Cambodia's False Peace

Published on Oct 30, 2021 by Luke Hunt

Cambodia marked the 30th anniversary of the Paris Peace Accords on Oct. 23 with authorities attempting to justify the state of the country’s democracy while fending off foreign criticism of the deterioration of fundamental freedoms.The diplomatic community offered qualified praise, particularly in regards to poverty reduction, but sidestepped sensitive issues surrounding human rights, which have been under closer scrutiny ever since the ruling party won every seat contested at elections in 2018.British ambassador Tina Redshaw congratulated Cambodia “for its remarkable progress” but urged the government to “reinvigorate the ambition of the agreements and Cambodian constitution to ensure its own political future.”Read more here..

From Saigon to Kabul with Angst

Published on Aug 22, 2021 by Luke Hunt

The right-wing politics of U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell are not everyone’s cup of tea. But he’s an old stager and he was right about the Taliban shaping-up to retake of Afghanistan, when he said: “This debacle was not only foreseeable, it was foreseen.” “The Biden Administration has reduced U.S. officials to pleading with Islamic extremists to spare our Embassy as they prepare to overrun Kabul,” he said. Read more here. .

Ending: Khmer Rouge Trials

Published on Aug 22, 2021 by Luke Hunt

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA – The last surviving leader of the Khmer Rouge, Khieu Samphan, has made his final appeal against his conviction for genocide as the long-running United Nations-backed Cambodia tribunal held its last public hearings before winding down.  Amid tight security and health restrictions imposed to guard against the COVID-19 pandemic, Khieu Samphan delivered a dramatic 16-minute defense in which he categorically refused to accept his 2018 conviction for genocide against Cambodia’s Muslim Cham and ethnic Vietnamese. Full package: Read, watch listen here. .

A Tribunal Winds Down

Published on Aug 22, 2021 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Helen Jarvis. Khieu Samphan – the last of Pol Pot’s living henchmen – is slated to appear and deliver an oral defense of the crimes committed between 1975 and 1979.A bench of Cambodian and international judges will then deliberate on the 90-year-old’s appeal against his convictions for genocide and crimes against humanity.Nine days have been reserved for the hearings, following which the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) will start finalizing more than 15 years of legal work.The Diplomat’s Luke Hunt spoke with Helen Jarvis at her home on the banks of the Mekong River, north of Phnom Penh, about the “Herculean” efforts required to establish the tribunal, its successes, and other issues.Listen here..

Khmer Rouge, a Last Appeal

Published on Aug 21, 2021 by Luke Hunt

A television production for Voice of America. Produced by Luke Hunt, Video Editor David Potter and journalist Ny Chhan. The last surviving leader of the Khmer Rouge, Khieu Samphan, has made his final appeal against his conviction for genocide at the Khmer Rouge tribunal in Cambodia. Watch and read here..