Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Hun Sen to Ban Ki-moon: Case 002 last trial at ECCC

Hun Sen to Ban Ki-moon: Case 002 last trial at ECCC

Hun Sen to Ban Ki-moon: Case 002 last trial at ECCC

Prime Minister Hun Sen told United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday that he would not allow prosecutions at the Khmer Rouge tribunal beyond its second case, a move critics called the most blatant example yet of political interference in the work of the court.

Foreign minister Hor Namhong told reporters following the meeting that Hun Sen considered pending investigations in Cases 003 and 004 a threat to the Kingdom’s “stability”.

“Samdech [Hun Sen] clearly affirmed that Case 003 will not be allowed,” he said. “We have to think about peace in Cambodia or the court will fail.”

“The court will try the four senior leaders successfully and then finish with Case 002.”

Hun Sen has repeatedly expressed his opposition to investigations in Cases 003 and 004, which feature five suspects whose names remain confidential.

UN court spokesman Lars Olsen said he had no information on the meeting between Ban and Hun Sen.

“The court does not seek permission
and endorsement for its work. It simply follows the legal process described in the law and the agreement relating to this court,” Olsen said.

The 2003 agreement between the government and the UN that established the tribunal empowers the court to prosecute “senior leaders” and those “most responsible” for crimes committed under Democratic Kampuchea.

By pursuing possible prosecutions in Cases 003 and 004, court officials were violating this, Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said yesterday.

“The purpose of forming the court was to seek justice for victims and guarantee peace and stability in society,” Khieu Kanharith said. “If the court walks farther than that, it will fall.”

Ban visited the tribunal yesterday and held a question-and-answer session with court staff. There, he was asked about Hun Sen’s comments and the UN response, said Jasper Pauw, a legal consultant for former Khmer Rouge Brother No 2 Nuon Chea.

“The secretary general reiterated that the independence was very important, and that the official position of the UN was that there should be no interference,” Pauw said. “He didn’t make any promises as to how they would effectively address this issue.”

A UN briefing on the meeting between Ban and Hun Sen said Ban had emphasised that the tribunal “was established to be fully independent, and that no one should seek to influence its decisions in any way”.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division for Human Rights Watch, said Hun Sen was using his “inappropriate control” over the judiciary to try to “browbeat the international community into accepting his version of what should be covered by the Extraordinary Chambers”.

Cambodian officials at the UN-backed court have thus far fallen in line with Hun Sen’s view that prosecutions should end following Case 002.

Last year, international prosecutor William Smith made submissions regarding Cases 003 and 004 to the court’s Co-Investigating Judges over opposition from Cambodian Co-Prosecutor Chea Leang; in June, French Co-Investigating Judge Marcel Lemonde announced that he was moving forward with the investigations despite a lack of support from You Bunleng, his Cambodian counterpart.

“It’s already decided by the government, and the government has decided who they want to prosecute,” said Long Panhavuth, a project officer with the Cambodia Justice Initiative. “I would consider it a show trial.”

MOST VIEWED

  • Joy as Koh Ker Temple registered by UNESCO

    Cambodia's Koh Ker Temple archaeological site has been officially added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on September 17. The ancient temple, also known as Lingapura or Chok Gargyar, is located in

  • Famed US collector family return artefacts to Cambodia

    In the latest repatriation of ancient artefacts from the US, a total of 33 pieces of Khmer cultural heritage will soon return home, according to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. In a September 12 press statement, it said the US Attorney’s Office for the

  • Tina rebuffs ‘false claims’ over falling paddy price

    Agriculture minister Dith Tina has shed light on the trade of paddy rice in Battambang – Cambodia’s leading rice-producing province – in a bid to curb what he dubs a “social media fact distortion campaign” to destabilise the market. While acknowledging that the prices of paddy

  • Kampot curfew imposed to curb ‘gang’ violence

    Kampot provincial police have announced measures to contain a recent spike in antisocial behaviour by “unruly’ youth. Officials say the province has been plagued by recent violence among so-called “gang members”, who often fight with weapons such as knives and machetes. Several social observers have

  • Cambodia set to celebrate Koh Ker UNESCO listing

    To celebrate the inscription of the Koh Ker archaeological site on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Ministry of Cults and Religion has appealed to pagodas and places of worship to celebrate the achievement by ringing bells, shaking rattles and banging gongs on September 20. Venerable

  • PM outlines plans to discuss trade, policy during US visit

    Prime Minister Hun Manet is set to meet with senior US officials and business leaders during his upcoming visit to the US for the UN General Assembly (UNGA), scheduled for September 20. While addressing nearly 20,000 workers in Kampong Speu province, Manet said he aims to affirm