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Cambodia seeks clarification of 1962 ICJ judgment
29 Apr 2011
As clashes with Thailand entered an eight day, Cambodia announced its submission to the ICJ regarding its 1962 decision to award it the 11th-century Hindu temple. Despite the almost fifty year old ruling, the problem over the ownership of a 4.6-square-km plot of scrub land surrounding the ruins has never been resolved, with both countries lay claim to the disputed area. The structure – one of the most celebrated example of Khmer architecture – has been the focus of strained relations between the neighbouring states, particularly since tensions it was granted UN World Heritage status in 2008.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia stated that the submission of the request was prompted by “Thailand’s repeated armed aggression to exert its claims to Cambodian territory, on the basis of its own unilateral map that has no legal basis”. It added that Cambodia also submitted a request to the ICJ to take conservatory measures, “in light of the repeated acts of aggression against Cambodian territory by Thailand’s armed forces”. “Cambodia considers conservatory measures as unavoidable for engendering a permanent ceasefire between the two countries, thus stopping the loss of lives and preserving the temple of Preah Vihear from serious damages, until the interpretation of the ICJ’ s 1962 judgment is finalised,” said the statement. A clarification by the court was of “the utmost necessity… in order to peacefully and definitely settle the boundary problem between the two countries in the area”.
Foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong stated “We especially want clarification about the vicinity around the temple. Thailand is using unilateral maps to claim our territory.”
Link: http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/eCache/DEF/12/567.TGFuZz1FTg.html
Buddhism and quantum physics
Buddhism and quantum physics
Op-Ed: Christian Thomas Kohl
Freiburg, Germany, March 11 — What is reality? The mindsets of the modern world provide four answers to the question and oscillate between these answers:
1. The traditional Jewish, Islamic and Christian religions speak about a creator that holds the world together. He represents the fundamental reality. If He were separated only for one moment from the world, the world would disappear immediately. The world can only exist because He is maintaining and guarding it. This mindset is so fundamental that even many modern scientists cannot deviate from it. The laws of nature and elementary particles now supersede the role of the creator.
2. René Descartes takes into consideration a second mindset where the subject or the subjective model of thought is fundamental. Everything else is nothing but derived from it.
3. According to a third holistic mindset, the fundamental reality should consist of both, subject and object. Everything should be one. Everything should be connected with everything.
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Some Justice for Cambodia
July 27, 2010
The New York Times
Editorial
It is disturbing that the Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, has said the court will not prosecute more suspects than the ones in custody. One has to ask, whom is he trying to protect?
Thirty years later, Cambodia’s “killing fields” are still haunting. A Buddhist memorial displays 5,000 haphazardly arranged human skulls — a tiny fraction of the 1.7 million Cambodians butchered by the Khmer Rouge.
While the world must never forget what happened, there is at least the beginning of justice. On Monday, a United Nations-backed tribunal convicted Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, of war crimes and crimes against humanity — the first major Khmer Rouge figure to be tried since the regime was overthrown. He has already spent 16 years in prison, and the tribunal sentenced him to another 19 years.
Duch oversaw a notorious prison where more than 14,000 people were tortured and killed. During an eight-month trial, he admitted to many of the charges against him. His defense — he was a “cog in a machine” — is no defense at all.
We understand why many of the victims of the Khmer Rouge and their families were disappointed that he was not given life in prison. He should never taste freedom, but at least he was held to account and he will be 86 years old when his sentence is served.
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Cambodian ‘Justice’: Without major personnel changes, the Khmer Rouge trial risks descending into farce
By SOPHAL EAR
While my mother, four siblings and I escaped Pol Pot’s Cambodia in 1976, my father died of dysentery and malnutrition after a brief stay at a mite-infested Khmer Rouge “hospital.” Although I have harbored grave doubts about the ability of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal underway in Phnom Penh to punish the guilty, I hoped for the best and even filed a civil complaint with the Tribunal’s victims unit last year.
But I can no longer in good conscience sit back in silence and watch this theater of the absurd. As with so many other donor-financed projects, the Tribunal—set up in 2006 to bring justice to millions of Khmer Rouge victims—has been mired in an endless stream of corruption and mismanagement allegations.
David Klein
The latest news came on August 11, when Uth Chhorn was named to the court as an independent counselor. Mr. Chhorn is Cambodia’s auditor-general and heads the seven-year-old National Audit Authority, which is supposed to audit the government’s activities. It has yet to make a single report public. His appointment was sanctioned by the United Nations, which manages the court alongside the Cambodian government.