International Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit (Canada) resignation

Letter by Baphuon
Originally posted online

TO:

• Honorable, International Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit (Canada),
• Honorable, International Co-Investigating Judge Marcel Lemonde (France),
• Honorable, International Pre-Trial Chamber Judges: Katinka Lahuis (Netherlands), Rowan Downing QC (Australia),
• Honorable, International Trial Court C hamber Judges: Dame Silvia Cartwright (New Zealand), Jean- Marc Lavergne (France),
• Honorable, International Supreme Court Chamber Judges: Mr. Motoo Noguchi (Japan), Agnieszka Klonowiecka-Milart (Poland), Mr. Chandra Nihal Jayasinghe (Sri Lanka), and
• Honorable, Head of Defense Support Section: Richard J. Rogers (United Kingdom).

CC: Honorable Ms Claudia Fenz

SUBJECT: International Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit’s Resignation

On 23 June 2009, Mr. Robert Petit (Canada), the international Co-Prosecutor of the United Nations-backed tribunal in Cambodia trying Khmer Rouge leaders accused of mass killings and other crimes three decades ago announced his resignation.

Robert Petit has stepped down on 1 September for personal and family reasons.

“I remain convinced that Cambodia’s hopes for a better future lie, in part, on true accountability for crimes, said Robert Petit.”

Robert Petit’s resignation was a big surprise for all observers. It was unwelcomed by all NGO’s community.

Mr. Robert Petit has significant experience in international criminal law. He served as a Legal Officer in the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda, 1996-1999; Regional Legal Advisor United Nations Mission in Kosovo in Mitrovica, Kosovo from 1999-2000; Prosecutor, Serious Crimes Unit, United Nations Mission of Assistance to East Timor in 2002; Senior Trial Attorney, Office of the Prosecutor, Special Court for Sierra Leone in Freetown, Sierra Leone from 2003-2004.

The following is the chronology of the events.

December 2008, April 2009, Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit, indeed, had taken two very important decisions (1) forward the names of six more people (NORODOM SIHANOUK, HENG SAMRIN, CHEA SIM, HUN SEN, HOR NAM HONG and KEAT CHHON) to trial by the ECCC and (2) denounce the meddling of Hun Sen in ECCC. Robert Petit had a copy letter of Prime Minister Hun Sen addressed to Co-Prosecutor Chea Leang ordering Co-Prosecutor Chea Leang to stop Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit to put more people on trial.

Cambodian people applauded these two courageous and just Robert Petit decisions. But one month later, after having taken these two very important decisions, Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit resigned. It seems that something very grave was happened to Robert Petit which forced Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit abandon his very interesting mission to render justice to the victim’s families, the weak and without voice ones and forward Cambodia toward freedom and democracy through justice.

One month before his resignation it seems that Mr. Petit was pleased with his Co-Prosecutor job because he invited his wife and daughter to visit Cambodia by themselves as tourist and specially Siemreap, the city of Angkor.

Some witnesses stated that, once, Robert Petit’s wife and daughter arrived at Siemreap’s airport, they were held against their will in Siemreap city by Hun Sen’s Police agents. And rumors said, Police agent called Robert Petit to Siemreap and told him: You (Robert Petit) must stop put more people on trial. You must resign. If you don’t we will harm your wife and daughter’s life.

It started by these rumors. But some witnesses, among Hun Sen’s agents, would agree to testify if some security measures were met. Hence, it needs an investigation. The ECCC must investigate. To start, the UNAKRT or an international court or the FBI must subpoena the “witnesses” who saw Hun Sen police agents hold Robert Petit’s wife and daughter against their wills in the four-stars SOKHA Hotel (SOK KONG's Hotel) in Siemreap.

So the question is: Is-it true that Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit was threatened to resign by Hun Sen police?

The ECCC must investigate the affair of resignation of Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit.

The ECCC should build a case about Robert Petit’s resignation.

Only the ECCC or an international court, but not a Cambodian court is habilitated to judge the Robert Petit’s resignation’s case. It is a very very important issue.

If it is true that the resignation of Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit was the result of the deliberate threat on Robert Petit’s wife and daughter’s life by Hun Sen henchmen, then, the consequences on the ECCC were extremely grave. The ECCC cannot be independent because international judges, investigators, secretaries, and staff personals were all afraid of Hun Sen’s wrath. Without doubt, under these extreme Hun Sen’s menaces, the ECCC cannot deliver justice to the family’s victims. The ECCC’s verdicts would be biased in favor of Hun Sen’s policy. Especially, the local staff personals (judges, investigators, defenders, and secretaries, witnesses) will have no body to protect them when the ECCC closes its doors at the end of trial.

When the ECCC was created on June 2003 by the Royal Government of Cambodia and the UN but it will be independent of them to judge for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed during the Period of Democratic Kampuchea, Cambodian people places all their hope in international judges because it was evident that all Cambodian ECCC’S judges, investigators and staff members would be at Hun Sen’s whim.

Cambodian people place all their hope on the expertise and the courage of the ten international co-prosecutors, judges, investigators and defender to renderer justice to the 2.7 million people who died during Kampuchea Democratic regime.

By and through the ECCC, Cambodian people even dare to hope that Cambodia would restore its sovereignty, independence and freedom.

Cambodia hopes that the ECCC will not be used as an international instance to legitimate the swallowing of Cambodia by the Republic Socialist of Vietnam because since then to these days the People Army of Vietnam (PAVN) still occupied Cambodia.

It was the PAVN which defeated the pro-occidental Lon Nol Army and not the Khmer Rouge Army as the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese propaganda would like the world to believe.

Since PAVN has crushed Lon Nol Army, therefore, it was PAVN which appointed Pol Pot government. Therefore, PAVN infiltrated at ease in ever y echelon of Pot Pot administration their Vietnamese cadres.

For this reason, Vietnam had a big responsibility in the death of the 2.7 million Cambodian people. Pol Pot government and Hun Sen government were all appointed by Hanoi. There were so many similarities in the ways they run the country because they were trained by the same school of thoughts under Vietnamese guidance. At the end, they served all the same master Hanoi.

DC-CAM documents of YOUK CHANG are all fake.

The ECCC must investigate the authenticity of TOUL SLENG/S21 Prison’s documents, publicly known as the DC-CAM documents of YOUK CHANG. Sure, any ECCC’s verdicts will base on documents and witnesses. So the question is: All the documents and the witnesses that the ECCC will use to base its verdicts are-they authentic/true?

The DC-CAM documents of TUOL SLENG/S21 Prison were all fabricated by Hanoi. We have witnesses. We hope that the ECCC will subpoena these witnesses once the security measures for them and their families were met.

Therefore, the ECCC cannot use the DC-CAM documents or books based on DC-CAM documents, or scholar’s researches which were based on DC-CAM documents, or Hanoi Khmer Rouge documents to determine the ECCC’s verdicts.

To render justice to the 2.7 million people who died during 1975-1979 the ECCC needs absolutely a strong leadership to stop Hun Sen government to meddle in the ECCC so that the ECCC’s verdicts would be just. The real criminals must be punished and not got free and still powerful and untouchable in Hun Sen’s administration as they are today.

In April, a senior UN legal official underscored the need to address allegations of corruption surrounding the ECCC.

Assistant-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Peter Taksoe-Jensen has submitted a provisional ethics monitoring mechanism to Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An for his consideration.

Hun Sen did nothing seriously to fight the corruption surrounding the ECCC.

The ECCC needs a new leadership, change and hope.

Baphuon
Baphuon@aol.com

UN Prosecutor’s Departure Worries Observers

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original from Washington
02 July 2009

The resignation of UN prosecutor Robert Petit from the Khmer Rouge tribunal will reverberate through the court’s proceedings, leaving an absence of leadership and the likelihood of more delays, local and international observers say.

Petit will leave the tribunal Sept. 1, as the UN-backed tribunal is in the midst of its first trial, for jailed Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch. Petit announced in June he was leaving for personal reasons. He had pushed for at least six more indictments at the court, to add to the five former leaders already on trial, and he had steered the UN prosecution throughout the initial arrests and charges of five former leaders of the regime.

“Petit’s departure creates an urgent need for leadership in the Co-Prosecutor’s Office,” James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, which has a court monitoring project, told VOA Khmer. “The next case, of four accused involving multiple crimes, is complex. Concerns are already arising about the length of time the investigation is taking.”

That case, No. 002, will try the four senior-most leaders of the regime, its chief ideologue Nuon Chea, head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, social affairs minister Ieng Thirith.

“A high-caliber leader in the prosecutor’s office is essential to ensure that this case is prepared for trial as soon as possible,” Goldston said.

Not only could that case be delayed, but the trial of Kaing Kek Iev, better known as Duch, who is facing multiple atrocity crimes charges for his role as head of Tuol Sleng prison, could also slow.

“If he’d left when the Duch trial was finished, there probably would not be a problem,” said Sok Sam Oeun, head of the Cambodian Defenders Project, which provides free legal services to Cambodians. “But when Duch’s case has not yet been completed, that can lead to problems for the next prosecutor.”

However, Petit is not leaving an empty office behind him, and some observers contend that the groundwork he laid will help his incoming replacement.

David Tolbert, a former special adviser to the tribunal and now at the US Institute for Peace, said Petit had served well in a challenging environment and was leaving behind an office that was well prepared for Duch’s trial and the trials ahead.

“On the international side, major strategic decisions have largely been made and can be implemented by the current team and the new co-prosecutor,” he said.

Caitlin Reiger, deputy director of the International Center for Transitional Justice, another tribunal monitor, noted that Petit’s departure won’t hurt the process, as long as it keeps moving and the UN and the government quickly appoint a replacement.

“What is most important is to have someone who is experienced with these types of cases, has a strong reputation for independence and understands the challenges facing the [tribunal],” Reiger said.

The next prosecutor should continue outreach for victims and ensure the court leaves “a positive legacy for the rule of law,” she said.

The tribunal has been dogged by allegations of corruption and mismanagement, and wrangling between the UN and Cambodian judges and prosecutors, even before a single suspect was arrested.

Cambodian staff have complained they pay kickbacks to high-ranking officials, and Petit’s counterpart, judge Chea Leang, has faced criticism for making what appear to be politically motivated decisions, following her rejection of Petit’s proposal to indict more suspects.

Chea Leang has said more indictments would destabilize the country, echoing remarks of Prime Minister Hun Sen that critics say are not grounded in legal criteria.

With Petit leaving, national judges may not work independently, said Kek Galabru, founder of the rights group Licadho.

“The resignation of an international co-prosecutor affects the reputation of the court,” she said, “and raises a lot of questions.”

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: My Home & My House

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

Former Khmer Rouge prisoner describes torture at S-21

July 1, 2009
Anne Barrowclough in Sydney
The Times Online (UK)

One of the last four survivors of the Khmer Rouge's most infamous jail wept today as he told a Cambodian war crimes tribunal how he lost his wife at Tuol Sleng prison after the couple were arrested by the regime.

Bou Meng, 68, never saw his wife again after the couple were taken to Tuol Sleng, accused of being CIA spies.

He told the UN backed tribunal that he was whipped for hours every day as his torturers tried to force him to confess to being a spy, although he did not even know what the CIA was.

He had to stop several times to compose himself as he described the torture sessions to the court on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the capital.

"(My torturer) asked me to count the lashes. And when I got to 10 lashes he said, 'How can you get to 10 lashes? You've only had one lash,'" Bou Meng said, taking out a handkerchief to wipe his eyes.

"Every time they beat me up, they asked me questions. When did I join the CIA and who introduced me to the CIA network?... I did not know what a CIA agent or network was, so how could I respond?" he added.

Mr Bou was testifying at the trial of Duch, the notorious director of Tuol Sleng who is accused of crimes against humanity, torture and the murder of 15000 people. Mr Bou was one of only 14 adult prisoners who walked out of Tuol Sleng alive when the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979, bringing to an end Pol Pot's four year long genocidal regime.

He had survived the horror of Tuol Sleng - where prisoners were brought to be tortured to death - because he was able to paint Khmer Rouge propoganda. He told the court that before his and his wife's arrest in 1977 he had worked at a technical school, was forced to the limit of his physical abilities building dams and canals, and finally planted vegetables.

"My wife and I put our hands behind our backs, and then they cut our hands. Then my wife cried and said, 'What did we do wrong? We are both orphans,'" Bou Meng told the court.

The couple were blindfolded with black cloth, Bou Meng said, and he realised they were being sent to prison as they were taken to be photographed.

"That (Tuol Sleng photo) is the only photograph I have of my wife with me today," he said.

He is the third former prisoner to give evidence at the trial of Duch, who has begged forgiveness from his victims despite refusing to accept full responsibility for the atrocities committed under his rule.

Although he admits culpability for the atrocities carried out atTuol Sleng in general, Duch has denied personally executing or torturing any prisoners.

Earlier this week another former prisoner, artist Vann Nath, told the court that the prisoners were given so little to eat that: "I even thought eating human flesh would be a good meal."

Duch is the first of five former Khmer Rouge leaders to be tried for crimes committed as they presided over the obliteration of their people from 1975 - 79.

Last week the tribunal's Canadian co-prosecutor announced his intention to stand down, denying reports that he was standing down over his Cambodian counter-part's refusal to extend the prosecution to more former Khmer Rouge leaders.

Robert Petit, a highly respected prosecutor who has presided over some of the most notorious war crimes tribunals of recent years including Sierra Leone and the Balkans, was reported to have collated enough evidence to prosecute another six members of Pol Pot's regime.

However Cambodian prosecutors argued that extending the tribunal to include more cases would make it unnecessarily complicated and drawn out.

Mr Petit said he was resigning from the tribunal for family reasons.

Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit was forced to resign

Disclaimer: Khmerization has no concrete evidence to substantiate the claims below. The views expressed or claims made below are the sole responsibility of the author (s).

CONFIDENTIAL

TO Mme Silvia CARTWRIGHT (New Zealand)

ECCC Trial Chamber Judge

June 26, 2009

SUBJECT: Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit was forced to resign by Prime Minister HUN SEN. His family members were held against their will by HUN SEN's police in Siemreap City.

This is what was happened.

One month before the announcement of Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit's resignation, Robert Petit’s family members were visiting Siemreap City, Cambodia, as tourists.

When Robert Petit’s family members were arriving at Siemreap Airport, they were held against their will in Siemreap city. This means, whenever and wherever they go, they were escorted always by the driver and police agents of HUN SEN government. They were not authorized to go alone, by themselves. They were locked in the five star SOKHA HOTEL. But they were not authorized to leave. Shopping, Hotel, and foods were free. Robert Petit’s family members had nothing to pay. Everything was paid by HUN SEN police.

Robert Petit had met his family members in Siemreap city to see that his family members were not physically harmed.

It must be reminded that Robert Petit had asked the ECCC to put six more people on trial such as NORODOM SIHANOUK, HENG SAMRIN, CHEA SIM, HUN SEN, HO NAM HONG and KEAT CHHON.

HUN SEN representatives ordered Mr. Robert Petit to stop asking the ECCC to put more people to trial. If he doesn’t stop, he must resign, ordered HUN SEN people or else (Police HUN SEN threatened on the lives of Robert Petit’s family members).

We have witnesses to support the above facts.

SOURCE: CACJE Network in Cambodia

Robert Petit to ship out ... Surya Subedi lands in

Canadian prosecutor quits tribunal

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, June 26 (UPI) -- As one international legal expert packs his bags to leave Cambodia, another unpacks his on a first trip to a country coming to grips with its tragic and ongoing human-rights issues.

Canadian Robert Petit has announced he will step down as co-prosecutor of the tribunal charged with bringing to justice members of the feared former rulers Khmer Rouge who killed more than 1.6 million people during their brutal rule between 1975 and 1979.

At a news conference in the capital Phnom Penh, Petit cited personal reasons back in Canada for his decision to leave on Sept. 1. He will likely return to the capital Ottawa to take up a government job, he said.

Meanwhile, Surya Subedi, the new U.N. special envoy for human rights to Cambodia and law professor from Nepal, held a news conference at the end of a two-week trip. He met many government officials, he said, including Hun Sen, the one-eyed controversial political -- and also former Khmer Rouge -- leader.

As prime minister since taking control in a bloody coup in 1997, the reputed chess player and chain-smoking Sen has been dogged by claims of corruption in his administration. The last U.N. special envoy for human rights, Yash Ghai, a lawyer from Kenya, quit in September 2008 after falling out with 56-year-old Sen, claiming the prime minister would not meet him.

Subedi, who until recently was a professor of international and human rights law at Leeds University in the United Kingdom, said he would adopt a "constructive approach" in helping the country improve its human rights.

Subedi said that the independence of the judiciary and unlawful evictions of people from their homes would be a focus of his work.

Relief agencies and anti human-trafficking groups have repeatedly pointed out that one of the country's biggest human-rights issues is prostitution and alleged government connivance that enslaves tens of thousands of women, many underage girls.

Subedi will report to the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Petit, who will continue to work on the tribunal, has denied rumors that he was leaving over allegations of corruption and mismanagement of the tribunal, set up in 2006. But Petit, who has served on genocide tribunals in Sierra Leone and Rwanda, did tell local media that the government should put to rest the corruption issue as soon as possible. The tribunal court is also underfunded, he said.

The court, consisting of five Cambodian judges plus four international experts such as Petit, started hearing its first case this year. Kaing Guek Eav, now 66, was known as Duch when he was running the torture and execution camp Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh. Around 15,000 prisoners are said to have died.

Eav is one of five prisoners being held under the tribunal's remit. But arguments have arisen between the Cambodian and international judges over just how far down into Cambodian society the tribunal should drill seeking evidence on former Khmer Rouge cadres and leaders.

The issue is sensitive, not least because Sen himself was a former Khmer Rouge member during the terrible years of Pol Pot's regime, whose mass murders became infamous as the "killing fields."

But Sen eventually fled Cambodia for Vietnam, where he joined troops opposed to the Khmer Rouge and who also had the backing of Vietnam's fledgling communist government. When Vietnam invaded and installed a new government in Cambodia in 1979, Sen was made minister of foreign affairs.

Earlier this month Sen was reported to have hit out at non-government organizations, warning them against spreading "nonsense" about the government and its policies.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Robert Petit

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

Khmer Rouge judge sees failures

Thursday, 25 June 2009
By Guy DeLauney
BBC News, Phnom Penh

The international prosecutor at the Khmer Rouge tribunal has warned that the process is failing to make a connection with the Cambodian people.

Robert Petit said he was also concerned about political interference at the special courts.

The Canadian official has just announced his resignation after three years of leading the prosecution of former Khmer Rouge leaders.

He said his resignation was not connected to problems at the tribunal.

But at a news conference to announce his impending departure he outlined his concerns about several key areas at the special courts.

Failures

"It's a very bad sign for Cambodia if any elected official thinks they have the right to influence any court process" - Robert Petit, Khmer Rouge Tribunal

Mr Petit said the tribunal had failed to explain itself to its most important audience - the Cambodian people.

The first trial of a former Khmer Rouge leader started three months ago.

But Mr Petit said that a lack of funding for outreach work had limited its impact on the public.

The prosecutor said he was also worried about the role of the Cambodian government.

Prime minister Hun Sen has been critical of proposals to investigate more former Khmer Rouge leaders.

But Mr Petit says that shouldn't be a decision for politicians.

"It's a very bad sign for Cambodia if any elected official thinks they have the right to influence any court process," he said.

"By continuing - us, the court - to do our job, according to the evidence of the law, hopefully we can provide a counter-weight to that," he said.

Mr Petit is the third member of the international prosecution team to resign this year.

But he says his departure should have no impact on the progress of the trials as his colleagues have already taken over much of his work.

Canadian under fire for quitting Cambodian tribunal

Prosecutor of Khmer Rouge picked a bad time to leave controversial court, critics say

Wednesday, Jun. 24, 2009
Mark MacKinnon
Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada)
Beijing

The Canadian prosecutor who resigned this week from the tribunal charged with bringing members of Cambodia's vicious Khmer Rouge regime to justice dismissed speculation that he is quitting over how the tribunal is being run, and said he is stepping down purely for personal reasons.

“It's a completely personal issue,” Robert Petit said in an interview. “It just so happens that events in Canada made it so I had to return.”

But Mr. Petit, who had become the stern face of the international effort to bring the perpetrators of the killing fields to justice, was nonetheless hit by a storm of criticism both inside and outside Cambodia for leaving at such a sensitive juncture. The tribunal, which is seeking to prosecute former Khmer Rouge leaders for their role in the deaths of 1.7 million people between 1975 and 1979, is behind schedule, over budget and plagued by infighting between its international and Cambodian staff.

“It is disturbing to hear that the international co-prosecutor is leaving in the midst of the initial trial of the [tribunal], at a time when it is critical for the office to establish its leadership role in the trial and the court,” said Heather Ryan of the Open Society Justice Initiative.

Elena Lesley, who is covering the tribunal for the Phnom Penh Post, wrote on her blog that “whatever Petit's reasons for resigning, his timing couldn't be worse.”

In a telephone interview, Mr. Petit would not discuss the nature of the personal issue that caused him to step down, but said he would not have otherwise resigned from what he called “the greatest professional opportunity I've ever had.”

He dismissed talk that his absence would hamper the tribunal, saying the case – and the number of staff involved – is too big for it to depend too heavily on the chief prosecutor.

Mr. Petit, who previously served on international genocide tribunals in Rwanda and Sierra Leone, nonetheless expressed concern over allegations of corruption and mismanagement of the tribunal, saying there is too much at stake in Cambodia for the court to fail.

“The court is still underfunded and under-resourced for the tasks that it is supposed to accomplish,” he said. “Obviously, allegations such as the corruption and administration must be addressed and put to rest finally.”

An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died from execution, torture, overwork or manmade famine during a bloody Khmer Rouge campaign to create a classless, agrarian society. For almost three decades afterward, many of the perpetrators of that genocide were allowed to live peaceful lives among the population they once terrorized. Many died without ever being called to account.

That changed in 2006 with the formation of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, a hybrid court made up of five Cambodian and four international judges. Earlier this year, proceedings began against the first defendant, 66-year-old Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, who allegedly oversaw the torture and execution of 15,000 people while running the Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh.

But the tribunal has been dogged since its formation by accusations of corruption and mismanagement, as well as a split between the international staff – led by Mr. Petit – and their Cambodian colleagues. The internationals wanted to expand the tribunal's reach in order to indict more people as evidence came to light, while the top Cambodian prosecutor has argued to focus on only the five Khmer Rouge members currently behind bars.

Mr. Petit, who will step down on Sept. 1 and return to a job at the Department of Justice in Ottawa, said he would use his remaining time in Cambodia to ensure that as many suspected war criminals as possible are brought before the tribunal. He said doing so is key to Cambodia understanding its horrific past and getting beyond it.

“There hasn't been any kind of accountability yet for what happened 30 years ago. Hopefully, this is only the beginning of a greater accountability process that will help people understand what happened.”

Prosecutor quits Killing Fields war crimes trial

International lawyer says Cambodian tribunal is vulnerable to corruption

Thursday, 25 June 2009
By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent
The Independent (UK)

An international prosecutor who has quit the Cambodian genocide trial has delivered a parting broadside, saying that the tribunal needs to guard against corruption, political meddling and a debilitating lack of funds.

Robert Petit, a Canadian lawyer whose decision to quit has shocked some members of the tribunal and raised questions about how effectively the process will continue, said that allegations of corruption levelled at the court have still not been properly answered. He said the court also lacked sufficient resources and staff to do the job it had been set.

"The court is still under-funded and under-resourced for the tasks that it is supposed to accomplish," said Mr Petit. "Obviously, allegations such as corruption and maladministration must be addressed and put to rest finally."

The court in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, which took more than a decade to establish, has for several months been hearing evidence against Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, the former head of Tuol Sleng jail, a notorious interrogation and torture centre where more than 14,000 people were sent on their way to The Killing Fields. Barely a dozen of them survived.

Four other senior members of the Khmer Rouge regime have also been charged and are waiting to go on trial. Between 1975 and 1979, the regime was responsible for the deaths of as many as 1.7 million people.

Mr Petit, who has previously served on international genocide tribunals in Rwanda and Sierra Leone, had long made clear his disagreement with some aspects of the tribunal's operation. Late last year he filed an official statement saying that he disagreed with his Cambodian co-prosecutor about extending the number of people to be charged. Just five former senior Khmer Rouge members have been charged, but Mr Petit believed there was a case to be made against a further half-dozen former members of the regime.

His co-prosecutor, Chea Leang, argued that putting more former regime members on trial wound destabilise the country. But there have been widespread rumours that she had been influenced by the Cambodian government, headed by the Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has long been opposed to the joint UN-Cambodian tribunal broadening its investigation. The Prime Minister is said to be concerned about drawing attention to former members of the Maoist-influenced regime who are now senior establishment figures. Mr Petit said yesterday that attempts to interfere with the running of the court were "very disturbing".

Yet the veteran prosecutor insisted that his resignation was for personal reasons rather than because of a disagreement over the way the court performs its duties. He said his decision to leave was the hardest of his professional career and one that had been taken in consultation with the UN over several months. Stressing that the decision had nothing to do with events in Cambodia but, "everything to do with events that have happened in Canada", he added: "They are entirely related to personal family matters, totally unrelated to my professional responsibilities at the court and, therefore, a fully private matter."

Mr Petit claimed that his departture from the prosecutor's bench would not unduly affect the process. He said the gathering of evidence, the legal analysis and the tatical decisions had all been a collective process taken by his office.

"When it became clear that [I] would have to leave, my deputy started preparing himself and is now leading the case and will do so until further notice," he added. Yet Mr Petit's decision to step down has triggered concerns among some observers. Heather Ryan, court monitor for the Open Society Justice Initiative, said that news of his departure was unwelcome. "It is disturbing to hear that the international co-prosecutor is leaving in the midst of the initial trial, at a time when it is critical for the office to establish its leadership role in the trial and the court," she said in a statement. "The sudden departure could delay resolution of pressing matters before the court."

The other alleged war criminals awaiting trial are Pol Pot's former second-in-command Nuon Chea, the former foreign minister Ieng Sary, the former social affairs minister Ieng Thirit and the former head of state Khieu Samphan.

“I regretted that [Robert Petit] is leaving”: Chea Leang's irony?

Resignation Not Due to Tribunal Discord: Prosecutor

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
24 June 2009

Robert Petit, who will resign as the UN’s prosecutor at the Khmer Rouge tribunal in September, told media Wednesday his decision was not based on an ongoing division with his Cambodian counterpart over further indictments of former regime leaders.

His resignation was “a fully private matter,” he told reporters, and “unrelated to my professional responsibility at the court.”

Petit has argued that six more suspects could be charged by the UN-back tribunal beyond the five former leaders of the regime already in custody. Cambodian prosecutor Chea Leang has said she worries more indictments could destabilize the country.

Concerns that his resignation, announced Tuesday, was a result of that disagreement were “unfounded,” he said.

Petit has worked at the UN-backed tribunal, which is undertaking its first trial, of prison chief Duch, for three years. His impending departure has stirred some concerns that the tribunal, which was originally to last three years, could see further delays.

Petit said his resignation “will not impact the whole process of the tribunal.”

His proposal to indict more leaders met with opposition from the Cambodian prosecutor, Chea Leang, as well as Prime Minister Hun Sen. The Pre-Trial Chamber of the court has not decided on the contentious proposal.

“I regretted that he is leaving,” Chea Leang said, adding there was no conflict between the two.

Khmer Rouge trial prosecutor denies row sparked resignation

June 24, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH - The international prosecutor at Cambodia's Khmer Rouge war crimes court denied Wednesday that his sudden resignation from the tribunal was due to a dispute with his local counterpart.

Canadian prosecutor Robert Petit insisted he was quitting for family reasons and hit out at "conspiracies" which suggested the real cause was a row with Cambodian co-prosecutor Chea Leang over whether to pursue more suspects.

The UN-backed court's long-awaited first trial has seen Kaing Guek Eav, better known by the alias Duch, accept responsibility for overseeing the execution of more than 15,000 people at the 1970s regime's main prison.

Asked whether his departure had anything to do with the disagreement with Chea Leang, Petit said he was resigning due to private personal family matters "totally unrelated" to his work at the court.

"Those conspiracies might indeed seem like an attractive angle for a story, but they wouldn't be the truth," Petit, who initially announced his resignation on Tuesday, told a press briefing at the court.

Four other Khmer Rouge leaders are also in detention awaiting trial by the court, but while Petit has sought to bring more cadres to justice Chea Leang has disagreed.

Lawyers for detained former Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea have alleged Petit has knowledge that his co-prosecutor was ordered by the Cambodian government not to pursue more former regime members.

The court has faced controversy over a series of government interference allegations and claims that Cambodian staff were forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.

Petit indicated to reporters Wednesday that he thought the court must confront Cambodian government attempts to control the tribunal.

"I think it is very disturbing that anyone other than judicial officials -- be they elected officials or anyone else -- think they can legitimately tell any court what to do," Petit said.

"Of course, that goes to the very legitimacy of the process and must be addressed," he added.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has publicly stated he would rather the court failed than pursue other former cadres, warning further prosecutions would plunge the country back into civil war.

Critics have accused the administration of trying to protect former cadres who are now in government.

Petit told reporters his departure was an "inconsequential topic" for the court since the prosecution was always a "team effort".

Cambodian civil society groups, however, issued on Wednesday a statement that they were "disturbed" by his departure at a time when his office needs to "establish its leadership role in the trial and the court."

Proceedings focused Wednesday on operations at S-24, a "re-education centre" which former Duch also oversaw as part of his responsibilities in addition to his main job as head of the regime's main Tuol Sleng prison, or S-21.

Duch told judges it was possible that some of his staff at S-24 interrogated prisoners without his knowledge, but denied reports his subordinates flayed skin of inmates through torture by electric shock.

"Electrocution was a separate matter. I do not believe that there were such incidents there, because there were limited generators," Duch said.

The tribunal was created in 2006 to try leading members of the 1975-1979 regime, which killed up to two million people as it emptied Cambodia's cities and enslaved the population on collective farms.

Petit, who was previously a Crown prosecutor in Montreal, was also a part of legal teams who worked on war crimes in Rwanda, East Timor, Kosovo, and Sierra Leone.

Canadian prosecutor quits Khmer Rouge trial

Wed Jun 24, 2009

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The departing foreign co-prosecutor for Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal expressed concern Wednesday about graft allegations and tight funding that is threatening to derail the trial of Pol Pot's top cadres.

Speaking to reporters a day after he quit for personal reasons, Canadian Robert Petit said the tribunal was in urgent need of funding to prosecute those responsible for 1.7 million deaths during the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge era.

"The court is still under-funded and under-resourced for the tasks that it is supposed to accomplish," Petit, whose last day is September 1, told reporters.

"Obviously, allegations such as the corruption and administration must be addressed and put to rest finally," said Petit, who has served on international genocide tribunals in Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

The joint U.N.-Cambodian tribunal has been fraught with problems since it started work three years ago and some payments to the court have been delayed due to allegations of graft.

Petit also urged politicians and senior officials not to meddle in the tribunal, and said attempts to interfere with the running of the court were "very disturbing."

The court admitted in January that a bid to go after more suspects was brushed aside by Petit's Cambodian co-prosecutor, who argued it would not be good for national reconciliation.

The government has denied meddling in the court, but rights activists have long suspected Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen does not want to dig too deep for fear it will unearth secrets about senior Khmer Rouge figures inside his administration.

Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, is currently being tried for his role as the chief of the torture center S-21, where more than 14,000 prisoners died.

The other four who were indicted -- "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, the regime's ex-president, Khieu Samphan, and Ieng Sary, its foreign minister, and his wife -- have denied knowledge of any atrocities during Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist revolution.

(Reporting by Ek Madra; Editing by Martin Petty and Bill Tarrant)

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The Last Warrior

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

International Prosecutor Quits Tribunal

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
23 June 2009

Robert Petit, the Canadian prosecutor for the Khmer Rouge tribunal, will resign his post, tell reporters Tuesday he was leaving Sept. 1.

“It is with the deepest regret that, for personal and family reasons, I must demit my position as International Co-prosecutor,” Petit wrote in a statement.

Petit has been at odds with his Cambodian counterpart, Chea Leang, over whether to indict more leaders of the Khmer Rouge, claiming more indictments could be prosecuted under the UN-backed court.

Chea Leang argues that more arrests could destabilize the country, echoing statements made in public by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

“I remain convinced that Cambodia’s hopes for a better future lie, in part, on true accountability for crimes,” Petit said in his statement. “My staff and I have tried, within our jurisdiction, to contribute to that goal to the best of our abilities.”

The resignation comes in the middle of the trial of Kaing Kek Iev, or Duch, in the tribunal’s Case No. 001, and ahead of a trial for four other jailed leaders, Case No. 002. Further indictments would bring up a third case.

“We are concerned about the continuity of the court, especially for Case No. 002, which is under investigation, and how will go Case No. 003, proposed by Robert Petit,” said Long Panhavuth, a tribunal monitor for the Open Society Justice Initiative.