18 July 2012
Bangkok Post
It has been a year now since the International
Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered that a demilitarised zone be set up
around Preah Vihear temple. The good news is that the fighting which
preceded the court order has entirely ceased. The bad news is that armed
forces of the two countries remain in the area, stationed close to each
other. The worst news is that both armies have essentially ignored the order of the ICJ and have not seriously pursued talks on how to
disengage and make the Preah Vihear area safe.
The ruling by the ICJ, sometimes called the World Court, was a
"preliminary" order after a series of deadly armed clashes that
threatened actual war between the two countries. The court drew a
quadrilateral on a map of the temple area and ordered the two countries
to make everything inside a DMZ. The logic of the DMZ is unclear. It is
much larger than the disputed region of 4.6 square kilometres around the
temple, with four uneven sides between two and seven kilometres. Almost
all of the DMZ is in Thailand, although it includes the high cliffs
which form the natural border between the two nations.
Authorities in both Thailand and Cambodia have grumbled about the ICJ
order, but have officially accepted the court's ruling. On the ground,
however, neither country has respected, accepted or invoked the court's
decision. Cambodia recently claimed it would "soon" withdraw soldiers
who have been stationed inside the actual temple buildings. Thailand has
replaced soldiers with members of the Border Patrol Police.
The DMZ of 17.3 square kilometres far exceeds the contested area
around the temple claimed by both countries. The judges said they
ordered such a large demilitarised zone in order to separate the armies
and to prevent further clashes. Neither Thai nor Cambodian authorities
have acted on the court's order to separate the armed forces.
This month is also the fourth anniversary of the naming of Preah
Vihear as a Unesco World Heritage Site. The ICJ in 1962 gave Cambodia
sovereignty over a temple which can only realistically be reached
through Thai territory. By making Preah Vihear a heritage site, Unesco
created a real headache for Cambodia, for Thailand and for world
citizens who wish to visit the ninth-century temple.
The year-old ICJ ruling to respect a DMZ was sensible and safe.
Thailand and Cambodia can protect their national borders while
respecting a military-free zone around the disputed land at Preah
Vihear. As was shown last week when Cambodian forces bragged about
shooting at a Thai civilian airliner, the border remains a more
dangerous place than necessary.
The best solution to this lingering problem is for Thailand and
Cambodia to initiate talks on when and how to withdraw their armed
forces from the court-ordered DMZ. And the decision to do that today is a
positive sign. Distrust can also be overcome by stationing observers,
either national or the Indonesian military who volunteered for the task.
ICJ judges issued a reasonable and logical step to solving the border
problems, and both countries should move more quickly to respect the
court's ruling.
2 comments:
Idiotic Siam editor, aren't you supposedly gone to school over sea to learn journalist and world history. Here are comments that this idiotic person wrote.
1. "You said almost all PDZ is locate inside Thailand " hey Siam bias thief does that mean all areas 4.6 sq. km and further interior Kambuja is your land ? LOL. If this Siam have any brain he or she will know that almost all of Thailand was Khmer's land 400 to 500 years ago.
2. " You said that both country ignored ICJ orders" Dumb ass Siam. Cambodia had been from the begining held many talks with Siam thieves to follow ICJ orders and bring in TOR from our friend Indonesia. Siam thieves always blocked TOR teams from coming. Get the facts straight or smart and informed readers will laughed at you Siam thieves.
3. " You also said that access to Prasat Preah Vihear can only come thru Siam side" Idiot Cambodian armed forces engineers had already built two lanes concrete pavement road all the way to Temple ground. RCAF completed this roads while constantly under threats and attack from your coward armed forces. We finished the road and there is nothing you cowards Siam can do about it. You attacked us three times and each time we lkilled many if your soldiers and left them rotten in this forest. Your mighty army can't even take 4.6 sq. km. ICJ will grant Khmer justices.
4. " You also said Khmer army bragged about shooting your civilian airline aircraft" Dumb editor it was your fault that your air forces had violated our air space many time before. It was a mistake, get the facts straight. If our forces really want that slow aircraft down, RCAF would had use SAM missle already. It was just a warning shots. Sham on you claimed to be a professional journalist and yet you reports faults news to peoples.
18 July 2012 12:20 PM
I like your comment, it is a good one for this journalist.
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