First Witness Takes Stand
Francois Bizot at his residence in Thailand's northern city of Chiang Mai, Aug. 22, 2007. (AFP)2009-04-09
Radio Free Asia
A French scholar takes the stand in Cambodia, becoming the first witness in a landmark trial of ex-Khmer Rouge leaders.
PHNOM PENH—A French scholar who was one of a few survivors of detention under Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge has become the first witness at a U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal hearing evidence against the regime’s chief jailer and torturer.
Francois Bizot, 69, an anthropologist, said he received relatively light treatment. He had been seized while researching Buddhism in the countryside on suspicion of working for the CIA.
The U.N. tribunal has opened with a trial of Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, a former math teacher accused of supervising Tuol Sleng prison and sending thousands of people to their deaths in the so-called “Killing Fields” period when the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975-79.
"Terror was everywhere." - Francois Bizot
Bizot spent three months at M-13, a secret jungle prison that Duch ran from 1971-75, while the Khmer Rouge was an insurgent faction fighting a U.S.-backed government. He later wrote a book about his detention titled The Gate.
Bizot said he was never beaten and Duch spoke to him politely. He said he was required to write several statements of innocence and freed after a few months, making him one of only 10 who survived the jungle prison camp.
“I can’t recall M-13 without recalling the terrifying atmosphere of fear and death, or how much this atmosphere was embodied in Duch. Terror was everywhere,” Bizot said.
“When Duch came back from meetings with his superiors, it was impossible not to see his despondency...You have to understand that it was always about deciding when the executions would take place,” he told the court.
Some sympathy
He acknowledged some sympathy for Duch, who has publicly apologized and sought forgiveness for his role in sending some 16,000 people to their deaths at the regime’s notorious Tuol Sleng prison.
“I must come to terms with what’s in me with relation to a double reality, the reality of a man who was the force of a state institutional massive killing, and I cannot imagine being in his shoes today with so much horror left behind,” Bizot said.
“On the other hand, the recollection I have today of a young man who committed his life to a cause and to a purpose that was based on the idea that it was not only legitimate, it was deserved,” he said. “I don’t know what I can make of it.”
“Duch was a man who looked much like many friends of mine, a Marxist who was prepared to surrender his life for the revolution,” Bizot said.
Crimes against humanity
Duch faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture, and premeditated murder. He faces life in jail at the court, which does not have the power to impose the death penalty.
Up to 2 million people are thought to have died during the four years of Khmer Rouge government in the late 1970s.
The trial continued as a third day of private talks aimed at setting up a corruption-monitoring mechanism at the court broke down on Wednesday night between U.N. Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs Peter Taksoe-Jensen and Cambodian government officials.
Defense attorneys and human rights groups say allegations that Cambodian staff at the court pay kickbacks to keep their jobs could derail the entire tribunal.
Original reporting by RFA's Khmer service. Khmer service director: Kem Sos. Executive producer: Susan Lavery. Additional reporting by news agencies. Written and produced in English by Sarah Jackson-Han.
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Development Must Mean Compensation: Expert
Am Sam Ath, an investigator for Adhoc, on 'Hello VOA' Monday.By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
10 April 2009
Evictions in Cambodia are not resolved at a scale equal to the development of Cambodian, a rights activist said Monday, at a time when yet another community in Phnom Penh is facing eviction.
Residents of Reak Reay say they are will be uprooted from their home in the Tonle Bassac commune of central Phnom Penh.
While “development is good,” authorities must also meet the needs of the people, said Am Sam Ath, an investigator for the rights group Adhoc, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”
“Residents wish that authorities will develop [further] by balancing the interest of the villagers with the interest of the company or state,” he said.
“We can see during each eviction people crying, and they don’t want to leave their location,” he said.
Out of 209 Reak Reay families, 150 have agreed to leave the site new construction for Canadia Bank.
Families bought the land from the military after 1999, and Cambodian law stipulates residency of property after possession of five years, he said. But since 2006, the families have been facing pressure to leave. More negotiations with the city are expected after the Khmer New Year.
“Article 44 of the constitution says that the property of someone can be withdrawn for the interest of the public, and the owner must have reasonable compensation,” he said.
Pressuring people to leave constitutes an abuse of human rights, he said. “Authorities must remain in a neutral stance and serve the interests of both residents and investors.”
Phnom Penh’s rapid development has left the outskirts—where many displaced families end up—without infrastructure.
“They cannot find jobs or school for their children,” he said. “They must come to Phnom Penh and rent a house to work a job.”
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Khmer New Year: A message from Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
April 10, 2009
This past year has been marked by significant progress in our relations, including humanitarian ship visits by the U.S. military, new agreements to implement assistance programs in economic development and the rule of law, and Peace Corps volunteers in 11 provinces.
I look forward to the year ahead, as our two nations identify even greater opportunities to strengthen our bilateral ties, as well as to work together on mutual areas of interest. We value Cambodia's commitment to further its social, economic and democratic development.
On the occasion of the Khmer New Year, I wish the Cambodian people peace, prosperity, and best wishes.
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It's all smile between Hor 5 Hong and Kasit Piromya, the insulter of Hor 5 Hong's boss
Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya (L) talks with Cambodia's Foreign Minister Hor Namhong (R) during the 3rd ASEAN Coordinating Council as part of the 14th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Pattaya resort April 10, 2009. Leaders from 15 other Asian countries began arriving in Thailand on Friday for a summit focusing on the global financial crisis, as anti-government protesters marched towards the venue. REUTERS/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/PoolRead more!
Protesters break through security at Asian summit
Supporters of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra break through a cordon of anti-riot policemen near the venue of the 14th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Pattaya April 10, 2009. Anti-government protesters converged on the Thai beach town of Pattaya on Friday with plans to disrupt an Asian summit as part of efforts to try to force Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to step down. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang Friday, April 10, 2009
PATTAYA, Thailand (AFP) — Thai protesters pushed through security at a summit of Asian leaders, forcing their campaign to topple Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva into the international spotlight.
Thai police vowed to use "all means necessary" to clear the hundreds of protesters away from the beach resort hotel where the leaders of China, Japan, India and 13 other nations were to gather for the three-day summit.
Around 400 protesters faced off outside against at least 200 security forces -- including riot police in full gear and army soldiers -- who stood in formation outside the hotel.
The security breach came after months of assurances from the government that it would not let the kingdom's internal political turmoil, which has been boiling for months, disrupt the meeting.
Protesters launched new mass rallies in Bangkok on Wednesday to push Abhisit to resign, insisting that he came to power undemocratically through a court ruling that toppled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's allies in December.
"Today we are not coming to stop the summit. We have come to join the summit to represent the Thai people because Abhisit cannot be responsible for our rights," protest leader Arismun Pongreungrong told AFP.
"Abhisit is not the legitimate prime minister. We have to pressure him to resign."
Thai authorities have gone out of their way to avoid clashes with protesters since mass violence broke out at a rally by anti-Thaksin demonstrators in Bangkok last October, leaving two people dead and 500 injured.
The protesters on Friday passed through the last line of unarmed riot police with little resistance, chanting slogans, cheering and clapping their hands.
Some protesters arrived on pick-up trucks and on scooters, moving to within 50 metres (yards) of the front doors of the luxury hotel and waving red posters reading "Abhisit get out" and "Thailand needs change".
British-born Abhisit has repeatedly resisted their calls to go and his government hardened its stance earlier Friday, saying it intended to arrest the leaders of the protests against the government.
Abhisit said late Thursday that he had boosted security in Pattaya for the summit, which groups the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
China earlier this week expressed concerns about security at the summit but said it was confident the Thai government could keep protesters away. Chinese premier Wen Jiabao was due to arrive later Friday.
The protests have marked the biggest challenge to Abhisit since he came to power four months ago. On Thursday around 100 taxi drivers blocked a major intersection in Bangkok, snarling traffic across the capital.
"Certain people must take responsibility for all these incidents," said the Oxford-educated premier.
Thaksin, a billionaire populist who still has a loyal following among the country's poor but is loathed by the Bangkok elite, was ousted in a military coup in 2006.
Living in exile to avoid a two-year prison sentence for corruption, Thaksin has been egging on the protesters with nightly messages to them via videolink.
Abhisit announced a public holiday across Thailand on Friday in a bid to ease tension across the country.
The government has repeatedly said it would ensure the security of the summit -- which was postponed twice and moved to different cities twice in a bid to keep away from the protests.
"We are using international standards of security protection for the 16 leaders," Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, in charge of national security, said on Friday. "They will be safe."
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