By KER MUNTHIT,
Associated Press Writer
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Judges have failed to resolve their differences on draft rules for genocide trials of Khmer Rouge leaders, threatening to further delay the long-pending cases, the tribunal‘s office said Friday.
A committee of five Cambodian and four foreign judges appointed to the tribunal have met over the last two weeks to try to resolve disagreements left over from a plenary session in November last year.
"Nevertheless, there remain several major issues to be fully resolved," involving how Cambodian and international law can be integrated into the internal rules to ensure transparency and fairness, especially for the defense side, it said.
The tribunal was created by a 2003 agreement between Cambodia and the United Nations to seek justice for crimes committed when the Khmer Rouge held power from 1975-79. The radical policies of the now-defunct communist group led to the deaths of some 1.7 million people from execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition.
The 110 draft rules cover every phase of the proceedings — preliminary investigations, judicial investigations, the trial and appeals. They also delineate the roles of all parties, including prosecutors, defense attorneys and defendants.
Critics have often described the Cambodian judiciary as weak, corrupt and susceptible to political influence.
It said the committee will meet again in March. It, however, set no date for the next plenary session to adopt the rules.
"We are ... disappointed and concerned that more than half of the first year‘s operation has passed with little to show in the way of justice for the victims" of the Khmer Rouge, it said.
A committee of five Cambodian and four foreign judges appointed to the tribunal have met over the last two weeks to try to resolve disagreements left over from a plenary session in November last year.
"Nevertheless, there remain several major issues to be fully resolved," involving how Cambodian and international law can be integrated into the internal rules to ensure transparency and fairness, especially for the defense side, it said.
The tribunal was created by a 2003 agreement between Cambodia and the United Nations to seek justice for crimes committed when the Khmer Rouge held power from 1975-79. The radical policies of the now-defunct communist group led to the deaths of some 1.7 million people from execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition.
The 110 draft rules cover every phase of the proceedings — preliminary investigations, judicial investigations, the trial and appeals. They also delineate the roles of all parties, including prosecutors, defense attorneys and defendants.
Critics have often described the Cambodian judiciary as weak, corrupt and susceptible to political influence.
It said the committee will meet again in March. It, however, set no date for the next plenary session to adopt the rules.
"We are ... disappointed and concerned that more than half of the first year‘s operation has passed with little to show in the way of justice for the victims" of the Khmer Rouge, it said.
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