Cambodia Khmer Rouge tribunal faces fund crunch

January 20, 2013
The Gulf Today

PHNOM PENH: About 300 Cambodian staff members at the UN-backed genocide tribunal trying former leaders of the Khmer Rouge have been working since December without pay, and face the prospect of not getting paid this year unless foreign aid donors contribute more funds, a tribunal official said on Friday.

Khmer Rouge tribunal spokesman Neth Pheaktra said that $9.3 million is needed for salaries and daily operating costs in 2013 for the Cambodian component of the operation. All functions of the tribunal have Cambodian and international personnel operating in tandem but with separate budgets.

The tribunal is tasked with seeking justice for atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge during their four years in power in the late 1970s. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died under the radically communist regime from forced labor, starvation, medical neglect and executions.

The tribunal spent $141.1 million from 2006 through 2011. It expects total costs of $230.7 million by its projected conclusion in 2013, and has warned that it faces severe budgetary shortfalls.

The salary delay has demoralised the Cambodia staff, said Neth Pheaktra.

On Friday the tribunal announced that Japan has contributed $2.5 million to the UN, or international, component of the tribunal, which is also short of funds but not quite as desperate. Japan is the biggest contributor to the tribunal with $79.13 million in total, while France, Germany and Britain are also major donors.