Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Donors Consider Reduced Tribunal Budget

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from New York
23 June 2008



The Khmer Rouge tribunal received no immediate pledge from donors Friday, following a presentation of a reduced budget for operations over the next two years.

Tribunal officials reduced a budget request to $50 million in supplemental funds, to continue operations through 2009, a tribunal official said in New York following meetings there Friday.

The new budget proposal, lowered from a $114 million request in January, seeks $10 million for the Cambodian side of the hybrid courts and $40 million for the UN side, said Sean Visoth, administration director for the tribunal.

International donors have been reluctant to fund a tribunal that doesn't meet international standards, and the Khmer Rouge tribunal has been clouded with accusations of mismanagement.

Friday's meetings were led by Warren Sach, UN Controller and assistant to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Donors are expected to meet in July.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

50 millions USD is still impractical. They need to bring it into the range of 6-12 millions USD.