The progress made on the draft law to try former Khmer Rouge leaders has been very encouraging, but some issues still need to be resolved, a visiting US envoy said Friday.
David Scheffer, ambassador on war crimes issues for the US State Department, made his comments as the Senate unanimously approved three more chapters of the legislation on the Khmer Rouge tribunal.
Scheffer, who was last in town more than a year ago to talk to Cambodian leaders about the tribunal, arrived in town Thursday to meet with Prime Minister Hun Sen, Minister of Cabinet Sok An and others.
“We think it’s very encouraging this progress has developed,” said Scheffer, referring to the passage of the draft law by the National Assembly last week and the Senate’s debate on the legislation.
“There remains some issues, of course, we want to make sure are adequately addressed so that there can be an agreement between the UN and the [government] of Cambodia.”
UN Deputy Secretary General Hans Corell recently sent a letter to the government addressing concerns about details in the draft law, said Sok An, head of the government’s negotiating team.
“I think these points will be agreed upon after our task force gives an explanation [to the UN],” Sok An said.
Sok An said he believed he would meet with Corell immediately after the draft law goes through the full process. After the Senate, the legislation goes to the Constitutional Council, and finally to King Norodom Sihanouk.
The articles passed by the Senate Friday said the tribunal has the power to bring to trial all suspects who committed crimes that fall under the Geneva Convention of 1949, the 1954 Hague Convention and the 1961 Vienna Convention.
Funcinpec Senator Keo Bunthouk said the debate on the draft law gave her a chance “to release the sorrow deep in my heart that I’ve had for many years.”
She said during the Khmer Rouge regime she stayed at the Boeng Trabek reeducation camp where she claimed “Brother Yaem” sent children and adults to the Tuol Sleng torture prison. She later identified Brother Yaem as Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong.
“I did not like him (Brother Yaem),” she said during the debate. “I know he sent children and members of the [Boeng Trabek] team to Tuol Sleng, and no one came back.”
After the Senate debate, she said Hor Namhong worked closely with Ieng Sary, deputy premier of the Khmer Rouge regime, whom she asked why those who left Boeng Trabek never came back.
“[Ieng Sary] told me that 85 percent of those people betrayed the party,” she said.
Tuol Sleng confessions identify Brother Yaem as Hor Namhong, though scholars question the accuracy of the confessions, which were often extracted under torture. A CPP senator also identified Brother Yaem as Hor Namhong after Friday’s debate.
Repeated attempts to reach Hor Namhong Friday were unsuccessful, and a Foreign Affairs protocol officer said the minister was busy and did not care to comment.
Thach Setha, of the Sam Rainsy Party, questioned what would happen if foreign countries were implicated in the investigation process as supporters of the Khmer Rouge regime.
Sok An said that although Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said Singapore and other countries gave monetary support to the Khmer Rouge, it is not easy to try foreign countries and in that sense, full justice cannot be reached.
Scheffer said he believed the unresolved issues in the draft law will not present any major problems.
“This has been a long process,” he said. “There are a few more steps to take, but I’m very optimistic we can reach closure. But it’s still going to require some very important discussions between the government…and the UN.”
One concern of trial watchers is Hun Sen’s repeated claims that prosecuting Ieng Sary, deputy premier of the Khmer Rouge regime, would bring war to Cambodia.
Scheffer said he was reassured by Hun Sen that the court will “be able to investigate where the evidence takes it.”
“No individual who falls within the jurisdiction of this court will be immune from its reach,” Scheffer said.
