The Phnom Penh Post

For those of you in the New York area, a series of panels on justice issues in Southeast Asia will be held at Columbia University this coming Friday and Saturday. A Saturday afternoon panel will focus on Cambodia and feature presentations from Sophal Ear (U.S. Naval Postgraduate School), John Ciorciari (University of Michigan), Alex Hinton (Rutgers University) and Lorraine Paterson (Cornell University). More information is available here.

International Co-Prosecutor Andrew Cayley gave an interesting presentation at Rutgers on Wednesday, but unfortunately, he did not want to comment on the record about allegations of political interference at the tribunal (particularly in relation to Cases 003 and 004). It would be safe to say, however, in the comments he did make, Cayley expressed "very grave concerns" about the conduct of Cases 003 and 004, as reported in today's Post.

Moreover, Cayley referenced the recent decisions by the Pre-Trial Chamber related to his appeal against a retraction order related to Case 003. Although the chamber found against his appeal, the vote regarding the civil party application of New Zealander Rob Hamill was split along national/international lines, with international judges writing a substantial dissenting opinion questioning the integrity of the Co-Investigating Judges' conduct in Case 003. Read more about it here.

In a public statement released Thursday, Cayley quoted extensively from this dissenting opinion, listing the following findings of the international judges:

Amid renewed challenges to the credibility of the Khmer Rouge tribunal, international Co-Prosecutor Andrew Cayley will be speaking at Rutgers later this month. The event is scheduled for October 26 and will take place in the Newark Center for Law and Justice. It will be interesting to see how Cayley responds to questions related to recent controversies surrounding investigation of Cases 003 and 004.

In a recent opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, law professor John Hall called out the tribunal's Cambodian co-prosecutor and investigating judges for seemingly obstructing investigations of additional cases. He writes that the lack of independence of the court from the Cambodian government (namely Prime Minister Hun Sen),

"has shown itself most evidently when the international community wanted to broaden the Tribunal beyond the five original defendants. Prime Minister Hun Sen has repeatedly voiced his opposition to broadening, on one occasion informing U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-moon that further prosecutions would not be 'allowed.' By impeding the Tribunal, Mr. Hun Sen is able to maintain political control of the process while also shaping the narrative of the Khmer Rouge era so that only a few individuals appear culpable.

The investigating judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal released a list of 30 crime sites connected to the court’s controversial fourth case yesterday.

You can read their statement here and our coverage here. The list of sites released is as follows:

A) KAMPONG CHAM PROVINCE (CENTRAL ZONE) 

Local activist Theary Seng, who has courted controversy in recent weeks with her public statements on the court's third and fourth cases, issued a statement today details what she says are the crime sites involved in the court's Case 004 investigation. Victims hoping to join the case as civil parties must prove that they suffered as a result of crimes committed at one of the sites in the investigation, and Theary Seng has urged prospective applicants to come forward and put pressure on the judges to investigate the case properly. The statement, which can be read in full here, is excerpted below:

"Case 004 Filing

Through my own research and conversations, I have come into this very trusted information which should assist you greatly in filing against Im Chaem, Ta Tith and Ta An:

The tribunal has announced the schedule for the initial hearing in Case 002, which begins on June 27. 

Monday, 27 June

Like many journalists, I received a somewhat peculiar message from the Co-Investigating Judges on Thursday. It read that the judges, "have credible information that the content of the Second Introductory Submission which is classified as confidential, has been divulged by a disloyal staff member of the ECCC," and issued a warning "that anyone publishing information from this confidential document is liable to be subjected to proceedings for Interference with the Administration of Justice pursuant to Internal Rule 35."

As James O'Toole explains in today's Post, this warning came in response to an article from the Christian Science Monitor that quoted extensively from the 2008 document. In the document, prosecutors outline allegations against former Khmer Rouge navy commander Meas Mut and air force commander Sou Met. The Monitor article also contends that the leaked document casts doubt on the court's ability to operate independently and suggests that the investigation of Case 003 was inadequate.

After dissemination of the memo related to the "disloyal staff member," activist Theary Seng issued a statement praising the ECCC employee's actions. On behalf of the Association of Khmer Rouge Victims in Cambodia, she wrote:

In the first issue of a new Rutgers University magazine (disclaimer: with which I am involved), an undergraduate student describes his experience working with DC-Cam's Victim Participation Team. You can read it here.

Cambodia and the tribunal will certainly be featured in upcoming issues as well, as Rutgers has an active relationship with DC-Cam and a number of students who are interested in the country. The magazine is published by the Center for the Study of Genocide, Conflict Resolution and Human Rights.

In light of the recent passing of ECCC head of Public Affairs Reach Sambath, I wanted to post a link to an article I wrote back after he assumed his position in 2008. You can read it here. I was extremely impressed by the effort he made to bring Cambodians to the tribunal, which had previously been somewhat sparsely attended.

I'm sure he will be greatly missed by his friends, colleagues, students and, of course, family.

Philippe Greciano, a French lawyer who joined the defence team for former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan last year, says he is stepping down. Here is the statement from Mr. Greciano:

"Professor Philippe Gréciano completes mission of international counsel in the defense team of Mr. Khieu Samphan, former Khmer Rouge head of state. Specialist in criminal law and human rights, he brought his expertise to clarify the legal debate in the interests of truth and reconciliation for the Kingdom of Cambodia. The defense team thanks to the quality of his work and wish him continued success in its activities."

Khieu Samphan will continue to be represented by Cambodian lawyer Sa Sovan and the well-known (and famously provocative) French lawyer Jacques Verges.