Burma's missing monks still a mystery months after crackdown

Sat, December 1, 2007
Supalak G. Khundee
The Nation (Thailand)

Substantial political dialogue between the Burmese junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is difficult due to restrictions placed on her and the continuing arrest of dissidents, US Charge d' Affaires to Burma Shari Villarosa said Friday.

The situation in Burma since the massive public uprising in late September is "now quiet", but there have been no significant changes, the American diplomat said in a briefing of journalists during a stopover in Bangkok.

The Burmese military has shut down a number of monasteries and arrested more monks and people who were involved in the protests, Villarosa said.

"We have some questions about the sincerity of the military in pursuing what we consider genuine dialogue leading to national reconciliation, with ongoing arrests, monastery closures and the continuing restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi," she said.

The military crackdown killed at least 15 people and some 3,000 protesters were arrested.

London-based Amnesty International on Tuesday accused the junta of continuing to arrest dissidents over the past two months and said some 700 protesters are still in detention. Among them is Buddhist monk U Gambira, head of the All Burma Monk Alliance who led the September protests, it said.

Villarosa said she had no idea whether Suu Kyi was in a good position to begin political dialogue with the junta while still under house arrest.

United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who is waiting for a visa to enter the military-ruled country again, is working to foster political dialogue between the government and the opposition to pave the way for national reconciliation and democracy.

"That [dialogue] is certainly our strong hope in that we want to see it, and the international community wants to see it, and most of all the Burmese people want to see it, but then we see the restrictions have not really been modified in any significant degree," Villarosa said.

Nonetheless, the US is maintaining its support for Gambari and the UN secretary-general's role in trying to bring about real dialogue, she said.

Speaking in Phnom Penh yesterday during a visit to Cambodia, UN envoy Gambari said he was making progress towards dialogue and urged the Burmese junta to release Suu Kyi if it was really serious about political reform.

Khmer Rouge Member Charged

VOA News Editorial
15 August 2007

Cambodia's international genocide tribunal has charged the former chief of the Khmer Rouge's S-21 prison with crimes against humanity. It is the first charge raised against a top figure of the Khmer Rouge, which was responsible for the deaths of over one-million, seven-hundred thousand Cambodians between 1975 and 1979.

The suspect, Kaing Khek Iev, has admitted heading the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh where the Khmer Rouge's supposed enemies were tortured and forced to confess to a variety of crimes before being killed. About sixteen-thousand people were imprisoned at S-21, but no more than ten are thought to have survived. Kaing Khek Iev kept meticulous records of the victims, which are likely to serve as key evidence in any trial.

Chum Mey, a seventy-seven-year-old prison survivor, said he was glad that Kaing Khek Iev had been indicted. "I want to confront him," he said, "to ask him who gave him the orders to kill the Cambodian people."

Kaing Khek Iev was one of five top Khmer Rouge figures against whom prosecutors filed introductory submissions with the investigating judges, asserting that there is a well-founded basis for criminal liability. Under the tribunal's procedure, the criminal charge initiates a judicial investigation which could lead to an indictment and then the main trial. The names of the other four have not yet been released. The court consists of Cambodian and international jurists and was authorized by the United Nations and Cambodia in 2004.

The United States strongly supports bringing to justice those responsible for the atrocities committed under the Khmer Rouge regime. The United States has provided more than seven million dollars over the past decade for research to document the crimes of the Khmer Rouge.

Virtually all of Cambodia's thirteen million people have relatives who perished under the Khmer Rouge. In order for the country to move forward, it is vital that Khmer Rouge leaders be held accountable for their crimes. Respect for the rule of law and the existence of effective institutions of justice are Cambodia's best defense against future abuses and a fitting memorial to those who lost their lives or loved ones to the Khmer Rouge.