PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Murky hiring practices at Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal forced the United Nations to order an audit of the court's human resources section amid reports of graft, the agency said Wednesday.
"Various reports in the latter part of 2006 raised concerns about transparency of hiring procedures of the ECCC," the UN Development Programme said in a statement obtained by AFP.
The tribunal, known officially as the Extraordinary Chamber of the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), has again come under fire after a legal watchdog said last week Cambodian officials were being forced to kick back wages to the government in order to secure their jobs.
"UNDP takes such matters very seriously and, in response, immediately commissioned an internal audit of the ECCC," the agency said.
"Appropriate action will be taken to respond to the internal audit recommendations," it added.
Tribunal officials have vigorously denied the corruption charges, and have cut ties with the New York-based Open Society Justice Initiative, the legal group making the claims.
The group had previously offered funding to train Cambodian jurists.
But the graft allegations are the latest challenges to the credibility of the court, which is also bogged down in disputes between Cambodian and UN judges that make it unlikely the tribunal will begin its trials on schedule.
Some international jurists are reportedly threatening to quit the tribunal, and when asked if the corruption scandal could sink the trials entirely, one source close to the court told AFP: "Absolutely."
Most of the tribunal's 56 million-dollar budget comes from donors, with Cambodia so far contributing only a fraction of its 13-million-dollar share.
The willingness of the international community to foot the bill has repeatedly come into question amid allegations of government foot-dragging and political interference.
Up to two million people died under the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime, which abolished religion, property rights, currency and schools.
Leader Pol Pot died in 1998, and so far only one potential defendant is in custody.
Cambodia and the United Nations agreed in 2003 to a framework for a joint tribunal to try former regime leaders. Trials were expected to start in mid-2007, but will likely be delayed.
"Various reports in the latter part of 2006 raised concerns about transparency of hiring procedures of the ECCC," the UN Development Programme said in a statement obtained by AFP.
The tribunal, known officially as the Extraordinary Chamber of the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), has again come under fire after a legal watchdog said last week Cambodian officials were being forced to kick back wages to the government in order to secure their jobs.
"UNDP takes such matters very seriously and, in response, immediately commissioned an internal audit of the ECCC," the agency said.
"Appropriate action will be taken to respond to the internal audit recommendations," it added.
Tribunal officials have vigorously denied the corruption charges, and have cut ties with the New York-based Open Society Justice Initiative, the legal group making the claims.
The group had previously offered funding to train Cambodian jurists.
But the graft allegations are the latest challenges to the credibility of the court, which is also bogged down in disputes between Cambodian and UN judges that make it unlikely the tribunal will begin its trials on schedule.
Some international jurists are reportedly threatening to quit the tribunal, and when asked if the corruption scandal could sink the trials entirely, one source close to the court told AFP: "Absolutely."
Most of the tribunal's 56 million-dollar budget comes from donors, with Cambodia so far contributing only a fraction of its 13-million-dollar share.
The willingness of the international community to foot the bill has repeatedly come into question amid allegations of government foot-dragging and political interference.
Up to two million people died under the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime, which abolished religion, property rights, currency and schools.
Leader Pol Pot died in 1998, and so far only one potential defendant is in custody.
Cambodia and the United Nations agreed in 2003 to a framework for a joint tribunal to try former regime leaders. Trials were expected to start in mid-2007, but will likely be delayed.
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