Nationalism Behind Thai-Cambodian Rift: Experts

February 08, 2011

Nationalist fervor and political grandstanding are stoking a deadly border
dispute between Thailand and Cambodia but both sides will be keen to avoid
major hostilities, experts say.

Although the exact trigger for a series of armed clashes in recent days is
unclear, tensions have grown since seven Thais -- including one lawmaker --
were arrested by Cambodia in December near the frontier for illegal entry.

Two of them were sentenced to lengthy jail terms for spying, outraging
nationalist Thais, who have held protests in Bangkok calling on their Prime
Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign.

Observers say the recent cross-border fighting, focused on the area
surrounding an ancient Khmer temple, is being used in both countries to stir
patriotic sentiment with elections on the horizon.

Yet while Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen has unleashed a torrent of fiery
rhetoric, accusing Thailand of being an invading aggressor and calling for
UN intervention, for Abhisit the standoff is seen as another unwanted
headache.

"Hun Sen is deliberately playing this to vitalise nationalist sentiment and
reinvigorate support for himself," said Professor William Case, director of
the Southeast Asia Research Centre at the City University of Hong Kong.

Hun Sen is "something of a tough guy ... but I don't think it will be
allowed to get totally out of hand," he said.

"On the Thai side this is a confrontation that the leadership would very
much like to avoid. The nationalism on the Thai side is not so much coming
from the government but from the masses, to which it has to respond."

"Yellow Shirt" Thai nationalists turned out in their thousands over the
weekend demanding Abhisit's resignation over the issue.

The royalist protest movement is strongly critical of Cambodia over issues
such as the border row and Phnom Penh's appointment of Thailand's fugitive
ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra as an economics adviser in 2009.

Seven people, including at least two civilians, have been killed since the
fighting broke out on Friday around the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple,
with both sides accusing each other of firing the first shots.

Ties between the neighbors have been strained since the temple was granted
UN World Heritage status in July 2008.

The World Court ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear itself belonged to Cambodia
but both countries claim ownership of a 4.6-square-kilometre
(1.8-square-mile) surrounding area.

"Nationalistic fervor is fuelling both sides of the conflict," said
Professor David Chandler, a Cambodia expert at Australia's Monash
University.

"Kicking Cambodia around has been a Thai hobby since the 14th century;
Cambodia biting back dates from the colonial era and of course from the
World Court 1962 decision."

Michael Montesano of the Institute of Southeast Asia Studies in Singapore
said the border issue "certainly plays well" in Cambodia.

"Cambodian efforts to protect their rights along the border and stand up to
a stronger Thailand have political benefits for Hun Sen," he said.

The 59-year-old strongman -- who has ruled since 1985, vowing to remain in
power until he is 90 -- is looking ahead to a general election in 2013.

In contrast in Thailand the government and military would prefer to avoid a
confrontation, while nationalist activists "are determined to keep tensions
with Cambodia on the boil," Montesano said.

The "Yellow Shirts" were once allies of the establishment-backed Abhisit,
but relations have soured and the group's political party is eyeing
elections expected some time this year.

"With elections in Thailand approaching, the country's civil society
nationalists will play the Cambodia card to build up support for their
parties," said Paul Chambers, a Thai expert at Germany's Heidelberg
University.

"Preah Vihear has fallen victim to ultra-nationalism on both sides of the
Thai-Cambodian border."

Despite the tough talk and casualties on both sides, observers believe the
risk of a full-blown conflict remains slim.

"It will be a matter of bilateral negotiations with the possibility of
further skirmishes," said Professor Mark Turner at the University of
Canberra in Australia. "It's difficult to envisage any widening of the armed
conflict."

Agence France-Presse

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http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54299
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 03:41 GMT

Khmer Rouge Leaders Seek Release Before Trial
By Irwin Loy

PHNOM PENH, Jan 31, 2011 (IPS) - Standing in an air-conditioned courtroom on
the outskirts of the Cambodian capital, an aging former Khmer Rouge figure
accused of genocide offered few words as he asked for his release.

"I only have one suggestion," said Khieu Samphan, "Please abide by the law."

More than three years after their arrests, three former Khmer Rouge leaders
accused of crimes against humanity and genocide asked a United Nations-
backed war crimes tribunal Monday to release them ahead of their pending
trials.

Lawyers for Khieu Samphan, the regime's head of state; Nuon Chea, its chief
ideologue; and Ieng Thirith, a former cabinet minister, are arguing they
should be released after having been kept in pre-trial detention since their
arrests in 2007. A fourth co-defendant, former foreign affairs minister Ieng
Sary, did not appear in court.

Observers say releasing the accused could ignite public outrage in this
Southeast Asian country. The Khmer Rouge movement was responsible for the
deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people. But, more than 30 years after the
regime was toppled, senior leaders have yet to stand trial.

Lawyers for the accused argued Monday that the Extraordinary Chambers in the
Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), as the hybrid tribunal is officially called, is
bound by its rules to release them in advance of their trials. The court
officially indicted the four accused last September. Lawyers claim that any
detention exceeding the four months that have since passed is illegal.

Court officials have not specified a date for the trials, but have indicated
they are expected to take place this year. Sa Sovan, a lawyer acting for
Khieu Samphan, noted the court has extended his client's detention period
numerous times since his 2007 arrest.

"There are no grounds to continue his detention any longer," he said.

Son Arun, a lawyer for Nuon Chea, said his client has no intention of
fleeing the country if released. On the contrary, he argued, he is eager to
testify and explain his side of the story.

"Nuon Chea has indicated again and again that he wishes to participate and
cooperate with the court," Arun said. "He would like to live with his family
and he does not intend to run away."

Court prosecutors, however, argued against releasing the accused, suggesting
they had many reasons to flee, and that authorities may not be able to
guarantee their safety outside the confines of the court complex.

"The passage of time has not diminished the impact of these crimes,"
co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley said. "If anything, it has increased the impact
of these crimes. There are many members of the Khmer population who are
suffering from psychiatric disorders as a result of their experiences during
this appalling time."

The four co-defendants are accused of being part of a leadership group that
oversaw egregious crimes committed more than three decades ago. Today, they
are aging and frail. The youngest, Ieng Thirith, turns 79 this year. She
quietly left the courtroom early on in proceedings Monday. Nuon Chea, 84,
sought medical attention after complaining of dizziness.

"She can barely walk," lawyer Phat Pouv Seang said of Ieng Thirith, "let
alone cause any disturbance to the public order."

In January, co-defendant Ieng Sary asked the court to permit half-day
sessions when the trial gets underway, citing his "age and ill health".

Court observer Panhavuth Long, a programme officer with the Open Society
Justice Initiative, said he believed the accused are acting within their
rights by asking to be released. Seeing the aged defendants Monday should
come as a reminder that the tribunal must not lose momentum in pursuing
prosecution.

"The testimony of the accused can shed light on the history," he said. "It
may enable us to understand more about the regime and also to understand the
personalities of the accused."

And for many victims of the regime, it is the testimony of the four accused,
as much as any verdict, that will determine what value the tribunal holds.

"We really want the trial to be up and running very soon. If they die, they
bring with them the truth," he said.

If the court were to release the accused before the trial, it would come as
a shock to a Cambodian public eager for justice, said another observer.

"If they are released, it would be a stunning moment for the whole nation,"
said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia.

But he said many people here have already come to their own conclusions.

"Each of the survivors has their own judgement, no matter what the court has
to say about it," Youk said. "The truth about [the defendants] is the crimes
they have committed against the people of Cambodia. This kind of truth will
never set them free."

The court is expected to rule on the co-defendants' release bids within 30
days.

The case represents the second trial as part of the court's mandate. Last
July, Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, was sentenced to 35 years in
prison for his role as head of the notorious S-21 detention centre, though
the sentence was reduced by 16 years because of time already served and
illegal detention.

(END)

Copyright © 2011 IPS-Inter Press Service. All rights reserved.

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http://www.journallive.co.uk/culture-newcastle/arts-news/2011/01/29/musicians-and-poets-join-together-for-untold-stories-61634-28074825/

Musicians and poets join together for Untold Stories
by David Whetstone, The Journal
Jan 29 2011

HOLOCAUST survivors will be joined in Newcastle tomorrow by musicians and
poets in Untold Stories, a moving event in the same week as Holocaust
Memorial Day.

One speaker at the event at The Journal Tyne Theatre will be Youk Chhang who
survived the "killing fields" of Cambodia when 1.7 million people died at
the hands of the Khmer Rouge.

Youk Chhang was 14 when the Khmer Rouge began their four-year reign of
terror in 1975 and was put to work in the paddy fields where people died
every day.

Food and death, he has recalled, became his twin obsessions.

He now runs the Documentation Centre of Cambodia which has built up an
extensive archive of documents, photos and films relating to the Khmer Rouge
rule.

In the spirit of reconciliation, he has concluded that he could easily have
been sucked into the Khmer Rouge killing machine as others of his age were.

Also due to speak tomorrow is Eva Clarke whose mother, Anka, spent the nine
months of her pregnancy in Auschwitz concentration camp and gave birth after
being transferred to another camp, Mauthausen, on a coal truck.

Eva was born on April 29, 1945, three days before the Americans liberated
the camp and days after her father, a German-Jewish architect, was shot. He
hadn't even known Anka was pregnant. Eva's mother survived the war.

Also due to speak are Manchester-based Jewish refugee Peter Kurer, whose
family were saved from the Nazis by British Quakers, and Prof Roberta Greene
of the University of Texas, who has worked with Holocaust survivors.

Violinist Bradley Creswick, singer Katie Doherty and the Hotspur Children's
Choir will perform at the event tomorrow and there will be readings from The
Galloping Stone, an anthology of poems by Gillian Allnut and clients, staff
and volunteers from the Medical Foundation for the Care of the Victims of
Torture.

Holocaust Memorial Day coincides with the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau
concentration camp on January 27, 1945, and commemorates all victims of
genocide.

Untold Stories, which takes place at 3pm, is free but you must register via
www.hmd.org.uk/events

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