A Bay of Plenty man is calling for a Cambodian judge to be ‘sacked' after the judge rejected his testimony.
The testimony stated the grief he suffered from the murder of his brother by the Khmer Rouge regime.
Rob Hamill's brother was tortured and murdered by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia in 1978, with legal proceedings underway for those believed responsible.
Released documents show attempts by the co-investigating judges (CIJs), You Bunleng and Siegfried Blunk, to exclude testimonial information of the Olympic rower from being considered as evidence in tribunal investigations.
'I have always believed the reasons outlined for my rejection to be civil party in case 003 confirm interference in the court process,” says Rob.
'The arguments are frail to the point of ludicrous.”
Case 003 refers to the case name of the court proceedings where the United Nations-led tribunal is investigating crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge during the period from 1975 to January in 1979.
'One could understand why the CIJs would want the document to be classified confidential, if only to save the embarrassment of their peers ever reading it,” he says, referring to the co-investigating judges' rejection of his civil party application.
'With this document it's clear Judge (Siegfried) Blunk has sunk the credibility of the court to a new low.
'Clearly, he had no ethical or moral compass to guide him and, in my mind, has joined the ranks of the perpetrators themselves in terms of harm done to victims.”
'I call for the UN to sack Judge Blunk and for cases 003 and 004 to be transferred to the Hague,” says Rob.
In a bid to promote the horrors that took place as a result of the regime, Rob has made a documentary called Brother Number One, which will be premiered at the New Zealand Film Festival in Auckland next month.
'It's a very important story that needs to be told – more people know about Adolf Hitler than Pol Pot, yet this is recent regional history and one of our nationals was directly affected by the atrocities.”
4 comments
Usual suspects
Posted on 30-06-2011 10:48 | By SpeakUp
Law doesn't mean justice and justice doesn't mean law. This is only the latest scandal to rock the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal from which many other judges have resigned in protest. The remaining ones are of course happy to be rid of criticizing peers: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2011/0615/More-leaked-documents-highlight-Khmer-Rouge-tribunal-under-fire-in-Cambodia
Cambodia fails in Rule of Law Index
Posted on 30-06-2011 11:51 | By Denise Arnold
I have just returned from the World Justice Forum III where issues like this were considered. The most significant development is that the Rule of Law Index which was first developed and published in 2008 has now been updated to include New Zealand and Cambodia. In the East Asia and Pacific region other countries indexed are Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam. There are now 66 countries measured and ranked. There is a need for base line data and this information is relevant, current and accessible. The Rule of Law index is the first tool that I am aware of by which a country's overall performance can be measured. The Rule of Law index is designed to measure practical situations in which a rule of law deficit may affect the daily lives of people. More specifically whether people can access public services without the need to bribe officials and whether people can conduct their daily activities without fear of crime or police abuse. Most importantly, the adherence to the Rule of Law is up to all disciplines, not just lawyers. Everyone plays a part in making sure the rule of law is applied across all facets of life. Teachers need to comply with standards of fairness and impartiality, builders must uphold building codes and comply with contracts, medical professionals need to provide medical care without demanding bribes or selling supplies, public works must meet standards of safety. All of these are aspects of indicators of the adherence to the rule of law. The Rule of Law Index 2011 can be viewed at http://worldjusticeproject.org/sites/default/files/wjproli2011_0.pdf. New Zealand shows on page 82 and Cambodia on page 42. Overall, New Zealand ranks first in the East Asia and Pacific in the absence of corruption and is positioned in the top five in the world in seven of the eight categories. Although NZ has ranked well comparatively to the other 65 countries measured, there is still work to do. According to the index there are still too many people resorting to violence to redress grievances in New Zealand, there are undue delays in our court systems and our correctional systems are not effective. New Zealand is also comparatively slow in its performance when raked with other high income countries. Not surprisingly, Cambodia ranks last in the East Asia and Pacific.
This ROL index....
Posted on 30-06-2011 12:55 | By SpeakUp
...states China for example as a well placed country within its peers, a country that "has seen major improvements in the quality, effectiveness, and accountability of its legal institutions." The index is compiled mainly by the legal fraternity, various law faculties and govt agencies and has therefore an odor of system bias.
35 years reduced to 19
Posted on 30-06-2011 23:36 | By morepork
Kerry was an innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is impossible to understand the mind or motivation of anyone who can order the torture and death of other human beings without any reason, save spite and malice. I think 35 years is too short, and for him to appeal 19 years shows he has no vestige of remorse for what he did. Frankly, the world would be a better place without such as him. It is a compelling argument for capital punishment to be restored for certain crimes. Yes, two wrongs don't make a right, but individuals like this are a cancer on humanity, and the only cure for cancer is to cut it out.
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