Khmer Rouge jail chief Duch seeks acquittal

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch asked Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court Friday to acquit and release him, in a surprise development on the final day of arguments in his nine-month trial.

"I would ask the chambers to release me. Thank you very much," Duch said at the end of his closing statement to the court, officially known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

Following a query by judges, his Cambodian lawyer Kar Savuth then confirmed that Duch was asking to be acquitted on the grounds that he was not a senior member of the brutal 1975-1979 communist regime.

Cambodia KRouge court leaves victims disappointed

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Hav Sophea hoped for a sense of closure after telling Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal how her father was killed in the late 1970s at the Khmer Rouge's Tuol Sleng prison.
But after testifying at the ongoing trial of former prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, she is worried she was not allowed to properly put her father's memory to rest.
"The court does not treat civil parties like me, who are victims of the Khmer Rouge regime, well enough. They don't give us enough privileges to speak up about our pain," the 33-year-old told AFP.
Hav Sophea is one of 93 regime victims known as civil parties participating in the unique initiative at Duch's trial in which they have brought parallel civil cases against him.
The process has allowed them the right to be represented by lawyers, be part of investigations, call witnesses and ask questions during trial proceedings.
Most observers, however, conclude the well-intentioned experiment in victim participation, once touted as a possible model for future international criminal proceedings, has gone very badly.
Duch began his trial in March by accepting responsibility and apologising for overseeing the torture and execution of more than than 15,000 people at the regime's main prison, Tuol Sleng.
But civil party lawyers have often bogged down the process, taking individual turns posing often repetitive and irrelevant questions.
Furthermore, the defence has sought to dismiss 24 out of the 93 civil parties from the case against Duch after a number of them were gave dubious testimony in court.
Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, which gathers details of Khmer Rouge crimes, said many victim applications had not been properly vetted because the initiative was understaffed and lacked funds.
"The affected civil parties have no doubt been traumatised to some extent by these events," he said.
A number of court observers have also raised concerns about the June appointment of the head of the victims unit, Helen Jarvis, for her lack of experience and for her membership of Australia's Leninist Party Faction (LPF).
Jarvis signed a 2006 LPF statement which proclaimed: "Against the bourgeoisie and their state agencies we don't respect their laws and their fake moral principles."
The court recognised many shortcomings in the process when it announced earlier this month it would streamline victim participation for its next case against four more senior Khmer Rouge leaders.
Former Khmer Rouge "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, ex-head of state Khieu Samphan, former foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife Ieng Thirith, who was minister of social affairs, are also awaiting trial at the war crimes court.
Analysts say the victims unit will require an overhaul so it is not overwhelmed by applications in a country that lost a quarter of its population to overwork, starvation, execution and torture under the Khmer Rouge.
Yet while future proceedings could be smoother, judges' efforts to rein in the role of civil parties has stoked the emotions of many who were worst affected by Cambodia's tragedy.
Chum Mey, one of the handful who survived imprisonment at Tuol Sleng, boycotted with some two dozen other victims after civil party lawyers were not allowed to ask Duch questions about his character and personality.
"I am very disappointed and that's why I had boycotted the court. The court the decision was very unjust," the 79-year-old said.
"Since the very beginning, the court has allowed us to participate in every proceeding but as the trial nears its end the court banned us."
Many of the victims are also frustrated that they have not been granted financial compensation for their suffering, as civil claimants would be in a normal trial.
"For the accused person, he can now live well enough...(but) what about us victims? We have been left traumatised. Who should look after us?," said Neth Phally, 52, who testified that his brother was killed at Tuol Sleng.
Peter Maguire, historian of international justice and author of "Facing Death in Cambodia", says the civil parties have been a distracting social agenda when the court's main purpose ought to be weighing criminal evidence.
"Some new details have been revealed, but the salient facts remain the same," Maguire said. "There's nothing earth-shattering. We know who Duch is. We know what he did."

Source: Yahoo News

KRouge's prison head has no mental problems, say experts

PHNOM PENH: Mental health experts told Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court on Monday that the Khmer Rouge's main prison chief has no mental disorders despite having overseen the killing of thousands of people.

French psychologist Francoise Sironi-Guilbaud and Cambodian psychiatrist Kar Sunbaunat were testifying at the trial of Duch, who is accused of overseeing the torture and execution of some 15,000 people at Tuol Sleng prison.

"Is Duch suffering from a mental disorder? No, we have detected no mental disorder in the accused," Sironi-Guilbaud told the tribunal.

The expert went on to say that Duch, who worked as a maths teacher before the late 1970s Khmer Rouge regime, lived with disappointment but lacked sympathy for others.

"Duch (was) a man with one single idea, with one single thought at that time," she said.

Kar Sunbaunat added that the assessment, which stretched back to Duch's childhood and family life, revealed no signs that Duch had suffered from psychological problems.

Monday's hearing was boycotted by 28 of the 93 civil parties in the case, who are angry with judges after a ruling last week banning them from questioning Duch about his personality.

Chum Mey, 79, a survivor of Tuol Sleng prison, said the group would no longer attend the trial unless they were granted the right to ask the defendant questions.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, has repeatedly accepted responsibility for his role governing the jail under the regime and begged for forgiveness from the families of the victims.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia, resulting in the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork and torture.


Source: AFP

PHNOM PENH: Mental health experts told Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court on Monday that the Khmer Rouge's main prison chief has no mental disorders despite having overseen the killing of thousands of people.

French psychologist Francoise Sironi-Guilbaud and Cambodian psychiatrist Kar Sunbaunat were testifying at the trial of Duch, who is accused of overseeing the torture and execution of some 15,000 people at Tuol Sleng prison.

"Is Duch suffering from a mental disorder? No, we have detected no mental disorder in the accused," Sironi-Guilbaud told the tribunal.

The expert went on to say that Duch, who worked as a maths teacher before the late 1970s Khmer Rouge regime, lived with disappointment but lacked sympathy for others.

"Duch (was) a man with one single idea, with one single thought at that time," she said.

Kar Sunbaunat added that the assessment, which stretched back to Duch's childhood and family life, revealed no signs that Duch had suffered from psychological problems.

Monday's hearing was boycotted by 28 of the 93 civil parties in the case, who are angry with judges after a ruling last week banning them from questioning Duch about his personality.

Chum Mey, 79, a survivor of Tuol Sleng prison, said the group would no longer attend the trial unless they were granted the right to ask the defendant questions.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, has repeatedly accepted responsibility for his role governing the jail under the regime and begged for forgiveness from the families of the victims.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia, resulting in the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork and torture.


Source - AFP

Khmer Rouge victims boycott tribunal in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Lawyers representing victims of Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge regime boycotted a tribunal trying its leaders after being barred Monday from questioning a defendant about his personality and state of mind.
The move by the victims' attorneys — who were granted courtroom rights similar to those held by the defense and prosecution — came after judges overseeing the U.N.-assisted tribunal said they could not question former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav about his character.
Kaing Guek Eav — better known as Duch — headed the Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison, where up to 16,000 people were tortured and later taken away to be killed. Duch is charged with crimes against humanity and other offenses.
The tribunal is seeking justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who died in Cambodia from execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition as a result of the communist regime's radical policies while in power from 1975-79.
In court Monday, French psychologist Francoise Sironi-Guilbaud testified that Duch was not suffering any mental problems.
Victims' lawyers were later barred from questioning Duch about his mental health. It was unclear why the judges made the decision.
Chhum Mey, one of a handful of survivors of S-21 prison, said he was disappointed with the ban.
"As long as the tribunal is not allowing me or my lawyer to have the right to ask Duch about his personality and character, I will not attend the court," the 79-year-old told reporters, crying as he spoke. "Can we get full justice from this court?"
The tribunal is the first of its kind to integrate victims into legal proceedings. While introducing a human element, the inclusion of the "civil parties" has also complicated and slowed the trial.
Duch (pronounced DOIK), 66, is the first of five senior Khmer Rouge figures to face trial, and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. Duch faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Cambodia has no death penalty.
Also Monday, Australian William Smith was appointed acting international co-prosecutor of the tribunal. His appointment was an interim measure pending a decision on a permanent replacement for international prosecutor Robert Petit, whose resignation takes effect Tuesday. Smith had been a deputy co-prosecutor.
Petit announced his resignation in June, citing family reasons.

Source: AP

Former chief of Khmer Rouge torture centre in Cambodia asks for 'harshest punishment'

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The former chief of the Khmer Rouge's main torture centre, being tried by a U.N.-backed tribunal on genocide charges, asked the Cambodian people Wednesday to give him "the harshest punishment."
The statement from Kaing Guek Eav, who headed the notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, came as a widow wept before the court, demanding justice for the death of her husband and four children during the communist regime's reign of terror.
"I accept the regret, the sorrow and the suffering of the million Cambodian people who lost their husbands and wives," the defendant told the tribunal. "I would like the Cambodian people to condemn me to the harshest punishment."
Kaing Guek Eav - better known as Duch - is being tried for crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. Up to 16,000 people were tortured under his command and later killed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule. Only a handful survived.
Duch (pronounced DOIK) later became an evangelical Christian and worked for international aid organizations after the ouster of the Khmer Rouge.
He noted Wednesday that Jesus Christ was stoned before his death by crucifixion.
"If Cambodians followed this traditional punishment, they could do that to me. I would accept it," he said.
Duch is the first of five senior Khmer Rouge figures scheduled to face long-delayed trials and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. His trial, which started in March, is expected to finish by the end of the year.
He could face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Cambodia has no death penalty.
During Wednesday's court session, Bou Thon, 64, said her husband was a driver at the Khmer Rouge's Industry Ministry when he was accused of being a traitor and sent to S-21. She was assigned as a cook.
Her husband and four children vanished, and Bou Thon said she believed all were killed at Choeung Ek, better known as the Killing Fields, outside Phnom Penh where S-21 prisoners were dispatched for execution.
With tears in her eyes, Bou Thon said she tried to forgive and forget but could not.
Duch, asked by the judge to speak about the Khmer Rouge killings, said they were "like the death of an elephant which no one can hide with only two tamarind tree leaves."

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Rob Hamill heading to Cambodia to testify against Khmer Rouge

Trans-Atlantic rower Rob Hamill is about to head to Cambodia to testify against the Khmer Rouge prison boss accused of torturing and murdering his brother.

Kerry Hamill was 27 when his yacht strayed into Cambodian waters back in the late 1970s.

A fellow crewman was shot dead while he and a passenger ended up at the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, where both were tortured and murdered.

Mr Hamill has been furiously collecting evidence since he found out he could testify about his brother's killing.

He will testify before the tribunal next week.

Prison was 'anteroom to death'

Mr Chandler said he believed the prison was able to exercise

a high degree of autonomy because of the value put on secrecy

under the regime. -- PHOTO: AFP

AN EXPERT witness told Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal on Thursday that the most notorious Khmer Rouge prison was a secret 'anteroom to death'.
American professor David Chandler, 76, was testifying at the trial of Duch, the man accused of overseeing the torture and execution of about 15,000 people at Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21.
'I use the word anteroom (to death) because... every single person in S-21, except for these handful of survivors and some of the staff, (had a) forceful and violent death,' he said.
Mr Chandler said he believed the prison was able to exercise a high degree of autonomy because of the value put on secrecy under the regime.
The 66-year-old Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, has previously accepted responsibility for his role governing the jail and begged forgiveness.
Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia. Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork and torture or were executed during the 1975-1979 regime. -- AFP

Ex-Khmer Rouge medic testifies in Cambodia trial

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – A former medic at the most notorious Khmer Rouge prison in Cambodia told a genocide tribunal he treated people with missing fingernails and toenails, saying Monday that hundreds of prisoners died from torture wounds.
Sek Dorn, 48, testified at the trial of Kaing Guek Eav — better known as Duch — who headed the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh. Up to 16,000 people were tortured under Duch's command and later were taken away to be killed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule. Only a handful survived.
"There were many prisoners who were wounded and died. There were probably hundreds," Sek Dorn said.
He told the court he was assigned to distribute medicine and clean wounds of the detainees for a year, along with three other medics who were also in their teens.
"The majority of them had wounds and sores on their bodies, especially on their backs and their heads. Some of their fingernails and toenails were missing," he said. "They were wounded by torture."
Sek Dorn said he did not personally witness the torture, but saw the effects during medical treatment.
"I did not dare ask them in detail," the former medic said. "I was afraid that I would be seen by the guards and I would be killed."
Sek Dorn said he gave the wounded traditional medicine, which was produced by Khmer Rouge medical staff.
Some 1.7 million Cambodians died of torture, execution, disease and starvation during the Khmer Rouge's rule, during which the Maoist ideologues emptied cities and forced virtually the entire population to work on farm collectives.
Duch (pronounced DOIK), 66, is the first senior Khmer Rouge figure to face trial in the U.N.-assisted tribunal and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. He is charged with crimes against humanity and is the first of five defendants scheduled for long-delayed trials.
Senior leaders Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Ieng Sary's wife, Ieng Thirith, are detained and are likely to face trial in the next year or two.

Source: AP

Cambodians begin to learn of bloody past

ANG SNUOL (Cambodia): It plunged their country into a communist “Year Zero” in the late 1970s and killed about a third of the population, but most young Cambodians shrug when asked about the Khmer Rouge.
“I never learned about the regime and my parents never told me about it either,” says 15-year-old Si Phana. Her schoolmate Ang Pheaktra, 17, knows only a little more about that bleak time which traumatised a generation.
“My parents only told me that the Khmer Rouge were very cruel,” Ang Pheaktra says.
Even though there’s a war crimes tribunal for senior leaders of the movement, most here are unaware the regime killed up to two million people and enslaving the population on collective farms

Hamill set to testify at Khmer Rouge trial

New Zealander Rob Hamill will testify as a victim on 12 August at the Cambodian war crimes trial of the Khmer Rouge commander of the camp where his brother was killed.
Rob’s appearance at the Extraordinary Court of Cambodia trial of Khaing Khek Iav, AKA ‘Comrade Duch’, comes almost 31 years to the day after Kerry Hamill and Englishman John Dewhirst were snatched from their storm-blown yacht, and fellow sailor Canadian Stuart Glass was killed, on 13 August 1978. Kerry and John were tortured for two months at ‘Camp S21’ and forced to falsely confess they were CIA spies, before being executed on the orders of Pol Pot.
“I expect to experience the widest possible range of emotions when I see Duch,” says Rob, one of two Western victims to testify, “a lot of nervous energy will be expended.”
“Duch says he is sorry and wants forgiveness, but I want to find out whether he truly understands the impact of what he did and the damage he caused.”
“I’m not sure that he does comprehend what he and the Khmer Rouge did to the people of Cambodia, let alone to the families of Kerry, John and Stuart.”
The story of Rob’s search for justice for his brother and his friends is the subject of ‘Brother Number One’, being produced by Annie Goldson, James Bellamy and Rob for Pan Pacific Films, funded by NZ on Air and TV3, with conditional financing from the NZ Film Commission. Annie, an internationally renowned film-maker, is also directing, with Emmy-nominated Peter Gilbert and Kiwi cinematographer Jake Bryant as Co-Directors of Photography. See http://bno-documentary.blogspot.com/ for more info.
The Extraordinary Court of Cambodia is a court under Cambodian jurisdiction but with United Nations’ assistance. Former New Zealand Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright is one the judges. See http://www.eccc.gov.kh/english/ for more info.
Rob Hamill is widely known for winning the first-ever Trans-Atlantic Rowing Race in 1997 with the late Phil Stubbs. He currently works as a motivational speaker, as an organiser of ‘The Great Race’ international rowing event on the Waikato River, and is elected to the WEL Energy Trust. He also campaigns for environmental causes and was the Green Party candidate for Taranaki-King Country in the 2008 General Election.
Rob Hamill will not be directly available for further comment, please make all inquiries to the contact below.
ENDS
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Hun Sen 'undermining' court

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIAN premier Hun Sen's calls to limit prosecutions at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal bring into question the independence of the war crimes court, a leading rights group said on Thursday.
New York-based Human Rights Watch alleged Mr Hun Sen has attempted to control the court by asserting war could return to Cambodia if cases are brought against additional members of the late 1970s regime.
'Hun Sen has no role in this court, yet he keeps trying to use his hold over its Cambodian personnel to interfere,' Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
The lobby group demanded the court's judges, who are expected to soon rule whether to pursue additional former Khmer Rouge cadres, show independence in their decision. 'The UN and international donors need to put their foot down so that the court can get on with its work in an independent and impartial manner,' Mr Adams said.
The prime minister said in a March speech that he would prefer the tribunal fail than have war return to Cambodia as a result of additional trials. Last week Mr Hun Sen reportedly also told French President Nicolas Sarkozy that the court should limit trials to five former leaders.
The court is currently hearing its first trial. Former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known by the alias Duch, has accepted responsibility for overseeing the torture and execution of over 15,000 people.
Four more former leaders from the 1975-79 regime are currently in detention awaiting trial, but the tribunal's Cambodian prosecutor has resisted efforts to pursue six additional suspects.
The Cambodian government has been accused of trying to scupper further trials out of fear that prosecutors might target former Khmer Rouge members currently in top posts in Mr Hun Sen's administration.
The Cambodian side of the international court has also been hit by a scandal in which local staff were allegedly forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.
Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed, as the hardline Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in its drive to create a communist utopia. -- AFP

K.Rouge prisoners were 'considered animals'

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – A former Khmer Rouge interrogator told Cambodia's war crimes court Wednesday that his boss at the regime's main torture centre indoctrinated staff to consider their prisoners as animals.
Prak Khan, 58, was testifying at the UN-backed court against prison chief Duch, who is accused of overseeing the torture and execution of around 15,000 people held at Tuol Sleng prison, known as S-21, in the late 1970s.

"At S-21, it was only Duch who indoctrinated our stance, our absolute stance against the enemies (prisoners) and that we had to take it seriously. We had to consider the enemies as animals," he told the tribunal.
Prak Khan's statements represent some of the trial's most damning testimony against Duch, whom he described as an enthusiastic leader who terrified staff.
In testimony Tuesday, Prak Khan told the court that Duch taught staff how to torture prisoners by using electric shocks, suffocation and inserting needles under their nails.
The witness Wednesday admitted his own involvement in crimes at S-21, after the prosecution showed a video in which he told prison survivor Vann Nath that he beat a young female prisoner with branches until she urinated herself.
Prak Khan never saw Duch torture any prisoners but said he did see the S-21 chief once enter an interrogation room while staff were abusing an inmate.
Duch, however, disputed some of Prak Khan's account, calling the witness "minor staff" at the prison and denying he participated in an interrogation with his subordinates.
"I think (this testimony) came out as a result of fear. At that time you were afraid, you were fearful of being arrested by me. But now you are afraid that you might be faced with the court as I am facing now," Duch said.
The 66-year-old Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, has accepted responsibility for his role governing the jail and begged forgiveness for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
But the defendant has consistently rejected claims by prosecutors that he held a central leadership role in the Khmer Rouge, and says he never personally killed anyone.
Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia. Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork and torture or were executed during the 1975-1979 regime.
The tribunal was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the UN and the Cambodian government. The court aims to complete Duch's trial by October, said a spokesman on Wednesday.
Four more former Khmer Rouge leaders currently in detention are expected to face trial next year at the court, and judges are expected to soon rule whether investigators should pursue six more regime cadres for prosecution.
However, the troubled tribunal faces accusations of Cambodian government interference and claims that local staff were forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.

K.Rouge prisoners were 'considered animals'

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – A former Khmer Rouge interrogator told Cambodia's war crimes court Wednesday that his boss at the regime's main torture centre indoctrinated staff to consider their prisoners as animals.
Prak Khan, 58, was testifying at the UN-backed court against prison chief Duch, who is accused of overseeing the torture and execution of around 15,000 people held at Tuol Sleng prison, known as S-21, in the late 1970s.

"At S-21, it was only Duch who indoctrinated our stance, our absolute stance against the enemies (prisoners) and that we had to take it seriously. We had to consider the enemies as animals," he told the tribunal.
Prak Khan's statements represent some of the trial's most damning testimony against Duch, whom he described as an enthusiastic leader who terrified staff.
In testimony Tuesday, Prak Khan told the court that Duch taught staff how to torture prisoners by using electric shocks, suffocation and inserting needles under their nails.
The witness Wednesday admitted his own involvement in crimes at S-21, after the prosecution showed a video in which he told prison survivor Vann Nath that he beat a young female prisoner with branches until she urinated herself.
Prak Khan never saw Duch torture any prisoners but said he did see the S-21 chief once enter an interrogation room while staff were abusing an inmate.
Duch, however, disputed some of Prak Khan's account, calling the witness "minor staff" at the prison and denying he participated in an interrogation with his subordinates.
"I think (this testimony) came out as a result of fear. At that time you were afraid, you were fearful of being arrested by me. But now you are afraid that you might be faced with the court as I am facing now," Duch said.
The 66-year-old Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, has accepted responsibility for his role governing the jail and begged forgiveness for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
But the defendant has consistently rejected claims by prosecutors that he held a central leadership role in the Khmer Rouge, and says he never personally killed anyone.
Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia. Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork and torture or were executed during the 1975-1979 regime.
The tribunal was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the UN and the Cambodian government. The court aims to complete Duch's trial by October, said a spokesman on Wednesday.
Four more former Khmer Rouge leaders currently in detention are expected to face trial next year at the court, and judges are expected to soon rule whether investigators should pursue six more regime cadres for prosecution.
However, the troubled tribunal faces accusations of Cambodian government interference and claims that local staff were forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.

Japanese appointed as spokeswoman for Khmer Rouge tribunal

TOKYO —
A Japanese national who once served with the U.N. Mission in Liberia has been appointed as spokeswoman for the U.N.-assisted tribunal in Cambodia set up to try former Khmer Rouge leaders for crimes against humanity, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. Yuko Maeda, 45, has been appointed by the United Nations as public affairs officer for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the ministry said, adding that Tokyo “heartily welcomes” the appointment that will take effect Friday.
Maeda, a former Kobe Shimbun reporter who served as spokeswoman for the world body’s Liberia mission between 2005 and 2006, is expected to provide information about court proceedings to media. She lived in Cambodia between 1998 and 2001, during which time she worked with the Cambodia Daily newspaper and represented ‘‘Women Against Silence,’’ a nongovernmental organization set up to help rape victims.

Source: Japan Today