Sam Rainsy continues to collect more evidence for use against Hor 5 Hong’s lawsuit

17 October 2009
By Sok Serey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

“I never knew, never heard, never touch anything at all with the Khmer Rouge. Mr. Sam Rainsy knew this well, I was a diplomat.” - Hor 5 Hong

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy is continuing to collect additional information to fight the lawsuit brought up by Hor 5 Hong, the minister of Foreign Affairs. Sam Rainsy’s action is taking place while the French court has decided to delay the hearing in this case until 2010.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy indicated that he and his lawyer will collect other additional documents and evidence to fight against Hor 5 Hong, the vice-PM and minister of Foreign Affairs, at a time when the French court had decided to delay the hearing into this case until March 2010 because his lawyer lacks documents and proofs.

Sam Rainsy told RFA that this delay is an opportunity for gathering additional documents and proofs: “The court was reviewing about the delay issue when it was reported from the KR Tribunal in Phnom Penh that an international judge summoned 6 current Cambodian leaders. Hor Nam Hong was among the 6 summoned as witnesses who know a great deal about the KR leadership.”

According to its original plan, the French Appeal Court’s hearing were to be held on 08 October, and Sam Rainsy left to France about 2 weeks prior to the originally planned hearing, to participate in it.

Hor 5 Hong, the accuser in this lawsuit, reacted to the issue above by telling RFA at the Phnom Penh international airport on 17 October that: “Mr. Sam Rainsy asked the court to delay by showing a fake doctor letter saying that he is gravely ill. This shows that he is scared. As for the new proofs, I don’t care about them one single bit, because there are none. Let me say that the right of expression is different, it is not defamation, this, he accused me of being a criminal.”

Hor 5 Hong used to tell RFA in an interview in 2008 that the accusation of him being a KR leader by Sam Rainsy hurt him and he cannot accept this charge.

Hor 5 Hong said: “I never knew, never heard, never touch anything at all with the Khmer Rouge. Mr. Sam Rainsy knew this well, I was a diplomat.”

In January 2009, the French court handed a victory to Hor 5 Hong in his defamation lawsuit against Sam Rainsy. In that lawsuit, Hor 5 Hong demanded 100,000 euros in damage compensation from Sam Rainsy, however, the French court ordered Sam Rainsy to pay only 1 euro to Hor 5 Hong, therefore the case went on to appeal.

Hor 5 Hong brought his lawsuit at the French court after Sam Rainsy made a comment on 17 April 2008 at the Choeung Ek Memorial, located in the suburb of Phnom Penh, in which he accused Hor 5 Hong of being one of the Boeung Trabek jail directors under the KR regime, and Sam Rainsy also accused a number of other government officials of being former KR.

Regarding Rule No. 60 of the KRT Internal Rules

Let me have a say!

16 October 2009
Op-Ed by Ly Diep
Angkor Borei – The Khmer Voice Overseas
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

• On 25 September 2009, the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) already issued its summonses to a group of 6 former KR leaders – Chea Sim, Heng Samrtin, Keat Chhon, Hor Namhong, Ouk Bun Chhoeun and Sim Ka – asking them to come in and act as witnesses in the crimes against humanity and war crimes that took place under the “Democratic Kampuchea” (DK or KR) regime between 1975 and 1979.
• In response to these summonses, it is not known yet whether these 6 former KR leaders will show up at the KRT or not, or whether they will try to evade it through various excuses.
• Phay Siphan, Sok An’s spokesman, reacted by saying: “These summonses are ‘not necessary’ because there are many lucid witnesses and many documents already.” On the other hand, Khieu Kanharith, the minister of Information and spokesman for the government led by the most senior KR leader along the eastern shore of the Mekong River in 1977 by the name of “Hun Sen”, is contradicting the claim made by his boss who said: “They (high ranking government officials) were the ones who toppled the Pol Pot regime, and they were the ones who ratified the law putting the KR leaders on trial, and if they become witnesses, the accused will be even deader.” Hun Sen added: “So where is justice? I’m thinking: Shoot! What are they doing? This is a legal problem for the tribunal, but the major problem that I understand is that the accusers are now turned into the witnesses, so wouldn’t the accused be dead?” (sic).
• Khieu Kanharith attacked the KRT officials by saying: “The international officials working at the KRT, they can pack their clothes and go home if they are not pleased with this decision” (sic). The decision that Khieu Kanhrith mentioned is in fact the government’s “stance”, i.e.: The 6 former KR leaders can show up in court on a “voluntary basis” only. He! He!
• Rule No. 60 of the KRT’s internal rules stipulates that: “Any person who has been summoned by the Co-Investigating Judges as a witness must appear. In the case of refusal to appear, the Co-Investigating Judges may issue an order requesting the Judicial Police to compel the witness to appear.”
• Ha! Therefore, we understand that the tribunal knows what it is doing! With Chea Sim and Heng Samrin fulfilling the role of the “legislative branch leaders”, they must set themselves as example to show to the Cambodian people that “they respect the law” with utmost perfection, unlike the time when they could do what they wanted during the “DK” regime era.
• Come to think of it, these people can twist and turn any way they please. They are already in the driving seat as far as the Cambodian court is concerned – from the top all the way to the bottom – and now, do they think that they are also in the driving seat of the KRT as well? If they really want to … let them steer it (!!) Furthermore, they should also ask King Sihanouk to come and steer the KRT with them as well (!!), but first and foremost, don’t forget to lift their parliamentary immunities first (!!)

KRT: Six gov't officials summoned, who is Sim Ka?

Sim Ka

The Khmer Rouge Trial: Six government officials were subpoenaed. Who is Sim Ka?

Thursday, October 15, 2009
Op-Ed by Baphuon
Originally posted online

Hanoi official must be subpoenaed by the ECCC for genocide against Cambodian people.

October 8, 2009, the Honorable Marcel Lemonde, Co-prosecutor (France) released to the public his subpoena that he has signed on September 25, 2009, to summon six government officials – Senate President Chea Sim, National Assembly President Heng Samrin, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon and two CPP senators Ouk Bunchhœun and Sim Ka – appear at the tribunal to provide testimony “in the framework of the investigation under way against Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan and other leaders”.

Two hours after the public announcement of that Lemonde’s subpoena, Marcel Lemonde’s car parked at the ECCC parking lot under the surveillance of Hun Sen’s police have been sabotaged: all the two Lemonde’s car back tires were slashed. It is worth to remember that the same kind of car accidents was happened to Ratha Sourn, Chairman of CACJE and Pengsè Sean, the President of Cambodian Border Committee, the two famous opponents of Hun Sen regime. In Paris, indeed, all the four Péngsè Sean’s car tires were slashed several times; the wind shield was broken, and two times the car was burned down or stolen. In the US, Ratha’s car’s sabotaged. Robert Petit wife and daughter life was threatened.

* * *

The objective of criminal trial is a search for truth. And in criminal trial the term “search for truth” was repeatedly invoked by both sides: the defense and prosecution. Each side claimed that they were searching for truth and the other side was deliberately obscuring it.

It is interesting to examine the reaction of Hun Sen and his people to that subpoena of these six CPP officials by the ECCC as witnesses.

[Quote]Pack your bags

The Phnom Penh Post, 09 October, 2009.
A day earlier, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said that though the individuals could appear in court voluntarily, the government’s position was that they should not give testimony. He said that foreign officials involved in the court could “pack their clothes and return home” if they were not satisfied with the decision. [End Quote]

[Quote] (AFP, Ocoter 9, 2009) PHNOM PENH — The lawyer for a former Khmer Rouge leader on Friday filed a demand that the French investigating judge be disqualified from Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court for alleged bias.

Michael Karnavas, attorney for ex-Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary, said the motion was based on allegations that Marcel Lemonde told subordinates to favour evidence showing suspects' guilt over evidence of their innocence. [End Quote]

[Quote]
Saturday, October 10, 2009
By Guy De Launey
BBC News, Phnom Penh

The defence team's claims are based on a sworn statement by a former member of the investigating judge's staff.

Wayne Bastin accused his boss, Mr. Lemonde, of instructing his team to concentrate on finding only incriminating evidence.

Under the rules of the tribunal, the investigating judges are supposed to be impartial - and should also seek out evidence which might exonerate defendants.

Mr. Bastin admitted that Ieng Sary's defence team had encouraged him to make the statement.

But he insisted that he had enjoyed a good working relationship with Judge Lemonde - and only came forward because he felt "morally and ethically" obliged.

Ieng Sary's lawyers said the investigating judge had "trampled over" the rights of their client.

The tribunal's pre-trial chamber will now rule on whether Mr. Lemonde should be disqualified.

It has already rejected two attempts to disqualify court officials on the grounds of bias. [End Quote]

* * *

It confirms again and again that Hun Sen’s government had no respect to the ECCC if the ECCC did not behave accordingly to Hun Sen’s whim.

It seems suspicious about the timing, why Ieng Sary’s team lawyers release publicly their accusation of bias against Mr. Marcel Lemonde immediately after the release of Lemonde’s subpoena summoning six CPP officials to appear as witnesses for the case 02? Because their effort of disqualification of Lemonde, indeed, will help to protect those six CPP officials from the ECCC prosecution. What kind of alliance was there between Hun Sen and Ieng Sary and Vietnam?

Another crucial aspect of the ECCC (Khmer Rouge Trial) was that Hun Sen’s government tried at all cost to protect his protégés from the legal prosecution by the ECCC, such as the former King Sihanouk, Hun Sen himself, and especially Hanoi government officials who were probably the responsible of Cambodia genocide.

The truth is that most criminal defendants are, in fact, guilty. Prosecutors, therefore, generally have the ultimate truth on their side. But since prosecution witnesses often lies about some facts defense attorneys have intermediate truth on their side.

Since Hun Sen police lie, and evidence doctored by Hanoi, false documents, police planting evidence, police perjury and cover-up, the proof of “the defendant did it” will be turned out to prove the proof is beyond a reasonable doubt that “he did it”, instead.

Henceforth, and consequently, and finally, the ECCC must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the guilt of the defendants, or the “probable defendants” King Sihanouk, Hun Sen, Chea Sim, Heng Samrin, Hor Nam Hong, Keat Chhon, Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith, Kaing Kek Eav and scores of high ranking CPP officials (who were responsible of slaughtering more than 5000 people) and especially Hanoi officials for having perpetrated genocide crime against Cambodia people.

Hanoi officials must be subpoenaed by the ECCC for being the master mind of genocide against Cambodia people.

Because People Army of Vietnam (PAVN) had crushed Lon Nol Army in 1975, yet Hanoi was responsible of Cambodia genocide. Because Pol Pot’s government was appointed by PAVN. It was PAVN which defeated Lon Nol army but not the Khmer Rouge as Hanoi and Khmer Rouge propaganda wanted the world to believe.

What is undeniable is that in 1975 the Khmer Rouge Army had no armament and ammunitions and especially heavy weapons to defeat Lon Nol Army. The Vietnamese had always refused to transport through Ho Chi Minh trails armament and ammunitions for the Khmer Rouge. If they did it, it was done by piece meal, therefore not enough to crush an army.

Because Hanoi army had crushed Lon Nol Army, it was Hanoi Army which appointed Pol Pot government. Therefore, Hanoi had infiltrated in Pol Pot government as they pleased Vietnamese spies, and henchmen to sabotage Pol Pot government as he did right now with Hun Sen government. These Vietnamese henchmen, the Vietnamese cadres, and spies under Hanoi order by executing Hanoi order were the real responsible of genocide against Cambodia people.

Because of police perjury, of manipulated documents, the ECCC must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the guilt of Hanoi, in other words, the genocide committed by Hanoi against Cambodian people. Pol Pot government was their compli cit in genocide crime.

Alan M Desershowitz, a Harvard Law professor, describes so well this point.

[Quote]: To understand this multilayered process, and the complex role “truth” plays in it, it is important to know the difference between a criminal trial and other more single-minded searched for truth…

What is a criminal trial? And how does it differ from a historical or scientific inquiry? The goal of the historian and scientist, at least in theory, is the uncovering or the discovery of truth. The historian seeks to determine what actually happened in the recent or distant past by interviewing witnesses, examining documents and piecing together fragmentary records…

Although there are ethical limits on historical and scientific inquiry, the ultimate test of a given result in these disciplines is its truth or falsity…

Consider the following hypothetical situation. An evil scientific (or historian) beats or bribes some important truth out of a vulnerable source. That truth is then independently tested and confirmed. The evil scientific might be denied his Nobel Price for ethical reasons, but the truth he discovered is no less the truth because of the improper means he employed to arrive at it… But if a fraudulent experiment happened to produce a truth that could be replicated in a non-fraudulent experiment, that truth would ultimately become accepted.

Put another way, there are no “exclusionary rules" in history and science, as there in law…

Finally, all “truths” discovered by science or history are always subjects to reconsideration based on new evidence. There are no prohibitions against “double jeopardy”. Nor are there statutes of limitations. In sum, the historical and scientific is basically a search for objective truth.

The criminal trial is quite different in several important respects. Truth, although one important goal of the criminal trial, is not its only goal. .. The requirement is that guilt must be proved “beyond a reasonable doubt.” But that is inconsistent with the quest for objective truth, because it explicitly prefers one kind of truth to another.

The preferred truth is that the defendant did not do it, and we demand that the jurors err on the side of that truth, even in cases where it is probable that he did do it.

Justice John Harlan said in 1970 Supreme Court Winship decision that, “I view the requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt in a criminal case as bottomed on a fundamental value that it is far worse to convict an innocent man than to let a guilty man go free .” As one early-nineteenth-century scholar explained, the maximum of the law … is that it is better than ninety-nine offenders shall escape than one innocent man be condemned.” More typically, the ratio is put at ten to one. [End quote]

The burden of proof in criminal case is “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

* * *

Recapitulation: So, on September 25, 2009, Marcel Lemonde (France), Co-prosecutor of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) had summoned six government officials – Senate President Chea Sim, National Assembly President Heng Samrin, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon and two CPP senators Ouk Bunchhœun and Sim Ka – to appear at the ECCC as witnesses.

Among the six summoned CPP members, who is hierarchically the most powerful? What is their hierarchy?

The communist regime, such as the Republic Socialist of Vietnam, and its puppet CPP took very important political decisions in secret out of public sight.

Several years ago, in the early 1990s, in Cambodia Embassy at Saigon it was the female cook who was the most powerful member of the Embassy. She was more powerful than the appointed Ambassador.

The most powerful CPP committee is the CPP standing political committee, known as Koor-85. This CPP political committee is the eye and the ear of Hanoi. Koor-85 had left no trace in any CPP publication or public discussion. The ten Koor-85 members are very powerful. It was they who decided everything under Hanoi thumb. They meet together at Hanoi call. Their meeting place had never been in Phnom Penh. Hun Sen is not Koor-85 member. He was just an alternate as Mme Men Sam An. The Koor-85 met always at Chhlong (Kratié province) under a big tree in a revolutionary atmosphere; there was no table; they met around a camp fire under Hanoi officer’s leadership who spoke fluently Cambodian. Then Hanoi officers distributed paper for each member and let them read it very carefully for thirty minutes and asked each one if they understood well the Hanoi order spelled out in the paper. Then the ten members were ordered to execute that Hanoi order. Then they threw that order paper to the fire leaving no written trace of that order. That is always the way the CPP execute Hanoi order to run Cambodia at Hanoi will.

The ten Koor-85 members are in hierarchy descending order: 1. Mat Ly (Muslim, deceased); 2. Sim Ka; 3. Kan Man; 4. Nay Péna; 5. Chea Soth; 6. Say Chhum; 7. Bou Thang (ethnic minority); 8. Say Bou Thang (ethnic minority); 9. Heng Samrin; 10. Chea Sim.

Alternate members: Hun Sen, Men San An.

This political committee was appointed in 1978 when General Lê Duch Anh led his 200,000 soldiers to invade and occupy until today Cambodia in 1978. And Duc Van Anh, the Vietnamese communist Politburo member appointed the Koo-85, the Cambodian Political Standing Committee of ten members since then to run Cambodia under Hanoi thumb.

Under the food chain, Sim Ka must be the very responsible of Cambodia genocide.

* * *

In a criminal trial, we are generally dealing with a decision that must be made under conditions of uncertainty. For example, we will never know with absolute certainty whether O.J. Simpson did murder his ex-wife Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman. But doubts persist, even decades later.

Those who believe that O.J. Simpson did murder Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman must acknowledge they were not there when the crime occurred or when the evidence was collected and tested. They must rely on the work and the word of people they do not know. So the jurors in O.J. Simpson case were not asked to vote on whether they believed “he did it.” They were asked whether the prosecution’s evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he did it.

The perception was that the police in communist regime, Republic Socialist of Vietnam and Kingdom of Cambodia often make false arrest, tamper with evidence, evidence planting, false testimony, and faking documents and cover-up and commit perjury.

Hence, there are so many police lie, Hun Sen police lie, and Vietnamese police lie. Therefore, the ECCC cannot base her verdict on these faking documents and faking testimony, and planting evidence and cover-up and perjury.

FOUR KEY POINTS:

Before we go further, the ECCC must inquiry the very simple following key points:

1. YES or NO, are the documents that will be used by the ECCC as basic for the verdict are authentic or not? The ECCC must authenticate first the DC-CAM documents which are the bulk Khmer Rouge documents.

We raise this very crucial question because we have a dozen of witnesses, living abroad and in Cambodia who can prove that DC-CAM documents are bogus. These witnesses had worked for the Vietnamese Security experts to fabricate and manipulate several dozen thousands of documents which would become later DC-CAM/Toul Sleng official documents. Certain technical aspects of the falsification of these Toul Sleng/DC-Cam documents can be proved also by lab, such FBI lab or French, British, German, Japan or Chinese lab. So, first of all, the ECCC must prove the authenticity of these documents by for example the FBI lab.

Suppose for the moment that if it is true that the DC-CAM documents were bogus it will imply that all the books, all the documents and all the scholar researches that were based on these fake documents will produce at the end a false conclusion. The ECCC cannot trust the opinion of these experts because their scholar researches were manipulated by Hanoi directly or indirectly.

2. YES or NO, the Khmer Rouge army did not defeat Lon Nol Army? It was instead the People Army of Vietnam which crushed Lon Nol Army.

If YES, it was Hanoi which appointed Pol Pot government. We saw already what Hanoi have done with Hun Sen government, his Hanoi puppet government. So what Hanoi can do with Hun Sen’ s government Hanoi can do the same way with Pol Pot government. It results that Hanoi was also responsible of Cambodia genocide as was Pol Pot government.

So Hanoi officials must be summoned to the ECCC as defendants.

3. More than one million Cambodian people were killed during 1975-79 in East zone controlled by Heng Samrin, Chea Sim, Hun Sen and Hanoi after the assassination of the East zone commander So Phim by Heng Samrin and Chea Sim. Entire villages were slaughtered and let die of starvation and exhaustion. Hundred of So Phim battalion commanders, living in Cambodia and abroad, still alive, will volunteer to testify the slaughtering of one million people by Heng Samrin, Chea Sim and Hanoi at the ECCC if some security conditions are met.

4. As a rule of thumb, former Khmer Rouge who had participated to the extermination of more than five thousand people were appointed as high ranking officer in Hun Sen government. They changed their names several times. But family victims knew them well. Score of these genocide perpetrators are still in Hun Sen government. The ECCC must build their case of these people. Sixty-four years after the holocaust, the Jews continued to hunt down the genocide perpetrators of Jew people.

Baphuon
baphuon@aol.com

Don't forget to lift the parliamentary immnity of the former KR leaders summoned by the KRT first!

Let me have a say!

13 October 2009
Op-Ed by Ly Diep
Angkor Borei – The Khmer Voice Overseas
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

- On 25 September 2009, the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) summoned 6 former KR leaders as witnesses to the crimes against humanity that took place under the Democratic Kampuchea (DK or KR) regime between 1975 and 1979.
- The 6 former KR leaders are: Chea Sim, Heng Samrin, Keat Chhon, Hor Namhong, Ouk Bunchhoeun and Sim Ka.
- Hun Sen, the former most senior KR commander along the eastern shore of the Mekong River in 1977 – a region which saw savage killing, reacted to the tribunal summonses on 08 October 2009, by saying: “The testimonies provided by high-ranking government officials could affect the future KRT trials against 4 former DK leaders (Khieu Sampham, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith).” Hun Sen said: “They (high ranking government officials) were the ones who toppled the Pol Pot regime, and they were the ones who ratified the law putting the KR leaders on trial, and if they become witnesses, the accused will be even deader.” Hun Sen added: “So where is justice? I’m thinking: Shoot! What are they doing? This is a legal problem for the tribunal, but the major problem that I understand is that the accusers are now turned into the witnesses, so wouldn’t the accused be dead?”
- In the past, this same former most senior KR commander along the eastern shore of the Mekong threatened the KRT by saying: “If the tribunal dares to summon other KR leaders more than the five who are currently being incarcerated, Cambodia could face war and between 200,000 to 300,000 people will die.”
- The threat leveled by the former most senior KR commander along the eastern shore of the Mekong not only shook up the KRT … but it also scared almost all the Cambodians in the kingdom because [through this threat], they learned that the KR whom Hun Sen boasted that they have all disappeared – just like wax under the scorching sun – in fact, they still have their forces, in particular, they are now crowding the ranks of the current National Assembly, Senate and government (!!).
- Hun Sen’s reaction is likened to a cow with a sore on its back, and it stretched out its tail when the crow flies over it. The problem about these former KR killer chiefs (i.e. the current high-ranking Cambodian government official) is that they are either those who ratified the law, or those who will cause the death of the accused (such as Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith), isn’t this a good thing? Indeed, in order to find the truthful proofs of the crimes, witnesses who were “former KR killers” should be brought in to accuse one another. Suppose that the 4 who are accused tell the court that: These 6 people were also ‘former killer chiefs’ like they were, what will happen then? Uh! This is where justice should lie on (!!), i.e. when the former killer chiefs or the former robbery chiefs are blaming each other (!!). Let Hun Sen asks the following question to the Cambodian victims of the “Killing Fields”: Is there anybody who does not want to see the former KR leaders being subjected to the most severe sentence?? Why would Hun Sen be afraid that the accused “die” instead (??). This is just killing us!!
- Regarding the “arrest of the former KR leaders and bringing them to trial”, the tribunal did not completely fulfill its duty yet, because it cannot just arrest and put on trial Khieu Samphan, the former No. 2 DK president, while bypassing Norodom Sihanouk, the former DK first president. Furthermore, how could it detain and put on trial Ieng Thirith, the former DK minister of national Education while bypassing Keat Chhon, the former deputy prime minister, Tiounn Mom, the former minister of Science, and Chhon Hay, the former minister of Post and Telecommunication, after all, all of these 4 KR cadres occupied similar positions under the DK regime. Similarly, the tribunal cannot just detain Duch, the former S-21 jail chief, and put him on trial while bypassing Hor Namhong, the former Boeung Trabek (B-32) jail chief. More importantly, if Hun Sen himself declared that he was the former most senior KR commander along the eastern shore of the Mekong … why the tribunal does not hurry up to detain him and bring him to trial??? Uh! Is there any justice at all?? What are they trying to do??
- What Sam Rainsy said about the fact that the rank of the current government is packed with former KR leaders, he was right. The summonses issued on 25 September 2009 by the KRT for the 6 KR leaders are proof that they are truly KR leaders (!!)
- Recently also, one of Sok An’s dogs barked: They should not summon these 6 former KR leaders “because it was not necessary” (sic). We believe that this dog must bark about this … “because it is necessary.”
- If the KRT indeed summons these 6 former KR leaders, the National Assembly and the Senate should not forget to hold a session to lift “their parliamentary immunity” first (!!)

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The Killing Field's Bag

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Ieng Sary Defense Moves to Bar French Judge

By Kong Sothanarith, and Heng Reaksmey
Original report from Phnom Penh
12 October 2009

The defense team for jailed Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary moved on Friday to have French investigating judge Marcel Lemonde removed from a UN-backed tribunal case, claiming he was conducting a biased investigation.

Lemonde provoked a response from Prime Minister Hun Sen earlier this week by summoning six Cambodian government officials to appear as witnesses in the court’s second case, against four jailed leaders, including Ieng Sary.

“We insist he withdraw himself from Case 002,” defense attorney Ang Udom said. “We have witnesses who have indicated he is biased. According to witnesses, he instructed to seek evidence for guilt, rather than evidence to release the charged.”

Lemonde could not be reached for comment. Tribunal legal affairs officer Lars Olsen said the judge “doesn’t want to comment publicly on this allegation.”

If the complaint goes to the Pre-Trial Chamber, “he will give all information to the…chamber,” Olsen said.

Long Panhavuth, a project officer for the Open Society Justice Initiative, which monitors the tribunal, said the complaint may only refer to Ieng Sary, as other defense teams have not filed, leaving Lemonde a free hand in other parts of the case.

Meanwhile, the six officials summoned Wednesday remained mostly silent on whether they would comply with the order, following statements by Hun Sen on Thursday calling them plaintiffs, not witnesses.

Among those summoned, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said he had not decided yet whether he would answer the summons. Heng Samrin, a former Khmer Rouge cadre and now head of the National Assembly, declined to comment Friday.

Comrade Hor 5 Hong has the time to sue Sam Rainsy in France ... but he stalls on genocide tribunal: Is he afraid to reveal his past?

Comrade Hor 5 Hong (Photo: AP)

Cambodian minister stalls on genocide tribunal

Friday, October 09, 2009

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodia's foreign minister says he first wants to check his schedule before deciding whether to testify at a tribunal for Khmer Rouge leaders accused of genocide. Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong is one of the six senior members of Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party summoned before the U.N.-backed court. All of them also exercised some authority during the Khmer Rouge reign of terror in the mid-1970s and appear reluctant to become involved with the tribunal. The tribunal is seeking justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who died in Cambodia from execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition as a result of the communist Khmer Rouge's radical policies.

Govt testimony could bias KRT: PM [-Hun Xen is concerned about his comrades' testimony?]

Prime Minister Hun Sen arrives at Chaktomuk Theatre on Thursday for a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the National Bank of Cambodia. (Photo by: AFP)

Friday, 09 October 2009
Sebastian Strangio and Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

THE testimony of senior government officials could prejudice the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s upcoming case against four former regime leaders, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Thursday, a day after the court made public documents summonsing six senior government officials to appear as witnesses at the hybrid court.

“These [officials] made the Pol Pot regime collapse, and they adopted the law on the Khmer Rouge tribunal, so if they go as witnesses, it would make the accused persons guilty,” Hun Sen said during a speech at Chaktomuk theatre on Thursday. “How is justice to be done? My main problem is that turning the plaintiffs into witnesses would doom the accused.”

The premier was responding to six letters of summons, dated September 25 and bearing the signature of International Co-Investigating Judge Marcel Lemonde, requesting that six government officials – Senate President Chea Sim, National Assembly President Heng Samrin, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon and two CPP senators – appear at the tribunal to provide testimony “in the framework of the investigation under way against Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan and other leaders”.

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan echoed the premier’s statements, saying the testimony of senior government officials was “not necessary”, since there are witnesses and documentary evidence to spare.

“I think there’s enough proof already. It’s not necessary. This court has to be fair for both parties,” he said.

On Thursday, it remained unclear whether the six officials would obey the summons and appear in court. Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said his boss, Hor Namhong, was too busy to have considered the issue, and officials representing Chea Sim, Heng Samrin and Keat Chhon declined to comment.

Senator Sim Ka could not be reached on Thursday, while Senator Ouk Bunchhoeun said that he “did not wish to elaborate” on the matter.

Pack your bags

A day earlier, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said that though the individuals could appear in court voluntarily, the government’s position was that they should not give testimony. He said that foreign officials involved in the court could “pack their clothes and return home” if they were not satisfied with the decision.

According to Rule 60 of the internal rules of the ECCC, if any witness refuses a summons to appear in court, the co-investigating judges may issue an order “requesting the judicial police to compel the witness to appear”.

If any of the six officials do fail to appear, however, the tribunal could face some thorny challenges in implementing the rule.

“The questions are whether Judge Lemonde would issue an order pursuant to Rule 60 and whether the judicial police would serve it [to the officials],” said Heather Ryan, a trial monitor at the Open Society Justice Initiative.

“We don’t yet know the answers to either of those questions.”

Ryan said that making the cover letters of the summonses public would “increase the transparency of the court and, hopefully, the chances that the summonses are respected”.

Court officials expressed hopes on Thursday that the officials would obey the court’s request regardless of their role in setting up the Khmer Rouge trial process.

“We would expect that any law-abiding citizen would comply with a summons issued by a court of law,” said tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen. “That would apply especially to any representative of organs that played a crucial role in setting up the ECCC.”

Although the cover letters to the summonses bear only the signature of Lemonde, observers and court officials downplayed speculation of a rift between the international investigating judge and his Cambodian counterpart, You Bun Leng.

“The fact that the cover letters were signed by Judge Lemonde alone is significant only if the attached summonses were also signed only by Judge Lemonde and if his Cambodian counterpart declined to signed them because he did not agree that the documents should be issued,” Ryan said.

Olsen said he could not say whether one or both signatures appeared on the official summonses since the documents had not been made public.

You Bun Leng did not wish to comment when contacted on Thursday.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP

Calling senior leaders of the ruling party to court could weaken social safety and political stability: Tith Sothea from the PQRU

Tribunal Summons Six Government Officials

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
08 October 2009

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday questioned the tribunal summonses for six government officials as witnesses, claiming they should instead be treated as plaintiffs.

“Why do they call the plaintiffs to be witnesses?” Hun Sen said at a ceremony in Phnom Penh celebrating the 30th anniversary of the National Bank. “Because those people are known to have toppled Pol Pot, and they are also the ones who approved the laws to try the Khmer Rouge.”

The court’s French investigating judge, Marcel Lemonde, sent summonses to Senate President Chea Sim, National Assembly President Heng Samrin, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon and senators Sim Ka and Ouk Bunchhoeun.

They are being asked to testify in the upcoming case against four jailed leaders of the regime, the second trial of the UN-backed court.

Both investigating judges declined further comment Thursday.

Government adviser Tit Sothea called the summonses “wrong,” saying to call senior leaders of the ruling party to court could weaken social safety and political stability.

“This summon is against people’s will, because we don’t want to do that,” he said.

Long Panhavuth, project officer for the Open Society Justice Initiative, which monitors the tribunal, said Lemonde’s summonses were a positive step for the court.

“This is a good means, by which [Lemonde] informed the public about who knows about the Khmer Rouge,” he said. In his role as investigating judge, “he should summon all people who know about the killing fields of Democratic Kampuchea.”

Hun Sen questions summonses

Oct 8, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA'S premier on Thursday questioned why a UN-backed Khmer Rouge war crimes court had summoned six top government and legislative officials as witnesses, describing the move as 'strange'.

In a move opposed by Cambodia's administration, French investigating judge Marcel Lemonde has called the officials to testify in the court's second case against Khmer Rouge leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said he found it 'strange' that the six had been asked to testify as witnesses, as he considered them plaintiffs due to their roles in bringing the late 1970s Khmer Rouge regime to justice.

'Why do they call the plaintiffs to be witnesses? Because those people are known to have toppled (Khmer Rouge leader) Pol Pot and they are also the ones who approved the laws to try the Khmer Rouge,' Mr Hun Sen said. He made the comments in a speech marking 30 years since the national bank was rebuilt after the Khmer Rouge.

The process has been hit by allegations that Hun Sen's administration has attempted to interfere in the tribunal to protect former regime members who are now in government.

Senate president Chea Sim, national assembly president Heng Samrin, foreign minister Hor Namhong, finance minister Keat Chhon and senators Sim Ka and Ouk Bunchhoeun were called last month to testify, the court revealed on Wednesday.

The tribunal's second case is expected to try detained former Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea, head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, minister of social affairs Ieng Thirith.

Summons to colleagues won't help justice: Hun Sen

In this photo taken, Sept. 14, 2009, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen gestures as he takes a tour to a construction site of a Chinese-funded bridge at Prek Kdam village, some 30 kilometers north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Thursday Oct. 8, 2009
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday he doubts whether summoning six of his colleagues to testify at the country's Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal will help the cause of justice.

The UN-assisted tribunal announced Wednesday that it was calling the country's current foreign minister, finance minister, national assembly president, senate president and two other senators to testify before the tribunal's investigating judge.

All are top members of Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party but also exercised some authority when the communist Khmer Rouge held power in 1975-79. Hun Sen himself once served as a Khmer Rouge officer and many of his main allies are former members of the group.

The tribunal is seeking justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who died in Cambodia from execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition as a result of the group's radical policies.

Hun Sen has repeatedly expressed his sharp dissatisfaction with any efforts by the tribunal to expand its scope and possibly include his political allies.

The prime minister questioned the court's decision Thursday, saying his colleagues had already proven they were interested in seeing justice done.

"They (the court) know that these people helped to topple the regime of (late Khmer Rouge leader) Pol Pot from power, and moreover, adopted the law to try the Khmer Rouge leaders as well," Hun Sen said.

He appeared to question why his colleagues would be called as witnesses at the request of the defence, saying their testimony would only increase their punishment.

"Therefore how will justice be done?" he said.

The tribunal is currently trying its first defendant, Kaing Guek Eav -- also known as Duch -- who commanded S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, where up to 16,000 people were tortured and then taken away to be killed. He is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture.

Also charged are Nuon Chea, the group's ideologist, Khieu Samphan, its former head of state, Ieng Sary, its foreign minister, and his wife Ieng Thirith, who was minister for social affairs.

Khmer Rouge tribunal summons gov't party officials

2009-10-07
By SOPHENG CHEANG
Associated Press

The tribunal trying former leaders of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge announced Wednesday that it has summoned six leading members of Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling party to give testimony.

The action is likely to irk Hun Sen, who has repeatedly expressed his sharp dissatisfaction with any efforts by the U.N.-assisted tribunal to expand its scope and possibly include his political allies as suspects in grave human rights abuses committed when the communist Khmer Rouge held power from 1975-79.

The tribunal is seeking justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who died in Cambodia from execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition as a result of the communist Khmer Rouge's radical policies.

The tribunal released copies of letters summoning the six to testify to the investigating judges of the court. They are top members of Hun Sen's Cambodian People's party: Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon, National Assembly president Heng Samrin, Senate president Chea Sim and two other senators, Ouk Bunchhoeun and Sim Ka.

All are also former members of the Khmer Rouge, or exercised some authority when the group was in power.

The documents were released late in the day, and those named could not immediately be reached for comment.

The letters did not say specifically what information was sought, but said it was in connection with the cases of Nuon Chea, the group's ideologist; Khieu Samphan, its former head of state; Ieng Sary, its foreign minister; and "others." The three, along with Ieng Sary's wife, Ieng Thirith, who was minister for social affairs, are expected to be tried next year.

The tribunal is currently trying its first defendant, Kaing Guek Eav _ also known as Duch _ who commanded S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, where up to 16,000 people were tortured and then taken away to be killed. He is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture.

Testimony in the his trial concluded last month, and closing arguments will be held late next month.

Critics accuse Hun Sen of trying to limit the tribunal's scope to prevent his political allies from being indicted. Hun Sen himself once served as a Khmer Rouge officer and many of his main allies are also former members of the group.

Hun Sen has claimed that expanding the list of defendants could lead to civil war, a claim doubted by his critics. The Khmer Rouge took control after a bitter 1970-75 civil war, and after being ousted from power in 1979, fought an insurgency from the jungles until 1999, when they ceased to exist as an organized force.

Last month, a tribunal prosecutor formally recommended that five more suspects be investigated for crimes against humanity and other offenses.

Khmer Rouge court calls government witnesses (Update)

Cambodia's senate president Chea Sim (R) and National Assembly president Heng Samrin

Wednesday, October 07, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia's UN-backed Khmer Rouge war crimes court has summoned six top government and legislative officials as witnesses against leaders of the late 1970s regime, said documents released Wednesday.

In a move opposed by the Cambodian government, letters signed by the French investigating judge called on the officials to testify in the second case against former Khmer Rouge leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Current senate president Chea Sim, national assembly president Heng Samrin, foreign minister Hor Namhong, finance minister Keat Chhon and senators Sim Ka and Ouk Bunchhoeun were each "asked for a hearing as a witness," said the letters.

They will have to give testimony to an investigating judge of the tribunal, which was created in 2006 to try leading members of the regime.

"Except for individuals who volunteer to go, the government's position is no to this even if they are called as witnesses," government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP Wednesday.

He said that foreign officials involved in the tribunal "can pack their clothes and return home" if they are not satisfied.

However Heather Ryan, court monitor for the Open Society Justice Initiative, said the move to release the court documents was an "important step" which might make members of government feel obliged to cooperate with the tribunal.

"The fact that the letters are public hopefully increases the chances they will comply with the summonses," Ryan said.

Critics of Cambodia's administration have previously alleged that it has interfered in the tribunal to protect former regime members now in government.

The court's second case is expected to try detained former Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea, head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, minister of social affairs Ieng Thirith.

As the court has sought to investigate other suspects, Prime Minister Hun Sen has warned further prosecutions could plunge Cambodia back into civil war. But critics say there is no risk of more fighting after over a decade of peace.

Final arguments in the court's first trial of prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, known by the alias Duch, are scheduled for late next month.

He has used the proceedings to accept responsibility and apologise for overseeing the execution of more than 15,000 people at the main Khmer Rouge jail, known as Tuol Sleng.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia, resulting in the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork and torture.

6 CPP comrades called in as witnesses

Court calls top govt witnesses

Oct 7, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIAN'S UN-backed Khmer Rouge war crimes court has summoned six top government and legislative officials as witnesses against leaders of the late 1970s regime, said documents released on Wednesday.

In a move opposed by the Cambodian government, letters signed by the French investigating judge called on the officials to testify in the second case against former Khmer Rouge leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Current senate president Chea Sim, national assembly president Heng Samrin, foreign minister Hor Namhong, finance minister Keat Chhon and senators Sim Ka and Ouk Bunchhoeun were each 'asked for a hearing as a witness,' said the letters.

They will have to give testimony to an investigating judge of the tribunal, which was created in 2006 to try leading members of the regime. 'Except for individuals who volunteer to go, the government's position is no to this even if they are called as witnesses,' government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP on Wednesday.

He said that foreign officials involved in the tribunal 'can pack their clothes and return home' if they are not satisfied.

Critics of Cambodia's administration have previously alleged that it has interfered in the tribunal to protect former regime members now in government. The court's second case is expected to try detained former Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea, head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, minister of social affairs Ieng Thirith.

Sam Rainsy’s reaction to Hor Nam Hong’s claims

Sam Rainsy at RFA studio in the US (Photo: RFA)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008
By Mayarith
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy reacted to the claims made by vice-prime minister Hor Nam Hong who threatened to sue him about spreading false information and about defamation.

Speaking from the US where he is currently visiting, Sam Rainsy indicated that he did not specifically point at Hor Nam Hong, who is also a minister of Foreign Affairs, as being the Beong Trabek jail chief. He also said that he is not afraid if there is a legal case about this accusation claim.

Sam Rainsy said that he will not apologize to Hor Nam Hong who threatened to sue him.

Sam Rainsy, who is currently visiting the US, said that he did not specifically name Hor Nam Hong as being the Boeng Trabek jail chief: “Whatever I spoke was the truth, and I did not name anybody. I only said that the person had the rank of minister of Foreign Affairs after the KR regime. After the KR regime, there are many Foreign Affairs ministers: the one immediately after Ieng Sary, following Pol Pot’s departure, was Mr. Hun Sen, then there was Mr. Kong Korm, Prince Norodom Sirivudh, and then Mr. Hor Nam Hong.

Sam Rainsy’s reaction took place after Hor Nam Hong, who is also one of the Cambodian minister of Foreign Affairs, told reporters that he is very hurt by Sam Rainsy saying that he was involved with the KR group.

Hor Nam Hong said: “Saying that I was a KR is a serious insult and disdain, let alone saying that I was the Boeng Trabek jail chief. Only calling me a KR is considered a very serious insult. If Sam Rainsy recognized that he misspoke and said untruthful thing about me, then I will not sue him, because I want the atmosphere before the election to be calm.”

In the past Hor Nam Hong won a lawsuit against Hero-King Norodom Sihanouk once already at the French tribunal, after he was accused (by the Hero-King) of being the Boeng Trabek jail chief.

Sam Rainsy said that the current situation is different from what it used to be in the past, if indeed there is a lawsuit against each other: “Before, it was difficult to find witnesses, because at that time, the UN did not arrive (in Cambodia) yet, and there was no UNTAC election organization yet either. No witnesses dare to come out (at that time). But now, the situation is such that, after the 1993 election, there are human rights organizations, there is the documentation center, now we have information, we have more witnesses than before. Earlier, King Norodom Sihanouk had a hard time finding (witnesses), then, nobody dares to come out, and there were not many documents, there was no documentation center as we have now. Therefore, the (current) situation is different from what it used to be.”

Sam Rainsy added that there is no need to look for any further tribunal, if (Hor Nam Hong) wants to sue about the KR issue, the Extraordinary Chamber in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC or KR Tribunal) is a tribunal that can be trusted to find out who the Boeng Trabek jail chief really was.

Cambodia ready to send witnesses to attend US court hearing in Chhun Yasith case

17 June 2007
By Sok Serei
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

A high-ranking Cambodian police official claimed that Cambodia is ready to send 13 witnesses to the US to attend the court hearing of Chhun Yasith’s case which will be held on 31 July. Chhun Yasith’s CFF movement is accused by the Cambodian government of terrorist attack in 2000.

An anonymous 3-star police general revealed to RFA on Sunday that the Cambodian authority recently received the information from the FBI saying that the US court plan to hold a hearing in Chhun Yasith’s case on 31 July.

He added that the Cambodian government is ready to send the witnesses to attend the court hearing as soon as Cambodia receives the official letter (from the US) asking to send over these witnesses.

Regarding this issue, Khieu Sopheak, Ministry of Interior (MoI) spokesman, said that, in addition, Cambodia will also send over a number of evidence to the US such as the CFF flag, and explosives used etc…

Khieu Sopheak said: “Our witnesses include the victims, as well as evidence. The evidence has been sent already, including flags, we sent them all the dozen of evidence. If the court needs it, we have them all and we will also send over the witnesses who are still alive. The evidence should put him (Chhun Yasith) in jail.”

Jeff Daigle, the US embassy spokesman in Cambodia, said that when there is an official invitation for Cambodia to send over the witnesses to the US, there wouldn’t be any problem. He said that he knows that this is issue is currently being taken care of.

Chhun Yasith is the leader of the Cambodian Freedom Fighters (CFF) movement based in Long Beach, California, USA. The CFF led an attack in the middle of Phnom Penh on 24 November 2000 in order to topple the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen who was accused of corruption, of being a dictator, and of being a puppet of the Vietnam.

Eight people died from the attack and 14 people were injured. A building at the Ministry of Defense was slightly damaged during the attack.

After the failure of the attack to topple the Cambodian government, Chhun Yasith was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for terrorism. During that sentencing, Richard Kiri Kim, and a number of his accomplices were arrested in the province of Siem Reap, and they were also sentenced to life in prison by the Cambodian court.