Ka-set
By Duong Sokha
31-03-2009
Cambodian prime Minister Hun Sen publicly urged on Tuesday March 31st not to prosecute former Khmer Rouge leaders other than the five persons who are already indicted, among whom Duch, the former director of the S-21 detention and torture centre who on the morning of the second day of his trial, asked victims of the Pol Pot regime for forgiveness.
Civil war
“If twenty other people were indicted to stand trial, civil war would break out and kill thousands”, the head of the Cambodian government warned, presenting himself as the one who restored peace in the Kingdom. “I told foreign ambassadors that I was ready to accept that this tribunal [in charge of prosecuting former Khmer Rouge leaders] fails, but that I would not allow Cambodia to be torn by war again”, he said. Those words were pronounced as in the meantime Kar Savuth, the Cambodian co-Lawyer for Duch, was wondering during his client's trial about the absence of prosecution of other former Khmer Rouge cadres who were also in charge of supervising security centres.
March 30 not a national holiday
The prime Minister also worked on minimising the historic impact of the ongoing judicial process and said he rejected the request made by the director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DC-Cam) Youk Chhang about turning March 30th, the date of the opening of the first trial of a former Khmer Rouge leader, into an official national holiday for “memory and justice”.
Justice has already been dealt out...
“This tribunal should not be given too much importance”, he said, adding that according to him, turning March 30th into a national bank holiday would be a “great mistake” and would come down to trying to “forget all the efforts made in the past” to “give justice to Cambodians”. These efforts are already honoured by January 7th (1979, date of the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime and arrival of the Vietnamese troops in Cambodia- the country was then placed under the control of the Vietnamese regulatory authorities) and May 20th (or 'Hatred Day', in memory of the May 20th 1976 Direction when Pol Pot's policy of total agrarian collectivisation was launched).
“We debunked Pol Pot's regime of genocide. Without that, would there be any Khmer Rouge trial today? If the Khmer Rouge had been able to participate in the 1993 elections, if they sat in the National Assembly, what would these trials be worth today?”, the head of government asked. “This is not the first time that we give justice to Cambodians”, he tried to explain, thus awaking the interest of the audience: “The fact that the Pol Pot regime was debunked - is this not giving justice to Cambodians? And avoiding the return of Pol Pot's regime - is this not giving justice to Cambodians? We sentenced a few Khmer Rouge back in 1979. Is this not giving justice?”, he insisted, referring to the 1979 summary trials, which were not acknowledged by the UN.
The prime Minister also reminded that if Duch could today be brought to justice, it was “thanks to the order for his arrest” which he personally proclaimed in 1998 in Battambang.
A prayer for less money
As he went back over the budget difficulties that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) - the hybrid court in charge of trying former Khmer Rouge leaders - are currently faced with, Hun Sen estimated that “this [wa]s not [his] problem” and went as far as to say that he “prayed” for “a budget shortfall” on the UN side of the court, and left it to Cambodian magistrates to issue those “complicated” verdicts, without trying to prosecute other people.
“I do not want to say that I do not support that tribunal”, he said, at last, and deemed the ongoing process “important”. “But they should not look for trouble”.
By Duong Sokha
31-03-2009
Cambodian prime Minister Hun Sen publicly urged on Tuesday March 31st not to prosecute former Khmer Rouge leaders other than the five persons who are already indicted, among whom Duch, the former director of the S-21 detention and torture centre who on the morning of the second day of his trial, asked victims of the Pol Pot regime for forgiveness.
Civil war
“If twenty other people were indicted to stand trial, civil war would break out and kill thousands”, the head of the Cambodian government warned, presenting himself as the one who restored peace in the Kingdom. “I told foreign ambassadors that I was ready to accept that this tribunal [in charge of prosecuting former Khmer Rouge leaders] fails, but that I would not allow Cambodia to be torn by war again”, he said. Those words were pronounced as in the meantime Kar Savuth, the Cambodian co-Lawyer for Duch, was wondering during his client's trial about the absence of prosecution of other former Khmer Rouge cadres who were also in charge of supervising security centres.
March 30 not a national holiday
The prime Minister also worked on minimising the historic impact of the ongoing judicial process and said he rejected the request made by the director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DC-Cam) Youk Chhang about turning March 30th, the date of the opening of the first trial of a former Khmer Rouge leader, into an official national holiday for “memory and justice”.
Justice has already been dealt out...
“This tribunal should not be given too much importance”, he said, adding that according to him, turning March 30th into a national bank holiday would be a “great mistake” and would come down to trying to “forget all the efforts made in the past” to “give justice to Cambodians”. These efforts are already honoured by January 7th (1979, date of the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime and arrival of the Vietnamese troops in Cambodia- the country was then placed under the control of the Vietnamese regulatory authorities) and May 20th (or 'Hatred Day', in memory of the May 20th 1976 Direction when Pol Pot's policy of total agrarian collectivisation was launched).
“We debunked Pol Pot's regime of genocide. Without that, would there be any Khmer Rouge trial today? If the Khmer Rouge had been able to participate in the 1993 elections, if they sat in the National Assembly, what would these trials be worth today?”, the head of government asked. “This is not the first time that we give justice to Cambodians”, he tried to explain, thus awaking the interest of the audience: “The fact that the Pol Pot regime was debunked - is this not giving justice to Cambodians? And avoiding the return of Pol Pot's regime - is this not giving justice to Cambodians? We sentenced a few Khmer Rouge back in 1979. Is this not giving justice?”, he insisted, referring to the 1979 summary trials, which were not acknowledged by the UN.
The prime Minister also reminded that if Duch could today be brought to justice, it was “thanks to the order for his arrest” which he personally proclaimed in 1998 in Battambang.
A prayer for less money
As he went back over the budget difficulties that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) - the hybrid court in charge of trying former Khmer Rouge leaders - are currently faced with, Hun Sen estimated that “this [wa]s not [his] problem” and went as far as to say that he “prayed” for “a budget shortfall” on the UN side of the court, and left it to Cambodian magistrates to issue those “complicated” verdicts, without trying to prosecute other people.
“I do not want to say that I do not support that tribunal”, he said, at last, and deemed the ongoing process “important”. “But they should not look for trouble”.
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