ECCC Reparations

This blog is designed to serve as a repository of analyses, news reports and press releases related to the issue of RERAPATIONS within the framework of the Extraordinary Chambers in Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), a.k.a. the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Co-Prosecutors' Response to Khieu Samphan's Appeal against the Order of Extension of Provisional Detention

Syllabus

The Co-Prosecutors request that the Pre-Trial Chamber (the “PTC”) dismiss the Appeal on the following grounds:

(a) The CIJs had no obligation to deter their decision; on the contrary, they had to make a decision on the extension of provisional detention before its expiry;
(b) This is not the proper forum to hear Appellant’s contentions regarding the impartiality of the CIJs which in any event are baseless. Rather, the Appellant should file an application for disqualification under Rule 34 of the Internal Rules and in any event is baseless;
(c) The Appellant has failed to demonstrate any material change in circumstances since he was originally detained by the CIJs on 19 November 2007 (“Detention Order”) and since the CIJs issued their Order Refusing Provisional Release on 28 October 2008. In the Extension Order, which evaluated evidence on the Case File, the CIJs noted that the requirements of Rules 63(3)(a) and 63(3)(b)(i), (ii), (iv), and (v) were met and provisional detention was still a necessary measure on the basis of those grounds.
(d) The Case File today contains evidence capable of satisfying an objective observer, at this stage of investigation, that the Appellant may have committed the crimes for which he is currently under investigation. In addition, four of the five disjunctive conditions necessitating detention under Rule 63(3)(b) are satisfied so as to justify provisional detention. Specifically, the Appellant’s detention is still a necessary measure (1) to protect victims and witnesses; (2) to preserve evidence and protect the destruction of evidence, (3) to protect his security, and (4) to preserve public order.

Monday, January 26, 2009

After long wait, Cambodia seeing start of justice

Denis D. Gray
Im Savoeun remembers how they clung to each other for the last time, sobbing, as life drained from her husband after a savage beating by the Khmer Rouge. The starving man's crime was stealing a potato.
"I could not help him. There was no medicine. The only thing I could give him were my tears," says the 64-year-old woman, who like countless Cambodians, has spent half a lifetime grieving and waiting for justice.
In 2009, after years of political sabotage, judicial bickering, corruption allegations and funding shortages, the Khmer Rouge is likely to begin facing retribution for the crimes of its 1970s reign of terror.
A U.N.-backed tribunal announced last week it would put the first of five former Khmer Rouge leaders before a panel of Cambodian and international judges Feb. 17 on charges of crimes against humanity. The trials of the other four, all old and ailing, are unlikely to begin until 2010.
Stepping first into the 504-seat courtroom will be 65-year-old Kaing Guek Eav, who headed the Khmer Rouge's largest torture center. The others are Khieu Samphan, the group's former head of state; Ieng Sary, its foreign minister; his wife Ieng Thirith, who was minister for social affairs; and Nuon Chea, the movement's chief ideologue. They face a maximum of life imprisonment.
The trials will place Cambodia among a half dozen countries that have been caught up in international criminal trials for crimes against humanity in the past 15 years. But the Cambodian process has had a particularly stormy history, and it faces skepticism about its fairness and scope, and suspicions that some pretext or other will halt it altogether.
"Even if we condemn five or 10 at the tribunal there will be no balance because they killed millions," says Im Savoeun, who lost four other family members. "My husband and son can never come back to me but at least they will have received some justice."
Inflamed by an ultra-communist vision, the Khmer Rouge sought to eradicate traditional Cambodian society and begin again from "year zero." They turned the country into a vast slave labor camp, abolishing all freedoms. At least 1.7 million, some say more than 2 million, died of starvation, disease and executions during this primitive experiment in human engineering.
Despite the scale of atrocities, the Cambodian side at the tribunal, called the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia, has sought to strictly limit the court's reach. It recently refused a proposal by Robert Petit, the Canadian international co-prosecutor, to cast the net wider and try up to five more former Khmer Rouge figures.
Even this would not satisfy many critics and victims.
"You can't have 2 million people dead, try five or 10 cases and call it a day. That may be all they do but we are not going to say that justice was done no matter how well that process goes," says Brad Adams of the New York-based Human Rights Watch.
"The reason we want more than 10 is because there are dozens of people with thousands of deaths on their hands running around out there still. They deserve their day in court."
But Prime Minister Hun Sen's government is full of former Khmer Rouge higher-ups, himself included, and has little to gain from the trials. Already in 1998, he declared that Cambodians "should dig a hole and bury the past."
"There is fear among the Cambodian government. The former Khmer Rouge are asking: 'Who is next?'" says Youk Chhang, who heads The Documentation Center of Cambodia, which has collected some 1 million documents related to the Khmer Rouge terror.
Adams, an American who has monitored the court's progress since it was proposed 13 years ago, said, "There has been political interference that intentionally slowed the whole process down just to basically play out the clock on the possibility that some defendants would die."
He and others allege that Cambodian judges have received instructions from the Ministry of Interior on how to act. One judge, Ney Thol, has been particularly singled out. An army general and senior member of Hun Sen's party, he has drawn criticism from human rights groups for his rulings against Hun Sen's chief political rivals.
In an open admission that the trial has more to do with internal politics than standards of international justice, Cambodian co-prosecutor Chea Leang recently argued that putting more than five figures on trial could endanger national stability.
While Japan's contribution this month of $21 million has at least temporarily allayed fears the court might run out of funding, an investigation into alleged corruption — including the buying of positions on the court — has still to be concluded.
Lawyers for Nuon Chea, the ideologue, say the alleged corruption "could undermine the fundamental right to a fair trial."
Petit isn't giving up. "There is still a fair chance that the tribunal will realize a limited measure of justice. It will help set the historical record once and for all and will help people understand and believe what happened here," he said in an interview.
But he added that "anything can always happen; money can run out, the government can ask us to go home or the internationals may decide to leave."
Despite their long wait and the death of many victims and their tormentors, nationwide surveys having show that more than 80 percent of Cambodians back the trials.
Those victims who had tried to put the horror behind them began reliving it when the prospect of trials arose, and to abort the process would cause huge frustration, says Pung Chhiv Kek, a human rights campaigner.
Im Savoeun has gone from being poor farmer's daughter to member of Parliament, and has never forgotten, even though her husband's killers won't be on trial and may already have died a peaceful death.
The slim, handsome woman vividly recalls the backbreaking work from sunrise to sunset clearing forests, digging irrigation canals and planting rice; hunting for frogs, rats and snakes to eat; seeing corpses piled high on oxcarts rumbling off to mass graves; her son dying on a garbage heap as he rummaged for fish bones to eat.
"Thirty years of waiting was long for me," she said, sobbing. "But finally we are starting the trial now, so at least the young generation will learn and understand."

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Statement of the ECCC Victims Unit (VU)

The Victims Unit of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
(ECCC) wishes to inform the public of the following:


The Trial Chamber has announced that the Initial Hearing in Case 1 will begin
on 17 February 2009. This means that persons who suffered harm as a result
of the crimes allegedly committed by Kaing Guek Eav alias Duch at Office
S-21 (Tuol Sleng), Office S-24 (Prey Sar) and Choeung Ek should submit
their Civil Party applications to the Victims Unit before 4:00 PM on
Monday 2 February 2009. Any Civil Party application that is submitted
after the deadline will not be considered by the judges of the Trial Chamber.
In Case 2, the deadline for the submission of Civil Party applications has not
been determined yet. According to the Internal Rules of the ECCC, Civil
Party applications must be filed ten working days before the initial hearing.
Please note that only Civil Party applications that are complete will be admitted
by the Trial Chamber. The following information must be included:
• Names of the victim or victims and civil party applicant;
• Contact address of the applicant in Cambodia;
• Signature or thumbprint of the applicant;
• All available information related to the crime or crimes alleged by the
applicant (the Court needs to be able to identify that what happened to
the applicant is related to the crimes being investigated by the Court);
• If available, a copy of an identity card;
• If available, any documents that support the information the applicant
provides. For example: a photograph of the victim. Please provide only
copies, not originals.


Those who wish to provide the Co-Prosecutors with additional factual
information without participating in the hearings may submit a complaint
containing evidence relevant to the case against Mr. Kaing Guek Eav alias
Duch. Such evidence will be considered by the Co-Prosecutors and, where
appropriate, be submitted to the Trial Chamber. There is no deadline to
submit a complaint. However it is important to know that any such
information should be provided as soon as possible so as to increase the
possibility that the Trial Chamber may consider it in its deliberations. This
information can be provided to the Victims Unit who will forward it to the
Co-Prosecutors.


Those who are interested in participating as complainants or Civil Parties
should complete the Victim Information Form. The Form is available at the
Victims Unit and also on the website of the ECCC in Khmer, English and
French. The Form is free of charge and the there is no cost to apply to
become a civil party.


Once completed, the Form should be submitted to the Victims Unit. To obtain
the Victim Information Form and any assistance please contact the Victims
Unit at:
Victims Unit of the ECCC
Information Center
House No. 6A, Street 21,
Sangkat Tonle Basac I, Khan Chamcarmon,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Tel: 023 214 291.


The Victims Unit is ready to assist those victims who wish to participate in the
proceedings. The office is open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM from Monday to
Friday. The office will be also open on Saturday 24 January, Sunday 25 January,
Saturday 31 January and Sunday 1 February.


For general information or for assistance in completing the Victim Information
Form, victims can also contact the following organizations:
Cambodian Human Rights & Development Association (ADHOC)
Tel/Fax: +(855) 023 990 544
Email: adhoc@forum.org.kh
Center for Social Development (CSD)
Tel/Fax: +(855) 023 364 735/ +(855) 023 364 736
Email: csd@online.com.kh
Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam)
Tel/Fax: +(855) 023 211 875/ +(855) 023 210 358
Email: dccam@online.com.kh
Khmer Institute for Democracy (KID)
Tel/Fax: +(855) 023 214 928/ +(855) 023 216 206
Email: director.kid@online.com.kh
For help with psychological support:
Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO)
Tel/Fax: +(855) 023 219 182/ +(855) 023 218 478
Email: admin@tpocambodia.org
For help with obtaining legal representation:
Cambodian Defenders Project (CDP)
Tel/Fax: +(855) 023 720 032/ +(855) 023 720 031
Email: cdp@cdpcambodia.org
Legal Aid of Cambodia (LAC)
Tel/Fax: +(855) 023 884 262/ +(855) 023 884 263
Email: lac@online.com.kh
The Victim Information Form and the process of applying are free of charge.
The ECCC does not charge any fee at any stage of the proceedings.
- End -

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Duch's Initial Hearing Scheduled

The Trial Chamber has scheduled the Initial Hearing of Kaing Guek Iev ("DUCH")'s case for 17 February, 2009. It is important to note that this is a procedural hearing and not the substantive (which will come later) hearing many might be looking to attend. It is not clear whether the hearing will be open to the public in case those interested in the details of the relevant procedural matters may wish to attend.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Who Should be Running for Cover?

Along with their rejection of allegations of participation in financial irregularities (which the defense believes adversely and irreparably affected the accused’s right to due process), the Cambodian judges of the ECCC have issued a threat of legal action to those who “in bad faith […] provoked such a problem”.

Although the judges stopped short of addressing the “instigators” by the name, these persons and institutions’ names are well-known to any tribunal watcher.
The issue of one type of financial irregularities (i.e. kickbacks) was raised by a New York City-based NGO Open Society Institute (OSI) which put itself in the position of an ECCC watchdog very early in the process. The OSI is currently presented in Cambodia by a small office which does most of the OSI's work associated with the Court. The OSI, however, subsequently, made a statement attempting to put to rest -- if not altogether retract -- the question of launching an investigation into the allegations of kickbacks on the Cambodian side of the ECCC. However, by then it was too late for that as the cat was already out of the bag. The allegations were later rejuvenated by a local NGO known as the Center for Social Development (CSD). In addition to these two NGOs and in light of the threat issued by the Cambodian judges of the ECCC, potentially, any NGO which has signed off on any petition circulated by the OSI or the CSD can find itself on the Cambodian judges’ list of “instigators”. Most recently three defense lawyers (whose names are mentioned in the press release of the Cambodian judges of the ECCC) must have added themselves to the list of “instigators”.

Who then should be lawyering up or running for cover? The aforementioned defense lawyers can rest reassured – barring unforeseeable circumstances – that the immunity from prosecution granted to them by the ECCC Law in the exercise of their office will be respected. The OSI and the CSD – along with the NGOs which have supported its claim – are, on the other hand, not statutorily protected from prosecution in the exercise of their office, although they are guarded by the thin shield of freedom of speech. It is also worth noting that the judges do not seem to have expressed the intent of bringing a legal action against the NGOs, but “individuals” who they believe are responsible for “provoking [the] problems”. This may mean that this threat of legal action must be read as having been issued against the staff of the Cambodian office of the OSI, the staff of the CSD and the staff of the Cambodian offices of the local and international NGOs which have supported the OSI’s original claim as individuals, not institutions.

The present conditions in which the aforementioned NGOs will have to work until this matter is resolved one way or the other puts the Japanese government’s “no questions asked” policy of funding of international development (see below on this blog) into perspective.

ECCC Cambodian Judges Threaten Legal Action in Response to the Possibility of Mass Papering

Press Release
The National Judges of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia deeply regret
hearing the new reports today that co-lawyers Mr. Michiel PESTMAN and Mr.Victor KOPPE
and Mr. Andrew IANUZZI have filed a complaint with the Municipal Court of Phnom Penh
charging corruption within the ECCC, which states that this may infringe the fundamental
right to fair trial and that a portion of national judges’ salaries are used as kickbacks to
government official/s.
The above-mentioned action was leaked to the public media, causing confusion and seriously
affecting the honour and dignity of all individual judges and this institution as a whole. We
would like to state that all the judges of this Court entered into service by decision of the
Supreme Council of Magistracy, chaired by His Majesty the King of the Cambodia, who
signed Royal Decree No. NS/RKT/0506/214 dated 7 May 2006, appointing all of us to work
in this Court. Therefore, there is no reason for judges to cut their salaries to pay kickbacks to
government officials, as alleged. We absolutely reject such an accusation.
Finally, we would like to state that if the above accusation stems from bad faith in putting the
blame on the judges, we reserve the right to legal recourse against any individuals who have
provoked such a problem.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A Legal Oxymoron Is Expected?

The Co-Prosecutors and other interested parties to the matter are presently bracing for the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC)’s decision of whether investigations of another batch of suspects will be launched.

PTC decisions of the past have not been those of predictability or coherence vis-à-vis international or domestic standards or the Chamber’s own jurisprudence, for that matter. However, there were still statutory and casuistic ways in which legal experts could attempt to predict which way the Chamber was going to go on a particular matter of appeal. This has been possible since matters placed before the PTC prior were those for which it was provided statutorily or for which guidance could be found in international procedural – and at times substantive – standards.

The matter presently at hand is a complete wild card for which very little guidance exists at the international or national level. Such lack of guidance can be easily explained by two facts: (1) no other national or international tribunal shared the situation of existence of co-prosecutors with the ECCC as there is normally one prosecutor within whose purview lie matters of initiating criminal cases; (2) decisions to initiate criminal cases lie squarely within prosecutorial discretion in the both dominant legal systems of the world, the common law and the civil law; such discretion is not subject to judicial or administrative review.

Therefore, for lack of a better method of dispute resolution between the Co-Prosecutors in this case, the PTC will essentially have to assume the position of an exerciser of prosecutorial discretion. By supplanting the Co-Prosecutors in this function the PTC, however, will not be able to eschew the requirement of a reasoned opinion as it normally would be the case in any instances where discretion is applied and as per the definition of the term “discretion” as such. Consequently, under the circumstances the PTC is expected to produce an oxymoron which is a reasoned opinion on the course of prosecutorial action which under normal circumstances is determined by discretion.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Japan: "We Hope the Allegations of Kickbacks Are Unfounded"

In the wake of the most of the remainder of the donor corps of the ECCC and the UN probing the veracity of allegations of kickbacks in the Cambodian side of the Court, the Japanese government declared that it was proceeding with the funding regardless as it hoped that the allegations of kickbacks were unfounded. This statement is fully in concert with Japan's broadly known "no questions asked" development funding policy. Viewed from any conceivable angle such policy bears no potential of contributing to the building of the rule of law in Cambodia which is part of the reason why the ECCC exists.

Another Day, Another ... $21 Million

Posted 2009/01/11 at 4:27 am EST
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 11, 2009 (Reuters) — Japan gave another $21 million to Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal Sunday and called on regional rival China to contribute as well despite Beijing's backing for Pol Pot's "Killing Fields" regime.
"The donor community as a whole should contribute to these kind of activities, including China," foreign ministry spokesman Takeshi Akamatsu told reporters in Phnom Penh after Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone met Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Tokyo's latest contribution doubles its overall funding to the court, which has indicted five of Pol Pot's top surviving henchmen on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It also takes funding for the $143 million trial budget to above $100 million.
The Khmer Rouge are blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people in their 1975-79 reign of terror. Many of their victims were tortured and executed. The rest died of disease, starvation or exhaustion.
Beijing, a major donor and investor in Cambodia, has pledged no money to the court, but has taken no active steps to block the trial.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

STATEMENT OF THE CO-PROSECUTORS

On 29 December 2008, the National Co-Prosecutor filed her Response with the Pre-Trial
Chamber to the International Co-Prosecutor’s Statement of Disagreement, which was filed on 1
December 2008. The disagreement concerns the appropriateness of opening new judicial investigations against certain additional suspects for crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge.
The Statement of Disagreement and the Response contain reasons justifying the two Co-Prosecutors’ positions in favor of charging or not charging these suspects.
The International Co-Prosecutor has proposed the filing of two new Introductory Submissions
and one Supplementary Submission as, according to him, there are reasons to believe that (1) the crimes described in those submissions were committed, (2) these crimes are within the jurisdiction of this Court, and (3) they should be investigated by the Co-Investigating Judges. He believes that this last set of cases to be prosecuted by this Court would lead to a more comprehensive accounting of the crimes that were committed under the Democratic Kampuchea regime during 1975-79. He does not believe that such prosecutions would endanger Cambodia’s
peace and stability.
The National Co-Prosecutor believes that these investigations should not proceed on account of
(1) Cambodia’s past instability and the continued need for national reconciliation, (2) the spirit
of the agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Cambodia (“Agreement”)
and the spirit of the law that established this Court (“ECCC Law”), and (3) the limited duration
and budget of this Court. She feels that this Court should instead prioritize the trials of the five
suspects already detained, especially when, according to her, the Agreement and the ECCC Law
envisioned only a small number of trials. She maintains that this Court’s mandate can be adequately fulfilled by the prosecution of the suspects already detained.
The Co-Prosecutors are issuing this statement pursuant to Internal Rule 54 to ensure that the
public is duly informed of ongoing ECCC proceedings. They now await the determination of this disagreement by the Pre-Trial Chamber. This adjudicatory process is, by law, confidential.
Notwithstanding this disagreement, the Co-Prosecutors have been and shall continue to work
together, in all their cases, to ensure that justice is rendered to the victims of the Khmer Rouge.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian Holocaust

The Jewish Holocaust was conducted under the hatred of a people: the Cambodian Holocaust was conducted while attempting to force an ideology on a nation. Between 1975 and 1979 an estimated 850,000 to two million people died or were murdered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge (Cambodian Communists). The numbers are the lives lost are staggering. What is even more astonishing- and horrific at the same time- is the cause of the inhumanity. The Khmer Rouge had a vision how Cambodia should be ruled and spilled their own countrymen’s blood trying to achieve their vision.In its infancy the Khmer Rouge was a communist party that using Vietnamese communism as its guide. However, it became more Stalinist and anti-intellectual once many of its members returned from study in France. The Khmers believed that the root of evil was capitalism and the cities and urban areas facilitated capitalism. Many in the Khmer referred to Phnom Pehn as “the great......
Full text of this article is available for a fee at

Essay (Abstract): Peace had never been helpful to the Khmer Rouge cause

Explain the purpose of post-revolutionary purges. Are they necessary for the survival of the revolutionary state?

“Peace had never been helpful to the Khmer Rouge cause”

Post-revolutionary purges are necessary for the survival of the revolutionary state because they allow the new government to secure their own regime, wipe away remnants of the old regime and ensure that any interference, whether internal or external, can be easily and effectively quashed. In December 1976, the year after the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia, leader Pol Pot declared to the Central Committee that “there is a sickness inside the Party, born in the years [of struggle]”, a phrase reminiscent of Stalin’s description of communist enemies as “an ulcer in a healthy body”. For the revolutionary government of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, a post-revolutionary purge was necessary for several reasons. The first was to rid the new regime of enemies, both internal and external. Any Chinese,......

Full text of this article is available for a fee at

http://www.termpaperslab.com/term-papers/153563.html?utm_source=antiessays&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=advertising

Essay (Abstract): The Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese Communists

The Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese Communists:
A history of their relations as told in the Soviet archivesDmitry MosyakovTo this day, the real history of relations between the Khmer communists and their Vietnamese colleagues is enclosed in a veil of secrecy. Despite extensive research on this theme in Russia and abroad, there are still no reliable answers to many key questions. The history of relations between Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge is construed in Vietnam in a way which sometimes has nothing to do with the story told in the West. Statements of some Khmer Rouge leaders like Khieu Samphan or Ieng Sari, who have recently defected to the governmental camp in Phnom Penh and say what people want to hear, are not to be trusted either. All this supports the assumption that analysis of relations between Hanoi and the Khmer Rouge is not only a historical problem. There is still a political component, which encumbers its objective study.The author endeavours to tackle this......
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Khmer Rouge Tribunal asks for US$ 50 million for 2008-2009

The UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) has announced it will split its request for additional funding into three stages, with the first stage-from 2008-2009- to cost donors US$50 million.
The UN side of the court needs US$40 million of this first phase amount, which will cover from this year until December 2009, with the court’s Cambodian side to gain the rest.
Sean Visoth, director of the KRT’s office of Administration, told the Voice of America (VOA) in an interview last weekend that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) had asked the donors for this amount during meetings held last week in New York.
Sean Visoth said that the KRT delegation first met with key donors France, Japan, Australia and Great Britain June 16 and with more interested nations June 20. The meetings enabled donors to hear the court’s revised budget request, he added.
Sean Visoth claimed that the “first phase” of funding will cover only the trial of the five former KR members currently detained by the court, not additional suspects who are yet to be named.
The funds are urgently needed as the court speeds up efforts to try the ailing KR leaders, who frequently require medical treatment.
Donors have not yet responded to the request, but the KRT will hold a press conference June 24 to publicize the results of the meetings
The KRT’s Cambodian side received a donation of nearly US$ 3 million form the Japanese government June 19. The Cambodian government is expected to contribute more than US$1 million to the court’s revised budget plan, Sean Visoth said.
-Extracted from The Mekong Times, vol. 1, #95, Monday, June 23, 2008.

CAMBODIA 7 January 2009 Khmer Rouge regime overthrown 30 years ago

On 7 Jan 1979, invading Vietnamese troops seized Phnom Penh and sent the Khmer Rouge fleeing to remote jungles. Thirty years on, the country is still wrestling with its Khmer Rouge legacy while being courted by economic superpowers, such as India and China, for its oil potential and trade possibilities.
The Khmer Rouge forced the population out of cities as it tried to establish an agrarian state, killing an estimated 1.7 million people through starvation, disease or execution. Its leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998 without being brought to trial. In 2008 five aging former Khmer Rouge leaders are in prison awaiting trial before an unusual hybrid tribunal, administered jointly by the United Nations and the Cambodian government. The approach of the 30th anniversary could be the needed prompt for the trial to begin.
Cambodia recently granted China the permission to develop offshore oilfields in exchange for a US $600 million credit for bridges near the capital Phnom Penh. For India, Cambodia serves as an important element of its “Look East Policy.”
An International Herald Tribune story notes that two-thirds of Cambodia's 12 million citizens were born after the Pol Pot era, so most young Cambodians know little or nothing about the horrors their parents and grandparents experienced. The IHT said that in a 79-page textbook on Cambodian history published for ninth-graders by the Ministry of Education in 2000, the Khmer Rouge era rates two sentences. It has been excised from a later edition.
The overthrow began a 10-year Vietnamese occupation, and touched off almost 13 years of civil war. The 1991 Paris Peace Accords mandated democratic elections and a ceasefire, which was not fully respected by the Khmer Rouge. Nonetheless, UN-sponsored elections in 1993 helped restore some semblance of normalcy under a coalition government.
ARTICLE SUPPLIED BY CORRESPONDENT C.BALAJI