Tribunal Prosecution Appeal To Be Made Public

Andrew Cayley, British co-prosecutor to the U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal, greets the crowd during a meeting with local officials and residents in Pailin, (AP file photo).

Monday, 22 August 2011
Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“The fact that there is no public information will cause a loss of confidence in the court process among victims.”

Judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal have determined that an appeal over the continued investigation of a controversial case at the UN-backed court can be made public.

The appeal, which was made by international prosecutor Andrew Cayley earlier this year, calls for investigating judges to do more work in Case 003, in which two Khmer Rouge commanders are accused of atrocity crimes.

Allowing the publication of that submission will further help victims who wish to be a part of the case, tribunal monitors said Monday.

Investigating judges announced in April they had concluded their work in the case, but Cayley said in a subsequent statement they had not questioned the two suspects and had not adequately investigated alleged crime sites.

Representatives of victims said they could not file under the court’s civil party procedures without knowing the crime sites or the names of the suspects.

“The fact that there is no public information will cause a loss of confidence in the court process among victims,” said Latt Ky, a tribunal monitor for the rights group Adhoc.

Victim participation and national reconciliation are key goals of the court, which is set to try four Khmer Rouge leaders later this year in Case 002. No indictments have been made in cases 003 or 004.

The investigative judges, Siegfried Blunk and You Bunleng, have said they harbor doubts as to whether the five suspects named in those cases can be considered “most responsible” for Khmer Rouge atrocities.