Skulls of Khmer Rouge victims at Choeung Ek Memorial (Photo Yi Sokh Chamroeun/krtrial.info)March 9 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan nominated seven international judges to sit on special tribunals in Cambodia for the trials of leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime accused of genocide.
Annan sent his list of nominations to the Cambodian government, which is setting up two special courts to hear the cases, the UN said on its Web site.
The secretary general asked Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to choose five of the nominees to sit on the tribunals, the UN said. No date has been set for the start of the trials.
Between five and 10 surviving Khmer Rouge leaders may face trials arising from their rule from 1975 until the regime was overthrown in 1979. The Khmer Rouge drove people out of Cambodia's cities to work at forced-labor collective farms as it attempted to impose a communist agrarian state. An estimated 1.7 million people died during its rule.
Cambodia will establish one court to conduct the trials and one to hear appeals, the UN has said. The UN General Assembly in May 2003 approved the plan to create tribunals within the national court structure of Cambodia that will contain international and Cambodian judges.
The 2003 agreement between Cambodia and the UN provides for three Cambodian and two international judges to preside over what will be called the Trial Chamber and a Supreme Court Chamber with four Cambodian and three international judges, the UN said.
A three-year budget for the trials is about $56.3 million, of which the UN will pay $43 million and $13 million is earmarked to come from the Cambodian government, the UN has said. The UN Security Council has agreed that the funding will come from voluntary contributions.
Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge leader, died in his jungle hideout in 1998. Seven Khmer Rouge officials still living were named in 2003 by the Washington-based Coalition for International Justice as the main leaders who should stand trial. They include Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary.
Khieu Samphan, another Khmer Rouge official on the list, told Agence France-Presse in October 2004 he welcomed the establishment of the courts in order ``to clear my name.''
To contact the reporter on this story:
Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net
Annan sent his list of nominations to the Cambodian government, which is setting up two special courts to hear the cases, the UN said on its Web site.
The secretary general asked Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to choose five of the nominees to sit on the tribunals, the UN said. No date has been set for the start of the trials.
Between five and 10 surviving Khmer Rouge leaders may face trials arising from their rule from 1975 until the regime was overthrown in 1979. The Khmer Rouge drove people out of Cambodia's cities to work at forced-labor collective farms as it attempted to impose a communist agrarian state. An estimated 1.7 million people died during its rule.
Cambodia will establish one court to conduct the trials and one to hear appeals, the UN has said. The UN General Assembly in May 2003 approved the plan to create tribunals within the national court structure of Cambodia that will contain international and Cambodian judges.
The 2003 agreement between Cambodia and the UN provides for three Cambodian and two international judges to preside over what will be called the Trial Chamber and a Supreme Court Chamber with four Cambodian and three international judges, the UN said.
A three-year budget for the trials is about $56.3 million, of which the UN will pay $43 million and $13 million is earmarked to come from the Cambodian government, the UN has said. The UN Security Council has agreed that the funding will come from voluntary contributions.
Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge leader, died in his jungle hideout in 1998. Seven Khmer Rouge officials still living were named in 2003 by the Washington-based Coalition for International Justice as the main leaders who should stand trial. They include Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary.
Khieu Samphan, another Khmer Rouge official on the list, told Agence France-Presse in October 2004 he welcomed the establishment of the courts in order ``to clear my name.''
To contact the reporter on this story:
Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net
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