Khmer Rouge Tribunal Article Eurasia Review dealing with Cambodia, Hun Sen, and the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.
(Forwarded message from Attorney Morton Sklar, Founding Executive Director Emeritus World Organization for Human Rights USA)
*Note: The author was the attorney who submitted a complaint to the International Criminal Court
on March 17, 2014 alleging genocide and crimes against humanity violations by the Hun Sen government.
on March 17, 2014 alleging genocide and crimes against humanity violations by the Hun Sen government.
Cambodia's Hun Sen. Photo source World Economic Forum, photo by Ms. Sikarin Thanachaiary (Wikipedia Commons).
By Morton Sklar, Founding Executive Director Emeritus World Organization for Human Rights USA
The decision issued this past week by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, ECCC) imposing life sentences on Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, two aging former leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime responsible for the genocide of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians in the 1970s, represents an important step for assuring justice and accountability for those committing grave crimes against HUMANITY.
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But the sentencing of these two former Khmer Rouge leaders, while a positive accomplishment, should not mask the darker reality that the Khmer Rouge Tribunal as whole has been a massive disappointment.
The Tribunal has fallen far short of carrying out its responsibility of effectively investigating and prosecuting all of those associated with the Khmer Rouge “killing fields,” in large part because it has allowed the Hun Sen government to call the shots, and to prevent the Tribunal from pursuing cases involving high level members of the current government who were significantly associated with the Khmer Rouge atrocities.
The Hun Sen government has done everything it could do to tie the hands of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, and to prevent the full and complete investigation and prosecution of the Khmer Rouge crimes, motivated by the reality that a number of current high-level officials, including Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, are alleged to have been closely involved with the genocide.
Only three cases have been investigated and prosecuted in the more than ten years that the Tribunal has been in operation. Back on October 26, 2010, at a meeting between the Cambodian Prime Minister and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon held in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen PERSONALLY warned the Secretary General that no further cases beyond the initial ones would be allowed to proceed. Given the dual (hybrid) nature of the Tribunal with both Cambodian and international judges and prosecutors, Hun Sen was able to back up his threat by forcing the Cambodian Tribunal officials to block additional prosecutions, and by exerting efforts to intimidate and threaten their international counterparts, forcing several of them to resign from the Court before their work could be completed.
warned the Secretary General that no further cases beyond the initial ones would be allowed to proceed. Given the dual (hybrid) nature of the Tribunal with both Cambodian and international judges and prosecutors, Hun Sen was able to back up his threat by forcing the Cambodian Tribunal officials to block additional prosecutions, and by exerting efforts to intimidate and threaten their international counterparts, forcing several of them to resign from the Court before their work could be completed.
The result is that the Tribunal still has not moved forward with any of the cases involving the most serious international crime of genocide, and over more than a decade has prosecuted only three of the many Khmer Rouge officials responsible for the Khmer Rouge atrocities.
Pure and simple, Hun Sen has obstructed justice, and improperly interfered with the operations of an international court — crimes in and of their own right that involve efforts to cover-up and prevent prosecution of the genocide violations of the Khmer Rouge. He has ample reasons for engineering a cover-up, knowing too well that members of his government and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) had significant ties with the ruthless Khmer Rouge regime. But thus far he has gotten away with strong arm tactics designed to stop the Tribunal in its tracks because of the hybrid nature of the Tribunal. It is not a pure international court, like the International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, operating independently of the government whose actions it is reviewing. Because of its hybrid nature, incorporating Cambodian personnel and operating in Cambodia itself, it’s effective functioning is beholden to a large DEGREE on the Hun Sen Government’s approval and support.
on the Hun Sen Government’s approval and support.
That arrangement has proven highly problematical, given Hun Sen’s reluctance to allow light to be shined on the actions of his own colleagues. His Foreign Minister Hor Nomhong, for example, is accused by no less than King Norodom Shanouk, as well as a number of former Khmer Rouge PRISONERS, as having “commanded a Khmer Rouge concentration camp [Boeung Trabek, and being] responsible for the death and torture of many former members of the … resistance,” including three members of the Royal Family, by playing a major role in deciding which PRISONERS lived, and which died.
, as having “commanded a Khmer Rouge concentration camp [Boeung Trabek, and being] responsible for the death and torture of many former members of the … resistance,” including three members of the Royal Family, by playing a major role in deciding which PRISONERS lived, and which died.
An official U.S. State Department cable was posted on the WikiLeaks website that adds some fuel to these allegations by suggesting that Hor Nomhong and his wife are accused of having “collaborated in the killing of many prisoners” at the camp. Hun Sen himself was a young lieutenant with the Khmer Rouge military at the time of the atrocities, and it has been alleged that as a battalion commander he played more than a minimal role in the mass arrests and executions taking place in his jurisdiction.
Two things need to be done to rescue the work of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal so that it can continue on an effective basis, by reaching beyond the three very limited cases that Hun Sen has thus far allowed them to consider.
First, the United Nations, the erstwhile partner with Cambodia for the Tribunal, needs to take a much stronger stand, demanding that additional investigations and prosecutions take place, including investigations of Hor Nomhong and other sitting officials of the Cambodian government. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has to make clear that interference by the Hun Sen government with the work of the Tribunal will not be tolerated, and will be treated as a crime in its own right, constituting an attempt to cover up the Khmer Rouge atrocities linked to the original genocide violations. A complaint along these lines was filed just a few months ago with the International CRIMINAL COURT (ICC) by several victims of the atrocities. If the Khmer Rouge Tribunal is not permitted to go forward with additional cases because of interference from Hun Sen, then the ICC should be encouraged to take jurisdiction of the Hun Sen government’s cover-up efforts, and treat them as obstruction of justice violations directly connected to the Khmer Rouge genocide violations.
(ICC) by several victims of the atrocities. If the Khmer Rouge Tribunal is not permitted to go forward with additional cases because of interference from Hun Sen, then the ICC should be encouraged to take jurisdiction of the Hun Sen government’s cover-up efforts, and treat them as obstruction of justice violations directly connected to the Khmer Rouge genocide violations.
Second, the experience of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal provides an important lesson about how the international CRIMINAL JUSTICE system operates that needs to inform how these courts are organized and carry out their functions in the future. The “hybrid” model that mixes international and national elements simply does not work effectively. The justification for adopting the hybrid model instead of the “pure” international tribunal along the lines of those used for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, was that placing the proceedings in the country where the abuses took place may provide the victims with an opportunity to play a greater role in the process, and may encourage a more serious effort at the national level to deal with justice and accountability issues. But the actual experiences of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and other similar hybrid efforts place these assumptions in serious question, since, in practice, too much control is allowed to remain in the hands of the local governments whose actions are being reviewed. For the future, the international community needs to focus on giving greater emphasis to using strictly international courts for dealing with the most serious genocide, war crimes and crimes against HUMANITYviolations, and to assuring that the wide variety of political influences that tend to keep prosecutions from taking place are eliminated.
system operates that needs to inform how these courts are organized and carry out their functions in the future. The “hybrid” model that mixes international and national elements simply does not work effectively. The justification for adopting the hybrid model instead of the “pure” international tribunal along the lines of those used for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, was that placing the proceedings in the country where the abuses took place may provide the victims with an opportunity to play a greater role in the process, and may encourage a more serious effort at the national level to deal with justice and accountability issues. But the actual experiences of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and other similar hybrid efforts place these assumptions in serious question, since, in practice, too much control is allowed to remain in the hands of the local governments whose actions are being reviewed. For the future, the international community needs to focus on giving greater emphasis to using strictly international courts for dealing with the most serious genocide, war crimes and crimes against HUMANITYviolations, and to assuring that the wide variety of political influences that tend to keep prosecutions from taking place are eliminated.
This should start with the case of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who, despite a plethora of major war crimes and crimes against humanity abuses, has thus far received a “get out of JAIL free” card because of the misplaced hope that a political settlement would end the carnage. The principle that needs to be followed is that all perpetrators of these major international crimes must be prosecuted, and can not be allowed to escape justice because of their official position, or political considerations like the ones that have been protecting Hun Sen and his colleagues from investigation by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, and President Bashar al-Assad from prosecution of any kind while he remains in power.
free” card because of the misplaced hope that a political settlement would end the carnage. The principle that needs to be followed is that all perpetrators of these major international crimes must be prosecuted, and can not be allowed to escape justice because of their official position, or political considerations like the ones that have been protecting Hun Sen and his colleagues from investigation by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, and President Bashar al-Assad from prosecution of any kind while he remains in power.
The author was the attorney who filed a successful human rights case in U.S. court in 2002 against Prime Minister Hun Sen, and submitted a complaint to the International CRIMINAL COURT on March 17, 2014 alleging genocide and crimes against humanity violations by the Hun Sen government. He also was lead counsel for the only successful court challenge to the U.S. government’s policy of “rendition to torture,” in the Abu Ali case.
on March 17, 2014 alleging genocide and crimes against humanity violations by the Hun Sen government. He also was lead counsel for the only successful court challenge to the U.S. government’s policy of “rendition to torture,” in the Abu Ali case.
1 comment:
Dear compatriots,
Referring to Khiev Sopheak's statement, this is at least a good first step that a member of the Yuon's puppet government said something right and defied the Yuon's demand to punish Khmer protestors.
However, had the government punished the protestors as requested by Vietnam, the result would have been disastrous for Hun Sen because it would clearly prove that this Hun Sen is absolutely a Yuon's puppet, and a massive demonstration might follow afterwards.
We should look forward to seeing other areas that Hun Sen must do to improve his image such as taking back the Khmer soul Angkor Wat, rescinding the 99 years land concession to Vietnam, stopping the mass influx of the Vietnamese into Cambodia, strictly enforcing the immigration law, implementing the 1991 Paris Peace Accord and canceling all the bilateral treaties with Vietnam, including the 2005 supplemental treaty, reviewing the “triangle areas”, allowing Khmer people to check and verify the border posts with Vietnam, clearing the Vietnamese out of our lakes and rivers, which have been stained by the Vietnamese’s sperms (Teuk Ktiss Yuon), urines, excrement, and trashes, etc…
Finally, it is time for Hun Sen to awake and free himself from this evil Yuon’s grip. The Vietnamization of Cambodia by Vietnam has been strengthened and deepened greatly already. Time is not on Cambodia side. Khmer people must hardened their mind and prepare to sacrifice their lives when the “moment” to save Cambodia comes.
Bun Thoeun
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