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By Supalak Ganjanakhundee in The Hague/The Nation | Asia News Network
The Hague (The Nation/ANN) - The International Court of
Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, began hearings on the
Thailand-Cambodia territorial dispute over the land surrounding the
Preah Vihear Temple yesterday.
Cambodia's statement to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on
the first day of a four-day hearing on the Preah Vihear tussle was not
beyond expectation and Thailand can easily counter it, Thailand's
Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul declared.
"We are prepared and our team has all the right answers," he told
reporters after the hearing at the ICJ's Peace Palace was completed
yesterday.
The court opened the newly renovated Great Hall of Justice for the
two conflicting countries to use for the first time since May 2012.
Cambodia pointed out in court yesterday that it had never accepted
the "vicinity of Preah Vihear Temple" unilaterally claimed by Thailand
as its own more than 50 years ago.
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong
accused Thailand of failing to comply with the court's July 18, 2011,
order to withdraw troops from the court-determined demilitarised zone at
the disputed border area.
"Thailand does not know how to defend the case but is delaying the judgement," he said.
The Cambodian counsel tried to convince the 17 judges that the
application to the ICJ was merely a request for interpretation, not an
appeal on the boundary issue as Thailand had told the court earlier.
The ICJ ruled in 1962 that the Hindu temple was situated in territory
under the sovereignty of Cambodia and Thailand was obligated to
withdraw its troops from the temple and its vicinity.
The Cambodian counsel told the court that Thailand had unilaterally
delimited the temple's vicinity by claiming 1 square kilometre of land
around the temple. They said this was in contrary to the court's
judgement in 1962.
Over the past 50 years, Phnom Penh has from time to time expressed
its disagreement with Thailand's interpretation of the 1962 judgement,
saying that the Kingdom was trying to establish a new boundary line.
Cambodian counsel Rodman Bundy said that even though Thailand claimed
that late King Norodom Sihanouk accepted its new "boundary", the Thai
government at the time did not fully implement the 1962 judgement.
In 1967, Cambodia again protested against Thailand's unilateral
determination of Preah Vihear's "vicinity", Rodman Bundy told the court.
He went on to say that Thai governments, such as the one under former
prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006, had a different
understanding of Preah Vihear's vicinity than that of the Cabinet in
1962.
Cambodia proposed that the temple's vicinity should be determined by
the boundary line that appears in the 1:200,000-scale map created by the
French government or the map referred to in Annex I of the original
documents presented in court in 1962. According to this map, the court
found the Preah Vihear Temple to be on Cambodia's side.
Though the Thai legal counsel were also at the court yesterday, they
only listed to the arguments made by the other side. Thai chief counsel
Virachai Plasai and his team will take the floor tomorrow to argue
against Cambodia's position.
A group of senators including Khamnoon Sitthisaman and Rossana
Tosittrakul appeared in the court before the hearing opened. They are
urging the government not to accept the ICJ's decision, as the court
tended to rule in favour of Cambodia.
COPYRIGHT: ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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