Open letter from the Cambodia Center for Human Rights to the Special Expert to the UN Secretary General on the Khmer Rouge Tribunal

Dear all

The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (“CCHR”) today, 25 May 2011, releases an open letter written by CCHR President Ou Virak, in his capacity as a civil society leader and as a victim of the Khmer Rouge, to the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Expert on the Khmer Rouge Tribunal Clint Williamson who is visiting Cambodia this week. Please find attached this open letter English together with a Khmer translation.

Errata: The Statement by the International Co-Prosecutor outlining his intention to request additional investigation into Case 003 was issued on 9 May 2011, not 3 May 2011 as is stated in the open letter.

For more information please contact CCHR President Ou Virak
at +855 12 40 40 51 or ouvirak@cchrcambodia.org

Thank you and kind regards

--

The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) is a non-political, independent, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect democracy and respect for human rights throughout Cambodia. For more information, please visit www.cchrcambodia.org

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Open Letter to UN Special Expert on the Khmer Rouge Tribunal Clint Williamson From the Cambodian Center for...
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Tribunal Corruption Still a ‘Concern’: US Envoy

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
22 May 2009

US Ambassador-At-Large for War Crimes Issues Clint Williamson on Friday urged the Khmer Rouge tribunal to address nagging corruption allegations, following discussions with the donors and UN and government officials.

Williamson told reporters that corruption “remained a concern” for the US, but that progress was being made on the issue.

The UN-backed tribunal, known officially as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, has struggled under allegations of corruption, even as it tries its first suspect, prison chief Duch.

“Along with other donors to the ECCC we are working hard to ensure that the court improves its management and addresses the issue of corruption,” Williamson said Friday. “The US decision to fund the court last year reflects our commitment to ensure the tribunal is capable of meeting international standards of justice and to work with Cambodians to strengthen the structure of the rule of law in thecountry.”

A tribunal spokesman said both the UN and national sides of the hybrid court were working to improve the handling of corruption allegations and other complaints.

US Envoy Weighs In on Tribunal Corruption

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
21 May 2009

The top US envoy for war crimes called on the Khmer Rouge tribunal Thursday to resolve lingering allegations of corruption and mismanagement, a government spokesman said, following meetings with officials from the court.

US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Clint Williamson met with tribunal administration, legal affairs and public affairs officials.

“He raised an administration mechanism to deal with discontent and resolve complaints from both sides, international and national staff,” Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said.

The UN and Cambodia are at odds over how corruption complaints should be handled, following reports by Cambodian staff they pay kickbacks to work at the court.

Money for the Cambodian side of the UN-backed tribunal is running out, with donors unwilling to pay for a substandard court and the UNDP withholding funding until the corruption issue is dealt with.

However Phay Siphan said Williamson appreciated the court’s work so far in keeping costs low and the quick arrests of five suspects, as well as the timely approval of internal rules.

Williamson is expected to hold a press conference Friday to further detail his five-day trip, which ends Saturday.

His visit follows failed talks in April between Peter Taksoe-Jensen, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, and Council Minister Sok An.

The UN has said complainants at the hybrid court should have their identities protected, but the Cambodian side says anonymity can lead to false claims.

The two sides had agreed in February to a basic mechanism to solve corruption issues “which is not quite different” from Williamson’s proposal, Phay Siphan said.

Doubts cast over veracity of ECCC personnel audits, observers say

Monday, 18 May 2009
Written by Robbie Corey Boulet
The Phnom Penh Post

US ENVOY to arrive in Cambodia for tribunal talks

ATOP US war crimes representative will meet with government and Khmer Rouge tribunal officials this week to discuss the UN-backed court, an embassy spokesperson confirmed Sunday. Clint Williamson, the US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, is to arrive in Cambodia today, however a schedule for meetings with senior government officials, including Cabinet Minister Sok An, could not be confirmed. "We don't have a schedule confirmed yet," US embassy spokesperson John Johnson told the Post, adding that he could not specify what would be on the agenda for the talks. This week's visit will mark Williamson's second since he took office in 2006, and he is expected to also hold talks with NGO representatives and embassy personnel amid growing concern over allegations of graft at the court that have resulted in a UN review and the freezing of donor funding. Negotiations between the UN and Cambodia over an anti-corruption mechanism at the hybrid court were abandoned last month, with the UN saying Thursday it had "no more meetings scheduled" - Georgia Wilkins

Lawyers and court monitors maintain that reviews of UN-backed tribunal's human resources practices ‘not designed' to unearth evidence of kickback scheme at the centre of graft row.

ON FEBRUARY 4, Andrew Ianuzzi, a legal consultant for the defence team of former Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea, visited Phnom Penh Municipal Court for his third meeting in less than three weeks with Deputy Prosecutor Sok Kaliyan.

The topic of the meeting was a criminal complaint - filed in January by Ianuzzi and two other international lawyers for Nuon Chea - accusing officials, including then-director of administration Sean Visoth, of "perpetrating, facilitating, aiding and/or abetting" a kickback scheme in which Cambodian employees were forced to hand over portions of their salaries to top tribunal officials.

Government officials have repeatedly claimed that no evidence of such a scheme has ever surfaced, citing a series of international audits assessing, among other things, the court's human resources and management practices.

But lawyers and tribunal observers have dismissed this argument as disingenuous, saying that the audits were not designed to assess kickback allegations in the first place.

During the February 4 meeting, Ianuzzi recalled in an interview last week, Sok Kaliyan indicated - not for the first time - that the complaint would be thoroughly investigated.

But one week later, while at Phnom Penh International Airport to catch a flight to Bangkok, Ianuzzi saw a front page newspaper article reporting that the Municipal Court had abruptly ended the investigation on February 5.

When Ianuzzi returned to Phnom Penh and reviewed the case file, he noticed documents that weren't there when he checked the file on February 4: reports on the audits, which he and others insist don't actually clear the accused officials of anything.

"The audits ... were never intended to detect the type of corruption that has been alleged," John Hall, an associate professor at Chapman University School of Law in California who has written extensively about the tribunal, said via email.

"It is misleading to claim otherwise."

Court spokeswoman Helen Jarvis declined to answer questions for this article.

All reports indicate that staff were paid their full salaries on the books and that it was only after ... that they made a kickback payment.

"I think we have canvassed this issue extensively, and there are reports on our website about all this, so I would refer you to that," she said.

Clean review

The website includes the 25-page Human Resources Management Review, an independent review released in April 2008.

"Robust [human resources] systems have been developed and implemented to address previous shortcomings, to give effective support to the judicial process and to minimize the risk of questionable HR practices occurring in the future," the review said in its conclusion.

"Zero tolerance for non-compliance with HR systems and the Code of Conduct will also support ongoing improvement in the performance of the ECCC."

Sean Visoth said during the press conference announcing the review's release that it was designed "to recap all the separate audits and reviews carried out during the past year, and to assess whether HR management policies and practices of the Cambodian side of the ECCC are transparent, accountable, meet international standards and provide consistent and effective measures against any mismanagement".

At the same press conference, Jo Scheuer, then the country director for the UN Development Program, said, "Based on audits conducted from 2006 to present, there have been no questionable financial transactions, no misallocated resources and no incomplete or missing documentation in support of disbursements made by [the tribunal]. All of their financial transactions have passed audit scrutiny."

But Scheuer said in an interview last month that any kickback scheme would have been "off the books", meaning "there are no figures" that would surface in an audit.

"All the audits are clean because the books are clean," Scheuer said.

Heather Ryan, who has been monitoring the tribunal for the Open Society Justice Initiative, also said it would be impossible to assess kickback allegations with an audit of financial records.

"All reports indicate that staff were paid their full salaries on the books and that it was only after they received them that they made a kickback payment," she said in a May 10 email.

"If this is in fact the case, an audit of the books would not reveal anything about the practice."

Scheuer argued that the only way to investigate the alleged kickbacks would be to interview those making the allegations.

Ianuzzi also said investigators looking to effectively assess the kickback allegations would need to "interview witnesses and try to obtain" all relevant documents.

Several lawyers and observers said the nature of the audits - which they described as inadequate - underscored the need for the government to release the results of a UN review of the most recent kickback allegations, which surfaced last June.

The review was given to government officials last September but has not been made public.

Civil party lawyer Alain Werner said the government's refusal thus far to release the review results was fuelling "the constant speculation, the allegations and the rumours that are going on".

"Let's just disclose this report," he said.

Phay Siphan said in an interview Tuesday that he did not know which government officials had seen the UN review, but argued that its release could sour relations between UN and Cambodian officials.

"We respect each other, as a husband a wife, to create a new baby: the ECCC," he said.

He also reiterated the government's position that there is no need for further investigations into the kickback allegations.

"There have already been audits," he said, "and the findings showed that not a penny has been lost."

US Envoy To Hold Tribunal Talks

Clint Williamson

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 May 2009

Clint Williamson, the US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, is scheduled to arrive in Cambodia next week to hold talks with the government on the beleaguered Khmer Rouge tribunal, officials said Thursday.

The Cambodian side of the UN-backed special court is facing a budget crisis, its funding withheld by donors and the UN over lingering allegations of kickbacks and mismanagement.

Three rounds of talks between a UN legal envoy and Deputy Prime Minister Sok An failed to reach an agreement on how the court should handle allegations that Cambodian staff pay substantial kickbacks to senior officials in order to work at the court.

A government spokesman said Williamson would meet with Sok An May 22.

US to Consider Tribunal Financing Next Month, Envoy Says

By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
07 December 2007

US officials will deliberate on funding for the Khmer Rouge tribunal in January, a government envoy said Friday, following a three-day visit.

The US ambassador at large for war crimes, Clint Williamson, said he was impressed by the progress of the tribunal, especially with the arrests of five former leaders of the regime, but that no decision had been made in the US on funding.

"The arrest of the five suspects, I think, was a very, very positive move," he said. "The adoption of the rules of the court, all these things are good indicators that [the tribunal] is headed in the right direction."

US officials have said in the past they were looking at allegations of mismanagement and corruption and their impact on the international credibility of a tribunal.

"There is a budget proposal that is going forward. This will probably be assessed in New York in January," Williamson said.

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said he hoped Williamson would take with him the positive developments of the tribunal as US officials make their decision.

US to consider funding Cambodian genocide tribunal after problems cleared up

Friday, December 7, 2007
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: The United States will consider giving money to fund Cambodia's U.N.-backed genocide tribunal only after the court properly addresses allegations of corruption and mismanagement against it, a U.S. diplomat said Friday.

Clint Williamson, the U.S. ambassador for war crimes issues, said the arrests of five Khmer Rouge suspects have shown that the tribunal, after repeated delays, "is making progress and moving in a very positive direction."

"How that plays out in terms of direct funding to the court, we'll have to see," he said at a press conference at the end of a three-day visit assessing the tribunal's work to help decide whether or not Washington should provide funds for it.

The communist Khmer Rouge, who held power in 1975-79, are blamed for the death of estimated 1.7 million people from hunger, diseases, overwork and execution. None of its leaders have been tried.

The tribunal plans to begin its first trial in mid-2008 but it has not yet set a date.

Williamson said any decisions about U.S. funding "are going to be contingent" on how the U.N. and the Cambodian government deal with its internal problems and on the court's ability "to deliver justice at international standards."

Early this year, the tribunal, staffed by Cambodian and international officials, was shaken by allegations of kickbacks from Cambodian job applicants and an internal audit alleging that Cambodian staff members without proper qualifications had been hired.

"Obviously, we're troubled when we hear reports of mismanagement or improprieties in the institution," Williamson said. "We feel very strongly that such allegations have to be investigated, explored and dealt with."

The tribunal has been appealing for more funding on top of its already budgeted US$56.3 million (€38.7 million), saying its original planned three years of operation through 2009 will likely be extended for one more year.

The U.S. has so far not donated any funds to the tribunal, though it has spent more than US$7 million (€4.8 million) over the past decade to support the work of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, in independent group that collects evidence of the Khmer Rouge crimes.

The group has given many documents to the tribunal to assist it in investigating cases against the Khmer Rouge suspects.

Cambodia's KRouge tribunal on right track: US official

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia's UN-backed Khmer Rouge court is on the "right track" and the United States may eventually decide to help fund the proceedings, a top US diplomat said Friday.

"Everything that I've seen reinforces my idea that (the tribunal) is making progress and is moving in a very positive direction," said Clint Williamson, the State Department's top official for war crimes issues.

Williamson was in Cambodia to assess the tribunal's progress, and spoke to reporters after meeting with officials from the court, the government and the United Nations.

Five top Khmer Rouge leaders have been detained to face charges for crimes committed by the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s.

"The arrest of the five suspects is a very, very positive move... and within the court itself there is a very positive outlook," Williamson said.

The joint Cambodian-UN tribunal was intended to last for three years, but officials have indicated that its operations could run another two years.

The United States has not directly funded any of the 56.3 million dollars allocated to the court, mainly by other foreign donors.

Williamson said the US government was reconsidering whether to help fund the tribunal.

"The court is on the right track. A decision about funding is something that ultimately has to be taken," he said.

"There is an ongoing process, ongoing analysis and continuous assessment" on whether to fund the court, he said.

Established in July 2006 after nearly a decade of negotiations between Cambodia and the UN, the long-stalled tribunal seeks to prosecute crimes committed 30 years ago by senior regime leaders.

Up to two million people were executed or died of starvation and overwork as the communist regime emptied Cambodia's cities, exiling millions to vast collective farms in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia during its rule.

The Khmer Rouge also abolished money, religion and schools.

US War Crimes Ambassador to Tour Tribunal

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
05 December 2007

The US ambassador at large for war crimes, Clint Williamson, arrived in Cambodia Wednesday for a three-day study of the Khmer Rouge tribunal.

Williamson's visit comes as the US is considering funding for the cash-strapped tribunal, officially known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, or ECCC.

"While the US wants to be in a position to be able to support the ECCC politically and financially, the State Department is still reviewing all the facts about the tribunal and its operations, including whether or not it is capable of meeting international standards of justice," the US Embassy in Phnom Penh said Wednesday in a statement.

Williamson will meet with tribunal, government and rights officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, the embassy said.

The US was instrumental in establishing the framework for the hybrid tribunal, which pairs UN-appointed international and national jurists across several offices and court chambers.

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said Wednesday the courts welcomed the visit.

"We have iterated from the beginning that the US is a country involved in this tribunal, and a country that pushed for the formation of the ECCC," Reach Sambath said.

The tribunal, which in recent months has arrested five top Khmer Rouge leaders, opened its doors February 2006, after years of wrangling. Observers now say it will overreach its time limit, and that necessary funds will be needed to keep it running.

But the process has been tarnished by accusations of corruption, kickbacks and a lack of transparency, and US officials have said in the past these need to be overcome before the US will help fund it.

"The US takes seriously allegations of mismanagement or impropriety in the ECCC's Office of Administration," the embassy said Wednesday. "There have been multiple assessments this year of the ECCC's administration, and these are important tools for identifying and correcting weaknesses in the ECCC's operations. The US looks forward to receiving updates on the steps taken by the ECCC's administration to address the concerns identified in these audits."