Inquiries could sink ECCC: PM

Thursday, 10 September 2009 15:03 Vong Sokheng

PRIME Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday predicted that an attempt to charge additional suspects at the Khmer Rouge tribunal would be unsuccessful.

If the push for indictments were to go forward, he said, "the result of the trial would be zero".
"All the suspects would die, and the court would run out of money," he said.

His remarks in Takeo province came one day after the tribunal announced that acting international co-prosecutor William Smith had on Monday formally requested the investigation of five more suspects. Also Monday, Hun Sen repeated in a speech at Chaktomuk Theatre his warning that further investigations risked sparking civil unrest that could claim hundreds of thousands of lives.

On Wednesday, he delivered a message to former Khmer Rouge cadres.

"I would like to appeal to the brotherhood and sisterhood of the former Khmer Rouge to remain calm," he said. "There will not be any problems happening."

Hun Sen also said his statements about the tribunal did not amount to an attempt to influence its work.

"Please go ahead with your procedures. I will not have a say, but the thing is that you need to find a supporting force ... you need four votes," he said in an apparent reference to the Pre-Trial Chamber vote that opened the door to new investigations.

In that vote, announced last week, the five-person chamber failed to resolve a disagreement between the international co-prosecutor, who pushed for more investigations, and the national co-prosecutor, who argued against them. The chamber voted 3-2 against them.

The tribunal's internal rules held that the proposed investigations would go forward in the absence of a supermajority, or 4-1 vote.

Hun Sen's statements about the court this week have drawn concerns about political interference, including from Human Rights Watch, which said Monday that judicial considerations should be based solely on evidence.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP

Pair of reports on land rights face cynicism

hursday, 10 September 2009 15:04 Robbie Corey-Boulet and Chhay Channyda

Photo by: Sovan Philong

A man stands on the railway tracks near Boeung Kak lake in Phnom Penh last week. Plans to rebuild the lines have left residents in Tuol Kork and Daun Penh next in line for eviction.

TWO new reports addressing land rights in Cambodia argue, as others have, that the pursuit of development has led to widespread rights violations, including forced, sometimes violent evictions.

But they also share a conciliatory message that emphasises the importance of government dialogue with affected communities and civil society.

That message has drawn scepticism from civil society and opposition figures, who on Wednesday said they doubted such an approach would amount to much in light of the government's tactics in recent land-dispute negotiations.

An overview of land disputes released today by the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), a coalition of NGOs, offers "a painful look into the lives of people affected by forced evictions and intimidation".

It then positions the coalition as "a bridge to support genuine and productive dialogue between communities and policymakers".

Similarly, a report to the UN Human Rights Council, released Monday, expresses concern over the "commonplace" evictions of families who had been living in their homes for years.

The report's author, Surya Subedi, a UN envoy on human rights in Cambodia, later adds: "This is an area where I will be happy to offer my advice and seek to foster cooperation in the search for long-term solutions to this painful issue."

In interviews Wednesday, observers said this faith in dialogue might be misplaced.

CHRAC Executive Secretary Suon Sareth acknowledged that several past attempts by affected residents and civil society to engage constructively with the government had failed.

He cited a case last month in which about 300 Cambodians involved in land disputes in 19 different provinces petitioned the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Interior and the National Authority for the Resolution of Land Disputes.

The effort was an attempt to circumvent unresponsive provincial authorities, but Phnom Penh officials also failed to respond to the villagers' petition, Suon Sareth said.

"The complaints have been ignored," he said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said Wednesday that all complaints were forwarded to the ministry's inspection department. He added, as did other officials, that the government was more than willing to engage with residents affected by land disputes.

"The ministry has always welcomed complaints from people about land cases," he said.

But Yim Sovann, spokesman for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, said he believed threats and other forms of intimidation were often conveyed under the pretense of constructive dialogue, citing as examples meetings between officials and residents of the evicted Dey Krahorm and Group 78 communities.

"I get a lot of complaints from people who say they were forced to leave there, that they were forced to take compensation," he said. "Then the government tells the media, 'Oh, the people have agreed to leave, they have agreed to take the compensation.' There are threats and intimidation behind that."

Naly Pilorge, director of the rights group Licadho, also said officials' interactions with villagers involved in land disputes were often of little benefit to the villagers themselves.

"Information about the dire situation of people and abuses committed on people related to land are often dismissed despite credible evidence," she said.

For his part, Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said the stated goal of the UN and CHRAC to foster more good-faith government engagement might not be unrealistic given that government officials want to keep donors happy and retain voter support.

"The strongest reason for the government to be concerned," he said, "is the fact that this is the biggest issue that could undermine the ruling party."