Showing posts with label Reach Sambath. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reach Sambath. Show all posts
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Reach Sambath, Tribunal Spokesman in Cambodia, Dies at 47
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| Reach Sambath in 2010 as he speaks to high school students in Phnom Penh about the court's efforts to try former Khmer Rouge leaders in court. (Tang Chhin Sothy/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images) |
May 13, 2011
By SETH MYDANS
The New York Times
Reach Sambath, who survived the Khmer Rouge killing fields as an orphan and rose through journalism and teaching to become the spokesman for a tribunal in Cambodia that is trying the leaders of the Khmer Rouge, died on Wednesday. He was 47.
The cause was a stroke brought on by high blood pressure, his family said.
Mr. Reach Sambath often said that as the spokesman for the United Nations-backed tribunal, he was helping to represent the 1.7 million who died during Khmer Rouge rule, from 1975 to 1979. Among them were his parents and all but one sibling. He called himself “a spokesperson for ghosts.”
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Press Release - Chief of Public Affairs of the ECCC passed away
My deepest condolences to the family of Reach Sambath (a fellow orphan who took refuge with my family in my paternal grandfather's house in Svay Rieng in 1978) as they mourn his passing away earlier tonight. My prayers and thoughts are with you.
- Theary, Phnom Penh, 11 May 2011
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| Reach Sambath and Theary Seng at RFA call-in show (Phnom Penh, April 2011) |
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Reach Sambath sick, hospitalized
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| Ta Dambang Dek (Grandpa with an iron staff): A statue at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in front of which everybody had to take their oath |
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| Reach Sambath |
10 May 2011
Dith Sokthy
The Phnom Penh Post (Khmer)
Translated from Khmer by Soy
Phnom Penh – Reach Sambath, director of the public relation office of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, is currently under medical care at Calmette Hospital. However, there is no official indication as to what his illness is. Doctors are currently providing him with medical care.
Monday, April 25, 2011
RFA call-in show on Cases 003 and 004 - guests Theary Seng and Reach Sambath
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| Theary Seng (Photo: RFA) |
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| RFA Call-In Show, 22 April 2011, Theary Seng, Reach Sambath, RFA host Leng Maly (Photo: RFA) |
Click the control below to listen to the Call-in Show audio program in Khmer
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The spirits began to cry
Wednesday February 18, 2009
By Miriama Kamo in Cambodia
TVNZ (New Zealand)
By Miriama Kamo in Cambodia
TVNZ (New Zealand)
At midday the spirits began to cry.
Their tears fell unabashedly, and as the day's significance pressed down, their tears grew more earnest, more urgent; within an hour the dusty forecourt of the chambers was awash in their feelings, and those still living were forced to wade through their heartache and happiness.
This is how Sambath Reach would have us interpret an extraordinary moment in Cambodia's day of reckoning. He felt his parents, killed under Pol Pot's regime stir. His eyes tightened as he offered his thoughts: "it wasn't just a few ghosts today, it poured, so there were millions here."
Sambath Reach is a spokesperson for the court of the ECCC ( Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia ), but he says his friends call him The Spokesperson for the Ghosts.
Nearly two million people died under the Khmer Rouge. When the communist party, high on Maoist ideology, attempted to return their people to Year Zero - a utopia without classes, without money, where farming became the principle trade, and equality for man, woman and child ruled - they created a hellish state of perverted ideals.
Millions died in the rice fields, in camps, prisons and even in their homes. They died from torture, from overwork, from disease and starvation. They were scythed through by a rabid adherence to a philosophy which had at its heart ideals of prosperity and independence, but ideals that were practiced with deadly effect.
Khmer Rouge officials are charged not just with the horrors of those they killed, but with creating a generational heartache that pervades the existence of those who've persisted through, at least, extreme loss and grief.
There are many alive today with horrific stories of incarceration, overwork and torture. There are people who were children under the regime, who recall working feverishly in fields, eating two sparse meals of rice gruel a day and evading the attention of the Khmer Rouge soldiers for fear of being beaten.
For many Cambodians this isn't history; it's the reality of their lives.
It's easy to relegate this event in our world's story as events long past, as something that has nothing to do with any of us, except some old timers with long memories.
But what the Khmer Rouge did, the terror they wrought, happened not so long ago.
I was a toddler when their reign began and a child gifted her first two wheel bike when it ended. I walked to school while Cambodian children my age were being smashed against trees; I opened Christmas presents while others in this country watched their parents being executed.
I feel no guilt about our different existence - what can you do about the random hand of God? But I have been given the opportunity to understand what happened in my world, to see firsthand that these events are not, and should not be, safely shrouded in history. This record affects people of my generation, and will hopefully impact on those long beyond mine.
What happened on the day Cambodia tried its first Khmer Rouge official was incredible.
The court opened the curtains at 8.30am and at 9am the historic proceedings began. Outside, the clear blue day was being encroached on by some wispy clouds. By morning tea, as Duch the alleged executioner was led from the courtroom for a break, the clouds were gathering heavily. But the elements waited until the full complement of witnesses stood outside for lunch before releasing a rain-load of mini-monsoon proportions.
Hundreds of local and international media, court officials and ordinary Cambodians, among them survivors of the regime, huddled beneath tarpaulins intended to shield from the sun. The rain was so heavy and so persistent it gathered in pools above our heads, weighing heavily on the thin fabric, and threatening to burst through.
Within 20 minutes there was little dry ground, the water flooded around our feet. It wasn't the rainy season and there'd be no rain for four months, but it came and it went within an hour.
If the Spokesperson for the Ghosts is to be believed, we were deluged with a complex mix of grief and anger, and long awaited happiness and relief. "It's a day very few of us ever thought we'd see,' he said, 'but today, this courtyard is filled with ghosts, and they are happy."
Their tears fell unabashedly, and as the day's significance pressed down, their tears grew more earnest, more urgent; within an hour the dusty forecourt of the chambers was awash in their feelings, and those still living were forced to wade through their heartache and happiness.
This is how Sambath Reach would have us interpret an extraordinary moment in Cambodia's day of reckoning. He felt his parents, killed under Pol Pot's regime stir. His eyes tightened as he offered his thoughts: "it wasn't just a few ghosts today, it poured, so there were millions here."
Sambath Reach is a spokesperson for the court of the ECCC ( Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia ), but he says his friends call him The Spokesperson for the Ghosts.
Nearly two million people died under the Khmer Rouge. When the communist party, high on Maoist ideology, attempted to return their people to Year Zero - a utopia without classes, without money, where farming became the principle trade, and equality for man, woman and child ruled - they created a hellish state of perverted ideals.
Millions died in the rice fields, in camps, prisons and even in their homes. They died from torture, from overwork, from disease and starvation. They were scythed through by a rabid adherence to a philosophy which had at its heart ideals of prosperity and independence, but ideals that were practiced with deadly effect.
Khmer Rouge officials are charged not just with the horrors of those they killed, but with creating a generational heartache that pervades the existence of those who've persisted through, at least, extreme loss and grief.
There are many alive today with horrific stories of incarceration, overwork and torture. There are people who were children under the regime, who recall working feverishly in fields, eating two sparse meals of rice gruel a day and evading the attention of the Khmer Rouge soldiers for fear of being beaten.
For many Cambodians this isn't history; it's the reality of their lives.
It's easy to relegate this event in our world's story as events long past, as something that has nothing to do with any of us, except some old timers with long memories.
But what the Khmer Rouge did, the terror they wrought, happened not so long ago.
I was a toddler when their reign began and a child gifted her first two wheel bike when it ended. I walked to school while Cambodian children my age were being smashed against trees; I opened Christmas presents while others in this country watched their parents being executed.
I feel no guilt about our different existence - what can you do about the random hand of God? But I have been given the opportunity to understand what happened in my world, to see firsthand that these events are not, and should not be, safely shrouded in history. This record affects people of my generation, and will hopefully impact on those long beyond mine.
What happened on the day Cambodia tried its first Khmer Rouge official was incredible.
The court opened the curtains at 8.30am and at 9am the historic proceedings began. Outside, the clear blue day was being encroached on by some wispy clouds. By morning tea, as Duch the alleged executioner was led from the courtroom for a break, the clouds were gathering heavily. But the elements waited until the full complement of witnesses stood outside for lunch before releasing a rain-load of mini-monsoon proportions.
Hundreds of local and international media, court officials and ordinary Cambodians, among them survivors of the regime, huddled beneath tarpaulins intended to shield from the sun. The rain was so heavy and so persistent it gathered in pools above our heads, weighing heavily on the thin fabric, and threatening to burst through.
Within 20 minutes there was little dry ground, the water flooded around our feet. It wasn't the rainy season and there'd be no rain for four months, but it came and it went within an hour.
If the Spokesperson for the Ghosts is to be believed, we were deluged with a complex mix of grief and anger, and long awaited happiness and relief. "It's a day very few of us ever thought we'd see,' he said, 'but today, this courtyard is filled with ghosts, and they are happy."
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
OSJI's criticisms of the ECCC are considered court interference ... but Hun Sen's govt court meddling is OK? Wake up, Mr. Reach Sambath!
Reach SambathBy Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
16 February 2009
A Khmer Rouge tribunal spokesman has called the remarks of one court monitor a type of interference, as judges consider how many more of the regime should face atrocity charges.
The Open Society Justice Institute issued a statement last week calling on the tribunal to ensure “it is not a tool of the Cambodian government and ensure a fair and transparent judicial process.”
The tribunal’s international and local prosecutors are at odds on whether to charge more cadre of the regime with atrocity crimes beyond the five now facing trial.
“The court must show it is relying on law and facts, not politics, in deciding how many suspects will be investigated,” OSJI said in its statement.
Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said the statement, which was issued to the media, constituted interference in the affairs of the court.
“Each prosecutor has equal rights, and they are working on it,” he said. “When [a group] orders the Khmer prosecutor to charge, and says the foreign prosecutor is right, [the group] is the one who interferes with the court.”
There was no sign of governmental interference in the courts, he said.
The Pre-Trial Chamber of the hybrid courts will now need to decide on which prosecutor to follow.
The Open Society Justice Institute issued a statement last week calling on the tribunal to ensure “it is not a tool of the Cambodian government and ensure a fair and transparent judicial process.”
The tribunal’s international and local prosecutors are at odds on whether to charge more cadre of the regime with atrocity crimes beyond the five now facing trial.
“The court must show it is relying on law and facts, not politics, in deciding how many suspects will be investigated,” OSJI said in its statement.
Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said the statement, which was issued to the media, constituted interference in the affairs of the court.
“Each prosecutor has equal rights, and they are working on it,” he said. “When [a group] orders the Khmer prosecutor to charge, and says the foreign prosecutor is right, [the group] is the one who interferes with the court.”
There was no sign of governmental interference in the courts, he said.
The Pre-Trial Chamber of the hybrid courts will now need to decide on which prosecutor to follow.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
A KR Tribunal that is unable to take up a KR case?
Hor Nam Hong (L) and Sam Rainsy (R)Click here to read The Cambodia Daily article published in 2000 where eyewitnesses discussed about
Hor Nam Hong's role at the Boeung Trabek jail
KR Tribunal refuses to take up Hor Namhong’s lawsuit against Sam Rainsy
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
By Nora-Brevin
Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Socheata and Heng Soy
"We should not tell the KRT to do this or that"- Reach Sambath, KRT spokeman
Phnom Penh – At the Phnom Penh International Airport, opposition leader Sam Rainsy refused to apologize to Hor Namhong, and he said that he is not concerned about this lawsuit affecting the political activities of the opposition party or his own activities, he placed his hope on the KR Tribunal (to take up this lawsuit case). However, the KRT spokesman rejected by saying that the KRT does not have the right to resolve such case.
After returning from his visit to Canada and the USA, on 29 April, Sam Rainsy told reporters at the Phnom Penh International Airport that: “What is the reason for me to apologize to Mr. Hor Namhong? I revealed (the information) to the authority and institutions which have the duty to find the truth.” He said that the appropriate institution that has the clear duty is the KRT, because its duty is to find the truth for events related to the killings under the Khmer Rouge regime. Therefore, this is not the duty of the Phnom Penh municipal court.
The opposition leader still claims that whatever he said, he has the basis and the witnesses for them. Sam Rainsy said: “Now, there are a lot of witnesses, they are Cambodian intellectuals who were jailed at Boeung Trabek, and they know what was Mr. Hor Hamhong’s duty, what he did.” He said that he is receiving some of the information from people who used to be jailed in Boeung Trabek.
In spite of his claims, Sam Rainsy still uses Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk as his excuse to defend himself in this lawsuit. He said: “I am repeating after Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk only, if the court summons me, the court must also summon Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk as well.”
Besides that, Sam Rainsy said that Hor Namhong’s lawsuit does not affect the SRP, and quite to the contrary, those who sue Sam Rainsy are likened to those who help advertise for Sam Rainsy at this point in time. He said: “I am not concerned at all.”
Known for leading demonstrations, Sam Rainsy still maintains his desire to hold another anti-inflation demonstration and to demand for a salary increase. He said that he still plans to hold another demonstration, however, he must discuss the issue with his colleagues who were in contact with numerous people at the local levels who want to join the demonstration. He added he will no longer hold a demonstration in one spot anymore.
Sam Rainsy’s refusal to apologize means that he is closing the door for an out-of-court settlement with Hor Namhong, therefore the case will be settled by the court.
Reach Sambath, KRT spokesman, said that Hor Namhong’s lawsuit against Sam Rainsy is not under the jurisdiction of the KRT. He explained that the KRT has a clearly set power to judge 2 groups of people only: the top leaders and the top persons responsible under the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) regime for the crimes which took place between 1975-1979. He added: “Other lawsuits, such as defamation lawsuits or spreading disinformation are not under the jurisdiction of the KRT.” He added that, all of us, small or big, including politicians, we should leave the KRT to operate under the agreement between the government and the UN according to the National Assembly’s approval. We should not tell the KRT to do this or that.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
ECCC officials to travel to New York; Ieng Thirith’s hearing delayed
23 March 2008
Koh Santepheap
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Koh Santepheap
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Phnom Penh City – Three ECCC officials led by Sean Visoth, director of the ECCC office of administration, plan to leave for New York to discuss with donor countries on aid for the KR Tribunal. The ECCC delegation plans to leave Cambodia on 24 March. The departure of the delegation appears to be linked to the ECCC funding crisis. Meanwhile, Ieng Thirith’s lawyer asked to delay her hearing to 21 May instead. Reach Sambath, ECCC spokesman, declared that Sean Visoth plans to provide clarification (to the donor countries) about the past progress of the tribunal, as well as to provide progress to “Friends of the court.” Nevertheless, Reach Sambath declined to answer when he was asked whether the ECCC delegation will leave to New York to ask for more funding or not.
It has been claimed that the KR Tribunal will deplete its $56.3 million budget for 3-year spending in April, and recently, the plan is to extend the tribunal until 2011, whereas the required budget has increased to $170 million. The OSJI is involved with the auditing of the ECCC expense also.
Reach Sambath indicated: “We do not plan to ask for more budget, but we are going to report to friends of the court, which, in the past, was done once every two months in Phnom Penh city.”
Reach Sambath added that only the UN side can evaluate and ask for additional funding, Cambodia does not make any request up to now.
Reach Sambath added that, at the same time, Ieng Thirith’s lawyer sent in a petition to delay her bail appeal hearing to 21 May 2008 instead of the 21 March 2008 date set by the tribunal.
It has been claimed that the KR Tribunal will deplete its $56.3 million budget for 3-year spending in April, and recently, the plan is to extend the tribunal until 2011, whereas the required budget has increased to $170 million. The OSJI is involved with the auditing of the ECCC expense also.
Reach Sambath indicated: “We do not plan to ask for more budget, but we are going to report to friends of the court, which, in the past, was done once every two months in Phnom Penh city.”
Reach Sambath added that only the UN side can evaluate and ask for additional funding, Cambodia does not make any request up to now.
Reach Sambath added that, at the same time, Ieng Thirith’s lawyer sent in a petition to delay her bail appeal hearing to 21 May 2008 instead of the 21 March 2008 date set by the tribunal.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Law, Not Feeling, Rules Tribunal Courts, Official Says
By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
22 November 2007
Washington
22 November 2007
Although Cambodia suffered a genocide that killed as many as 2 million people, the special tribunal courts will follow the rule of law, not emotion, as they bring the architects of the Khmer Rouge to trial, a spokesman said Thursday.
"Khieu Samphan wrote a book and issued an MP3 [digital recording] to deny his role, but what the court does is not just believe the claims of the accused," said Reach Sambath, a spokesman for the Khmer Rouge tribunal, referring to the most recently apprehended member of the regime. "We have to find evidence and witnesses against him."
Reach Sambath, who said his father was killed by Khmer Rouge soldiers, said by law the court will try only two groups: senior leaders and those most responsible for the genocide.
The mental state of the accused will be checked by medical staff, to make sure feigned insanity is not used as a defense, Reach Sambath said, as a guest on "Hello VOA."
"Khieu Samphan wrote a book and issued an MP3 [digital recording] to deny his role, but what the court does is not just believe the claims of the accused," said Reach Sambath, a spokesman for the Khmer Rouge tribunal, referring to the most recently apprehended member of the regime. "We have to find evidence and witnesses against him."
Reach Sambath, who said his father was killed by Khmer Rouge soldiers, said by law the court will try only two groups: senior leaders and those most responsible for the genocide.
The mental state of the accused will be checked by medical staff, to make sure feigned insanity is not used as a defense, Reach Sambath said, as a guest on "Hello VOA."
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Political Cartoon: ECCC, a little Kingdom
On 10/2/07, Sambath Reach wrote:
PRESS RELEASE
The Director of Administration of the ECCC has decided, in the interests of transparency and fairness, to release the findings of the special audits of the Cambodian side of the ECCC commissioned by UNDP in early 2007, together with Cambodian responses.
While audits are normally not made public, the Cambodian side of the ECCC, as the subject of the audits, has been in favour of releasing this report, as it has repeatedly told the ECCC's donors. In deference to UNDP's view that the audit report was an internal document, this was not done until now.
In recent weeks, parts of the report have been selectively leaked to the media, in a fashion that gives a distorted and negative view of the ECCC. Further, on 25 September 2007 UNDP published its own summary of the audit report on its web site. In these circumstances, we are making the entire document public on the ECCC website (www.eccc.gov.kh) to put an end to uninformed speculation that damages the process of justice.
In its original form, the audit report included Cambodian responses in attachments. We have here inserted them into the main text to make it easier for the reader, deleted the names of individual staff members mentioned in the report and added some brief comments updating the responses.
For further information please contact the ECCC Chief of Public Affairs,
Dr Helen Jarvis (855) 12 488 134)
Reach Sambath
Presss Officer
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
While audits are normally not made public, the Cambodian side of the ECCC, as the subject of the audits, has been in favour of releasing this report, as it has repeatedly told the ECCC's donors. In deference to UNDP's view that the audit report was an internal document, this was not done until now.
In recent weeks, parts of the report have been selectively leaked to the media, in a fashion that gives a distorted and negative view of the ECCC. Further, on 25 September 2007 UNDP published its own summary of the audit report on its web site. In these circumstances, we are making the entire document public on the ECCC website (www.eccc.gov.kh) to put an end to uninformed speculation that damages the process of justice.
In its original form, the audit report included Cambodian responses in attachments. We have here inserted them into the main text to make it easier for the reader, deleted the names of individual staff members mentioned in the report and added some brief comments updating the responses.
For further information please contact the ECCC Chief of Public Affairs,
Dr Helen Jarvis (855) 12 488 134)
Reach Sambath
Presss Officer
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
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