柬埔寨：在腐败泥潭中寻找腾飞希望

直面残暴历史

    很多村庄和城市都埋藏着一段柬埔寨人现在才开始得知的大屠杀历史；它影响了整整一代人和他们未出生的孩子们。“这里的罪行规模超过了我处理过的任何案子，”一位拥有博茨瓦纳、卢旺达和其他一些动乱地经验、训练有素的国际特别法庭法官表示。“每个家庭都受到了影响。巨大伤害带来的社会问题让我工作过的其他任何法庭都相形见绌。”

    今天，红色高棉的作恶者们与受害者比邻而居。当年红色高棉招募了儿童、农民和狂热分子攻击妇女和孩子，直接谋杀专业人士、学生、教育家、企业主、戴眼镜的人、体弱的人，这份名单可以列得很长。

    最近的大选宣传中充斥着否认之词，但最让人刺痛的可能是洪森威胁称，任何对他的正义讨伐都可能带来内战。

    著名战地记者和作者伊丽莎白•贝克出现在特别法庭证人名单中，但法庭已四次延后她的出庭。贝克说：“看上去好像得等上25年。这场审判本应在1980年举行。一旦它不再是一个政治问题，问题就变成了谁能拿出最多的钱买通法官。”

    不过，她说：“虽然这个法庭不健全，有时候很羸弱，但ECCC仍然是独立司法的典范……而且开启了很多途径。”如果贝克的直觉没错，那么在压力、媒体曝光和万众期待下法治已在柬埔寨扎下了根。

    或许赶不上今年的大选，但“相当多的柬埔寨人会像东南亚邻国的人们一样提出更多要求。”美国战略与国际研究中心的鲍尔表示，“企业家们将呼吁必要的法治和经济自由以打造有价值的高产出企业……日益团结在一起的、受过教育的公民们将对政府打击和控制反对言论的容忍度大大下降。”

    与此同时，还有一些交易要达成。柬埔寨商务部长毛托拉声称，今天的柬埔寨“早已达到了……(一些外国投资者的)要求”，包括政治和宏观经济的稳定，保护性的投资法规以及有力的奖励优惠措施。他勾出了一些金边希望吸引海外政府和机构投资的行业，总额超过10亿美元。并称，柬埔寨的大门已经敞开，希望能够吸引到更多的投资。（财富中文网）

    译者：早稻米

Staring down a brutal past

    Layered underneath hardships in villages and cities is a genocidal past that Cambodians are only starting to come to terms with; an entire generation and its unborn children were affected. "The level of criminality here is larger than anything I've ever dealt with," says one of the many highly skilled international Tribunal jurists recruited for his experience in Bosnia, Rwanda, and other trouble spots. "Every single family is affected. The social problems derived from the enormous amount of damage [pales] compared to any other court that I've worked in."

    Today, Khmer Rouge perpetrators live next door to victims. The Khmer Rouge enlisted pre-adolescents, peasants, and ideologues to attack women and children, commit categorical murders of professionals, students, educators, business owners, people who wore eyeglasses, the infirm, the list is long.

    Recent election campaign rhetoric was rife with denial, but the most stinging may have been Hun Sen's threat that any pursuit of justice against him threatens civil war.

    Celebrated war correspondent and author Elizabeth Becker is on the Tribunal witness list; the Court has postponed her appearance four times. "This is what happens when you're forced to wait 25 years. This trial should have been held in 1980. When it's not a political issue, then it's who has the most money to pay off the judge," Becker says.

    Yet, she says, "Wounded as this Court is, weak as it sometimes appears, the ECCC is an example of independent justice ... and has opened up a lot of avenues." If Becker's hunch is right, the rule of law has gained a foothold in Cambodia through pressure, exposure, or public expectation.

    Perhaps not in time for this year's election, but "a critical mass of Cambodians will, like their Southeast Asian neighbors, demand more," says CSIS's Bower. "Entrepreneurs will call for the rule of law and the economic freedom necessary to create valuable, productive businesses ... An increasingly connected and educated citizenry will become less tolerant of government crackdowns and control of opposing opinions."

    Meanwhile, there are deals to be made. Cambodia today "already meets ... requirements" that foreign investors seek, asserts Ministry of Commerce Secretary of State Mao Thora, including political and macroeconomic stability, protective investment laws, and strong incentives. He ticks off a list of industries in which the nation's capital Phnom Penh entices both international sovereign and corporate finance, topping $1 billion. The door, he says, is wide open for more.