Editorial | Articles about Cambodia | Khmer

Monday, December 21, 2009

Does the US know who it's dealing with in Cambodia?

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy is rushed from the scene moments after a grenade attack on a political rally outside the parliament in Phnom Penh, March 30, 1997. Sixteen people were killed and more than 100 were injured in the explosions. (Reuters)

Absolutely, FBI files show.

By Douglas Gillison — Special to GlobalPost
Published: December 20, 2009 08:26 ET

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — The local police not only failed to cooperate but actively tried to sabotage the FBI's investigation of Cambodia's worst peacetime atrocity.

Key evidence was doctored. Highly placed witnesses stormed out of interviews. Mischievous leaks to the media intensified threats to the FBI agents' safety. And according to the lead FBI investigator, who is now retired, Cambodian and US officials warned him that he was marked for assassination.

So much is written down in newly declassified FBI records from an investigation into the grenade attack on a peaceful opposition rally on March 30, 1997, which killed 16 children, men and women and wounded more than 100 others, including an American man. The FBI's disclosures were made this year under a Freedom of Information Act request filed in 2007 by The Cambodia Daily, a local English-language newspaper.

No arrests were ever made. What evidence could be collected in the six weeks the FBI were actively investigating here pointed to forces loyal to the man who is now Cambodia's unchallenged prime minister, to the party and the people who now dominate Cambodia unopposed and with whom the U.S., and the FBI in particular, have since sought warm
relations.

Cambodia is a small but eager partner for a United States that seeks other countries to help shoulder the burden of international peacekeeping, engage in counterterrorism efforts and police the world's remoter regions to allow trade and commerce to occur in safety.

Cambodian intelligence sharing, for example, allowed the CIA in 2003 to detain Hambali, the suspected mastermind in the 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia, which killed 202 people, and one of 16 "high-value" detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay.

But, as the FBI records show, the broader security cooperation begun under the former administration of President George W. Bush with countries in the region — where China can compete for influence with the U.S. — may require a distasteful compromise in the promotion of human rights.

According to one U.S. Senate staffer who was briefed by the FBI in the late 1990s on the Cambodian grenade attack case, the U.S. has a tough decision to make in deciding whether to cooperate with the Cambodians, or any other known human rights abusers in Asia.

"Obviously we want to have accountability. We've been seeking that for more than a decade," the Senate staffer, who requested anonymity, said of the grenade attack.

"Do we then say that, 12 years later, it's inappropriate to have security cooperation with the government of Cambodia? It's a judgment call."

He also cautioned against assumptions that the FBI's evidence had reached an actionable threshold by the time the case was shut down. FBI briefers told Congress that physical evidence was not dispositive and that some witnesses had contradicted each other, he said.

"I don't think that it would be appropriate to withhold security cooperation with the government," he said, noting that while the U.S. remains "deeply concerned" about human rights here, the "basic policy is not to disengage with Cambodia."

According to FBI investigative reports and summaries, witnesses saw bodyguards for Hun Sen, Cambodia's current prime minister, protect and cooperate with the assailants, who then fled into a military compound used by Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party, or CPP, and were overheard discussing the attack amongst themselves.

The rally that came under attack was a protest calling for judicial reform and was staged by a fledgling member of the opposition, the Khmer Nation Party, led by Sam Rainsy, who survived unharmed. The U.S. government determined that, since an American was injured, the FBI had jurisdiction to investigate. The bureau was also invited to provide assistance by police officials from a political party in the unstable governing coalition.

Retired FBI Special Agent Thomas Nicoletti, the case agent assigned to the investigation, said the evidence amassed against the CPP, which staged a coup d'etat three months after the attack, was "substantial" but was incomplete because the investigation was cut short due to threats to his safety and mounting political tensions.

Threats on his life were relayed to him by both Cambodian police and the U.S. ambassador, who spoke of "hit teams" operating in Phnom Penh, Nicoletti said. However, the then-U.S. ambassador, Kenneth Quinn, denied relaying such information.

In the wake of the attack, and Hun Sen's armed takeover several months later, which the U.S. Congressional Research Service last year described as an "unlawful seizure of power" accompanied by as many as 100 political murders, the U.S. Congress cut off bilateral aid to Cambodia's central government and passed resolutions condemning the grenade attack and coup.

Relations did not stay sour forever, however. Military aid began in 2005. In 2006, Cambodia's National Police Commissioner, the late Hok Lundy, was awarded an FBI medal for counterterrorism cooperation. Direct bilateral aid resumed in 2007, when Hok Lundy was invited to Washington. And an FBI legal attache office, which coordinates police cooperation, was personally inaugurated in Phnom Penh in 2008 by FBI Director Robert S Mueller III.

According to Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, when the FBI gave awards to Hok Lundy and to his deputy Net Savoeun, who replaced him as National Police Commissioner after his death last year, "it was clear that the U.S. government didn't really prioritize human rights in Cambodia anymore."

"All of these people should be under investigation for serious and violent crimes, but instead are being feted and collaborated with," said Adams.

Cambodian authorities were reluctant to discuss the grenade attack. National Police Lieutenant-General Khieu Sopheak, the Interior Ministry spokesman and CPP liaison to the FBI during its investigation, said only that a suspect dubbed "Brazil" had disappeared, meaning the case had gone cold.

Adams said the apparent disconnect between U.S. interests in human rights and security cooperation has reached an intolerable level.

"This is the height of hypocrisy and cynicism and should end," he said.

"More important, this undercuts U.S. claims that promoting human rights, the rule of law and good governance in Cambodia are its main priorities. And it will alienate the many Cambodians who courageously continue to fight for rights and to move Cambodia from an authoritarian to a more democratic country."

Labels: CIA, FBI, Sam Rainsy

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CAMBODIA: Media Still Struggling to Break Gender Barriers

CAMBODIA: Media Still Struggling to Break Gender Barriers
By Lynette Lee Corporal

PHNOM PENH, Dec 21 (IPS) - Cambodia's media organisations are a 'battleground' for old ways and new approaches when it comes to gender.

While more media entities are recognising the role women play in and outside newsrooms, prevailing mindsets and traditions, as well as the lack of training and experience tend to slow down progress in gender sensitivity and equality.

Although the number of media organisations have clearly increased since 1993, after the elections overseen by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia that ended decades of conflict, many Cambodians still see journalism as a 'man's world'. The Cambodian media are "still a very male-dominated industry," says Cambodia's English-language daily 'The Phnom Penh Post' editor-in-chief Seth Meixner.

As of October 2009, Cambodia has 341 newspapers, 119 magazines, 22 radio stations and seven television outfits.

Meixner adds that whatever gender sensitivity-related issues they put out in the paper will certainly reach audiences, particularly its Khmer-language edition's readers. "Will they change opinions? Maybe on a small scale. I don't think it's going to shift centuries of social thinking," he adds.

French-Khmer daily ‘Cambodge Soir’ journalist Ung Chansophea welcomes seeing more women taking communications and journalism courses in college. "I think more women are joining the media industry and are even sometimes better at it than men. There's room for improvement, though. Still, the society views the industry as a job for males and many women still agree to this thinking," she adds.

Indeed, traditional thinking still sees women as mainly homebound. The pressure usually comes from the parents themselves who discourage their daughters from pursuing a career in journalism.

"Parents don't like their daughters to go away from home and communicate with all kinds of people because they think it's not good and even dangerous," says Tive Sarayeth, executive director of the Women's Media Centre of Cambodia, a non-government organisation that was formed in 1995 to increase women's participation in the media.

Meixner adds that tradition is so ingrained in the Cambodian society's psyche that he once heard a ministerial official say that she did not think "women are ready" to be involved in politics and that "they belong in the home."

He says, "In my previous work for another newspaper, a female colleague started out as a very good journalist, but three months afterwards, she quit (due to parental pressure)." Apart from the ‘dangers’ posed by the job, Meixner recalled his female colleague as saying that "they (parents) want me to marry this guy, I'm going to have kids and I can’t work after that."

"I do think this still exists as an issue, but at the same time, kind of parallel to that, you do have a generation of young women reporters who, I think, are much more independent-minded than perhaps their predecessors," he says.

In the ‘Phnom Penh Post’, Meixner says there are an increasing number of women applicants who are still in their third or fourth year communications course but eager to get writing experience. "There are more women applicants in general. A lot of those kids are already working for us and quite a few of them are women," he says.

Then there is a general perception even among women journalists that they can never be as good as their male counterparts. "The women themselves think that being journalists is a man's job, not a woman's. She also fears she is incapable of doing her job well because it might just be too much for her and that she might neglect her family in the process," explains Tive.

Thus, at least now, women journalists end up being assigned more to cover the so-called 'lighter news', including society, lifestyle, health, and education, to name a few.

"People still think that women journalists should write about something else other than 'more serious stuff'. When we try to get information from higher-ups, they look at us as like, 'Oh, that girl can't write that kind of story'," Ung adds.

Ung's goal is to learn how to interact with such news sources and "to feel free" doing so. "I want to show them that there are enough intelligent women journalists out there and that we can do the story as well as our male counterparts," she says.

Meixner agrees, saying "they (male reporters) just think, ‘women can’t cover that, she's just a girl and she can't actually do that."

As for women journalists getting more leverage when interviewing sources, he says it really depends on the journalists and how enlightened the sources are.

"I've seen sources refuse to speak to a journalist because she was a woman. Female journalists also get very nervous not being able to deal with an interviewee, and sometimes male interviewees flirt with female journalists," he says, adding that it is also the same with some male journalists who completely clam up in front of a police official or a government official.

Editors of the 'Post' and 'Cambodge Soir' actively try to encourage their women reporters to cover not just feature pieces but also political and social issues.

The in-house training of journalists in their respective media outfits is almost non-existent, Tive says. She also agrees that it is also difficult to gather these journalists to "sit and listen" to a one-day workshop "because they need to cover (the news)".

What she finds very difficult, however, is to invite editors-in-chief to attend skills and gender sensitivity training sessions. "Even if we try to educate journalists to be gender sensitive, if their editors don't have that kind of gender perspective, it's useless," she says.

Tive says she sees a difference in the way men and women write. Women tend to go deeper and try to understand the reasons why, say, a sex worker got into her 'profession'. In contrast, male journalists may tend to be more matter-of-fact, or worse, launch into a blame game. "If men write, he blames the woman, rather than go into the deeper aspects of an issue," she says.

"When I write about women's issues, I want to dig deeper into why things are that way and I use more sensitive words to describe the situation. I think for men, on the other hand, when they write about women's issues, they write just for information. I'm not generalising but normally, it's like that here," says Ung.

On issues like health and gender parity, Meixner notes that women are generally better informed and not as dismissive of such matters. "But it's weird... for, say, trafficking of women stories, there is not much sensitivity from the male and female reporters, especially when the women involved are non-Cambodians," he says.

Both the 'Post' and 'Cambodge Soir' staff say the publications do follow gender-sensitive language, although, admittedly, not on a consistent basis. For instance, both now try to use consistently the phrase 'beer promotion girls' rather than 'beer girls', a term often equated with girls engaged in sex work.

Of late, Tive says, there has been an increase in reports on sexual assault on women and newspapers, and that magazines -- notorious for graphic images and screaming headlines -- are presenting these on their front pages.

But many of these newspapers now also follow ethical considerations and try to present balanced views. "While magazines continue to show graphic images of dead bodies and the like, newspapers have become more sensitive," says Tive.

Likewise, she says, newspapers have stopped featuring pornographic images. Local magazines, however, are still notorious for their sensational and graphic images. Blood and gore have big readership.

"The Cambodian media are underdeveloped in terms of a sense of what's acceptable and what's not. We're talking about a very basic press corps here. There's a lack of education and lack of media experience," says Meixner.

Of this penchant for violent images, Ung explains: "I think the violent culture in Cambodia is still there, a result of the Khmer regime. Papers publish them because there are still many people who want to see these things."

For Tive, writing about women as 'victims' of a violent crime, for instance, is a double-edged sword. "Portraying women as victims reinforces the stereotype that women are weak, decorations and sex objects. But on the other hand, it is also a good way of increasing awareness about women's issues," she says.

Tive says it is important to think of different issues that touch on gender issues, such as health and economic issues that affect women.

"Through our radio programme, we always emphasise the impacts of a social issue to women," explains Tive. "So a man who smokes tobacco, for instance, not only affects a woman's health but also the family's livelihood. The landmine problem also impacts on the woman if the husband or the son becomes disabled."

Labels: Media

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U.S. slams deportation of Uyghur refugees from Cambodia to China

Two women stand by a roadblock as they take a picture in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur region, in September

(CNN) -- The U.S. State Department said Sunday it was "deeply disturbed" at the deportation of 20 Uyghur asylum seekers from Cambodia back to China.

The deportation "will affect Cambodia's relationship with the U.S. and its international standing," said acting State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid in a statement.

It occurred on Saturday at the request of China, the U.S. said.

"The United States is deeply concerned about the welfare of these individuals, who had sought protection under international law," Duguid said.

"We are also deeply disturbed that the Cambodian government decided to forcibly remove the group without the benefit of a credible process for determining refugee status and without appropriate participation by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees."

Kitty McKinsey, a coordinator with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees agency in Asia, told CNN on Saturday that the refugees had been seeking asylum. China's northwestern region was wracked by ethnic violence between Han Chinese and Uyghur Muslims earlier this year, and the Uyghurs fled to Cambodia to escape the unrest.

McKinsey said the UNHCR considers the deportation a breach of international law, and Uyghur human rights activists have expressed concern about the move. The Uyghur American Association also expressed concern in a statement.

The 20 were held in handcuffs and leg shackles and were not given any food to eat on Friday, according to the association. They were part of a group of 22 Uyghurs seeking refuge in Cambodia, all of whom were under UNHCR protection when taken into custody.

"The United States strongly opposed Cambodia's involuntary return of these asylum seekers before their claims have been heard," the State Department said.

Duguid urged the Chinese government to "uphold international norms and to ensure transparency, due process and proper treatment of persons in its territory" now that the Uyghurs have been returned.

Cambodian and Chinese officials could not immediately be reached for a response. But a Cambodian state media outlet, Agence Kampuchea Presse, reported that Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping is to arrive in Cambodia on Sunday for a three-day visit.

Labels: Uighurs, UN Human Rights Report, US State Department

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Sunday, December 20, 2009

Thailand preparing military action against Cambodia: Pheu Thai MP

Thai soldiers set up artillery guns on the Thai-Cambodian border. (AFP)

An opposition MP yesterday accused the government of planning military force against Cambodia if Prime Minister Hun Sen and Thaksin Shinawatra took any action deemed to violate Thai sovereignty.

This would include establishment of a government in exile for Thaksin on Cambodian soil.

Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Prompan said the military option was suggested in a confidential paper Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya sent to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on November 16 as a guideline for handling the conflict with Cambodia in a worstcase scenario.

"Preparation of a military option is equivalent to preparing for war against Cambodia," Jatuporn said.

"The end game is the normalisation of relations rather than regime change," Jatuporn quoted Kasit as saying in the leaked paper.

The paper called Thaksin "a major threat to the government". The fugitive expremier is using a twopronged strategy to topple the government: cooperation with Hun Sen and activity by the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship.

Thailand has already employed several diplomatic measures against Cambodia since Hun Sen appointed Thaksin as his and the Cambodian government's economic adviser. The two countries downgraded relations in late October, Thailand scrapped a maritime deal with Cambodia, and Phnom Penh rejected Bt1.4 billion in loans from Thailand.

Cambodia has also rejected Thai demands to remove Thaksin from his position and extradite him to Bangkok.

Jatuporn said the Pheu Thai Party obtained Kasit's confidential paper from a Foreign Ministry official. He distributed it to reporters during a press conference at party headquarters.

The paper suggested the government to get rid of the "major threat" (Thaksin) and bring an end to cooperation between Thaksin and Hun Sen.

It listed three possible scenarios in the diplomatic row between the two countries. Thailand could prevent Thaksin and Hun Sen from worsening the situation simply by refusing to respond to them and trying to find an influential figure or country able to persuade Cambodia to back down.

Second, if the conflict does increase in intensity, the Thai government would step up retaliation while remaining sensitive to its effect on ordinary people and the national interest.

Third, in the worst case, such as a violation of Thai sovereignty or anything resembling the establishment of a government in exile for Thaksin, Thailand would cut diplomatic relations and resort to using military force.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry yesterday would not deny the existence of the document and its content but said it would set up a committee to find whoever leaked the document to the opposition party.

The ministry will consult the Office of the AttorneyGeneral about taking legal action against Jatuporn under the Information Act of 1997, said ministry deputy spokesman Thani Thongpakdee.

Source: The Nation/Asia News Network

Labels: Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thailand

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Saturday, December 19, 2009

Cambodia to Deport Uighurs Despite Persecution Fears

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia plans to deport at least 20 Muslim Uighurs who fled China after deadly ethnic violence this year, a government official said on Saturday, despite concerns they will face persecution by Beijing.

The Uighurs, a Turkic Muslim ethnic group involved in rioting in western China that killed nearly 200 people in July, were smuggled into Cambodia in recent weeks and applied for asylum at the United Nations refugee agency office in Phnom Penh.

"The Cambodian government is implementing its immigration law. They came to Cambodia illegally without any passports or visas, so we consider them illegal immigrants," said Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong.

Human rights groups say they fear for the lives of the Uighurs if they are deported to China.

"Cambodia will be sending these Uighurs to a terrible fate,

possible execution and likely torture," said Amy Reger, a researcher at the Washington-based Uighur American Association.

She cited the case of Shaheer Ali, a Uighur political activist who fled to Nepal in 2000 and was granted refugee status by the United Nations. He was forcibly returned to China from Nepal in 2002 and executed a year later according to state media.

Reger's group received reports at least 20 of the Uighurs were put on a flight to Shanghai early on Saturday. But she said it appeared they had not yet been deported.

Washington is "deeply disturbed" that the Uighurs may be forcibly returned, said John Johnson, U.S. embassy spokesman in Phnom Penh. "The U.S. strongly urges the Cambodian government to honour its commitments under international law."

Cambodia's Foreign Ministry spokesman said he did not know their location.

UN OFFERS HELP

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office said it believed they were still in Cambodia.

"We have conveyed a message to the Cambodian government to refrain from deporting them," said Kitty McKinsey, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR office.

The U.N. body had offered assistance to the Cambodian government to resolve the case, McKinsey said.

Beijing has called the asylum seekers "criminals," although it has offered no evidence to back up the allegations.

Rights groups say Cambodia is bound by a 1951 convention on refugees pledging not to return asylum-seekers to countries where they will face persecution. Cambodia is one of two Southeast Asian nations to have signed the convention.

When asked about Cambodia's obligations under the 1951 convention, Koy said: "We are implementing our internal laws."

The Uighurs have put Cambodia's leaders in an awkward position ahead of a visit on Sunday by Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping, who is expected to sign 14 agreements related to infrastructure construction, grants and loans.

China is Cambodia's biggest investor, having poured more than $1 billion (617 million pounds) in foreign direct investment into the country.

The July 5 riots, which began with protests against attacks on Uighur workers in south China, killed 197 people, most of them Han Chinese. More than 1,600 were wounded, official figures show.

At least eight people have been sentenced to death for murder and other crimes during the rioting, and nine other people have been executed, Chinese state media have reported.

(Editing by Jason Szep and Paul Tait)

Labels: Uighurs

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Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan charged with genocide

Khieu Samphan in court during a public hearing in 2008

Khieu Samphan applauds his soldiers in 1976
An international tribunal in Cambodia charged the country’s former head of state with genocide today, in a move that could further delay the drawn out trials of former leaders of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime.

Khieu Samphan became the third Cambodian to be charged with genocide this week after Ieng Sary, the former Foreign Minister, and Nuon Chea, the second in the Khmer Rouge hierarchy after the late Pol Pot.

All have already been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as murder and torture for the crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge during the four years that they ruled Cambodia after 1975.

The paperwork required by the new charges is likely to further delay the conclusion of proceedings against a group of already old and ill men.

About 1.7 million Cambodians are believed to have died during the time of the so-called killing fields, when the urban population was forced into the countryside en masse to live as peasants.

Yesterday’s charges relate to the regime’s purge of two minorities living within Cambodia: Vietnamese and the Muslim Cham, who were among the few people to mount a determined resistance to the Khmer Rouge. Between 100,000 and 400,000 of the Cham are believed to have died.

Like most of his senior Khmer Rouge colleagues, Khieu Samphan was born into what, by Cambodian standards, was a privileged family. He studied in Paris, producing a thesis on Cambodian economic development.

On returning home, he worked as an academic and journalist and became involved in left-wing politics. The year after the Khmer Rouge’s victory in the civil war he became president of the organisation’s central presidium. However, the greatest power in the country lay with Pol Pot, who died in 1998.

Khieu Samphan’s lawyers argue that his position was no more than ceremonial and that he bears no responsibility for the atrocities that took place under his Government. He was arrested in 1998 and reportedly suffered a stroke two years ago.

Source: Times Online - Richard Lloyd Parry

Labels: Genocide, Khieu Samphan, Khmer Rouge Tribunal

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Tribunal charges 2 Khmer Rouge with genocide: Nuon Chea & Ieng Sary

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — The U.N.-assisted tribunal trying former leaders of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge has charged two defendants with genocide for the first time

Tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen said Wednesday the co-investigating judges issued the charges this week against the group's top ideologist, Nuon Chea, and former foreign minister, Ieng Sary.

The tribunal is seeking justice for an estimated 1.7 million people who died from execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition as a result of the ultra-communist group's policies during its 1975-79 rule.

Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary have already been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as homicide and torture. They are being held in the tribunal's jail and are expected to be tried next year.

Olsen said they were charged with involvement in the deaths of members of the country's ethnic Cham and Vietnamese communities.

Some Chams, who are mostly Muslims, were among the few Cambodians to actively resist Khmer Rouge rule. The Khmer Rouge brutally suppressed the rebellions, which occurred in several villages.

Prejudice against Vietnamese runs high among many Cambodians, who see their eastern neighbor as predatory. The Khmer Rouge shared the communist ideology with Vietnam but had very strained relations with it, and mistrusted even veteran members of their own group with ties to Hanoi. They launched bloody attacks against Vietnamese border villages, which in late 1978 resulted in an invasion by Vietnam that ousted them from power.

The tribunal tried its first defendant, prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, this year on charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture.

Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, commanded S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, where up to 16,000 people were tortured and taken away to be killed. A verdict is expected next year, and he faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if found guilty. Cambodia has no death penalty.

Olsen said it would be determined later whether the two other Khmer Rouge leaders in custody — former head of state Khieu Samphan, and former Social Affairs Minister Ieng Thirith, the wife of Ieng Sary — would also be charged with genocide.

Source: The Associated Press

Labels: Ieng Sary, Khmer Rouge Tribunal, Nuon Chea

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Thursday, November 26, 2009

Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Kaing Guek Eav could get 40 years

Khmer Rouge jailer says sorry
(02:36) Report - Nov 25 - The Khmer Rouge's chief torturer and jailer in Cambodia in the 1970s expresses "excruciating remorse" in the final stages of his trial before the U.N.-backed "Killing Fields" tribunal. Kirsty Basset reports.

Khmer Rouge prison chief could get 40 years
By SOPHENG CHEANG and LUKE HUNT,Associated Press Writers

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – The prison chief being tried for running a torture center for the Khmer Rouge was only following orders and did nothing that scores of colleagues didn't also do, his lawyer said Wednesday, seeking to rebut popular calls for his client to receive the maximum possible punishment.

Prosecutors in Cambodia's first genocide trial are asking for a 40-year sentence, which would likely lock up 67-year-old Kaing Guek Eav for life, but which some of his victims say that would still not be harsh enough.

Judges will decide the verdict and sentence by early next year and can impose up to life imprisonment. Cambodia has no death penalty.

"I cannot accept this sentence request because it is too little," said Chum Mey, 78, one of a handful of survivors from the S-21 prison run three decades ago by Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch. "He should get 70 or 80 years. ... He should be punished by hanging, but Cambodian law doesn't allow it."

Closing arguments will conclude Friday in the case of Duch, who is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. About 16,000 men, women and children suspected of disloyalty were tortured at the prison in Phnom Penh before being taken away for execution.

In total, some 1.7 million Cambodians died due to the radical communist policies of the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime and their French-educated leader, the late Pol Pot. Four other senior leaders are in custody, and expected to face trial in the next year.

Duch (pronounced DOIK) has denied personally killing or torturing the S-21 prisoners, and testified that he acted with reluctance on orders from his superiors, fearing for the safety of his family and himself.

Addressing the court Wednesday, he once again apologized to the dead, their families, survivors of the regime and to all Cambodians _ something he has done repeatedly since the trial began in March.

He said he was "deeply remorseful and profoundly affected by the destruction on such a mind-boggling scale."

But he also emphasized that he was not alone in carrying out torture and killings, which also took place at 196 prisons across the country, and insisted there was little he could do to prevent the horror at S-21.

"I could do nothing to help," he said. "Pol Pot regarded these people as thorns in his eyes."

One of his lawyers, Kar Savuth, said his client was not a senior Khmer Rouge leader responsible for the group's policies and therefore should not be prosecuted.

Australian co-prosecutor William Smith earlier acknowledged Duch's admissions of guilt and the fact that he has given evidence against other Khmer Rouge leaders, but said he still must be held accountable.

"The crimes committed by the accused at S-21 are rarely matched in modern history in terms of their combined barbarity, scope, duration, premeditation and their callousness," he said. "Not just the victims and their families but the whole of humanity demand a just and proportionate response to these crimes and this court must speak on behalf of that humanity."

Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American lawyer and rights activist who as a 7-year-old was held in a Khmer Rouge prison with her 4-year-old brother, called the proposed sentence "unacceptable" and said it would create "an uproar among Cambodians."

"There are many counts, many crimes he should be found guilty of and each one carries a life sentence," she said. "So even with mitigating circumstances taken into account, he should at least get one life sentence, even two or three life sentences."

Others went further. "He must be punished heavily because he killed people. He should get the death sentence," said Roeung Sok, a spectator at the trial Wednesday.

But Huot Chheang Kaing, 67, who had been Duch's classmate in the early 1960s, said he thought that the defendant should not receive the maximum punishment because he was only following orders under duress. "I wish the court to sentence Duch to only 20 or 25 years in prison," he said

Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Could Get 40 Years
by Michael Sullivan (NPR)

Prosecutors in the genocide trial of a former Khmer Rouge prison chief demanded a 40-year jail sentence Wednesday for Kaing Guek Eav. They say he is responsible for snuffing out innocent lives and spreading terror across Cambodia. Victims of the Khmer Rouge regime called the requested sentence unacceptable.

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

Thirty years after the end of genocide in Cambodia, a trial is nearing its end. A former prison commander is the first former high ranking official to go on trial. He ran a prison called Tuol Sleng or S-21. He was an official in the Khmer Rouge, the group that ruled Cambodia during four years of torture and executions. As many as 1.7 million Cambodians died.

The prosecution is asking that Comrade Duch be given 40 years in prison. NPR's Michael Sullivan is at the trial in Phnom Penh, and we warn listeners that they may find some parts of this report disturbing.

MICHAEL SULLIVAN: Kaing Guek Eav's trial has been going on for nine months now. And during that time, the court has heard grizzly detail from survivors and from the Khmer Rouge's own meticulous record keeping, about the horrors inflicted on prisoners at Tuol Sleng. A list repeated by co-prosecutor William Smith today, as the prosecution wrapped up its case.

Savage beatings, fingernails and toenails pulled out with pliers, electrocution, all were part of the Tuol Sleng experience, Smith said, which ended for almost all of the prisoners at the killing field of Choeung Ek.

Mr. WILLIAM SMITH (Prosecutor): Blindfolded and handcuffed, the prisoners were forced to kneel down in the dark next to their own burial pits. There they waited until the blow of a shovel or car axle broke the back of their heads. And if that did not kill them their throats were slit before they were kicked into their grave.

SULLIVAN: The man accused of overseeing those executions isn't denying his guilt. Kaing Guek Eav, today, looked calm, relaxed even, in his blue button-down oxford and khakis, as the prosecutor spoke. The 67-year-old's defense, one he's repeated throughout the trial, that he was simply a cog in the machine, doing the bidding of his superiors lest he be killed, too. Duch, speaking through a translator, nonetheless apologized again today.

Mr. KAING GUEK EAV (Commander, Tuol Sleng prison): (Through translator) I still claim that I am solely and individually liable for the loss of at least 12,380 lives. I still and forever wish to most respectfully and humbly apologize to the dead souls.

SULLIVAN: Then Duch spoke to the handful of prisoners who managed to make it out of Tuol Sleng alive.

Mr. EAV: (Through translator) To the survivors, I stand by my acknowledgment of all crimes which were inflicted on you at S-21. I acknowledge them both in the legal and moral context.

SULLIVAN: Outside the courtroom, one of the survivors was having none of it. Chum Mey, who lost his wife and two children to the Khmer Rouge, a man imprisoned at Tuol Sleng for allegedly being a CIA spy, says his former jailer's remorse and pleas for forgiveness are both insincere and insufficient. The prosecution's recommendation of 40 years in prison for Duch, he says, not nearly enough.

Mr. CHUM MEY: (Foreign language spoken)

SULLIVAN: It's not justice, he says. Duch should get at least 70 to 80 years or life - or better yet, hang him, he says. Chum Mey says he's now going to have to light incense and pray that the souls of the dead may yet find justice when the court issues its verdict in the case some time next year.

Forty years on, many here are still looking for justice, or at least an explanation, why nearly two million people died during the four year long rule of the Khmer Rouge. But it's also true there are many here who simply aren't interested. I met both today, at a roadside video shop not a mile from the trial venue.

One young man, an accountant, said the tribunal was a good idea and would help the country heal from the wounds of that time. But his 20-year-old friend, a cell phone repair man, just laughed when I asked him about the tribunal. I don't know anything about it, he said. I can't even tell you who's on trial. That was a long time ago, he said, and right now, I'm too busy to care about that sort of thing.

Michael Sullivan, NPR News, Phnom Penh.
INSKEEP: This is NPR News

Labels: Kaing Guek Eav, Khmer Rouge Tribunal

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Watch: Villagers' grievances can be heard

During the Kathen religious ceremony at the above-mentioned pagoda on October 25, 2009, villagers living along the border with Vietnam complained to Sam Rainsy about the Vietnamese authorities grabbing their rice fields.

Labels: Border, Sam Rainsy, Sam Rainsy Party

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Army report confirms border encroachments by Vietnam

A 1999 report by then Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) Commander-in-Chief General Ke Kim Yan to Prime Minister Hun Sen indicates that Vietnam has been surreptitiously and illegally annexing stretches of Cambodia's territories in several provinces along our eastern border since 1979. The newly leaked report details several cases where Vietnamese civilians protected by armed soldiers or militiamen grabbed land belonging to Cambodian farmers and moved border markers well inside Cambodian territory. Read the original 8-page report in Khmer at below:
Army report confirms border encroachments by Vietnam

Labels: Border, hun sen, ke kim yan, Prime Minister Hun Sen, Vietnamese Invation

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Sunday, November 15, 2009

FREEDOM PRIZE LAUREATE SAM RAINSY’S SPEECH

(Getty Images)

FREEDOM PRIZE LAUREATE SAM RAINSY’S SPEECH
AT THE LIBERAL INTERNATIONAL 56th CONGRESS
PRESENTATION OF BOOK “25 YEARS PRIZE FOR FREEDOM”

31 October 2009 - Cairo, Egypt

Aung San Suu Kyi, Vaclav Havel, Benazir Bhutto, Corazon Aquino, Mary Robinson, Martin Lee, who doesn’t know these inspiring figures who have made the world’s recent history? They were also recipients of the Liberal International Prize for Freedom.

Today we are launching a book to celebrate 25 years of LI Prize for Freedom.

Founded in 1985, the Prize had 26 laureates (there were two laureates in 1991).

I was honored to receive the Prize in 2006 in Marrakech (Morocco).

Now, I am humbled to also, in a way, represent the other laureates at this ceremony.

They are, or were, most distinguished people who deserved the Prize much more than me.

But I am here because nobody else could come to Cairo today…

Let me first recall the origins, backgrounds and main features of the 26 laureates.

In terms of gender, there were sixteen males and ten females.

In terms of geographic origin, the laureates represented 25 nationalities (two of them were from South Africa).

In terms of occupation and professional background, there were 19 politicians also known as human rights advocates, and seven persons from the civil society including three human rights activists and four other persons: a scientist, a scholar, a writer and a poet who all worked for peace and freedom.

Are all the laureates still alive? 23 are still alive. Three have passed away: Raul Alfonsin (Argentina), Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan) and Corazon Aquino (Philippines).

Those who are still alive, what are they doing now? Most of them are old now – for sure older than 25 years ago – but they are still active in defending liberal values and ideals. One of them is the current president of Senegal, Mr Abdoulaye Wade. Two are in jail or under house arrest (Aung San Suu Kyi). Four are leaders of the opposition in their respective countries, including myself.

To fully understand the meaning and the importance of the LI Prize for Freedom, I invite you to read the book introduction by our president John Lord Alderdice.

“The Prize for Freedom was to be awarded to those who had struggled for Freedom in some of the most difficult and challenging political environments for Liberals around the world.”

“The Award would provide encouragement, recognition, in some cases, a degree of protection, since it would warn authoritarian regimes that moves against a Prize for Freedom Laureate would produce a storm of protest from liberals around the world.”

I fully subscribe to what John Alderdice wrote in his introduction.

I would add that, at least in my case, the Prize was not given to an individual. It was to honor a just cause in a particular context.

The cause is the defense of liberal values, above all Freedom that we all cherish.

The context for me was Cambodia.

The Prize was not given to me as an individual. I just received it, as the head of a team, on behalf of countless known and unknown colleagues and friends who had made sacrifices while serving the cause of freedom.

Founded in 1995, the political party that I lead in Cambodia, the SRP, is now the country’s second largest party and we will become, God willing, the number one party in a not too distant future.

But as of today, over eighty members of my party have been assassinated. Countless others have been injured, arrested, jailed, or forced to go into hiding or into exile.

I can never forget those who have been killed, sometimes in front of my eyes.

I have attended too many funerals. I would prefer not to receive any prize or award at all if I only could stop attending unnecessary funerals.

But things being as they are, the LI Prize for Freedom is a useful recognition of our legitimate fight and a powerful encouragement to us to go on fighting our uphill battle against a powerful dictatorship. The Prize gives us more courage and strength in the face of dictators who use the state media they control to denounce us as “traitors”, “anarchists” or “hooligans.”

Such a prestigious international award as the LI Prize for Freedom gives us legitimacy and honorability in the eyes of the whole world. It gives us irrefutable international credentials as democrats fighting for freedom, and that proves to be an invaluable protection against assaults from dictators who just want to eliminate us.

Thank you.

Labels: Sam Rainsy

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Saturday, November 14, 2009

Thaksin Risks His Reputation

Former Thai Premier Appears Cozy With Nation's Rival
By JAMES HOOKWAY

BANGKOK -- Since Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra was forced out of power in a military coup three years ago, he has made a show of traveling the world to keep in the public eye back home. But his latest gambit -- taking up a role as economic adviser to Thailand's neighbor and rival, Cambodia -- threatens to backfire and jeopardize his standing in the country he still hopes one day to lead, analysts say.

On Thursday, Mr. Thaksin, a telecommunications magnate, began his new job by delivering a lecture on economic planning to Cambodian government officials in Phnom Penh, the capital.

The former prime minister, who still commands the support of many Thais, said he could use his business skills to help steer Cambodia's economic development. He has been photographed smiling and making golf plans with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen before he leaves aboard his private jet on Friday.

This is going down badly in Thailand, where many of Mr. Thaksin's critics accuse him of selling out his country's interests to help an ancient enemy. "If Mr. Thaksin persists with this alliance with Cambodia, the nationalist backlash in Thailand will pick up, even among his own supporters," says Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political science professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

Mr. Thaksin's popularity has a bearing on the stability of one of America's main allies in Asia. The photo opportunities in Cambodia will play particularly badly next to images of Thailand's current, military-backed Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who on Sunday will host President Barack Obama in Singapore at the first summit between Southeast Asian leaders and an American president.

Mr. Thaksin accused his foes in Thailand of "false patriotism" by criticizing his trip to Cambodia. His decision to work as Mr. Hun Sen's economic adviser is risky. The two men are close personally and share a penchant for golf and sparring with their critics in the media. But historical enmity between Thailand and Cambodia runs deep. Cambodia's Khmer Empire, which dates to the ninth century, was for centuries the dominant power in the region.

More recently, anti-Thai riots broke out in Cambodia in 2003 after a Thai actress was incorrectly reported as saying Cambodia's national symbol -- the Angkor Wat temple complex -- belonged to Thailand. Since 2008, at least seven soldiers from both sides have been killed in clashes near another temple, Preah Vihear, which is claimed by both countries. A Thai man living in Cambodia was arrested in August for sketching out a map of the Angkor Wat complex on his toilet floor.

The dispute may also provide Cambodia with more leverage in future negotiations over competing temple claims -- as well as the significant oil and gas deposits believed to exist off Cambodia's shores -- with its larger, more powerful neighbor. Analysts say the country is growing in confidence now that Chinese and South Korean businesses have begun investing there, and it is less dependent on Thailand and its other large neighbor, Vietnam.

For his part, Mr. Thaksin now has the opportunity to use Cambodia as a base from which to organize his supporters across the border in Thailand, a prospect that alarms leaders in Bangkok, who are recovering from the impact of antigovernment riots in the city last April.

Thailand and Cambodia have withdrawn their ambassadors and on Thursday expelled a diplomat apiece as part of the escalating dispute.

Thailand this week filed an extradition request to Cambodia to hand over Mr. Thaksin for a corruption conviction. Mr. Hun Sen's government refused, saying the charges against Mr. Thaksin are politically motivated and a direct result of the 2006 military coup. Thailand is now moving to cancel an oil and gas exploration deal with Cambodia and has raised the prospect of partially closing its border because of the row over Mr. Thaksin.

Other countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are struggling to contain their irritation with both sides ahead of their historic meeting with Mr. Obama Sunday on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Singapore.

"We in Asean cannot afford to be seen as being so seriously divided," Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, who is Thai, said in a statement.

Write to James Hookway at james.hookway@wsj.com

Labels: Prime Minister Hun Sen, Thaksin Shinawatra

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Friday, October 23, 2009

Paris Peace Agreement, Paris, October 23, 1991

Paris, October 23, 1991

Annex 1 UNTAC Mandate

Section A General Procedures

In accordance with Article 6 of the Agreement, UNTAC will exercise the powers necessary to ensure the implementation of this Agreement, including those relating to the organisation and conduct of free and fair elections and the relevant aspects of the administration of Cambodia.
The following mechanism will be used to resolve all issues relating to the implementation of this Agreement which may arise between the Secretary-General's Special Representative and the Supreme National Council (SNC):

a) The SNC offers advice to UNTAC, which will comply with this advice provided there is a consensus among the members of the SNC and provided this advice is consistent with the objectives of the present Agreement;

b) If there is no consensus among the members of the SNC despite every endeavour of its President, H.R.H. Samdech Norodom Sihanouk, the President will be entitled to make the decision on what advice to offer to UNTAC, taking fully into account the views expressed in the SNC. UNTAC will comply with the advice provided it is consistent with the objectives of the present Agreement;

c) If H.R.H. Samdech Norodom Sihanouk, President of the SNC, the legitimate representative of Cambodian sovereignty, is not, for whatever reason, in a position to make such a decision, his power of decision will transfer to the Secretary-General's Special Representative. The Special Representative will make the final decision, taking fully into account the views expressed in the SNC;

d) Any power to act regarding the implementation of this Agreement conferred upon the SNC by the Agreement will be exercised by consensus or, failing such consensus, by its President in accordance with the procedure set out above. In the event that H.R.H. Samdech Norodom Sihanouk, President of the SNC, the legitimate representative of Cambodian sovereignty, is not, for whatever reason, in a position to act, his power to act will transfer to the Secretary-General's Special Representative, who may take the necessary action;

e) In all cases, the Secretary-General's Special Representative will determine whether advice or action of the SNC is consistent with the present Agreement.
The Secretary-General's Special Representative or his delegate will attend the meetings of the SNC and of any subsidiary body which might be established by it and give its members all necessary information on the decisions taken by UNTAC.

Section B Civil Administration

In accordance with Article 6 of the Agreement, all administrative agencies, bodies and offices acting in the field of foreign affairs, national defence, finance, public security and information will be placed under the direct control of UNTAC, which will exercise it as necessary to ensure strict neutrality. In this respect, the Secretary-General's Special Representative will determine what is necessary and may issue directives to the above-mentioned administrative agencies, bodies and offices. Such directives may be issued to and will bind all Cambodian Parties.
In accordance with Article 6 of the Agreement, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, in consultation with the SNC, will determine which other administrative agencies, bodies and offices could directly influence the outcome of elections. These administrative agencies, bodies and offices will be placed under direct supervision or control of UNTAC and will comply with any guidance provided by it.
In accordance with Article 6 of the Agreement, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, in consultation with the SNC, will identify which administrative agencies, bodies and offices could continue to operate in order to ensure normal day-to-day life in Cambodia, if necessary, under such supervision by UNTAC as it considers necessary.
In accordance with Article 6 of the Agreement, the authority of the Secretary-General's Special Representative will include the power to:

a) Install in administrative agencies, bodies and offices of all the Cambodian Parties United Nations personnel, who will have unrestricted access to all administrative operations and information;

b) Require the reassignment or removal of any personnel of such administrative agencies, bodies and offices.
a) On the basis of the information provided in Article I, paragraph 3, of annex 2, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General will determine, after consultation with the Cambodian Parties, those civil police necessary to perform law enforcement in Cambodia. All Cambodian Parties hereby undertake to comply with the determination made by the Special Representative in this regard;

b) All civil police will operate under UNTAC supervision or control, in order to ensure that law and order are maintained effectively and impartially, and that human rights and fundamental freedoms are fully protected. In consultation with the SNC, UNTAC will supervise other law enforcement and judicial processes throughout Cambodia to the extent necessary to ensure the attainment of these objectives.
If the Secretary-General's Special Representative deems it necessary, UNTAC, in consultation with the SNC, will undertake investigations of complaints and allegations regarding actions by the existing administrative structures in Cambodia that are inconsistent with or work against the objectives of this comprehensive political settlement. UNTAC will also be empowered to undertake such investigation on its own initiative. UNTAC will take, when necessary, appropriate corrective steps.

Section C Military Functions

UNTAC will supervise, monitor and verify the withdrawal of foreign forces, the ceasefire and related measures in accordance with annex 2, including:

a) Verification of the withdrawal from Cambodia of all categories of foreign forces, advisers and military personnel and their weapons, ammunition and equipment, and their non-return to Cambodia

b) Liaison with neighbouring Governments over any developments in or near their territory that could endanger the implementation of this Agreement;

c) Monitoring the cessation of outside military assistance to all Cambodian Parties;

d) Locating and confiscating caches of weapons and military supplies throughout the country;

e) Assisting with clearing mines and undertaking training programmes in mine clearance and a mine awareness programme among the Cambodian people.
UNTAC will supervise the regrouping and relocating of all forces to specifically designated cantonment areas on the basis of an operational timetable to be agreed upon, in accordance with annex 2.
As the forces enter the cantonments, UNTAC will initiate the process of arms control and reduction specified in annex 2.
UNTAC will take necessary steps regarding the phased process of demobilisation of the military forces of the parties, in accordance with annex 2.
UNTAC will assist, as necessary, the International Committee of the Red Cross in the release of all prisoners of war and civilian internees.

Section D Elections

UNTAC will organise and conduct the election referred to in Part II of this Agreement in accordance with this section and annex 3.
UNTAC may consult with the SNC regarding the organisation and conduct of the electoral process.
In the exercise of its responsibilities in relation to the electoral process, the specific authority of UNTAC will include the following:

a) The establishment, in consultation with the SNC, of a system of laws, procedures and administrative measures necessary for the holding of a free and fair election in Cambodia, including the adoption of an electoral law and of a code of conduct regulating participation in the election in a manner consistent with respect for human rights and prohibiting coercion or financial inducement in order to influence voter preference;

b) The suspension or abrogation, in consultation with the SNC, of provisions of existing laws which could defeat the objects and purposes of this Agreement;

c) The design and implementation of a voter education programme, covering all aspects of the election, to support the election process;

d) The design and implementation of a system of voter registration, as a first phase of the electoral process, to ensure that eligible voters have the opportunity to register, and the subsequent preparation of verified voter registration lists;

e) The design and implementation of a system of registration of political parties and lists of candidates;

f) Ensuring fair access to the media, including press, television and radio, for all political parties contesting in the election;

g) The adoption and implementation of measures to monitor and facilitate the participation of Cambodians in the elections, the political campaign and the balloting procedures;

h) The design and implementation of a system of balloting and polling, to ensure that registered voters have the opportunity to vote;

i) The establishment, in consultation with the SNC, of co-ordinated arrangements to facilitate the presence of foreign observers wishing to observe the campaign and voting;

j) Overall direction of polling and the vote count;

k) The identification and investigation of complaints of electoral irregularities, and the taking of appropriate corrective action;

l) Determining whether or not the election was free and fair and, if so, certification of the list of persons duly elected.
In carrying out its responsibilities under the present section, UNTAC will establish a system of safeguards to assist it in ensuring the absence of fraud during the electoral process, including arrangements for Cambodian representatives to observe the registration and polling procedures and the provision of an UNTAC mechanism for hearing and deciding complaints.
The timetable for the various phases of the electoral process will be determined by UNTAC, in consultation with the SNC as provided in paragraph 2 of this section. The duration of the electoral process will not exceed nine months from the commencement of voter registration.
In organising and conducting the electoral process, UNTAC will make every effort to ensure that the system and procedures adopted are absolutely impartial, while the operational arrangements are as administratively simple and efficient as possible.

Section E Human Rights

In accordance with Article 16, UNTAC will make provisions for:

a) The development and implementation of a programme of human rights education to promote respect for and understanding of human rights;

b) General human rights oversight during the transitional period;

c) The investigation of human rights complaints, and, where appropriate, corrective action.

Annex 2 Withdrawal, Ceasefire and Related Measures

Article I Ceasefire

All Cambodian Parties (hereinafter referred to as “the Parties”) agree to observe a comprehensive ceasefire on land and water and in the air. This ceasefire will be implemented in two phases. During the first phase, the ceasefire will be observed with the assistance of the Secretary-General of the United Nations through his good offices. During the second phase, which should commence as soon as possible, the ceasefire will be supervised, monitored and verified by UNTAC. The Commander of the military component of UNTAC, in consultation with the Parties, shall determine the exact time and date at which the second phase will commence. This date will be set at least four weeks in advance of its coming into effect.
The Parties undertake that, upon the signing of this Agreement, they will observe a ceasefire and will order their armed forces immediately to disengage and refrain from all hostilities and any deployment, movement or action that would extend the territory they control or that might lead to a resumption of fighting, pending the commencement of the second phase. “Forces” are agreed to include all regular, provincial, district, paramilitary and other auxiliary forces.

During the first phase, the Secretary-General of the United Nations will provide his good offices to the Parties to assist them in its observance. The Parties undertake to co-operate with the Secretary-General or his representatives in the exercise of his good offices in this regard.
The Parties agree that, immediately upon the signing of this Agreement, the following information will be provided to the United Nations:

a) Total strength of their forces, organisation, precise number and location of deployments inside and outside Cambodia. The deployment will be depicted on a map marked with locations of all troop positions, occupied or unoccupied, including staging camps, supply bases and supply routes;

b) Comprehensive lists of arms, ammunition and equipment held by their forces, and the exact locations at which those arms, ammunition and equipment are deployed;

c) Detailed record of their minefields, including types and characteristics of mines laid and information of booby traps used by them together with any information available to them about minefields laid or booby traps used by the other Parties;

d) Total strength of their police forces, organisation, precise numbers and locations of deployments as well as comprehensive lists of their arms, ammunition and equipment and the exact locations at which those arms, ammunition and equipment are deployed.
Immediately upon his arrival in Cambodia, and not later than four weeks before the beginning of the second phase, the Commander of the military component of UNTAC will, in consultation with the Parties, finalise UNTAC's plan for the regroupment and cantonment of the forces of the Parties and for the storage of their arms, ammunition and equipment, in accordance with Article Ill of this annex. This plan will include the designation of regroupment and cantonment areas, as well as an agreed timetable. The cantonment areas will be established at battalion size or larger.
The Parties agree to take steps to inform their forces at least two weeks before the beginning of the second phase, using all possible means of communication, about the agreed date and time of the beginning of the second phase, about the agreed plan for the regroupment and cantonment of their forces and for the storage of their arms, ammunition and equipment and, in particular, about the exact locations of the regroupment areas to which their forces are to report. Such information will continue to be disseminated for a period of four weeks after the beginning of the second phase.
The Parties shall scrupulously observe the ceasefire and will not resume any hostilities by land, water or air. The commanders of their armed forces will ensure that all troops under their command remain on their respective positions, pending their movement to the designated regroupment areas, and refrain from all hostilities and from any deployment or movement or action which would extend the territory they control or which might lead to a resumption of fighting.

Article II Liaison System and Mixed Military Working Group

A Mixed Military Working Group (MMWG) will be established with a view to resolving any problems that may arise in the observance of the ceasefire. It will be chaired by the most senior United Nations military officer in Cambodia or his representative. Each Party agrees to designate an officer of the rank of brigadier or equivalent to serve on the MMWG. Its composition, method of operation and meeting places will be determined by the most senior United Nations military officer in consultation with the Parties. Similar liaison arrangements will be made at lower military command levels to resolve practical problems on the ground.

Article III Regroupment and cantonment of the forces of the Parties and storage of their arms, ammunition and equipment

In accordance with the operational timetable referred to in paragraph 4 of Article I of the present annex, all forces of the Parties that are not already in designated cantonment areas will report to designated regroupment areas, which will be established and operated by the military component of UNTAC. These regroupment areas will be established and operational not later than one week prior to the date of the beginning of the second phase. The Parties agree to arrange for all their forces, with all their arms, ammunition and equipment, to report to regroupment areas within two weeks after the beginning of the second phase. All personnel who have reported to the regroupment areas will thereafter be escorted by personnel of the military component of UNTAC, with their arms, ammunition and equipment, to designated cantonment areas. All Parties agree to ensure that personnel reporting to the regroupment areas will be able to do so in full safety and without any hindrance.
On the basis of the information provided in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article I of the present annex, UNTAC will confirm that the regroupment and cantonment processes have been completed in accordance with the plan referred to in paragraph 4 of Article I of this annex. UNTAC will endeavour to complete these processes within four weeks from the date of the beginning of the second phase. On the completion of regroupment of all forces and of their movement to cantonment areas, respectively, the Commander of the military component of UNTAC will so inform each of the four Parties.
The Parties agree that, as their forces enter the designated cantonment areas, their personnel will be instructed by their commanders to immediately hand over all their arms, ammunition and equipment to UNTAC for storage in the custody of UNTAC.
UNTAC will check the arms, ammunition and equipment handed over to it against the lists referred to in paragraph 3. b) of Article I of this annex, in order to verify that all the arms, ammunition and equipment in the possession of the Parties have been placed under its custody.

Article IV Resupply of forces during cantonment

The military component of UNTAC will supervise the resupply of all forces of the Parties during the regroupment and cantonment processes. Such resupply will be confined to items of a non-lethal nature such as food, water, clothing and medical supplies as well as provision of medical care.

Article V Ultimate disposition of the forces of the Parties and of their arms, ammunition and equipment

In order to reinforce the objectives of a comprehensive political settlement, minimise the risks of a return to warfare, stabilise the security situation and build confidence among the Parties to the conflict, all Parties agree to undertake a phased and balanced process of demobilisation of at least 70 per cent of their military forces. This process shall be undertaken in accordance with a detailed plan to be drawn up by UNTAC on the basis of the information provided under Article I of this annex and in consultation with the Parties. It should be completed prior to the end of the process of registration for the elections and on a date to be determined by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General.
The Cambodian Parties hereby commit themselves to demobilise all their remaining forces before or shortly after the elections and, to the extent that full demobilisation is unattainable, to respect and abide by whatever decision the newly elected government that emerges in accordance with Article 12 of this Agreement takes with regard to the incorporation of parts or all of those forces into a new national army. Upon completion of the demobilisation referred to in paragraph 1, the Cambodian Parties and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General shall undertake a review regarding the final disposition of the forces remaining in the cantonments, with a view to determining which of the following shall apply:

a) If the Parties agree to proceed with the demobilisation of all or some of the forces remaining in the cantonments, preferably prior to or otherwise shortly after the elections, the Special Representative shall prepare a timetable for so doing, in consultation with them;

b) Should total demobilisation of all of the residual forces before or shortly after the elections not be possible, the Parties hereby undertake to make available all of their forces remaining in cantonments to the newly elected government that emerges in accordance with Article 12 of this Agreement, for consideration for incorporation into a new national army. They further agree that any such forces which are not incorporated into the new national army will be demobilised forthwith according to a plan to be prepared by the Special Representative. With regard to the ultimate disposition of the remaining forces and all the arms, ammunition and equipment, UNTAC, as it withdraws from Cambodia, shall retain such authority as is necessary to ensure an orderly transfer to the newly elected government of those responsibilities it has exercised during the transitional period.
UNTAC will assist, as required, with the reintegration into civilian life of the forces demobilised prior to the elections.
a) UNTAC will control and guard all the arms, ammunition and equipment of the Parties throughout the transitional period;

b) As the cantoned forces are demobilised in accordance with paragraph 1 above, there will be a parallel reduction by UNTAC of the arms, ammunition and equipment stored on site in the cantonment areas. For the forces remaining in the cantonment areas, access to their arms, ammunition and equipment shall only be on the basis of the explicit authorisation of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General;

c) If there is a further demobilisation of the military forces in accordance with paragraph 2. a) above, there will be a commensurate reduction by UNTAC of the arms, ammunition and equipment stored on site in the cantonment areas;

d) The ultimate disposition of all arms, ammunition and equipment will be determined by the government that emerges through the free and fair elections in accordance with Article 12 of this Agreement.

Article VI Verification of withdrawal from Cambodia and non-return of all categories of foreign forces

UNTAC shall be provided, no later than two weeks before the commencement of the second phase of the ceasefire, with detailed information in writing regarding the withdrawal of foreign forces. This information shall include the following elements:

a) Total strength of these forces and their organisation and deployment;

b) Comprehensive lists of arms, ammunition and equipment held by these forces, and their exact locations;

c) Withdrawal plan (already implemented or to be implemented), including withdrawal routes, border crossing points and time of departure from Cambodia.
On the basis of the information provided in accordance with paragraph 1 above, UNTAC will undertake an investigation in the manner it deems appropriate. The Party providing the information will be required to make personnel available to accompany UNTAC investigators.
Upon confirmation of the presence of any foreign forces, UNTAC will immediately deploy military personnel with the foreign forces and accompany them until they have withdrawn from Cambodian territory. UNTAC will also establish checkpoints on withdrawal routes, border crossing points and airfields to verify the withdrawal and ensure the non-return of all categories of foreign forces.
The Mixed Military Working Group (MMWG) provided for in Article II of this annex will assist UNTAC in fulfilling the above-mentioned tasks.

Article VII Cessation of outside military assistance to all Cambodian Parties

All Parties undertake, from the time of the signing of this Agreement, not to obtain or seek any outside military assistance, including weapons, ammunition and military equipment from outside sources.
The Signatories whose territory is adjacent to Cambodia, namely, the Governments of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, undertake to:

a) Prevent the territories of their respective States, including land territory, territorial sea and air space, from being used for the purpose of providing any form of military assistance to any of the Cambodian Parties. Resupply of such items as food, water, clothing and medical supplies through their territories will be allowed, but shall, without prejudice to the provisions of sub-paragraph c) below, be subject to UNTAC supervision upon arrival in Cambodia;

b) Provide written confirmation to the Commander of the military component of UNTAC, not later than four weeks after the second phase of the ceasefire begins, that no forces, arms, ammunition or military equipment of any of the Cambodian Parties are present on their territories;

c) Receive an UNTAC liaison officer in each of their capitals and designate an officer of the rank of colonel or equivalent, not later than four weeks after the beginning of the second phase of the ceasefire, in order to assist UNTAC in investigating, with due respect for their sovereignty, any complaints that activities are taking place on their territories that are contrary to the provisions of the comprehensive political settlement.
To enable UNTAC to monitor the cessation of outside assistance to all Cambodian Parties, the Parties agree that, upon signature of this Agreement, they will provide to UNTAC any information available to them about the routes and means by which military assistance, including weapons, ammunition and military equipment, have been supplied to any of the Parties. Immediately after the second phase of the ceasefire begins, UNTAC will take the following practical measures:

a) Establish checkpoints along the routes and at selected locations along the Cambodian side of the border and at airfields inside Cambodia;

b) Patrol the coastal and inland waterways of Cambodia;

c) Maintain mobile teams at strategic locations within Cambodia to patrol and investigate allegations of supply of arms to any of the Parties.

Article VIII Caches of weapons and military supplies

In order to stabilise the security situation, build confidence and reduce arms and military supplies throughout Cambodia, each Party agrees to provide to the Commander of the military component of UNTAC, before a date to be determined by him, all information at its disposal, including marked maps, about known or Suspected caches of weapons and military supplies throughout Cambodia.
On the basis of information received, the military component of UNTAC shall, after the date referred to in paragraph 1, deploy verification teams to investigate each report and destroy each cache found.

Article IX Unexploded ordnance devices

Soon after arrival in Cambodia, the military component of UNTAC shall ensure, as a first step, that all known minefields are clearly marked.
The Parties agree that, after completion of the regroupment and cantonment processes in accordance with Article Ill of the present annex, they will make available mine-clearing teams which, under the supervision and control of UNTAC military personnel, will leave the cantonment areas in order to assist in removing, disarming or deactivating remaining unexploded ordnance devices. Those mines or objects which cannot be removed, disarmed or deactivated will be clearly marked in accordance with a system to be devised by the military component of UNTAC.
UNTAC shall:

a) Conduct a mass public education programme in the recognition and avoidance of explosive devices;

b) Train Cambodian volunteers to dispose of unexploded ordnance devices;

c) Provide emergency first-aid training to Cambodian volunteers.

Article X Investigation of violations

After the beginning of the second phase, upon receipt of any information or complaint from one of the Parties relating to a possible case of non-compliance with any of the provisions of the present annex or related provisions, UNTAC will undertake an investigation in the manner which it deems appropriate. Where the investigation takes place in response to a complaint by one of the Parties, that Party will be required to make personnel available to accompany the UNTAC investigators. The results of such investigation will be conveyed by UNTAC to the complaining Party and the Party complained against, and if necessary to the SNC.
UNTAC will also carry out investigations on its own initiative in other cases when it has reason to believe or suspect that a violation of this annex or related provisions may be taking place.

Article XI Release of prisoners of war

The military component of UNTAC will provide assistance as required to the International Committee of the Red Cross in the latter's discharge of its functions relating to the release of prisoners of war.

Article XII Repatriation and resettlement of displaced Cambodians

The military component of UNTAC will provide assistance as necessary in the repatriation of Cambodian refugees and displaced persons carried out in accordance with Articles 19 and 20 of this Agreement, in particular in the clearing of mines from repatriation routes, reception centres and resettlement areas, as well as in the protection of the reception centres.

Annex 3 Elections

The constituent assembly referred to in Article 12 of the Agreement shall consist of 120 members. Within three months from the date of the election, it shall complete its tasks of drafting and adopting a new Cambodian Constitution and transform itself into a legislative assembly which will form a new Cambodian Government.
The election referred to in Article 12 of the Agreement will be held throughout Cambodia on a provincial basis in accordance with a system of proportional representation on the basis of lists of candidates put forward by political parties.
All Cambodians, including those who at the time of signature of this Agreement are Cambodian refugees and displaced persons, will have the same rights, freedoms and opportunities to take part in the electoral process.
Every person who has reached the age of eighteen at the time of application to register; or who turns eighteen during the registration period, and who either was born in Cambodia or is the child of a person born in Cambodia, will be eligible to vote in the election.
Political parties may be formed by any group of five thousand registered voters. Party platforms shall be consistent with the principles and objectives of the Agreement on a comprehensive political settlement.
Party affiliation will be required in order to stand for election to the constituent assembly. Political parties will present lists of candidates standing for election on their behalf, who will be registered voters.
Political parties and candidates will be registered in order to stand for election. UNTAC will confirm that political parties and candidates meet the established criteria in order to qualify for participation in the election. Adherence to a Code of Conduct established by UNTAC in consultation with the SNC will be a condition for such participation.
Voting will be by secret ballot, with provision made to assist those who are disabled or who cannot read or write.
The freedoms of speech, assembly and movement will be fully respected. All registered political parties will enjoy fair access to the media, including the press, television and radio.

Annex 4 Repatriation of Cambodian Refugees and Displaced Persons

Part I Introduction

As part of the comprehensive political settlement, every assistance will need to be given to Cambodian refugees and displaced persons as well as to countries of temporary refuge and the country of origin in order to facilitate the voluntary return of all Cambodian refugees and displaced persons in a peaceful and orderly manner. It must also be ensured that there would be no residual problems for the countries of temporary refuge. The country of origin with responsibility towards its own people will accept their return as conditions become conducive.

Part II Conditions Conducive to the Return of Refugees and Displaced Persons

The task of rebuilding the Cambodian nation will require the harnessing of all its human and natural resources. To this end, the return to the place of their choice of Cambodians from their temporary refuge and elsewhere outside their country of origin will make a major contribution.

Every effort should be made to ensure that the conditions which have led to a large number of Cambodian refugees and displaced persons seeking refuge in other countries should not recur. Nevertheless, some Cambodian refugees and displaced persons will wish and be able to return spontaneously to their homeland.
There must be full respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Cambodians, including those of the repatriated refugees and displaced persons, in recognition of their entitlement to live in peace and security, free from intimidation and coercion of any kind. These rights would include, inter alia, freedom of movement within Cambodia, the choice of domicile and employment, and the right to property.
In accordance with the comprehensive political settlement, every effort should be made to create concurrently in Cambodia political, economic and social conditions conducive to the return and harmonious integration of the Cambodian refugees and displaced persons.
With a view to ensuring that refugees and displaced persons participate in the elections, mass repatriation should commence and be completed as soon as possible, taking into account all the political, humanitarian, logistical, technical and socio-economic factors involved, and with the co-operation of the SNC.
Repatriation of Cambodian refugees and displaced persons should be voluntary and their decision should be taken in full possession of the facts. Choice of destination within Cambodia should be that of the individual. The unity of the family must be preserved.

Part III Operational Factors

Consistent with respect for principles of national sovereignty in the countries of temporary refuge and origin, and in close co-operation with the countries of temporary refuge and origin, full access by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), CRC and other relevant international agencies should be guaranteed to all Cambodian refugees and displaced persons, with a view to the agencies undertaking the census, tracing, medical assistance, food distribution and other activities vital to the discharge of their mandate and operational responsibilities; such access should also be provided in Cambodia to enable the relevant international organisations to carry out their traditional monitoring as well as operational responsibilities.
In the context of the comprehensive political settlement, the Signatories note with satisfaction that the Secretary-General of the United Nations has entrusted UNHCR with the role of leadership and co-ordination among intergovernmental agencies assisting with the repatriation and relief of Cambodian refugees and displaced persons. The Signatories look to all non-governmental organisations to co-ordinate as much as possible their work for the Cambodian refugees and displaced persons with that of UNHCR.
The SNC, the Governments of the countries in which the Cambodian refugees and displaced persons have sought temporary refuge, and the countries which contribute to the repatriation and integration effort will wish to monitor closely and facilitate the repatriation of the returnees. An ad hoc consultative body should be established for a limited term for these purposes. The UNHCR, the ICRC, and other international agencies as appropriate, as well as UNTAC, would be invited to join as full participants.
Adequately monitored short-term repatriation assistance should be provided on an impartial basis to enable the families and individuals returning to Cambodia to establish their lives and livelihoods harmoniously in their society. These interim measures would be phased out and replaced in the longer term by the reconstruction programme.
Those responsible for organising and supervising the repatriation operation will need to ensure that conditions of security are created for the movement of the refugees and displaced persons. In this respect, it is imperative that appropriate border crossing points and routes be designated and cleared of mines and other hazards.
The international community should contribute generously to the financial requirements of the repatriation operation.

Annex 5 Principles for a New Constitution for Cambodia

The constitution will be the supreme law of the land. It may be amended only by a designated process involving legislative approval, popular referendum, or both.
Cambodia's tragic recent history requires special measures to assure protection of human rights. Therefore, the constitution will contain a declaration of fundamental rights, including the rights to life, personal liberty, security, freedom of movement, freedom of religion, assembly and association including political parties and trade unions, due process and equality before the law, protection from arbitrary deprivation of property or deprivation of private property without just compensation, and freedom from racial, ethnic, religious or sexual discrimination. It will prohibit the retroactive application of criminal law. The declaration will be consistent with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant international instruments. Aggrieved individuals will be entitled to have the courts adjudicate and enforce these rights.
The constitution will declare Cambodia's status as a sovereign, independent and neutral State, and the national unity of Cambodian people.
The constitution will state that Cambodia will follow a system of liberal democracy, on the basis of pluralism. It will provide for periodic and genuine elections. It will provide for the right to vote and to be elected by universal and equal suffrage. It will provide for voting by secret ballot, with a requirement that electoral procedures provide a full and fair opportunity to organise and participate in the electoral process.
An independent judiciary will be established, empowered to enforce the rights provided under the constitution.
The constitution will be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the members of the constituent assembly.

Labels: 1991 Paris Peace Accords, Paris Peace Agreement

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