Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The Dustbin of History

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

Im Chaem fed up with questions about her work under the KR regime

Im Chaem (Photo: Im Navin, RFI)

01 May 2012
By Im Navin
Radio France Internationale
Translated from Khmer by Soch

Im Chaem, the former KR cadre, said that she is fed up with the repeated questions on her work under the Pol Pot regime. Im Chaem was the former governor of Preah Netr Preah district in Banteay Meanchey province, a location where researchers have found that no less than 40,000 people died under her rule. However, right now, from her home in Anlong Veng district, Oddar Meanchey province, Im Chaem indicated that she has nothing to do with the death of people under the Pol Pot regime.

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Hor 5 Hong held at Boeung Trabek: Saloth Ban

Foreign Minister Hor 5 Hong. Photo by Heng Chivoan

Thursday, 26 April 2012
Felifleedge
The Phnom Penh Post

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong was one of the “intellectuals” held at the Boeung Trabek re-education centre during the Democratic Kampuchea regime, Saloth Ban, Pol Pot’s nephew, said in testimony yesterday at the Khmer Rouge tribunal.

“Mr Hor Namhong was kept there,” the former secretary-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, responding to questions about the specific names of people residing at that re-education centre.

Last year, anti-secrecy organisation WikiLeaks published an alleged US diplomatic cable from 2002 that stated “Hor Namhong came back to Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge took over, but was not killed because he was a schoolmate of Ieng Sary.

He became head of the Beng Trabek [sic] camp and he and his wife collaborated in the killing of many prisoners”.

ADDITIONAL BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION FOR HOR NAMHONG: Wikileaks (Repost)

Reference ID: 02PHNOMPENH1361

Created: 2002-06-06 02:43

Released: 2011-08-30 01:44

Classification: SECRET

Origin: Embassy Phnom Penh

R 060243Z JUN 02

FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH

TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8519 S E C R E T PHNOM PENH 001361

FOR INR/B

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2012

TAGS: CB PINR

SUBJECT: BIO: ADDITIONAL BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION FOR HOR

NAMHONG, CAMBODIAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

REF: PHNOM PENH 01099

CLASSIFIED BY: CHARGE ALEXANDER A. ARVIZU. REASON 1.5(B)

THIS IS AN ADDENDUM TO BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION PROVIDED REFTEL.

¶1. (S) INR/B BIO FROM 1998 REPORTS THAT HOR NAMHONG'S

COLLEAGUES RESENT HIM FOR APPOINTING HIS RELATIVES TO KEY

MINISTRY POSITIONS. IN 1992, INR/B DESCRIBED HIM AS AN

OPPORTUNIST WHO LACKED HIS OWN POWER BASES, BUT GAINED

POSITIONS BY SEEKING ALLIANCES AND DOING FAVORS FOR POWERFUL

SOC LEADERS.

¶2. (S) AN UNDATED, UNATTRIBUTED REPORT ON FILE AT THE EMBASSY

CLAIMS THAT: HOR NAMHONG CAME BACK TO CAMBODIA AFTER THE

KHMER ROUGE TOOK OVER, BUT WAS NOT KILLED BECAUSE HE WAS A

SCHOOLMATE OF IENG SARY. HE BECAME HEAD OF THE BENG TRABEK

CAMP AND HE AND HIS WIFE COLLABORATED IN THE KILLING OF MANY

PRISONERS. AMONG THE VICTIMS WERE THE QUEEN'S SISTER NANETTE

AND HER HUSBAND METEVI (A RELATIVE OF SIRIK MATAK). HOR

NAMHONG ALMOST KILLED CHEM SNGUON AND HIS FAMILY (INCLUDING

CHEM WIDHYA WHO WAS WITH HIS FATHER IN THE CAMP) BECAUSE

SOMEONE HEARD WIDHYA LISTENING TO A FRENCH RADIO BROADCAST.

THE VIETNAMESE INVADED JUST BEFORE THE CHEM FAMILY WAS TO BE

KILLED. HOR NAMHONG'S WIFE ASKED IENG SAR TO HELP THEIR

DAUGHTER WORK WITH THE KHMER ROUGE REGIME. SHE POINTED OUT

THAT SHE HELPED IENG SARY BRING BACK A LOT OF PEOPLE TO BE

KILLED. THE DAUGHTER CAME BACK. LATER, HOR NAMHONG'S WIFE

SAW HER DAUGHTER'S PICTURE ON THE WALL AT TUOL SLENG AND

FAINTED.

ARVIZU

What's Cambodian For Caveat Emptor? Ask Angelina Jolie

10/28/2011
Caroline Howard
Forbes Staff

Investing in postwar countries requires a certain leap of faith. War and revolution play havoc with legal titles to land and property, so figuring out who owns what is tricky. Caveat Emptor, in other words. There’s also the reputational risk of doing business with unsavoury characters. That seems to have been the case with Angelina Jolie, Hollywood actress and high-profile philanthropist. According to an investigative report in the Global Post, Jolie may have erred when she expanded her charitable operations in Cambodia. The accusation relates to the purchase of two plots of land for her Maddox Jolie Pitt Foundation, which is named after her adopted Cambodian son. The seller of the land in northwest Cambodia, a final redoubt of the notorious Khmer Rouge (KR), was Yim Tith. In 2002, Jolie paid him over $25,000 for a total of 225 acres, according to sale documents cited by Global Post. The land was then used as a base of operations for the foundation’s work in the area.

Who is Yim Tith? An alleged mass murderer. In 2009, prosecutors at the slow-moving KR tribunal in Phnom Penh indicted him for crimes against humanity. As a senior KR cadre, he oversaw purges of other party officials and “cleanings” of the general population. In short, he was in a position of authority during the 1975-79 KR regime when an estimated 1.7 million people died of famine, overwork, torture and executions. That’s why he was in a docket presented to the investigating judges at the joint UN-Cambodian tribunal. Yet the judges have effectively squelched the case, to howls of dismay from human-rights groups and victims of the genocide. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has made it clear that he wants the tribunal to wrap up its work after the latest trial of four elderly leaders. That means that Yim Tith and his fellow accused would be off the hook.

Angelina Jolie, Cambodia, and the Khmer Rouge, Oh My

October 25, 2011
Celebs.gather.com

This is the kind of press that Angelina Jolie doesn't want. Jolie, a long-time advocate of environmental conservation efforts, better education, infrastructure and health care in the Southeast Asian country of Cambodia may now be linked to the purchase of property from the 'wrong' person. That person in question was a high-ranking official under Pol Pot, leader of the notorious Khmer Rouge.

The Communist Khmer Rouge's reign of terror for four years in Cambodia led to the genocide of more than two million people. According to reports, Angelina Jolie purchased land from Ta Tith, a high-ranking leader of the Khmer Rouge, for her charity. The land was reportedly purchased for $25,000.

The problem is that Ta Tith is sought after by the United Nations to face 'crimes against humanity' charges stemming from the genocide that occurred in the late 1970s.

Angelina Jolie and Cambodia's perils

26 October 2011
By Milton Osborne
The Interpreter

Cambodia is that kind of place. Just when you think you are doing the right thing it turns out that the tentacles of the past are waiting to grab you.

Not only is The Guardian running bitter little stories about the fact that Angelina Jolie has been photographed lolling on a boat in a Cambodian swamp with a £7000 Louis Vuitton bag, she is now being portrayed as entering into a land deal with a notorious Khmer Rouge commander in Cambodia's Battambang province.

It's a complicated story but linked to an issue noted on several occasions in The Interpreter, the fact that international prosecutors at the Khmer Rouge tribunal have been blocked by government interference in their attempts to bring additional high-ranking Khmer Rouge figures before it.

The detailed story about the land deal has appeared in Global Post-International News, with the claim that the Maddox Jolie Pitt Foundation purchased land from a former Khmer Rouge commander, Yim Tith. Whether this deal was carried out knowingly, as a former and supposedly disgruntled Cambodian associate claims, or was the result of ignorance is not clear.

Did Angelina Jolie knowingly pay $25,000 to a Cambodian mass murderer for a piece of land?

Spokeswoman: Angelina Jolie, 36, has Cambodian citizenship and runs a charitable foundation in the country, where she shot this Louis Vuitton ad

Complicated borders: The area in the red box is where her foundation is located

Yim Tith (aka Ta Tith) (L) and Ta An (R) are former KR cadres involved in Case 004

25th October 2011
By Daily Mail Reporter

While Angelina Jolie is famous for her Hollywood blockbusters and colourful personal life, her humanitarian work has made her popular with world leaders and philanthropists.

Among those efforts, the actress has had close charitable ties with Cambodia, though recent reports bring some of her connections into question.

Her foundation is located along the Thai border in Battambang province, a part of the country that is bustling with former tyrants, one of whom allegedly sold her a significant piece of land.

"I Reaffirm that Hor Nam Hong is a Former Khmer Rouge Prison Chief": Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy

October 13, 2011

I REAFFIRM THAT HOR NAM HONG IS A FORMER KHMER ROUGE PRISON CHIEF

Today the kangaroo court in Phnom Penh upheld a previous verdict in the case related to a defamation lawsuit filed against me by current Cambodian Foreign Minister and former Khmer Rouge prison chief Hor Nam Hong.

The same defamation lawsuit had been filed against me in France by the same Hor Nam Hong who denied my assertion that he is a former Khmer Rouge prison chief. But on April 27, 2011 the French Supreme Court ("Cour de Cassation") declared I was not guilty of anything and Hor Nam Hong finally and definitively lost his lawsuit before the French tribunal.

Therefore, the guilty verdict rendered by the Phnom Penh tribunal today is a blatant violation of the "Non bis in idem" principle (no one shall be twice tried for the same offence). It appears laughable when one compares the degree of independence and respectability enjoyed respectively by the French (real) court and the Cambodian (kangaroo) court.

We must remember that Hor Nam Hong, along with five other top dignitaries of the current regime, refused last year to comply with a subpoena by UN-appointed judge Marcel Lemonde to testify as witnesses before the UN-sponsored Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Phnom Penh dealing with perpetrators of crimes against humanity. In a democratic country with an independent justice system such an offence would send Hor Nam Hong and his CPP colleagues to jail.

Sam Rainsy

Elected Member of Parliament

US official summoned over leaks

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong aka Comrade Yaem (Photo: AFP)

Monday, 18 July 2011
James O'Toole
The Phnom Penh Post

FOREIGN Minister Hor Namhong summoned a senior American embassy official last week in protest over a United States diplomatic cable released by the anti-secrecy organisation WikiLeaks that accused the minister of participating in Khmer Rouge atrocities.

In a cable from the US embassy in Phnom Penh dated June 2002 that was one of hundreds of such dispatches made public by WikiLeaks last week, Alexander Arvizu, the embassy’s former deputy head of mission, cited an “undated, unattributed report on file” at the embassy that made allegations about Hor Namhong’s role at Boeung Trabek prison under the Khmer Rouge.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had summoned Jeff Daigle, the US deputy head of mission and charge d’ affaires, to protest against the allegations in the cable, which the ministry said was “full of unacceptable maligned indictment”.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Cable 2002

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

Cambodia protests over US cable's Khmer Rouge claim

ME NO KHMER ROUGE ZAIL SIEF: Hor 5 Hong (Photo: AFP)

Friday, July 15, 2011
AFP

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia's foreign minister has strongly protested to US officials over a leaked diplomatic cable repeating allegations that he was a former Khmer Rouge prison chief, his department said on Friday.

Hor Namhong summoned the US Charge d?Affaires in Phnom Penh, Jeff Daigle, on Thursday to complain about the "highly defamatory" 2002 cable, which was released via WikiLeaks this week, the foreign ministry statement said.

In the meeting, the Cambodian asked Daigle "to convey to the US State Department his strong protest" over the cable, "which is full of unacceptable maligned indictment", the ministry said.

Hor 5 Hong’s reaction to US officials on Wikileaks publication about his biography as Boeung Trabek jail chief

15 July 2011
By Rithypol
Free Press Magazine Online
Translated from Khmer by Soch
Click here to read the original article in Khmer

The Cambodian minister of Foreign Affairs reacted to the publication of his biography which was leaked by Wikileaks on 11 July, indicating that he was the Beoung Trabek jail chief during the Khmer Rouge era.

A press communiqué issued by the ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday 15 July, indicated that Hor 5 Hong summoned Jeff Daigle, the US Deputy Head of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires in Phnom Penh, to reply to the secret revelations of the 2002 report written by Alexander A. Arvizu on Hor 5 Hong’s biography published online by Wikileaks on Monday of this week.

Hor 5 Hong raised to Jeff Daigle about the report written by Alexander Arvizu to the US State Department. The Cambodian ministry of Foreign Affairs called for comments from the US Embassy in Phnom Penh on this issue.

According to Wikileaks’ publication posted on 11 July, Hor 5 Hong and his wife were close to Ieng Sary, the former KR deputy prime minister and minister of Foreign Affairs. Wikileaks’ report indicated that Hor 5 Hong’s wife saw her daughter’s picture in Tuol Sleng jail, and it also reported about her request to Ien Sary’s for intervention. The Wikileaks report claims that Hor 5 Hong is involved with people [sent] to Tuol Sleng during that era.

Khmer Rouge Turned Cambodian Family Members Against One Another

June 28, 2011
Daniel Schearf, VOA | Kampong Chhang, Cambodia

Three decades since the Khmer Rouge decimated Cambodia, killing up to a quarter of the population in pursuit of a communist utopia, the devastation to families is still being felt. As the four most senior surviving Khmer Rouge leaders go on trial in Phnom Penh, thousands of lower-level Khmer Rouge responsible for atrocities will never see justice. Sometimes the victims and the accused are closer than they want to be.

Kraing Leav village is a typical rural Cambodian community just a couple of hours drive from Phnom Penh.

Everyone is somebody’s friend, neighbor, or relative.

But during the Khmer Rouge rule in the 1970s, fear descended on the village as people were accused of being counter-revolutionaries and began disappearing.

Seventy-one-year-old Som Chhorm denies allegations that he was a low-level Khmer Rouge official responsible for atrocities in the 1970s.(VOA - D. Schearf)

Van Piny's confession on Hor Nam Hong being a member of the K-17 Boeung Trabek bureau committee

Click on Van Piny's confession/statement in Khmer to zoom in

(Translated from Khmer by Socheata)

Answers provided by Van Piny (aka Tith), cadre of the K-17 bureau, front department

A history of the activities led by Van Piny (aka Tith) by himself

Dated 16 February 1978

“I am reporting to Angkar [the KR organization] about my betrayal history.

My name in Van Piny (aka Tith), a cadre of the K-17 bureau, front department, my wife name is Kuon Vattana (aka Chan). I was born in the village of Snay Pul, Snay Pul commune, Pea Raing district, Prey Veng province. I am 37-year-old, my father name is Van Bun Than, he was a district governor, he died at the beginning of 1974. My mother name is Ros Bopha, she lived in Phnom Penh until the liberation. Her current whereabout is unknown. I have 9 siblings:

(names of siblings, their spouses, their professions, where they live)

When I was young, I studied at the Snay Pul elementary school, in Pea Raing district, then at the Kanh-chreach district elementary school, and finally at the Pey Veng province elementary school until I passed my elementary exit exam in 1955. In 1955-1956, I came to study at the Sisovath high school in Phnom Penh until I passed my high school exit exam in 1961.

In 1961, I started my law school study in Phnom Penh.

At the end of 1962, [I studied under] two French professors, Roblo and Court, and a Cambodian professor, Sarin Chhak, who at the time was the secretary of the ministry of Foreign Affairs and he was studying at the law school also. They educated me [and advised me] to join the French SDECE organization [French intelligence agency]. This education started to make me love France, from its culture, its literature and even the education and livelihood of the French; the working methods in France made me want to continue my education in France as well [after] the two French professors vouched for me. After I loved France for this field, the education [they provided me] led me to support the French policy and the influence of France in Cambodia, as well as the necessity for the relationships with France, …

(2 more pages of biography, then Van Piny went on to implicate a large number of people whom he provided their positions at the time, the following is what he said about Hor Nam Hong and a few others)

93- Chau Seng: the vice-chairman of the K-17 bureau committee until the beginning of November – current whereabout unknown.
94- Hor Nam Hong: A member of the K-17 Boeung Trabek bureau committee
95- Chea San: A member of the K-17 Boeung Trabek bureau committee
96- Ieng Kounsaky: A member of the K-17 Boeung Trabek bureau committee

….

17 February 1978
V. Piny
Van Piny (thumbprint)
----------
KI-Media note: Who’s who on Van Piny’s list

1. Van Piny: Along with Chau Seng, he was made chairman of the K-17 (Boeung Trabek) detention center until he was arrested and replaced by Hor Nam Hong.
2. Chau Seng: A former minister under Sihanouk regime, he was booted out by Sihanouk for his leftist leaning position. He joined the Khmer Rouge and returned back to Cambodia after the KR victory. He was made chairman of the K-17 (Boeung Trabek) detention center until he was arrested and killed at Tuol Sleng.
3. Chea San: A former high-ranking official in Sihanouk regime, he later joined Sihanouk and the KR as the GRUNK Minister of Justice. He was killed at Tuol Sleng.
4. Sarin Chhak: A former diplomat in Sihanouk regime, he later joined Sihanouk and the KR as the GRUNK Minister of Foreign Affairs. Under Sihanouk, he completed his PhD in France where he provided a detail history and account of Cambodia’s borders with Vietnam, Thailand and Laos. Hon Thong Hoeung later recounted that he and his wife were jailed in Boeung Trabek detention center. He disappeared after he was captured by the invading Vietnamese army.
5. Ieng Kounsaky: a former diplomat under Sihanouk regime, he joined the KR and was sent to the Boeung Trabek detention center. Along with his wife, Mrs. Keo Bunthouk, they gave a scathing testimony against Hor Nam Hong.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Conseil M'riel M'riel (One riel minister)

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

For sale Hor 5 Hong's honor: 1 euro ($1.23 = 5,000 riels)

5,000 riels: That's how much Hor 5 Hong's honor is worth

Hor 5 Hong (L) vs Sam Rainsy (R)

French Appeal Court ruled that Sam Rainsy had defamed Hor Namhong

Wednesday, 16 June 2010
By Khmerization
Source: DAP News

The French Appeal Court had upheld a lower court verdict that found opposition leader Sam Rainsy guilty of defaming Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in May, but did not publicly release the verdict, reports Deum Ampil.

However, on Tuesday 15th June, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong held a press conference to announce the French Appeal Court verdict. He announced publicly that the verdict was in his favour and that the court asked Mr. Sam Rainsy to pay a nominal compensation amount of 1 euro to him. He said the compensation amount is symbolic, but it is a testimony to his innocence that he was not involved in the Khmer Rouge crimes as alleged by Mr. Rainsy and that it will help restore his good reputation.

Mr. Yim Sovan, spokesman for the Sam Rainsy Party, declined to comment when reached by telephone.

Mr. Hor Namhong was chief of Boeng Trabek Re-Education Centre in Phnom Penh during the Khmer Rouge regime where many diplomats from former regimes have been housed and then sent to their deaths at Tuol Sleng Torture Centre. However, Mr. Hor Hamhong, who has claimed to have lost 30 members of his family during the Khmer Rouge regime, denied any involvements in the Khmer Rouge crimes.

Sam Rainsy lost to Hor 5 Hong on appeal

24 May 2010
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy’s defense lawyer in France indicated on Sunday that, on 20 May 2010, the French appeal court had decided to stay on the decision handed down by the tribunal of first instance in the lawsuit brought up by Hor 5 Hong against Sam Rainsy. Didier Alla, Sam Rainsy’s defense lawyer told this news to The Phnom Penh Post, and that the appeal court issued this decision on 20 May. Didier Alla added: “What was decided by the tribunal of first instance will be preserved.” Sam Rainsy lost his case in the defamation lawsuit brought up by Hor 5 Hong at the tribunal of first instance last year. He was ordered to pay 1 euro in damage compensation to Hor 5 Hong. Hor 5 Hong said that, in his autobiography, Sam Rainsy accused him of leading the Boeng Trabek re-education center where diplomats and officials from the Lon Nol and Sangkum Reastr Niyum (Sihanouk) regimes were jailed and/or killed during the KR regime.

Hor Namhong should testify at KRT: Rainsy

Comrade Hor 5 Hong NOT swearing to tell the truth? (Photo: AFP)

Monday, 22 March 2010
James O'Toole
The Phnom Penh Post

OPPOSITION leader Sam Rainsy challenged Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong last week to comply with a summons issued by judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal and appear before the court.

The call came in a letter dated Thursday and written from Paris, where Sam Rainsy fled last year to avoid a prison sentence in connection with an October protest in Svay Rieng province.

“You know full well that you are required by the law to show up when summoned by the judge. But why do you refuse to testify?” Sam Rainsy wrote.

In September, international co-investigating judge Marcel Lemonde issued summons letters for Hor Namhong and five other officials from the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). None of the group appeared before the investigating judges, however, prompting Lemonde to conclude in January that it was “not feasible” to pursue their testimony further, UN court spokesman Lars Olsen said.

Sam Rainsy was convicted of defamation in a French court last year and ordered to pay a symbolic one Euro (US$1.35) after a lawsuit by Hor Namhong. The foreign minister said that Sam Rainsy had accused him in an autobiography of heading the Boeung Trabek “re-education camp”, where diplomats and government officials from the Lon Nol and Norodom Sihanouk regimes were incarcerated by the Khmer Rouge.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said Sunday that Hor Namhong would ignore Sam Rainsy’s letter.

“He said that he does not respond to a person who is an accused by the French criminal court,” Koy Kuong said.

French Court Postpones Minister’s Suit

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
07 October 2009

A French appeals court has postponed a hearing for a defamation suit brought by Foreign Minister Hor Namhong against opposition leader Sam Rainsy.

A hearing was set for Oct. 8, but was delayed due to technicalities and health issues of Sam Rainsy.

Hor Namhong brought the suit against Sam Rainsy for remarks in the latter’s autobiography alleging Hor Namhong’s collusion with the Khmer Rouge in a correction camp where several inmates died.

“My lawyer has told me that there is an issue that needs to be looked into,” Sam Rainsy said. “There might be a delay so there won’t be a hearing on the 8 [of October]. I am still waiting for more information from my lawyer. Nothing is 100 percent sure yet.”

A spokesperson for Hor Namhong also confirmed the delay.

The court ruled in favor of Hor Namhong Jan. 27, ordering Sam Rainsy to pay 1 euro in damages and delete a page from his book including the allegation.

Yim Sovann, spokesman for the Sam Rainsy Party, said politicians should get used to criticism and that Sam Rainsy should not be punished.

“What he said was merely to let the national and international community know about freedom of expression,” he said.

Both Yim Sovann and Sam Rainsy said they had collected more evidence to show the appeals court.

No date has been set for another hearing.