The Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian and international judges have resolved many of their differences over procedures for a Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal, but an outstanding issue over legal fees could still derail the long-delayed trials, the tribunal's office announced.
The sticking point involves a recent decision by the Cambodian Bar Association to impose a fee on foreign lawyers who represent defendants or victims in the U.N.-backed tribunal, the tribunal office said.
Five Cambodian and four international judges met over the last 10 days to try to thrash out differences over draft internal rules for the planned trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders for genocide and crimes against humanity.
The international judges may boycott a plenary meeting next month if the fee issue is not resolved, the tribunal official said in a statement Friday. It said the judges have asked the bar association to reconsider its decision.
During their meetings, the panel of judges "discussed in exhaustive detail many points and resolved all remaining disagreements, although some fine tuning remains to be done," the statement said.
But it indicated that the international judges believed that the proposed fee was an obstacle to adopting the agreed rules, while the Cambodia judges believed the fee was irrelevant to the package of rules.
The statement did not indicate the amount of the fee, but said it "is unacceptable to the international judges, who consider that it severely limits the rights of accused and victims to select counsel of their choice."
Legal experts have warned that the international judges might pull out of the tribunal if the arrangement fall short of international standards.
The radical policies of the now-defunct Khmer Rouge, who held power in 1975-79, led to the deaths of about 1.7 million people from execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition. But none of the communist group's leaders has been brought to trial.
Squabbling over details about the rules to govern the trials has eaten up nearly a third of the tribunal's three-year planned life span. Further delay could mean that former Khmer Rouge leaders — now old and ailing — will never be brought to trial for turning Cambodia into the bloody land of "the Killing Fields."
Prosecutors are expected to indict about 10 defendants, including the few surviving top Khmer Rouge leaders, for trials that had been expected to start this year. But the trials have been delayed due to the judges' disagreements.
The tribunal was created by a 2003 agreement between Cambodia and the United Nations after years of difficult negotiations.
The sticking point involves a recent decision by the Cambodian Bar Association to impose a fee on foreign lawyers who represent defendants or victims in the U.N.-backed tribunal, the tribunal office said.
Five Cambodian and four international judges met over the last 10 days to try to thrash out differences over draft internal rules for the planned trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders for genocide and crimes against humanity.
The international judges may boycott a plenary meeting next month if the fee issue is not resolved, the tribunal official said in a statement Friday. It said the judges have asked the bar association to reconsider its decision.
During their meetings, the panel of judges "discussed in exhaustive detail many points and resolved all remaining disagreements, although some fine tuning remains to be done," the statement said.
But it indicated that the international judges believed that the proposed fee was an obstacle to adopting the agreed rules, while the Cambodia judges believed the fee was irrelevant to the package of rules.
The statement did not indicate the amount of the fee, but said it "is unacceptable to the international judges, who consider that it severely limits the rights of accused and victims to select counsel of their choice."
Legal experts have warned that the international judges might pull out of the tribunal if the arrangement fall short of international standards.
The radical policies of the now-defunct Khmer Rouge, who held power in 1975-79, led to the deaths of about 1.7 million people from execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition. But none of the communist group's leaders has been brought to trial.
Squabbling over details about the rules to govern the trials has eaten up nearly a third of the tribunal's three-year planned life span. Further delay could mean that former Khmer Rouge leaders — now old and ailing — will never be brought to trial for turning Cambodia into the bloody land of "the Killing Fields."
Prosecutors are expected to indict about 10 defendants, including the few surviving top Khmer Rouge leaders, for trials that had been expected to start this year. But the trials have been delayed due to the judges' disagreements.
The tribunal was created by a 2003 agreement between Cambodia and the United Nations after years of difficult negotiations.
No comments:
Post a Comment