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	Cambodia: 30 Years after fall of the Khmer Rouge, Justice still Elusive by Human Rights Watch & agencies   Jan 2009   Tens of thousands of Cambodians have packed into a stadium in Phnom Penh to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the murderous Khmer Rouge.   Senate President Chea Sim lauded "those who sacrificed their lives to save us from genocide", when Vietnamese-led forces ousted the regime in 1979.   Two million people died during the four years of Khmer Rouge rule. But none of its surviving leaders have yet faced justice, triggering widespread criticism of foot-dragging by the government. A UN-backed war crimes trial of five henchmen of late leader Pol Pot is expected to begin in the next few months.   "The spirits of my relatives will not be calm without prosecuting those killers," Thay Srey Khon - who lost eight relatives under the regime - told Reuters news agency.   Chea Sim said the anniversary marked the end of "the dark chapter of Cambodian history" - and thanked neighbouring Vietnam for "saving the country from genocide".   But opposition party leaders were conspicuous by their absence from the celebrations, and correspondents say this interpretation of the country"s recent past is not uncontested.   A significant minority of Cambodians mourn the anniversary as the beginning of a decade-long occupation by Vietnam. Prime Minister Hun Sen has dismissed the critics. The CPP is itself a descendant of the puppet government installed by Vietnam after the fall of the Khmer Rouge.   Top leaders in the current ruling Cambodian People"s Party served in the ranks of the Khmer Rouge before defecting, and the government has been accused of attempting to delay the start of tribunal proceedings, and of trying to curtail the scope of tribunal investigations.   "After 30 years, no-one has been tried, convicted or sentenced for the crimes of one of the bloodiest regimes of the 20th Century," the New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Monday. "This is no accident."   It accused Prime Minister Hun Sen of "doing his best to thwart justice", and said in addition both the US and China and other nations had "blocked efforts at accountability". Both, it said, had continued to support the Khmer Rouge for years after its downfall, each for its own reasons.   January 5, 2009 (Human Rights Watch)   Thirty years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia"s culture of impunity remains as strong as ever, Human Rights Watch said today. Under Prime Minister Hun Sen, the Cambodian government continues to obstruct the United Nations-supported court created to try senior Khmer Rouge leaders and others most responsible for the deaths of up to 2 million people during the Khmer Rouge-era.   Despite more than three years of operations and the expenditure of approximately US$50 million, the UN-backed Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia established to hold the Khmer Rouge accountable have held no trials.   "After 30 years, no one has been tried, convicted or sentenced for the crimes of one of the bloodiest regimes of the 20th century," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "This is no accident. For more than a decade, China and the United States blocked efforts at accountability, and for the past decade Hun Sen has done his best to thwart justice."   The Extraordinary Chambers have been deeply flawed in both design and practice. UN reports have concluded that the Cambodian judiciary lacks independence, competence and professionalism. Yet at the insistence of Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander, the Extraordinary Chambers were established with a majority of Cambodian judges and a Cambodian "co-prosecutor" and "co-investigating judge." The United Nations opposed that structure.   Prosecutors and investigating judges have conducted only limited field investigations. The Extraordinary Chambers have also been mired in allegations of corruption among its Cambodian personnel, with charges of job-selling and bribery.   Five Khmer Rouge leaders whom Hun Sen has allowed to be arrested are in detention, but no other cases have been filed against the many persons implicated in horrific crimes during Khmer Rouge rule. Human Rights Watch has called for broadening the scope of investigations beyond the five already charged.   Today, the Extraordinary Chambers published a statement in which the Cambodian co-prosecutor opposed filing additional cases. The international co-prosecutor rightly asserted in his filing with the Extraordinary Chambers that the charges fall within the court"s jurisdiction and "would lead to a more comprehensive accounting of the crimes that were committed." Yet for political and policy reasons, the Cambodian co-prosecutor has opposed bringing more cases, citing "Cambodia"s past instability and the continued need for national reconciliation."   "No serious observer believes there is any threat to Cambodia"s stability if additional cases are filed against alleged Khmer Rouge killers," said Adams. "On the 30th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge"s fall from power, the Cambodian government is playing games. This is a transparently political attempt to stop the court from doing its work."   The Khmer Rouge came to power at the end of the United States war in Indochina. Led by Pol Pot and Nuon Chea, the Khmer Rouge was in power from April 17, 1975 to January 7, 1979. Estimates suggest that as many as 2 million of Cambodia"s 8 million people were killed or died from disease, starvation, or forced labor during this period.. Visit the related web page
	Aid agency details Congo atrocities committed by LRA by UN News & agencies   Jan 2009   The Catholic aid agency Caritas says more than 400 people have been killed by Ugandan rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo since Christmas Day. The rebels from the Lord"s Resistance Army (LRA) have been fleeing government forces in the country"s north-east.   The head of Caritas in Congo, Dr Bruno Mitewo, told reporters the rebels had attacked villages, killing men and women. Some were hacked to death, others were pushed into fires. Children were forced to join the rebels. An eyewitness said five people were in hospital after their lips were cut off as a warning not to talk to outsiders.   Some 20,000 villagers have fled into the forests and mountains to escape the fighting. The United Nations has its largest peacekeeping operation in Congo and Caritas is asking where the soldiers were while the atrocities were taking place.   30 December, 2008   Ban denounces ‘appalling atrocities’ by Ugandan rebels in DR Congo.   United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today strongly condemned the “appalling atrocities” reportedly committed by the Ugandan rebel Lord"s Resistance Army (LRA) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and southern Sudan, and demanded that they respect all rules of international humanitarian law.   The UN Mission in the DRC, known by its French acronym MONUC, said an increasingly high number of civilians had been killed by LRA rebels fleeing a joint military operation by the DRC, Uganda and Southern Sudan in the far north-east of the DRC.   But local and humanitarian officials said nearly 200 people had been killed during the Christmas period alone. The rebels, who have been fighting Ugandan forces since the 1980s and have since spilled over into Sudan and DRC, are notorious for human rights abuses including the killing and maiming of civilians, and the abduction and recruitment of children as soldiers and sex slaves.   In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban called on the Ugandan, DRC and southern Sudanese forces on the ground to coordinate with the humanitarian community and UN missions in the region to ensure the effective delivery of aid to those affected by the LRA attacks. As it did last week, MONUC stressed that it would do all in its power to ensure the protection of civilians.
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