A Cambodian student looks at photographs of Khmer Rouge victims at the genocide museum in Phnom Penh. Photograph: Mak Remissa/EPAWednesday March 7, 2007
Ian MacKinnon, south-east Asia correspondent
Guardian Unlimited (UK)
Critical talks to avert the collapse of a genocide trial for the extermination of 1.7 million Cambodians by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime began in Phnom Penh today.
A high-level committee of Cambodian and international judges is to meet over the next 10 days, in a final effort to thrash out the ground rules for the special war crimes tribunal to try the Khmer Rouge's senior leaders.
But the UN-appointed international judges have warned that if agreement cannot be reached on a framework to enable a fair trial that meets the highest standards, they will pull out.
Two attempts to resolve the differences, in November and January, failed. But officials of the court, where Cambodian judges are in a majority and thus have a veto, are optimistic some contentious issues have been resolved in informal discussions.
The collapse of the trial to hold the Khmer Rouge's senior leaders accountable for the torture, starvation and execution of so many in the "killing fields" would dash the hopes of Cambodians who have waited almost 30 years for answers.
After almost a decade of wrangling between the UN and the Cambodian government, the special court's three-year mandate began last July, fostering hopes that hearings could begin within months. Yet, even if the rules are agreed and indictments are served, as few as 10 of the most senior Khmer Rouge leaders and those "most responsible" for the genocide are likely to appear in the dock.
The trials, themselves a hybrid of Cambodia and international laws, are set to take three years. But potential defendants like Pol Pot - "Brother Number One", and Ta Mok, the regime's one-legged military commander, are already dead.
Of the four others likely to be indicted, only one, Kang Kek Ieu - "Duch", who headed the notorious S21 Toul Sleng torture centre in Phnom Penh, languishes in military custody. Without a trial he must be released by November next year.
Others, like Pol Pot's deputy, Noun Chea, foreign minister Ieng Sary, and Khieu Samphan, the nominal head of state, live freely in Cambodia. Each is between 79 and 82 and the fear is that they will die before facing justice.
One of the key battlegrounds over the rules under discussion is whether foreign barristers should be allowed to appear for the defendants. For the international judges it is vital and non-negotiable, as they have stated they will not be part of a "show trial".
"It has to go forward the right way," said Canadian barrister Robert Petit, the senior international prosecutor. "We have to do it the right way. Doing it the wrong way would simply victimise this country and its people further."
A high-level committee of Cambodian and international judges is to meet over the next 10 days, in a final effort to thrash out the ground rules for the special war crimes tribunal to try the Khmer Rouge's senior leaders.
But the UN-appointed international judges have warned that if agreement cannot be reached on a framework to enable a fair trial that meets the highest standards, they will pull out.
Two attempts to resolve the differences, in November and January, failed. But officials of the court, where Cambodian judges are in a majority and thus have a veto, are optimistic some contentious issues have been resolved in informal discussions.
The collapse of the trial to hold the Khmer Rouge's senior leaders accountable for the torture, starvation and execution of so many in the "killing fields" would dash the hopes of Cambodians who have waited almost 30 years for answers.
After almost a decade of wrangling between the UN and the Cambodian government, the special court's three-year mandate began last July, fostering hopes that hearings could begin within months. Yet, even if the rules are agreed and indictments are served, as few as 10 of the most senior Khmer Rouge leaders and those "most responsible" for the genocide are likely to appear in the dock.
The trials, themselves a hybrid of Cambodia and international laws, are set to take three years. But potential defendants like Pol Pot - "Brother Number One", and Ta Mok, the regime's one-legged military commander, are already dead.
Of the four others likely to be indicted, only one, Kang Kek Ieu - "Duch", who headed the notorious S21 Toul Sleng torture centre in Phnom Penh, languishes in military custody. Without a trial he must be released by November next year.
Others, like Pol Pot's deputy, Noun Chea, foreign minister Ieng Sary, and Khieu Samphan, the nominal head of state, live freely in Cambodia. Each is between 79 and 82 and the fear is that they will die before facing justice.
One of the key battlegrounds over the rules under discussion is whether foreign barristers should be allowed to appear for the defendants. For the international judges it is vital and non-negotiable, as they have stated they will not be part of a "show trial".
"It has to go forward the right way," said Canadian barrister Robert Petit, the senior international prosecutor. "We have to do it the right way. Doing it the wrong way would simply victimise this country and its people further."
2 comments:
Because of this uneducated,idiot leader Hun Shit Khvack,KR trial will be delaaaaayed until this moron goes to HELL. There will be noooo justice at all for the victims.
UN, USA, UK, Franc, JAPAN, GERMANY, CANADA, AUSTRALIA you are all fool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't lie you are watching Pol Pot time in slow motion act all over again by Hun Sen!!!!!!!!!!!
YOU FOOL GO AWAY. DIE TO THE CORRUPTED TRIAL AND UNJUSTICE!
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