PHNOM PENH (AFP) - The United Nations Wednesday urged Cambodia not to transfer a key judge away from the country's genocide trials amid concerns his departure could delay efforts to try former Khmer Rouge leaders.
You Bunleng, one of the court's co-investigating judges, was appointed head of Cambodia's Appeal Court last week, forcing him to quit the UN-backed tribunal intended to prosecute one of the 20th century's worst atrocities.
He had been seen as crucial to determining which suspects will go to trial.
The UN "invited the Cambodian authorities to consider keeping Judge You Bunleng in his current function," said a statement from the world body's tribunal spokesman Peter Foster.
"The United Nations is now awaiting a response from the Cambodian authorities."
You Bunleng refused to comment Wednesday on his transfer, but foreign diplomats see the move as a bid by Cambodia to shore up its ailing judiciary -- a key demand of the impoverished country's international donors.
He will replace Appeal Court head Ly Vuoch Leng, who was dismissed over bribery allegations.
You Bunleng's departure comes at a crucial time during which he and his international counterpart, Marcel Lemonde of France, were investigating the first cases filed by prosecutors over the 1975-1979 regime.
Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork or were executed under the Khmer Rouge, which abolished religion, schools and currency, exiling millions to vast collective farms with the aim of creating an agrarian utopia.
You Bunleng, one of the court's co-investigating judges, was appointed head of Cambodia's Appeal Court last week, forcing him to quit the UN-backed tribunal intended to prosecute one of the 20th century's worst atrocities.
He had been seen as crucial to determining which suspects will go to trial.
The UN "invited the Cambodian authorities to consider keeping Judge You Bunleng in his current function," said a statement from the world body's tribunal spokesman Peter Foster.
"The United Nations is now awaiting a response from the Cambodian authorities."
You Bunleng refused to comment Wednesday on his transfer, but foreign diplomats see the move as a bid by Cambodia to shore up its ailing judiciary -- a key demand of the impoverished country's international donors.
He will replace Appeal Court head Ly Vuoch Leng, who was dismissed over bribery allegations.
You Bunleng's departure comes at a crucial time during which he and his international counterpart, Marcel Lemonde of France, were investigating the first cases filed by prosecutors over the 1975-1979 regime.
Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork or were executed under the Khmer Rouge, which abolished religion, schools and currency, exiling millions to vast collective farms with the aim of creating an agrarian utopia.
No comments:
Post a Comment