Cambodian counsel Rodman Bundy
Bangkok Post
Cambodia On Thursday argued hard against Thailand's evidence regarding
Phnom Penh's acceptance of the barbed-wire fence ordered to be put up by
the Thai cabinet around Preah Vihear after the 1962 International Court
of Justice ruling, and described the claim that Cambodia falsified maps
as groundless.
Rodman Bundy, one of the Cambodian lawyers, told the ICJ hearing in
The Hague that Cambodia did not falsify the map as alleged by the Thai
legal team. It only tried to delete a line that appeared in the Annex I
map, known as the 1:200,000-scale map.
"We have not falsified the map as claimed by Thailand. But in fact,
Thailand has attempted to limit our vicinity by setting up their own
border line without our approval," he said.
Mr Bundy said although the court disseminated the Annex map 85D in
the original judgement, it did not mention what this map used to refer
to, and there was no need for the court to reconsider it despite the
issue being raised by Thailand.
Alina Miron, a Romanian lawyer who is a member of the Thai legal
team, told the court on Wednesday that Annex map 85D was one part of the
big map the court reproduced to describe the temple's vicinity and the
areas in which Thailand would have to withdraw its military.
Mr Bundy said it was pointless trying to merge the map with the
current map presented to the court because Cambodia had not asked the
court to look for the border line in the original case.
Mr Bundy said the barbed-wire fence erected by Thailand in 1962
around Preah Vihear Temple was not a border line as claimed by Thailand.
It was done without any credible guideline, including the principle of a
watershed line.
Moreover, the visit to Preah Vihear by the late Prince Norodom
Sihanouk after the 1962 ruling was different from the visit of
Thailand's Prince Damrong Rajanubhab to the temple before the ruling.
Prince Sihanouk protested over the issue several times in 1967,1968
and 1969 and he did not walk across the fence because he did not want to
create a problem with Thailand.
He insisted the ICJ had already accepted the temple vicinity being
included into Annex I. The temple's vicinity covered areas under the
Annex I map and reached to the east and the west of a crosspoint agreed
by the two countries.
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