A breakthrough in efforts to try surviving Khmer Rouge leaders for the deaths of up to 2 million people emerged yesterday with the UN holding out an olive branch to the Cambodian government.
A breach in the four-month impasse followed an offer by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to re-open tribunal talks if he receives a mandate from the UN Security Council or the General Assembly.
Government officials, tribunal advocates and diplomats welcomed the offer signaling justice might yet be found for those who perished under Pol Pot's 1975 to 1979 regime through alleged genocide and starvation.
"I think that this is a fresh opening after a long delay," said Prince Norodom Ranariddh, head of the royalist FUNCINPEC party.
The offer came in a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen and was made public by Annan as the UN's top human rights chief, Mary Robinson, arrived here.
Senior diplomats were hopeful the offer would end bitterness between Phnom Penh and the UN, sparked on Feb. 8 when the UN broke-off four years of negotiations with the Cambodian government aimed at staging a trial.
Then, the UN cited this country's inability to hold objective and impartial hearings. But it later emerged the chief sticking point centered around who would ultimately control the trial process, Cambodia or the UN.
Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which has spent seven years compiling evidence of atrocities committed by the ultra-Maoists, welcomed the decision saying only China posed a potential obstacle.
"It's the kind of gesture that's creating a position to collaborate so it's a positive step but now it's up to the government to take action and seek that mandate and convince the UN that they are serious," he said.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
The Executive Yuan yesterday warned against traveling to or doing business in China after reports that Beijing is recruiting Taiwanese to help conceal the use of forced Uighur labor. The government is aware that Taiwan-based influencers and businesses are being asked to make pro-Beijing content and offered incentives to invest in the region, Executive Yuan acting spokeswoman Julia Hsieh (謝子涵) told a news conference. Taiwanese are urged to be aware of the potential personal and reputational harm by visiting or operating businesses in China, Hsieh said, adding that agencies are fully apprised of the situation. A national security official said that former Mainland
RSS