VZCZCXRO8113
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0264/01 1141042
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 241042Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0631
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 0205
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS PRIORITY 0098
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 2377
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0490
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0591
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0694
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE PRIORITY 0324
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 3280
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 2379

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PHNOM PENH 000264 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, D, P, DRL, F. S/WCI 
USUN FOR M. SIMONOFF 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2019 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KJUS EAID PHUM CB
SUBJECT: KHMER ROUGE TRIBUNAL: DONORS CHART A MORE UNIFIED 
COURSE 
 
REF: A. PHNOM PENH 243 
     ¶B. PHNOM PENH 213 
     ¶C. PHNOM PENH 168 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR CAROL A. RODLEY FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  In an Ambassador Level Meeting April 23, 
the major donors to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts 
of Cambodia (ECCC) gave provisional support to a U.S. 
proposal to issue a joint statement on stalled talks (Ref A) 
between the UN and the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) to 
establish an anti-corruption mechanism at the Khmer Rouge 
Tribunal.  Embassy separately received unconfirmed reports 
that the ECCC Pre-Trial Chamber voted along 
international-national lines to support the prosecution of up 
to six additional suspects, but is waiting for the "right 
time" to release its decision.  A proposed draft statement on 
the UN-RGC negotiations was circulated April 23 for 
coordination with capitals to coincide with an announcement 
by Japan that it will release $4.17 million to support the 
Cambodian side of the court, which is so short of money that 
it cannot pay April salaries of Cambodian staff.  The donors 
also decided to convene a meeting with the UN ResRep and 
UNDP; seek a briefing from the Cambodian side of the ECCC; 
and then call a full meeting by mid-May of the Phnom 
Penh-based "Friends of the ECCC," which has not met for 
almost a year.  Donors supported a proposal by the French 
Ambassador to conduct a joint demarche to the UN in New York 
that would reflect in part the common ground found in their 
joint statement, but also to review what remains to be done 
to agree on an ECCC anti-corruption mechanism and to seek 
coordination between UN/OLA and other UN partners such as 
UNDP, which administers international donations to the 
Cambodian side of the court. END SUMMARY. 
 
Donors Not As Far Apart as Presented in Press 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) Based on the perception that local media reports had 
distorted donors' views of the ongoing UN-RGC talks on an 
anti-corruption mechanism at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT), 
the Ambassador April 21 spoke separately to Australian 
Ambassador Margaret Adamson and U.K. Ambassador Andrew Mace 
to discern where some donors stood.  Ambassador Mace said 
that he had been "mystified" by some of the local reports 
based on a Cambodian spokesperson's view that unspecified 
donors supported the last Cambodian proposal made on the 
anti-corruption mechanism (forwarded to the Desk on April 
l0).  The U.K. Ambassador made it clear that he did not back 
one side or the other and expressed views different from the 
Japanese and French, whose positions he characterized as 
being more equivocal on the corruption issue than his own 
government's.  U.K. Ambassador Mace supported the idea of 
showing donor unity through some form of joint statement. 
(NOTE: He also stated that all of the good work of the Khmer 
Rouge Tribunal was not reaching as wide an audience as it 
should and that other issues such as national outreach and 
the legacy of the court for Cambodian rule of law were not 
being addressed.  Post will send septel an appraisal of the 
potential significant achievements and unmet needs of the 
KRT.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶3.  (C) Australian Ambassador Adamson reviewed a recent GOA 
announcement that the "broad progress" in preventing 
corruption at the KRT had prompted it to unfreeze $456,000 to 
the Cambodian side of the court.  She noted that these funds 
were always intended as bridging funds for the Cambodian side 
since first being announced in April 2008 when the first 
major donor shortfall emerged.  The funds were then frozen in 
mid-2008 in a joint donor action when allegations of 
corruption against ECCC Director Sean Visoth went unanswered. 
 (NOTE: Sean Visoth has since departed the court. END NOTE.) 
Adamson said that her Foreign Minister was now convinced the 
RGC had proven itself to be serious enough about corruption 
at the court that the GOA could unfreeze the funds, 
notwithstanding the still unresolved negotiation on an 
anti-corruption mechanism.  She supported the demonstration 
of donor solidarity through a joint statement.  Ambassador 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000264  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
Adamson stated that international sources at the court told 
her the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) had reached a decision on UN 
co-prosecutor Robert Petit's appeal to indict up to six 
additional suspects in a Case 3 at the KRT.  She stated that 
the decision -- which she did not reveal -- was not being 
announced until the judges thought that the time was right. 
 
A Major Development 
------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C/NF) Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) Monitor 
Heather Ryan (strictly protect source) reported April 24 that 
sources among the three national and two international judges 
in the Pre-Trial Chamber told her that the PTC had already 
decided in April 2-3 proceedings to support a co-prosecutor 
motion to charge six additional accused in the KRT.  (NOTE: 
The KRT rules state that unless a super-majority of the five 
PTC judges vote to halt a prosecution, it must advance to the 
co-investigating judges in this civil code system.  END 
NOTE.)  Ryan cited a national judge who said they had 
convinced the international judges to jointly release the 
decision after the next round of PTC hearings in early June. 
Ryan said that the international judges were finally 
convinced that now was the wrong time to announce the 
decision.  (COMMENT: Post could not separately confirm the 
nature of the PTC decision, but adjudge the source to be 
thorough and credible.  END COMMENT.)  Ryan characterized the 
evidence against the six as being of equal weight to the 
evidence against S-21 torture center head Kaing Guek Eav (aka 
Duch) in Case 1 and four other KR leaders in Case 2.  Ryan 
estimated that indictments and arrests could take place 
within two to six months of the announcement of the PTC 
decision.  (NOTE:  She stated that her biggest concern was 
that the Cambodian co-investigating judge might try to delay 
this Case 3, but added that the UN judge could then go back 
to the PTC to jump start the indictments and secure the 
arrest orders.  END NOTE.) 
 
Donors Show More Unity on KRT Corruption Measures 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶5.  (C) Ambassadors from Japan, France, Australia, Germany, 
the U.K. and U.S., along with the EU Charge, met April 23 to 
review the current impasse between the UN and the RGC on the 
anti-corruption measures, and consider next steps including 
the possible release of a joint statement with the goal of 
demonstrating unity in their positions on the issue.  The 
Ambassador expressed dismay with some of misleading local 
press stories, which had included a Cambodian spokesperson's 
statement that one donor supported the Cambodian position in 
the UN-RGC negotiation.  All donors confirmed that they took 
a more even-handed approach to the negotiations and expressed 
agreement with Japanese Ambassador Katsuhiro Shinohara that 
they should have a common and unified stance. 
 
¶6.  (C) The Ambassador asked participants to consider three 
desired outcomes, including that donors:  (1) understand and 
confirm the consensus;  (2) strive to correct the public 
record locally regarding their positions on the UN-RGC 
negotiations; and (3) send a message to the UN and Cambodia 
that, as a group, the donors want the two sides to engage 
seriously and get past the one last sticking point in the 
negotiations.  Further disruption of the discussion could 
prove to be a disincentive for both sides, she noted. 
 
¶7.  (C) The U.K., Australia and Germany all supported the 
view that it was important to counteract perceptions of donor 
disunity.  Japan noted that both sides appeared to be 
sticking to certain principles, but agreed that each side 
should study the proposal of the other and that negotiations 
must continue.  Donors noted some differences in their 
attitudes toward the two proposals, but U.K. Ambassador 
Andrew Mace stated that it was not helpful to align with any 
particular negotiating position, vice supporting an outcome 
acceptable to both sides.  If asked, donors might offer 
helpful suggestions, he added.  EU Charge Rafael Dochao 
Moreno stated that he agreed with the U.S. and U.K. and 
expressed a desire for a positive result before the EU-ASEM 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000264  003 OF 004 
 
 
meeting at the end of May.  The EU reiterated that it was 
important for whistle blowers to be protected. 
 
New Japanese Funds for the Cambodian Side of the KRT 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Ambassador Shinohara announced newly received 
information that the Japanese government authorized the 
release of $4.17 million of Japan's counterpart assistance 
funds to Cambodia to the Cambodian side of the ECCC.  He read 
to the group a newly arrived cable from Tokyo:  the GOJ 
supported the tribunal to achieve justice and support the 
rule of law;  while the two sides had not yet reached 
agreement, the donors should require both sides to continue 
their discussions and reach agreement on an anti-corruption 
mechanism;  however, the GOJ was concerned that the lack of 
budget on the Cambodian side could threaten the suspension of 
the court's proceedings and was thus providing this new 
contribution to continue the work of the court.  The donors 
agreed that the withholding of funds from the Cambodian side 
was no longer a preferred option.  There was some discussion 
of the UNDP's role as a funding vehicle for the Cambodian 
side and the need to engage the UN family on this issue, 
especially on the need for UN/OLA and UNDP to align their 
principles. 
 
Next Steps 
---------- 
 
¶9.  (C) The Japanese announced that they would circulate a 
draft joint statement later in the day, which would also 
include reference to the new Japanese contribution.  French 
Ambassador Jean-Francois Desmazieres laid out a course of 
action that included first issuing the statement and then 
following soon with a demarche to the UN.  In the meantime, 
in Phnom Penh the donors would ask for a briefing from the 
ECCC (most probably from acting Director Tony Kranh), 
followed by a briefing from the UN side of the ECCC.  The 
assembled representatives agreed to the French-Japanese 
proposal to hold a meeting of the "Friends of the ECCC" 
before mid-May (this is a meeting without agenda and without 
minutes, but includes the ECCC, UNAKRT, and the donors, 
including some based in Bangkok; the last meeting was held in 
May 2008).  This renewal of the Friends was also proposed to 
be in the joint statement. 
 
Draft Proposal 
-------------- 
 
¶10.  (C) The draft proposal circulated by Japan April 23 
matches a copy circulated at the UN later that day and 
received by USUN.  (Post is sending a copy to the Desk.)  The 
proposal, to be released by the co-chairs of the Friends of 
the ECCC, carries two essential points:  that the UN and RGC 
"must both continue to seek agreement" on the 
(anti-corruption) measures which include "full protection 
against retaliation".  (COMMENT: We strongly concur with a UK 
addendum circulated on April 24 that more precisely defines 
the intended targets of prosecution as "senior leaders and 
those most responsible", as this reflects the UN-RGC 
agreement. END COMMENT.)  Post agrees with a French proposal 
to informally inform Taksoe-Jensen before the release of the 
statement.  We also support the UK locution regarding 
continued UN-RGC interaction, referring to encouraging the UN 
to stay engaged. 
 
COMMENT: 
-------- 
 
¶11.  (C)  The donors have rallied around a position that will 
encourage both sides to re-think their positions.  We have 
been frank in stating that we believe it is time for the 
Cambodians to make some concessions, but also believe the UN 
must be seen as engaged. 
 
-- The news of additional accused is welcome and shows that 
the court is working as it was carefully designed to do. 
 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000264  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
-- In the meantime, Case 1 against Duch continues and the 
Cambodian public is truly enthralled to see a KR torturer 
being held to account in court for his alleged crimes. 
RODLEY