ICJ begins hearing Preah Vihear dispute

Published: 15 Apr 2013 
Bangkok Post 

THE HAGUE - The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday began hearing oral arguments in the dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over ownership of land adjoining the Preah Vihear border temple ruins controversially awarded to Cambodia by the court in 1962.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, right, shakes hands with his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong, left, during a hearing at the International Court of Justice on Monday. (AFP Photo)

The Hague-based ICJ began a week of hearings on Monday, after Cambodia asked two years ago for an interpretation of the 1962 ruling awarding the ancient Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia.

Thailand does not dispute Cambodia's ownership of the temple, a Unesco World Heritage site that has seen deadly clashes along their joint border. But both sides claim an enveloping 4.6-square-kilometre patch of land, saying it was not covered by the ruling.

Cambodia went first, opening its case on Monday. Thailand is to open its case on Wednesday.

The hearing is divided into two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Thailand times for the two sessions are 3pm to 6pm, and 8pm to 9.30pm.

The public can follow the hearings in French, with English and Thai translations, at www.phraviharn.org, on NBT Channel 11, and on three radio stations; the Radio Thailand frequencies are FM92.5 and AM891, and Saranrom Radio AM1575.

Thailand will present its initial argument on Wednesday, followed by Cambodia again on Thursday, and Thailand again on Friday.

The Thai delegation is led by Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul. The team includes Defence Minister ACM Sukumpol Suwanatat, Education Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana, ambassador to the Netherlands Virachai Plasai, and deputy permanent secretary for foreign affairs Nuttavudh Photisaro.

Mr Virachai is a lead figure in defending Thailand's position in the court that the 1962 ruling was final and could not be re-interpreted.

Judge Peter Tomka, centre, of the International Court holds on Monday a hearing on the dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over land around the flashpoint Preah Vihear temple. (AFP Photo)

Without an interpretation of a 1962 ICJ ruling, "relations with Thailand cannot be friendly and cooperative in the future", Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told the court.

Ahead of Cambodia's opening statement on Monday, Hor Namhong told reporters his government "felt threatened'' by what he claimed to be troop incursions from Thailand.

"We expect the court to interpret the 1962 ruling, which said that the temple of Preah Vihear is on Cambodian soil,'' he said, speaking in French.

"According to the ruling the surrounding area also belongs to Cambodia,'' Hor Namhong said. 

In February 2011, 10 people were killed in fighting around the Preah Vihear temple site and fresh clashes to the west along the border in April 2011 left 18 dead.

The ICJ subsequently ruled that both countries should withdraw forces around the 900-year-old Khmer temple, which is perched on a cliff top ruled to belong to Cambodia but with access much easier from the Thai side.

Access from the Cambodian side was so difficult in the 1970s that it was the last place to fall to the Khmer Rouge regime, and was also the communists' last holdout in the 1990s.

Cambodia and Thailand finally pulled hundreds of soldiers out of the disputed border area in July 2012, replacing them with police and security guards. The situation remains calm.

General view of the trial between Cambodia and Thailand about the Preah Vihear temple in the renovated hall of the Peace Palace, at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, the Netherlands, on Monday. (EPA Photo)

"When all the statements are released, people can consider the issues. We will fight the case transparently and with our best effort,'' Thai ambassador Virachai said ahead of the hearings.

Thailand maintains that arguments over the land bordering the temple stem from Cambodian efforts to define rights over it as part of its application for World Heritage status for the temple.

The roots of the dispute are, however, much earlier, dating to maps drawn during French colonial disengagement in the early 20th century.

Hor Namhong is leading the Phnom Penh delegation at the hearing, with three foreign lawyers advising the country, according to ministry spokesman Koy Kuong.

"We have already prepared ... What we want is justice. We do not want anything from the other side and we do not want to lose what we own legally,'' Koy Kuong told AFP.

Thailand is expected to argue that the Preah Vihear ruling is over and is also expected to tell 17 judges at the court that the border dispute in the area is being solved through a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries in 2000 to demarcate the land border.

The ICJ's ruling is expected to be made in October.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra followed the opening proceedings from Chiang Mai on Monday. She is taking a Songkran holiday in her home province.

Tensions between the two nations have calmed since mid-2011 when Ms Yingluck, the sister of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, became Thai prime minister.

Her brother is widely reported to be friendly with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.