By The News Desk Phnom Penh/Rasmei Kampuchea | ANN
KI-Media Note: Rasmei Kampuchea is a mouthpiece of the Phnom Penh regime
Phnom Penh (Rasmei Kampuchea/ANN) - Despite recent setbacks at the Khmer Rouge tribunal, the proceedings have not been seriously impaired, according to this week's edition of The Economist .
Convicting the former the three Khmer Rouge leaders who went on trial this week will be "agonizingly complicated," the British newspaper wrote in a commentary.
The charges, including war crimes, torture and genocide against minorities, are "cumbersome" and the case could take years, it said.
"Then there is political meddling and incompetence," it continued, noting that "court officials have resigned amid fierce public feuding, some between locals and foreigners.
"Critics say that some judges look partial or corrupt, so the court's credibility is at stake. Relatives of some victims are boycotting the court, and donors look twitchy.
"Still, the proceedings' integrity is still just about intact," the commentary concluded, adding that "the same cannot be said for Asia's other current war-crimes trial, in Bangladesh."
The newspaper said the trial of Islamic political leader Delawar Hossain Sayadee on charges genocide, murder, rape, arson, abduction and torture which opened at the country's International War Crimes Tribunal this week "could have been laudable."
Instead, "it risks being a travesty," it said, adding that the defendants "seem to have been made targets because of their political role today as much as for earlier wrongs." Moreover, outsiders including the American government which once advised the court, "look increasingly wary."
According to Human Rights Watch, witnesses and lawyers are being harassed,defense lawyers lack time to prepare and are blocked from challenging the judges' impartiality and foreign lawyers are in effect barred.
"As a consequence of these problems, says a British lawyer, the trial 'lacks even the appearance of independence or impartiality,' the commentary concluded, adding that "journalists attempting to report as much have been intimidated."
The Economist noted similar problems in Sri Lanka where evidence suggests war crimes against civilians took place in 2009, as the civil war against the Tamil Tigers reached a climax.
"Yet the government refuses an inquiry into those final days. Even raising the matter is risky. A UN report this year on the topic caused a bitter diplomatic row." Moreover, it noted, the ex-army chief, a jailed political rival of the ruling family, got a new three-year prison term this week for suggesting that political leaders ordered rebel prisoners to be shot.
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