phone, Sean Visoth said he has not yet determined whether he will return to work at the court. “I have another position as adviser to the government,” he said.

Meanwhile, an internal committee has been set up on the Cambodian side of the court to investigate kickback allegations, led by a Cambodian independent councilor.

Rosanhaug said he had not received any reports on kickback allegations from the independent councilor.

The question of corruption within the tribunal came directly to a head in January 2009, when lawyers for detained Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea filed a suit in Phnom Penh court alleging corruption by Sean Visoth and his chief of staff, Keo Thivuth.

Lawyers claimed corruption in the court compromised their client’s chance for justice. The Phnom Penh court declined to act on the suit.

Now, as the tribunal heads into a trial of Nuon Chea and other jailed leaders, some tribunal observers say the question of corruption and the position of Sean Visoth need further attention.

“The non-resolution of Sean Visoth’s position provides opacity and doubt that will affect the whole process,” said Chhang Youk, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia. “The court must correct whatever the mistake was” before the upcoming trial, expected in early 2011, he said.

Chhang Youk said his team had experienced problems submitting documents to the court, especially in the administration office.

However, Rosanhaug said anyone with problems can contact himself or Kranh Tony for assistance.

And tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said the court had not met any obstacles without Sean Visoth. There is no scheduled date for his return, Reach Sambath said.

Corruption setback for Khmer Rouge trial

Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea has said he is ready to face the tribunal

01/11/2007
By Thomas Bell in Phnom Penh
The Daily Telegraph (UK)

The Cambodian war crimes tribunal is reeling under a corruption scandal that is the latest setback in a justice process which has taken 10 years to even begin pre-trial hearings.

According to the edited version of an audit completed last month, hiring policies have been so unreliable that all staffing decisions should be nullified and the United Nations Development Programme - which funds the court - should consider withdrawing altogether.

The audit was commissioned by the UN late last year in response to allegations that local staff were paying 30 per cent of their salaries as kickbacks for employment.

It found that 52 “excess” positions had been created, that salaries exceeded comparable jobs elsewhere in Cambodia by around threefold and that in a majority of cases recruits were under-qualified.

Youk Chhang, the director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, which has chronicled the Khmer Rouge period, said: “In the eyes of survivors it is a painful betrayal. Can we have something that is not corrupted, just once?”

Eng Chhai Eang, the secretary general of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, said he believed the alleged corruption was a politically motivated attempt to slow down proceedings.

“The real worry for us,” he said, “is that these Khmer Rouge leaders are very old and soon they will die. Then what’s the court for?”

The court has said it intends to charge five regime figures with crimes against humanity. But only two are in custody while others still live freely in Cambodia.

The Khmer Rouge leaders Pol Pot, also known as Brother Number One, and Ta Mok, known as The Butcher, have both died already.

Negotiations that began in 1997 created a “hybrid” court which operates within Cambodia’s justice system but includes foreign judges and lawyers.

The court spent the first 18 months of its projected three-year existence on procedural wrangling. Now it appears that its £28 million budget will not be enough.

A court spokesman, Helen Jarvis, said they have full confidence in their recruitment procedures and there is no “convincing evidence [of corruption] that is worth persuing any further”.

How UNDP Comes Clean [from the ECCC corruption scandal]

September 27, 2007
The Wall Steet Journal (USA)

"...potential donors have a responsibility to their funders to know what is really going on..."

If the United Nations Development Program in Cambodia wants to clear its name, it sure has a funny way of showing it. On the day this page detailed allegations of widespread hiring malpractice and kickbacks in UNDP-supervised programs and called for the publication of the findings of an audit, the agency released -- wait for it -- a one-page press release.

For those just joining the tale, a quick review: An audit commissioned by UNDP earlier this year found a range of irregularities in the Cambodian side of the Khmer Rouge tribunal. The main findings included inflated salaries and unjustified additional staff positions to the tune of $357,000. The auditors also alleged a serious conflict of interest in the board overseeing the operations, which is responsible for administering more than $6 million of donor-nation funds. We've seen a copy of the auditors' draft report. The UNDP has not made it or the final report public nor has it shown it to the oversight board.

Tuesday's joint statement, issued by UNDP and other overseers, assures the public that the board has "reviewed steps taken to improve the implementation of recruitment procedures of national staff to ensure greater transparency and effectiveness." Nowhere does it note that the board has not seen the audit, nor does it discuss conflicts of interest. And nowhere does it pledge to reveal the audit to the public, which is footing the bill.

Instead, the board "welcomed the adoption of a personnel manual" and promises that all employees will "sign" and "follow" a code of conduct. This document prohibits staff from "receiving or soliciting payments other than salaries for the performance of official duties." Could this be a tacit admission of kickback problems?

Cambodia isn't an easy place to operate and its legal system is notoriously corrupt. On Monday, the New York-based Open Society Justice Initiative -- whose allegations last year sparked the UNDP audit -- issued a report raising concerns about the Cambodian government's influence over the Khmer Rouge tribunal. The same day, another part of the U.N. -- the U.N. Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials -- issued a list of work to be done before the courts can function properly.

The Khmer Rouge tribunal took a decade to organize and represents the only hope for justice for more than a million slaughtered Cambodians. Next month, the U.N. is planning to launch a fund-raising drive in New York to raise tens of millions of dollars to support the court's activities. Before writing a check, potential donors have a responsibility to their funders to know what is really going on.