Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08USUNNEWYORK872
2008-09-29 14:57:00
CONFIDENTIAL
USUN New York
Cable title:  

CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS DOMINATE KHMER ROUGE TRIALS

Tags:  PGOV KJUS PREL PHUM CB 
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VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0872/01 2731457
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 291457Z SEP 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5007
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 0594
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 1076
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 0200
RUEHPF/AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH PRIORITY 0141
C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000872 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/25/2018
TAGS: PGOV KJUS PREL PHUM CB
SUBJECT: CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS DOMINATE KHMER ROUGE TRIALS
(UNAKRT) STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING IN NEW YORK AT UK
MISSION

REF: 9/24/08 EMAIL EXCHANGE MSIMONOFF USUN/L AND
JMELLOTT S/WCI

Classified By: MINISTER COUNSELLOR LEGAL ADVISER CAROLYN WILLSON
FOR REASONS 1.4(B) AND 1.4(D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000872

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/25/2018
TAGS: PGOV KJUS PREL PHUM CB
SUBJECT: CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS DOMINATE KHMER ROUGE TRIALS
(UNAKRT) STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING IN NEW YORK AT UK
MISSION

REF: 9/24/08 EMAIL EXCHANGE MSIMONOFF USUN/L AND
JMELLOTT S/WCI

Classified By: MINISTER COUNSELLOR LEGAL ADVISER CAROLYN WILLSON
FOR REASONS 1.4(B) AND 1.4(D)


1. (C) Summary. On September 24, USUN attended a meeting of
the steering committee of the UN Assistance to the Khmer
Rouge Trials (UNAKRT). While all participants praised the
progress made by the UN special expert David Tolbert and the
recently appointed Deputy Director (UNAKRT Administration
Office) Knut Rosandhaug over the last several months, the
ongoing corruption issue dominated the meeting, and there is
concern that it could threaten to infect the court
proceedings. End summary.


2. (U) The United Kingdom hosted a meeting of the steering
committee of the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge
Trials (UNAKRT) on September 24. In attendance were the
members of the steering committee (Australia, France, Japan,
UK); officials from the UN Secretariat (including David
Tolbert, Expert Advisor; Peter Taksoe-Jensen,
Assistant-Secretary General for Legal Affairs; Jun Yamazaki,
Assistant Secretary-General and Controller; Marie-Oveissi of
the Department of Economic and Social Affairs; Romulo Garcia,
Chief, North East Asia and Mekong Division, Regional Bureau
for Asia and the Pacific of UNDP; Jo Scheuer, Country
Director, UNDP Cambodia; Knut Rosandhaug, Deputy Director,
Office of Administration of the Extraordinary Chambers in the
Courts of Cambodia.) USUN Legal Officer and a representative
of the Mission of Cambodia attended as observers.

The Good News: The Tribunal Is Making Progress, Despite
Several Issues to Tackle


3. (SBU) David Tolbert, whose appointment as Expert Advisor
to address several management and corruption issues ends this
week, updated the steering committee on recent events. He
reported that the budget is complete and being used as a
fund-raising document, and that Knut Rosandhaug, the recently
appointed principal administrator on the international side
of the Tribunal, is doing a tremendous job.


4. (SBU) Deputy Director Knut Rosandhaug presented an

update. There was a closing order in the first criminal
case, against Kaing Guek Eave, also known as Duch, the warden
of a notorious detention center. The investigation is
complete, and thus the case is ready to go to trial.
However, the prosecutor appealed the closing order. The
pre-trial chamber should rule on this issue by the end of
November. The first case will likely go to trial by the end
of January or the beginning of February. The investigation
of the second case should be concluded by the middle of next
year. There is internal debate as to whether there should be
a third case.


5. (SBU) Rosandhaug noted that the Tribunal will be
remembered for its novel approach to victim participation, an
area, he said, where the Tribunal is weakest. There are
close to two thousand complaints, and the Tribunal has not
figured out how to deal with them. There needs to be a
procedure established for dealing with victims' complaints.
Rosandhaug also noted that there are difficulties recruiting
top-notch staff on the international side of the Tribunal.


6. (C) Rosandhaug presented a bleak picture of the
relationship among senior managers at the Tribunal. He said
that there is no communication whatsoever between the
Director and the Deputy Director, largely because of the
corruption issue, discussed below.

The Bad News: Corruption Issue Casts a Shadow Over the
Tribunal


7. (C) The corruption issue looms large over the Tribunal.
The central allegation is that Sean Vissoth, Director of the
Tribunal, forced Cambodian staff members of the Tribunal to
pay him kickbacks. Tolbert reported on a three step
anti-corruption plan, as follows: 1. A new ethics officer
will be appointed for the international side of the Tribunal;

2. a judicial code of conduct has been adopted; and 3. a
process is being put in place to take complaints and engage
in additional review of pending complaints. Tolbert reported
that the most recent development is that the Government of
Cambodia has aired the corruption allegations against Vissoth
in the Cambodian press. The Deputy Director has received a
letter from defense counsel making a broad request for
additional information related to the corruption allegations.

The international judges will be taking a close look at how
the corruption issue is handled. If it is not addressed, the
international judges will consider their options, including,
he implied, quitting the Tribunal to avoid being associated
with a corrupted process.


8. (C) The press is now asking Rosandhaug questions about
the corruption allegations, and he finds it difficult to
remain silent, for it gives the appearance that the UN has
something to hide. According to Rosandhaug, to date, the
corruption issue had not infected the judicial process. Now
that defense counsel has requested detailed information on
corruption, it is no longer possible to keep the corruption
issue out of the judicial process. The likely next step will
be defense counsel filing a motion with the court raising the
corruption issue.


9. (C) According to Rosandhaug, another problem is that the
President of the Cambodian Supreme Court has been appointed
to be the chief ethics officer for the Cambodian side of the
Tribunal.


10. (C) Peter Taksoe-Jensen, Assistant-Secretary General
for Legal Affairs, said that it was unacceptable to have a
UN-backed court where there are corruption allegations that
are not addressed. For the moment, the UN has decided not to
respond to communications from Cambodia attacking David
Tolbert and the UN. Taksoe-Jensen said that that day there
was high level contact between the 38th Floor and the Foreign
Minister of Cambodia and that the Legal Counsel would meet
with the Cambodian Permanent Representative. The next steps
are to respond to the two letters and to send a high level
delegation to Cambodia, perhaps at the beginning of November.
(Taksoe-Jensen would head that high level delegation.) The
goal would be to push for Vissoth,s removal and the adoption
and implementation of the anti-corruption package that David
Tolbert has presented. Taksoe-Jensen said that there is a
real risk that the cases will be contaminated by the
corruption issue.


11. (C) All of the steering committee members expressed deep
concern about the corruption issue, and recognized that it
needs to be addressed as soon as possible, and through
diplomacy, before it infects the entire judicial process.
USUN, as per REF, also expressed its concern about the
corruption issue, and said that it will monitor this issue as
it considers whether to make additional contributions next
year. USUN said that it was pleased that OLA was engaging on
the issue and urged UN contact with the Government of
Cambodia at the highest levels. USUN also praised the
progress made by David Tolbert and Knut Rosandhaug.


12. (C) UNDP said that it had frozen disbursements to the
Cambodian side of the Tribunal pending resolution of the
corruption issues. It noted that diplomatic solutions might
not be the end, as there must be accountability for past
misuse of funds, if any. There are internal discussions
within the secretariat as to what kind of accountability is
required to bring this matter to closure.


13. (C) Comment. The progress achieved by David Tolbert to
put the Tribunal back on the right track is jeopardized by
the prolongation and escalation of the corruption issue.
There was an ominous sense in the steering committee meeting
that if the Government of Cambodia does not act quickly to
resolve this issue, the Tribunal itself might be tainted
beyond repair. End comment.

Financial Report


14. (SBU) DESA reported on the financial situation of the
Tribunal. In short, funding is in place until March, but
there will be a funding shortfall without new pledges. USUN
noted that the United States had announced its intention to
contribute $1.8 million to the court, but advised that there
were additional internal processes that needed to be
completed, including consultation with Congress. Members and
others thanked the United States.

"The Way Forward" from the New York Perspective


15. (C) The comptroller spoke on the "way forward," which had
three proposed elements: 1. The appointment of a special
expert on a part-time basis, to continue playing the role
that David Tolbert played. This expert, who would work a
maximum of three months out of the year on an intermittent
basis, would be based in New York and funded by OLA,s trust
fund. But Member States would need to earmark money for the
trust fund. (France and Australia were supportive, Japan had
reservations about this proposal due to additional costs, and
the UK had reservations due to internal funding mechanisms.)

2. Creation of a new liaison officer with the court, to be
housed in OLA. (All members had reservations, but were
somewhat placated by DESA,s assertion that this position
could be funded from the existing budget.) 3. Monthly
meetings of the steering committee, as opposed to quarterly
meetings. (All members opposed, stating that the steering
committee,s terms of reference allow for additional meetings
on an ad hoc basis as needed.) Jensen added that OLA simply
does not presently have the resources to devote the necessary
time and attention to the Tribunal.
Khalilzad