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2 Khmer Rouge tribunal in jeopardy
(again) By Julio A Jeldres
ordered that Sihanouk not be
allowed to leave the country, that his two younger
sons, the children of Queen Monineath, be recalled
to Cambodia, and that Sihanouk be kept under house
arrest at the royal palace and that all his
conversations be recorded.
Soon after Hun
Sen's outburst, a UN public relations staffer of
the ECCC told the Cambodia Daily English-language
newspaper that
"it
was up to tribunal judges and prosecutors to
decide whom to call as a witness and whom to
indict. The retired king could be called as a
witness, but whether he's bound to show up is
another question entirely."
In typical
fashion, Sihanouk seized the opportunity and, on
August 30, issued an invitation to the UN
officials associated with the tribunal, including
its international spokesman, Peter Foster, to
visit the palace on September 8 for a three-hour
conversation on "the affairs of the Khmer Rouge
and Sihanouk". After that, Sihanouk stated that he
would have nothing else to do with the ECCC
proceedings.
On September 6, the
UN-appointed deputy director of the tribunal's
administration, Michelle Lee, sent a response to
the royal palace declining Sihanouk's invitation.
"I was not authorized to participate in this
meeting, nor were other UN officials," Foster said
during an interview from Phnom Penh. "We responded
by saying that only the judges involved in the
trial will be able to determine who will be a
witness. The judges will do so based on procedural
rules."
One week later, the leading
pro-ruling-party Khmer-language newspaper Rasmey
Kampuchea carried an anonymous op-ed piece
suggesting that Lee's response declining
Sihanouk's terms did not give a formal assurance
that the retired monarch would not be called to
testify. Because of that, the newspaper said, the
issue could lead to a confrontation between the
government and the UN as "a test for the
cooperation between Cambodia and the UN".
Royal suffering At the same
time he invited UN tribunal members to meet with
him, Sihanouk also issued a number of releases
describing how he and his family, as well as other
members of the royal family, had been treated
under the Khmer Rouge. The list included the
disappearance of five of his 14 children and 14 of
his grandchildren, together with his aunts, uncles
and cousins as well as loyal diplomats and
staffers.
Sihanouk also blamed the United
States for the events that led to the Khmer Rouge
taking over Cambodia in 1975. Historians agree
that until March 18, 1970, when Sihanouk was
overthrown by a US-supported coup led by General
Lon Nol, he had managed to keep the insurgent
Khmer Rouge forces, then estimated at only about
3,000, largely under control.
The savage
US bombing of Cambodia, the corruption of the Lon
Nol regime and the unwillingness of the
administration of US president Richard Nixon to
talk to Sihanouk, who had taken refuge in Beijing,
as well as changes in the leadership of China
after prime minister Zhou Enlai's death, all
catapulted the Khmer Rouge to victory in April
1975. Sihanouk resigned at head of state in March
1976.
While researchers and historians
have found no evidence linking Sihanouk to the
policies and mass killings by the Khmer Rouge, the
former king has also stated that he would agree to
appear at a tribunal at The Hague, but not in
Cambodia - a statement that indicated his lack of
faith in the ECCC's integrity.
The latest
threat to close down the ECCC strengthens the
argument that the tribunal will fail because, in a
country where the judiciary is completely
dependent on the ruling party's will, the
Cambodian judges may not be able to act
independently together with the UN-appointed
judges.
Another question is how the
so-called Cambodian Action Committee for Justice
and Equity, unregistered in the US and staffed it
seems by a single person, could stir such
controversy.
All indications are that the
coming weeks will prove crucial for the maligned
ECCC, for the independence of Cambodia's
judiciary, and for those who seek justice for the
horrendous crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge.
Ambassador Julio A Jeldres is a
research fellow at the Asia Institute of Monash
University in Melbourne, Australia, and Norodom
Sihanouk's official biographer.
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