Written by Brendan Brady
The Phnom Penh Post
Rights group slams government for obstructing war crimes court, as celebrations to commemorate fall of Khmer Rouge begin
ON the eve of today's 30th anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Human Rights Watch released a report condemning the progress of the United Nations-backed war crimes court and accusing the government of obstructing its procedures.
"After 30 years, no one had been tried, convicted or sentenced for the crimes of one of the bloodiest regimes of the 20th century," said Brian Adams, Asia director of the New York-based human rights watchdog group, in a statement released Tuesday.
"[For] the past decade Hun Sen had done his best to thwart justice," he added.
The comments came a day ahead of the celebrations organised by the ruling Cambodian People's Party to mark three decades since the day in 1979 when Vietnamese-led forces drove the Khmer Rouge out of the capital.
The statement called both the design and practices of the court "deeply flawed", especially by allowing for disproportionate involvement of the Cambodian judiciary, which, it noted, the UN has described as lacking independence, competence and professionalism. It also cited reports of rampant job-selling among the court's Cambodian staff.
Spread your wings
The rights group criticised the insistence of Cambodian Co-prosecutor Chea Leang on restricting the number of suspects investigated by the court to the five Khmer Rouge leaders currently detained.
In the first public announcement of her reasoning against the proposal of her international counterpart, Robert Petit, to expand the docket, Chea Leang said in a statement Monday that such a move would contradict the original mandate of the tribunal, overstretch its duration and budget, and undermine national stability and reconciliation.
But observers have said blocking the second set of prosecutions could exacerbate allegations that the co-prosecutor is acting at the behest of the Cambodian government.
Helen Jarvis, the international spokeswoman for the hybrid court, would not comment on the specific arguments made in the report, but said: "We take seriously comments from the public and any group, and we take what they say into account."
The report also said that "the impunity enjoyed by the Khmer Rouge has been matched" by successive regimes, citing the implication of Hun Sen's bodyguard unit in the 1997 grenade attack on an opposition political rally that yielded no response from the courts.
ON the eve of today's 30th anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Human Rights Watch released a report condemning the progress of the United Nations-backed war crimes court and accusing the government of obstructing its procedures.
"After 30 years, no one had been tried, convicted or sentenced for the crimes of one of the bloodiest regimes of the 20th century," said Brian Adams, Asia director of the New York-based human rights watchdog group, in a statement released Tuesday.
"[For] the past decade Hun Sen had done his best to thwart justice," he added.
The comments came a day ahead of the celebrations organised by the ruling Cambodian People's Party to mark three decades since the day in 1979 when Vietnamese-led forces drove the Khmer Rouge out of the capital.
The statement called both the design and practices of the court "deeply flawed", especially by allowing for disproportionate involvement of the Cambodian judiciary, which, it noted, the UN has described as lacking independence, competence and professionalism. It also cited reports of rampant job-selling among the court's Cambodian staff.
Spread your wings
The rights group criticised the insistence of Cambodian Co-prosecutor Chea Leang on restricting the number of suspects investigated by the court to the five Khmer Rouge leaders currently detained.
In the first public announcement of her reasoning against the proposal of her international counterpart, Robert Petit, to expand the docket, Chea Leang said in a statement Monday that such a move would contradict the original mandate of the tribunal, overstretch its duration and budget, and undermine national stability and reconciliation.
But observers have said blocking the second set of prosecutions could exacerbate allegations that the co-prosecutor is acting at the behest of the Cambodian government.
Helen Jarvis, the international spokeswoman for the hybrid court, would not comment on the specific arguments made in the report, but said: "We take seriously comments from the public and any group, and we take what they say into account."
The report also said that "the impunity enjoyed by the Khmer Rouge has been matched" by successive regimes, citing the implication of Hun Sen's bodyguard unit in the 1997 grenade attack on an opposition political rally that yielded no response from the courts.
11 comments:
Why not include Mr. Henry Kissinger. He was the responsible for more than 70.000 Khmers died between 1970-75.
May Buddha Srey Aar Metrey and Emerald Buddha save all people in this planet to live in peace,independence and real justice.
http://fr.youtube.com/user/maitreyaproject
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59gDMTYIwxQ&feature=related
"vivons donc heureusement,sans haïr ceux qui nous haïssent."
If we are academically thinking about the different between January 7 and October 23, we have to choose October 23.
- January 7 has marked the day of foreign invasion in Cambodia and it is ongoing dividing among Cambodian people.
- October 23 has marked as the day of unity, reconciliation of Cambodia and the day of Cambodia renaissance.
Perhaps the ruling party should seriously mull July 5 & 6 as "celebration."
I don`t understand why UN brought them back "khmer rouge"
SIHANOUK
KIEV SAMPHAN
IENG SARY
SUN SEN
NUON CHEA
HUN SEN
HENG SAMRIN
CHEA SIM.
23 October?
Home
United States Institute of Peace
logo
SitemapSearch
Library Homepage >> Peace Agreements >> Cambodia >> Final Act of the Paris Conference on Cambodia
Peace Agreements Digital Collection: Cambodia
Final Act of the Paris Conference on Cambodia
1. Concerned by the tragic conflict and continuing bloodshed in Cambodia, the Paris Conference on Cambodia was convened, at the invitation of the Government of the French Republic, in order to achieve an internationally guaranteed comprehensive settlement which would restore peace to that country. The Conference was held in two sessions, the first from 30 July to 30 August 1989, and the second from 21 to 23 October 1991.
2. The co-Presidents of the Conference were H. E. Mr. Roland Dumas, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the French Republic, and H. E. Mr. Ali Alatas, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.
3. The following States participated in the Conference: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, the People's Republic of China, the French Republic, the Republic of India, the Republic of Indonesia, Japan, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom.of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.
In addition, the Non-Aligned Movement was represented at the Conference by its current Chairman at each session, namely Zimbabwe at the first session and Yugoslavia at the second session.
4. At the first session of the Conference, Cambodia was represented by the four Cambodian Parties. The Supreme National Council of Cambodia, under the leadership of its President, H.R.H. Prince Norodom Sihanouk, represented Cambodia at the second session of the Conference.
5. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, H.E. Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, and his Special Representative, Mr. Rafeeuddin Ahmed, also participated in the Conference.
6. The Conference organized itself into three working committees of the whole, which met throughout the first session of the Conference. The First Committee dealt with military matters, the Second Committee dealt with the question of international guarantees, and the Third Committee with the repatriation of refugees and displaced persons and the eventual reconstruction of Cambodia.
WHERE IS PEACE??????????
Peace in your heart, of course!
Ah Pleu (Adam) is on drug. He's the one who fucked justice for Khmer people.
The government had sentenced all of the guilty long ago, and the idiot and his cronies Ah Scam Rainxy freed them. So what the fuck is the moron talks about?
If this court system was more straight forward. It would include every name and coutries involved!
yes, henry kissinger, china, vietnam, and ALL the top khmer rouge leaders. For the purpose of the trial is to determine who is guilty or not and who is involved.
What about the current government members who were khmer rouge? Some of them now still killing khmers. And still working for vietnam.
Being member of the Khmer Rouge doesn't mean you are guilty, especially when you have no power, and you are following order from the top to protect your own life.
Remember, if you are no gain to the Khmer Rouge, you are no lost to them when they kill you.
Pouk Ah Scam Rainxy must face justice if the ECCC failed.
Hun Sen is Khmer Rouge and he is found guilty of killing Khmer People.
Jeatikhmer
Post a Comment