A prison cell with hot water is still a cell

Cambodia Daily appears to have the activities of the ECCC as its primary focus these days. Today it was a feature about the construction of the dentition center, through the generous donations of the government of Japan. The subtext of the first paragraph however, seems to bait readers into thinking that having cells with air conditioning and hot water might be a waste of money. Even some other bloggers have picked up on this, asking why prisoners should have air conditioning when most Cambodians do not, or even why spending so much money on a detention centre is even wise since so few are going to be tried.

These critics miss the point. The court is supposed to be here to create something that meets international standards. Wait till the locals get a load of a strong vocal defence- something unheard of in the current system. Will they then say that is a waste of money as well?

The fact is that it is the mandate of the court to meet these standards, and providing them in the detention centre is exactly what the money should be spent on. There are those who would no doubt argue they ought to be thrown in a dark hole and left to die- but then that is what the Khmer Rouge would have done, and part of the court is to show that the ways of the Khmer Rouge are no longer the ways on Cambodia.

Four Prison Cells Ready for KR Defendants

Monday, November 13, 2006

By Erika Kinetz
THE CAMBODIA DAILY

An initial detention center with four cells, each equipped with air conditioning and hot water, was completed last week just outside the grounds of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, ECCC officials said Sunday.

Ten companies plan to visit the ECCC today to place bids on the construction of a more extensive facility, which will likely have eight cells and be paid for by the Cambodian government said tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath. Construction of that larger facility is expected to be completed early next year, he added.

The co-prosecutors and co-investigating judges had requested the immediate construction of the four-cell facility, which cost $45,000 and, was paid for by the Japanese government.

"They may need it before [January]," said Helen Jarvis, chief of public affairs at the ECCC. No date has been released as to when the first arrests might be made.

The four-cell facility lies just outside the fence that demarcates the court's compound. The government will be responsible for the security of the defendants at the facility according to the 2003 agreement between the UN and the Cambodian government.

Security and witness protection are major concerns for a number of tribunal observers and international donors. "The protection of detainees is crucial,'' one foreign diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

He pointed to the case of Slobodan Milosevic, the former president of former Yugoslavia, who died in March before judgment could be passed by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Medical information released in May reportedly documented a tempestuous relationship between Milosevic and his doctors, which might have hastened his demise.

Among other things, he refused to take pills, and on the day he died, guards initially decided not to examine him when he failed to move or respond to their greeting, the New York Times reported. It was only after an hour that they inspected him more closely and discovered he had no pulse, raising a question of whether he could have been revived.

"Even in The Hague this happens," said the diplomat. "In Cambodia, anything can happen. We are on alert."

Jarvis said the court also is on alert. "Everybody is taking security seriously, as you would expect" she said.