Cambodia and the UN yesterday signed an agreement to hold a genocide trial for former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, whose brutal rule claimed about 1.7 million lives.
Sok An, Cambodia's chief negotiator of the pact, and Hans Corell, the UN deputy secretary-general for legal affairs, signed the document at Chaktomouk conference hall, which the government has set as the venue for the internationally assisted tribunal.
The agreement must still be ratified by Cambodia's legislature, and Corell and others have warned that it may still be a long time until any trials, with joint teams of Cambodian and international prosecutors and judges, are convened.
However, the agreement -- 24 years after the Khmer Rouge lost power and six years after Cambodia first asked for UN assistance in holding a tribunal -- marks a breakthrough in the quest for justice for victims of the Khmer Rouge.
None of the Khmer Rouge leadership have ever faced trial for the atrocities committed during their 1975 to 1979 rule, when nearly a quarter of the Cambodian population died.
Many senior Khmer Rouge figures live freely in the country, having surrendered to the government before the movement's collapse in 1998, the same year the group's leader, Pol Pot, died.
Although many of those who died under the Khmer Rouge were victims of failed utopian plans which led to starvation and disease, others were tortured and killed in purges which became the group's notorious trademark.
The tribunal agreement has been opposed by several leading human rights groups, including Amnesty International, who said it will be set up in a way that makes it too vulnerable to political influence.
The Cambodian government and the UN began talks in 1997 on setting up an international tribunal in Cambodia, but struggled to agree on how much control foreigners would have over the proceedings.
The UN was concerned about giving too much power to Cambodia's corrupt and politicized judiciary, while Cambodia feared infringements of its sovereignty.
UN negotiators abruptly pulled out of talks last year, claiming Cambodia was insincere in guaranteeing conditions for fair trials. Talks resumed last year after a gap of about a year.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’