February 9, 2000
The United Nations has rejected Cambodia's latest proposal for an international genocide tribunal proposal, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a letter to the country's leaders yesterday (Associated Press, 8 Feb). UN legal counsel Hans Corell would not reveal specifics of Annan's private response, but said he raised "certain issues of principles" with the Cambodian proposal (Agence France-Presse, 9 Feb). The main areas of contention, Corell said, concern the court's composition and judges' and prosecutors' powers. The UN, he added, remains committed to finding a solution to the issue, but there are "quite a few questions that need to be answered before the arrangement can take effect" (Associated Press, 9 Feb).
According to one Cambodian representative, Annan's private response was "positive on some points but negative on others." It stated, another Cambodian official said, that the UN would not negotiate with Cambodia further unless it is prepared to reconsider its plans (AFP).
Cambodia and the United Nations have been trying to iron out specifics of a tribunal for Khmer Rouge leaders for months (AP, 8 Feb). Cambodia's plan for genocide trials calls for significant UN involvement, but requires that they be controlled by its own politicized judiciary. UN legal experts have demanded an international co-prosecutor who could make indictments independent of a Cambodian counterpart.
Yesterday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen accused the international community of focusing too much on genocide trials, saying more important problems are facing his country. "I think all of you are overlooking the main issues now," Hun Sen said. "I'm sending this message to the entire world - pay more attention to peace, national reconciliation, national unity, economic and social development to reduce poverty, rather than think only about a Khmer Rouge trial" (AP/CNN Interactive, 8 Feb). Hun Sen also "gave the strongest signal yet" that he will not surrender control of the tribunal to the United Nations (AFP/Singapore Straits Times, 9 Feb). The UN, he added, is hypocritical in its demands for an international trial, since it supported the Khmer Rouge regime (Radio Australia/BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 8 Feb).
Genocide Memorial Magazine Hits Newsstands
A new monthly magazine dedicated to the remembrance of Cambodia's
genocide hit the country's newsstands this week, seeking justice for the 1.7 million
victims.
Searching for the Truth publishes articles on efforts to bring Khmer Rouge
leaders to trial more than 20 years after their genocidal rule. It is edited by Youk
Chhang, head of Cambodia's main genocide investigative body.
"There are very few sources of independent news in Cambodia," Youk Chhang
said. "The newspapers and TV and radio are all blatantly biased one way or
another" (AP)
