Friday, August 24, 2007

UN Officers Deem Judge Shake-Up Illegal

Prof. Yash Ghai (L) and Leandro Despouy (R)

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
23 August 2007

"Cambodia's governance rests solely in Hun Sen's hands, to its detriment" - Yash Ghai, UN Special Representative for Human Rights in Cambodia
Two UN officials issued a statement Thursday expressing concern over the independence of Cambodia's judiciary, following the sacking of a judge from her position as chief of the Appeals Court.

Judge Ly Vuochleng was ousted by Royal Decree following allegations of bribe-taking.

"The replacement of the Appeal Court president was done at the request of the executive branch of government in contravention of the separation of executive and judicial powers specified in the constitution," wrote rights envoy Yash Ghai and legal expert Leandro Despouy in a joint statement.

Under Cambodian law, "judges, like all citizens, are entitled to a fair hearing and other guarantees of due process," they wrote.

Ly Vuochleng was replaced by Khmer Rouge tribunal judge You Bunleng, who was also placed on the Supreme council of the Magistracy along with three other new appointments.

You Bunleng's appointment "appears to have been made…at the request of the executive rather than in accordance with the law."

Prime Minister Hun Sen sits at the head of the executive branch, and Ghai has said in the past he controls all the decisions.

Cambodia's governance rests solely in Hun Sen's hands, to its detriment, Ghai has said.

Tribunal observers say the process has been bedeviled by leadership afraid to see government officials who were cadre of the Khmer Rouge face trial, while the judiciary in Cambodia is widely seen as corrupt and politicized.

Ghai and Despouy said they shared general UN concerns that You Bunleng's appointment could further cloud the process.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Real Khmer!
Who were/are the Khmer Rouge? Those who are mainly the top leader in Phnom Penh´s govt. today. During the war (1970-75) who killed the monks, not Lon Nol´s Soldiers but Khmer Rouge and its allie Vietcong. Now we can see. the monk was illegally defrocked without respect the law of buddhism, not logical explanation. So, that´s is Cambodia today.

Khmer

What the UN has concern

Anonymous said...

EVIDENTLY, its showing that hun sen working on with the covering up !!!!!! covering up either or both vietcong and china ... the fuken usa is so stupid... they started a war, run like a coward they are !! and leave everyone else to suffer decades after decarde ... and now, they are repeating history that they can't finish AGAIN !! in iraq

Anonymous said...

HUN SEN, TAKE IT EASY, AND HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR YOURSELF AND KHMER PEOPLE ... KHMER PEOPLE SOONER OR LATER NOT GONNA HAVE ANY PATIENCE LEFT FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ...

Anonymous said...

The recent arrest of Oum Chhay, Chea Chung, and others have proved to the world that most of Cambodian leadership have employed all mafias and all landgrabbers like Koung Triv, Ly Yong Phat, Kok An as their advisors. These advisors are usually criminals and their activities are to creating more sufferings to Cambodian people. They are usually illiterate like Ly Yong Phat, Kok An and Kong Triv. Therefore this government cannot improve the standard of living of Cambodian people because all foreign aids will be passed on to these advisors to improve their investments and their business. How can these advisors give to these leaders if they are themselve illiterate already and much younger than them too? Areak Prey

Anonymous said...

It's clear that there is no division of power in CBD. Everything is controlled by HS, except one, that is HS could not control Piseth Pilika's life. Soon he can not control hims.......