We All Need Freedom of Expression and Justice

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY DEC 10, 2009
Media Release

“WE ALL NEED FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND JUSTICE”

More than 10,000 Cambodians from communities around the country, including trade unionists, students, farmers, fishermen, musicians, youths, tuk tuk drivers, motorcycle drivers and NGO workers, will celebrate International Human Rights Day (IHRD) in their communities this year.

These celebrations are tied together with the common theme “We All Need Freedom of Expression and Justice!” and a common symbol - the blue Kramar to represent the important role of human rights defenders in Cambodia.

The community initiatives will mark the achievements made in human rights in Cambodia, but also focus on critical issues still facing the country’s citizens – including exploitation of land and natural resources; restrictions to the freedoms of expression, association and assembly; and violations of labor rights.

IHRD is celebrated every year on 10 December as a reminder of the enduring human rights struggles which continue to affect societies and communities in every country. IHRD bears witness to and highlights pervasive human rights abuses as well as standing as a call for action. The celebration of IHRD also marks an opportunity for civil society, governments, international organisations and citizens themselves to highlight their efforts in securing recognition and observance of human rights principles.

Sample celebrations and activities on 10 December, 2009

• More than 200 motorcycle drivers and tuk tuk drivers will hold media conference and release balloons in Traing village in Siem Reap.
• More than 900 villagers will gather in a local pagoda in Chi Kreng, Siem Reap to discuss Buddhist principles, human rights and watch videos on human rights issues.
• More than 500 villagers and farmers will play traditional games, discuss human rights issues and march in Chhouk village in Koh Kong province.
• More than 500 trade unionists will gather to discuss human rights, labor rights and march around Laang village in Kampot province.
• More than 150 students, monks and local authorities will gather in Neav Sav village in Kampong Thom province to discuss human rights, conduct a march and release balloons.
• Groups of family members, farmers, union leaders, students, artists and NGO workers will bring packages of food and meet more than 52 human rights defenders detained in Phnom Penh and 8 provincial prisons.

“Cambodia’s constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression and association, both of which are fundamental to a vibrant democracy,” said Sar Mora, President of the Cambodian Food Service Workers Federation (CFSWF). “Without the freedom to express ourselves, the government cannot understand our hopes and desires, and the goal of justice becomes an illusion.”

“Justice must be accessible to the poor and marginalized, and the law must be applied fairly to all including the rich and powerful,” said Pung Chhiv Kek President of Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO). “The poorest farmer has the same rights as the richest businessman.” Kek adds “Cambodia’s courts are failing to provide justice to numerous victims of human rights abuses on a daily basis, real reforms of the courts, to strengthen their independence and professional and to eliminate corruption, are desperately needed.”

“We welcome development but not at the expense of the poor,” says Yeng Virak, Executive Director of Community Legal Education Center (CLEC). “There must be an end to forced evictions, and there must be government policies which ensure and enable participation and rights to information, expression and movement for everyone.”

Friends of December 10th is an informal group of individuals working to support and assist initiates to celebrate International Human Right Day throughout Cambodia.

News media are invited to attend the December 10 celebrations and contact focal persons listed for individual activities held 70 areas in Phnom Penh and 17 provinces.

Justice for Whom?

Opinion by Vichet Chhuon
Originally posted at http://www.KhmerWITICA.com
http://www.khmerwitica.com/blog/view/id_650/title_justice-for-whom/

I thank the editors of Khmer Witica for providing a space for Khmer people to share our thoughts on issues that matter to our community.

Tomorrow, April 17, will mark the 33rd anniversary of the Khmer Rouge’s evacuation of Phnom Penh. Many historians have marked this day as the beginning of the Killing Fields. As we enter the New Year, I urge each of us to reflect on the meaning of being part of the Cambodian diaspora and consider our people’s beautiful past, as well as our recent history that is inextricably connected to genocide.

Almost three weeks ago, a community forum was convened at California State University, Long Beach to collect testimonies from community members, academics, and professionals, for possible inclusion in the international criminal trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders. This “hybrid court” composed of both Cambodian and foreign judges will purportedly bring to justice those responsible for the Cambodian genocide. Unfortunately, there have been a number of reports that cite problems with this tribunal including allegations of mismanagement, corruption, and financial shortage. In this article however, I address a more fundamental issue and offer an alternative perspective to what was ostensibly an operating assumption of the community forum I attended. Here, I challenge the idea that these tribunals will achieve justice for the Cambodian people. As such, this court, as it seeks to convict former senior Khmer Rouge officials for their crimes against humanity, is likely on a misguided pursuit of justice for the Cambodian people.

The tragedy that befell the Cambodian people between 1975 and 1979 was a unique brand of mass violence that involved a number of parties beyond those presently charged. One would expect that for these proceedings to approach authentic justice, the court would attempt to hold all parties responsible for their obvious (and not so obvious) involvement in crimes against humanity. How might the conviction of a handful of elderly former Khmer Rouge leaders (and the life imprisonment that would follow) be qualified as justice for Cambodians? What about those lower level Khmer Rouge administrators whose energy and willingness to serve surely facilitated the work of the Khmer Rouge killing machine? What about those actors whose actions contributed to Cambodia’s political instability and helped ripen the country for the Khmer Rouge’s emergence? Historians have well documented the linkages between the Khmer Rouge’s succession to power with the Cold War politics of three decades ago including the United State’s illegal bombings of Cambodia. Moreover, the international community’s lack of response to the plight of Cambodian people in the late 1970s contributed an added dimension of complicity in this tragedy.

As well, have Cambodian people been given the opportunity to share their thoughts on how to achieve justice? What might justice look like for genocide survivors and their families? My candid talks with members of the Cambodian community in southern California and conversations with my own family members provides some, albeit anecdotal, evidence that Cambodian people believe that the hybrid court will likely accomplish very little. A deep distrust in contemporary Cambodian politics combined with the grim understanding that Cambodian lives are probably perceived as less valuable than others surely contribute to this skepticism. My own view is that this tribunal is fueled not so much by Cambodian people’s insistence on justice and accountability but more so by a Western guilt for their complicity in this tragedy. These proceedings have been assembled not because Cambodians are eager to see these elderly men judged as “guilty” but because Westerners and elites need yet another opportunity for after-the-fact, moral grandstanding.

Unfortunately, the type of justice that will emerge from the hybrid court is unlikely to reveal the truths that Cambodians require to turn the page on their tragic past. The court may accomplish a logical sense of justice in that those charged and found guilty are sentenced and imprisoned. But the justice that Cambodians want might be to understand the truth of what occurred and why it occurred (similar with the proceedings of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation years ago). This type of justice would help survivors better make sense of their experiences and more fully understand the circumstances in which they lost their loved ones. More immediate than punishment, individuals seek to create causal linkages in the events of their lives. However, this type of justice for Cambodians can only result if truth in all its messy forms is the objective.

I am sure that some victims will take comfort in the conviction and imprisonment of these men, all of whom are well into their 70s and 80s. This is their right and I honor their grief and anger. Most of my father’s side lost their lives during this period. However, this tribunal will not bring them back nor will it allow me to ever know my paternal grandparents. To be clear, my aim here is not to minimize the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge or divert attention from the responsibility of these individuals. My goal instead is to suggest that criminal proceedings alone are unlikely to achieve the sort of justice Cambodians deserve. However, it will likely be an either/or situation in this case. Time is running out on the opportunity to gather truth from these former Khmer Rouge leaders. It would be unfortunate if victims did not have ample opportunity to ask these men in person why these decisions were made. Hence, it looks to be a choice between justice in the punitive sense or justice as equated with truth and human understanding.

Ben Kiernan, a respected historian of Cambodia’s recent history, in applauding the decision to institute a hybrid court, noted that “a legal accounting of the crimes of the Khmer Rouge era cannot restore to Cambodians their lost loved ones, but it could give them back their history, if at least the tribunal goes ahead. Cambodian pupils may one day have textbooks to study the tragedy.” Professor Kiernan’s assessment overestimates the court’s impact on Cambodians. The genocide is already included in textbooks but with very little understanding of how these crimes against humanity had been permitted to unfold as they did. This information can be helpful for preventing this evil in the future. Will this tribunal achieve justice? I don’t know but it would be interesting to hear the voices of my community address this important topic. How we handle our tragic past ourselves will surely shape the future of our community. What I am certain of is that this tribunal will not bring back the over one million persons who lost their lives or give life to the countless unborn Cambodians.

‘Long-overdue’ justice necessary in Cambodia, says Secretary-General Ban

UN News Centre

15 April 2008 – Noting that today is the tenth anniversary of the death of the notorious Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the United Nations-backed tribunal to “soon deliver long-overdue justice for the people” of the South-East Asian country.

“I would like to remind the international community of the urgent importance of bringing to closure one of history’s darkest chapters,” Mr. Ban said in a statement.

“The United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia remain actively engaged in efforts to hold the Khmer Rouge senior leaders and those most responsible accountable for their horrific crimes.”

The Secretary-General said it was his hope that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) – which has been operational since July 2006 – could soon deliver justice.

Under an agreement signed by the UN and Cambodia, the ECCC was set up as an independent court using a mixture of Cambodian judges and staff and foreign personnel. It is designated to try those deemed most responsible for crimes and serious violations of Cambodian and international law between April 1975 and January 1979.

Estimates vary but as many as three million people died during the rule of the Khmer Rouge, which was then followed by a protracted period of civil war in the impoverished country.

Plan for a Dhammayietra (Peaceful March) to the KR Tribunal

Monday, December 24, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The former victims of the KR regime, including about 600 monks, nuns, Cambodian Muslims, students and the public, plan to organize a Dhammatyietra (Peaceful March) on 25 December, to march to the KR Tribunal. RFA indicated that this first Dhammayietra for justice and peace will start from Wat Phnom park in Phnom Penh and will march to the KR Tribunal located in the city suburb. Ms. Seur Sayana, an official of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DCCam) said that about 600 people are expected to participate in this Dhammayietra which was already authorized by the authority of the city of Phnom Penh which will ensure its security. The goal of the Dhammayietra is to push to for justice, peace, solidarity, and the end to violence.

Justice Over Killing Fields

2007-11-22
Opinions
The Straits Times/ ANN

"The proceedings will benefit from live media coverage as well as international standards of openness and jurisprudence, owing to the UN involvement."

A United Nations-supported tribunal has at last begun to bring former Khmer Rouge leaders to book - nearly 30 years after the killing fields of Cambodia took more than a million lives. Justice delayed may not be quite justice totally denied after all. Those who suffered and the relatives of those who perished have waited long enough. A few of the perpetrators, including the monstrous Pol Pot and 'the Butcher' Ta Mok, died without having to face their accusers. Khieu Samphan, Democratic Kampuchea's president during the genocide and mass starvation, is an infirm 76-year-old, roused this week from a hospital bed to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Among four others in custody and facing similar charges is Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch. His meekness in his court appearance this week belied the sadism with which he is accused of having 16,000 people tortured and executed while in charge of the Tuol Sleng charnel house.

If found guilty in trials next year, they deserve the full weight of justice. Even before the process has really begun, they have tried pleading ignorance, shifting blame to now dead comrades, or justifying the unjustifiable. Obviously, the intervening decades between crime and apprehension have brought them no closer to remorse. Neither have repeated judicial postponements offered their victims any sense of closure. Lower-ranking accomplices also have to be brought to account. Even if the tribunal has no mandate to try them, the precedent it sets will show Cambodian courts the way. Contrary to some speculation, the delays have added to the need for collective catharsis, not diminished it. The trials may yet set off a long-repressed release. Without facing up to the truth of those dark days, Cambodians will find genuine national reconciliation difficult.

It is also imperative not only that justice be done, but that it be seen to be done. The proceedings will benefit from live media coverage as well as international standards of openness and jurisprudence, owing to the UN involvement. It is equally important that those who are committing such crimes now in wars declared and undeclared, or will in the future, need to be aware of the certainty of justice. It may be coincidental that the tribunal began work in earnest in a week that Asean, which has Cambodia as a member, signed a Charter prescribing rule of law and human rights among principles of domestic conduct of states. This is fortuitous, considering what could happen in Myanmar if the governance and human rights crisis there should get any worse.

CIVIL PARTY: Khmer Victim(s) v. Charged KRSenior Leader(s) for Crimes against Humanity (etc.)

Phnom Penh Post, Issue 16 / 22, November 2 - 15, 2007

It can be accurately stated that every Khmer is a "victim" of the Khmer Rouge soldiers, as virtually every Khmer has suffered loss of family members, house and home, rights etc. during the period of 17 April 1975 to 6 January 1979, the temporal jurisdiction of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia ("ECCC").

As a "victim", every Khmer has the choice to participate actively in the ECCC, as a matter of law, in three capacities: (i) be a witness, (ii) file a complaint to the Office of Co-Prosecutors, or (iii) be a civil party.

Witness and Complainant
The first 2 options are normally the ways victims participate in criminal proceedings, particularly of mixed tribunals, e.g. Special Courts of Sierra Leone.

Generally speaking, a common law witness helps the argument of a party (albeit the prosecutor or the defendant) and a civil law witness helps the investigating judge to find the "truth" of the matter.

Put simply, a complainant files a complaint to the office of prosecution, requesting that the prosecutor charge a particular defendant with a crime.

As either a witness or a complainant, one is not a party to the criminal proceeding and does not have access to the case files (or dossiers) or rights to any reparation (material, moral or otherwise). Here, the parties are only two: (i) Prosecutor v. (ii) Defendant.

Civil Party
The ECCC is unprecedented in giving the choice for a victim to become a civil party. No other mixed tribunals have such provision. In addition to the ECCC, the only other court, addressing mass crimes of international nature that permits civil party, is the International Criminal Court (and the ICC is an "international", and not "mixed", tribunal).

Unlike victim as a witness or victim as a complainant, victim as a civil party is a party to the criminal proceeding(s). Here, then, the parties are: (i) Prosecutor and (ii) Civil Party v. (iii) Defendant.

As a Civil Party to the criminal proceedings, one has most if not all the rights as a party: access to the case files (or dossiers), reparations etc.

How to become a civil party
How does a victim become a civil party normally and particularly with the ECCC?

First, there has to be a charge of a crime against a person by the investigating judge.

Second, there has to be an injury suffered by the applicant; it has to be a "legal" injury (for it to be admissible) in that the injury must be (i) physical, material and/or psychological and (ii) the direct consequence of (legal nexus/linkage to) the offense against the charged person.

At the ECCC, the Co-Prosecutors have forwarded five names to the Co-Investigating Judges ("CIJ"). The CIJ has publicly made known and charged two suspects, Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch) with crimes against humanity, and Nuon Chea with crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Prior to these charges of the CIJ, it is possible to be a witness or complainant, but not possible to be a civil party (as there have been no charges); without the known offenses (crimes against humanity and war crimes) and persons (Duch, Nuon Chea), there's nothing or no one to link the applicant's injury to.

Now, it is possible for a victim to become a civil party, either to the charge against Duch, or to the charges against Nuon Chea. And in the future, should the CIJ charge more person(s) with offense(s), a victim can join as civil party to that offense and person.

Example
To give concrete form to these concepts, below is the bulk of my civil party application (1 pages in English) to the Office of CIJ which has been accepted:

I am applying to be joined as a Civil Party to the criminal proceedings and support the prosecution against Mr. Nuon Chea. Mr. Nuon Chea was arrested and provisionally detained by the ECCC on Wednesday, 19 September 2007, on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Cambodia between 1975 - 1979 ("Alleged Offenses").

As former Deputy Secretary of the Democratic Party of Kampuchea (or informally, the "Khmer Rouge") during this time, Mr. Nuon Chea was responsible for the Khmer Rouge forces under his effective command, control and/or authority as a result of his instructions or failure to exercise control properly over these forces.

I am a child female victim of the Alleged Offenses committed by and/or attributable to him during that time period.

As a direct consequence of the Alleged Offenses, I (at the age of 4 - 8 years), among other things:

(a) lost my father, who was a victim of forced disappearance and was murdered by officers of the Khmer Rouge;

(b) was, together with my family, forcibly evacuated from Phnom Penh to Svay Rieng Province by officers of the Khmer Rouge;

(c) was imprisoned in Bung Rei in Svay Rieng Province for a period of approximately 5 months by officers of the Khmer Rouge;

(d) was deprived of access to food, medicine, education and other necessities by officers of the Khmer Rouge;

(e) suffered torture and other cruel or inhuman treatment by officers of the Khmer Rouge;

(f) witnessed other prisoners being tortured and/or murdered by officers of the Khmer Rouge;

(g) witnessed my mother being tortured or subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment by officers of the Khmer Rouge; and

(h) lost my mother, who was a victim of forced disappearance and was murdered by officers of the Khmer Rouge.

In the circumstances, I personally suffered physical, material and psychological injury and would like to participate in the criminal proceedings against Mr. Nuon Chea (and in the future, against any other senior Khmer Rouge leaders charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes and/or genocide).

Administration of Civil Party applications
Because many Khmers suffered as victims within the definition of a "civil party" and theoretically the Office of the Co-Investigating Judges may receive tens of thousands of applications requesting to become a civil party, the process can be administratively messy and unworkable. Hence, to lessen the administrative burden of and give order to this process, it is immensely important that victims who apply to be a civil party (i) use the standard form of the ECCC, and (ii) join a group or association with representation.

For example, civil party applications can be grouped by (i) zones, e.g. Eastern Zone, (ii) status, e.g. Orphans (victims, who under 18 years, lost both parents during 1975-79, (iii) etc.

The ECCC will soon have a working Victims Unit. Also, the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee ("CHRAC") is interested in acting as a clearinghouse for victims (as witness, complainant or civil party). The Center for Social Development, in association with and as a member of CHRAC and on its own, will focus on assisting those who are only interested in becoming a civil party (as a matter of division of labor, making the process more concretely and manageable). I, in my personal capacity already as a civil party, am interested in representing those individuals, who as a child (under 18) lost both parents.

Unprecedented,awesome opportunity
The opportunity provided by the ECCC for victims to become a civil party is truly awesome and should be thoughtfully and meaningfully taken by any Khmer who wish to (i) bring justice (to whatever degree) for and in the memory of loved ones who died, and (ii) force charged senior Khmer Rouge leaders to own up to the horrific crimes which unfolded from which we are yet trying to recover, even almost 30 years later. This is not an issue of revenge, but of justice and responsibility.
_____________________
Theary C. SENG
Executive Director

Justice for the victims of the Khmer Rouge?

Wed, 09/19/2007
Foreign Policy Blog (Washington DC, USA)

I asked Brian Calvert, a reporter for Voice of America Khmer in Washington, to weigh in on today's news that a key lieutenant of the notorious Pol Pot had finally been taken into custody. Here's Brian's take:

The indictment and detention Wednesday of Nuon Chea, Pol Pot's chief lieutenant in the Khmer Rouge, for war crimes and crimes against humanity is the most significant action taken so far by a bedeviled tribunal that was established more than a year ago.

Whether or not his arrest will spell justice, and for whom, remains to be seen.

Nuon Chea, also known as Brother No. 2, was flown by helicopter Wednesday morning from his home in the mountains of northwest Cambodia and questioned in Phnom Penh, the capital, by judges of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the official name of the Khmer Rouge tribunal.

Nuon Chea has said he will happily face a trial. But it’s not because he regrets his actions. Rather, he sees a trial as a chance to exonerate his role in the Khmer Rouge, which called itself Democratic Kampuchea. In his view, Pol Pot’s regime was only defending the Cambodian people from Vietnamese agents and American bombs.

In reality, the Khmer Rouge used the fear of a Vietnamese takeover and of U.S. fighting in Indochina as fuel for their insurrection. After they took power, as many as 2 million people starved to death or were executed. The legacy of that regime and the civil strife that followed its ouster has been a war-battered people, a devastated infrastructure, and a country that still hasn't recovered.

Nuon Chea is widely believed to be a chief architect of the regime's murderous policies. According to the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which has been gathering evidence in Cambodia for potential trials for a decade, Nuon Chea held posts as deputy secretary of the Cambodian Communist Party's Central Committee and as a member of the Party's Standing Committee, the bodies most responsible for policies of the regime.

Given Cambodia’s bloody history, it may be hard for many to imagine why it has been so difficult to bring Khmer Rouge figures like Nuon Chea to justice. The joint tribunal has struggled since its inception, hamstrung by bickering among U.N.-appointed international jurists and their Cambodian counterparts. Nuon Chea is only the second man to be taken into court custody. Since July, the courts have been holding Kaing Guek Eav, better known by his revolutionary name, Duch, the head of S-21, Cambodia's infamous torture center. Also known as Tuol Sleng, it's now a genocide museum for tourists.

The courts are investigating at least three more suspects for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but their names have not been released.

Will there be justice for the Khmer Rouge's victims? We just don't know. The U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, Joseph Mussomeli, recently told VOA Khmer that over the next one or two years, "we'll have at least, I would guess, somewhere around a dozen people being brought up on charges of genocide."

"There were hundreds of people who were guilty of genocide, but, frankly, you have to draw the line somewhere," he added. "You can't have the trial last for 20 years or 30 years, you can't spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the trial, but you have to find at least the most responsible for genocide and bring them to trial, and I think we are now on the way to doing that."

We'll know soon enough if he is right.