(New York, January 7, 2000) — Japan should urge the Cambodian government to fully cooperate with the United Nations in establishing a tribunal to try leaders of the Khmer Rouge for crimes committed from 1975-79, Human Rights Watch said today. Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi is due to
visit Cambodia as part of a swing through Southeast Asia beginning on
January 10 -- the first such visit to the country by a Japanese head of
state in over forty years. The international human rights monitoring
group also urged Prime Minister Obuchi to press for judicial reforms and
prosecutions of serious abuses committed by Cambodian security forces
since 1993. Japan is Cambodia's single largest bilateral aid donor.
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"Japan is in a unique position, given its political and economic ties,
to encourage respect for human rights and the rule of law in Cambodia. We hope the prime minister will emphasize that any tribunal for the Khmer Rouge will have no credibility without the full support of the United Nations."
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Mike Jendrzejczyk,
Washington Director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch
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"Japan is in a unique position, given its political and economic ties,
to encourage respect for human rights and the rule of law in Cambodia,"
said Mike Jendrzejczyk, Washington Director of Human Rights Watch's Asia
Division. "We hope the prime minister will emphasize that any tribunal
for the Khmer Rouge will have no credibility without the full support of
the United Nations."
Human Rights Watch urged Japan to withhold endorsement of any tribunal
based on the draft tribunal law that Cambodia has submitted to the U.N.,
and to refrain from offering any technical, legal or funding assistance,
until the U.N. determines that indictments and trials will fully meet
international standards of fairness and impartiality.
Tokyo hosted the annual World Bank-convened meeting of Cambodian donors
last February, at which Prime Minister Hun Sen made commitments to key
economic, social, and institutional reforms necessary for Cambodia's
recovery from years of conflict. However, beyond some cosmetic
measures, the donors have failed to secure from Hun Sen any meaningful
or substantive judicial or legal reforms. A donors' monitoring group
meets periodically in Phnom Penh to review the government's progress,
but human rights concerns have not been prominent on their agenda.
"This high level visit is a good opportunity to remind Cambodia of its
international commitments on human rights," said Jendrzejczyk. "Japan
could also offer assistance for legal and judicial reform, including
serious efforts to end corruption and to strengthen the independence of
the courts."
Last July, the United Nations Human Rights Committee in New York
reviewed Cambodia's compliance with the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, and said that Khmer Rouge leaders should be put on
trial "before properly constituted independent courts and in accordance
with generally accepted international standards." The U.N. was sharply
critical of Cambodia's weak justice system, saying there was a lack of
training and resources, and the judiciary was "susceptible to bribery
and political pressure." The U.N. also expressed alarm at reports of
killings, "disappearances" and deaths in custody by security forces --
especially during 1997 and the 1998 elections -- and the "failure of the
State Party (Cambodia) to investigate fully all such allegations and
bring those accused of them to justice."
Cambodian NGOs have called for judicial reforms to be carried out
through established legal mechanisms such as the Supreme Council of
Magistracy, mandated to discipline judges. They have criticized a recent
campaign of rearrests of released prisoners ordered by Hun Sen,
ostensibly to curb corruption among judges, but without new evidence or
arrest warrants, saying it undermines the judiciary.
Human Rights Watch also called on Japan to express support for the work
of Cambodian NGOs doing human rights education and monitoring, in line
with the donors' emphasis on civil society and its crucial role in
Cambodia's development.
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