A Change of Guard

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Tuesday 31 May 2011

Preah Vihear Temple battle moves to international court


A view of the International Court of Justice in the The Hague as it waits to hear a request for interpretation of its 1962 judgement over Preah Viharn temple. AFP

Writer: Terry Fredrickson
Published: 31/05/2011
Bangkok Post

Thailand and Cambodia presented their cases to the International Court of Justice yesterday on a complaint by Cambodia over Preah Viharn.

Thailand, Cambodia put case for land rights

By HANIDA TANSUBHAPOL AND AFP

THE HAGUE : Thailand told the International Court of Justice yesterday Cambodia started the border fighting because it wanted to include Thai territory in its management plan for Preah Vihear temple.

Phnom Penh had never disputed Thailand's claim to land near the temple. But its stance changed after it succeeded in convincing UN's cultural body Unesco to list the temple as a World Heritage site in 2008, according to the Thai statement to the ICJ.

Thailand appeared in court in response to Phnom Penh's petition asking the ICJ to rule on whether the land surrounding the ancient Hindu temple belonged to Cambodia.

In the petition, Cambodia asked the court to order an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Thai troops from land surrounding the temple and to ban Thai military activity in the area.

Alain Pellet, an attorney representing Thailand, told the court that Thailand had accepted and duly complied with a 1962 ICJ judgement that the temple belonged to Cambodia. As a result, though, the court has no jurisdiction to judge on Cambodia's request.

Cambodia, meanwhile, had also accepted without protest the line drawn by Thailand demarcating the area that encompasses the Hindu temple compound following the 1962 court decision.

Cambodia started to challenge the perimeter limits of the temple only recently when it wanted to list the temple as a World Heritage site.

Moreover, Cambodia has also admitted that it had yet to demarcate the border – including the area where Preah Vihear temple is located – when it signed the memorandum of understanding with Thailand in 2000.

Speaking outside the courtroom, Thailand's caretaker Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Thailand had never questioned the court's 1962 ruling over Cambodia's ownership of the temple.

"We have never contested or disputed the court's decision on the temple," he told reporters.

He said Thailand's dispute was specifically over the 4.6-square-kilometre area surrounding the complex.

"That's different," Kasit said when asked about the disputed territory. "The court did not have jurisdiction to rule on that."

But he said Thailand's view "has been our position for the last 50 years."

"We do not understand why we had to come here," he said.

The 11th-century complex has been at the centre of an ongoing legal wrangle between Thailand and Cambodia – which took its southeastern Asian neighbour to the ICJ in 1958.

The UN court ruled in 1962 that the 900-year-old Khmer temple belonged to Cambodia, but both Phnom Penh and Bangkok claim ownership of the surrounding land.

Cambodia presented its statement to the court earlier in the day, asking it to order an immediate Thai troop withdrawal around the ancient temple of Preah Vihear.

You can read the full story here: http://bit.ly/itkzto.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

When the court decided on what belong to whom, it was base on the map that created by French Gov.

It was not just woke up one day and decided it belong to Cambodia !

If the court used 1907 map to decided the case then Cambodia should use the map to draw the border line !!!!

Laos and Vietnam agreed to use the same map to draw the border line but Thailand refused to do so !!

It is the major different. You don't negotiate when you have the document to prove that it is belong to you !!!!

Thailand just try to play a hard ball with Cambodia !!!!!