Khmer Rouge Tribunal to announce new budget plan today

Monday, 16 June 2008
Neth Pheaktra
The Mekong Times

The cash-strapped Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) has announced completion of a newly revised budget plan, which will be presented to the donor community this week in hopes of meeting dramatically increased budget requirements.

A methodical review of the court’s work has taken place and a revised down budget will be presented to the court’s steering committee today before it is presented to donors during a meeting scheduled for June 20 in New York.

In January the KRT announced it was seeking to triple its budget from the originally budgeted US$56.3 million to US$170 million in order to keep it operating through March 2011.

Though the most recent budget plan will be less than the one made in January, no court source has clarified the exact amount. The reduction has been made following a request from international donors for a detailed explanation of the court’s expenses.

Isham Mousar, KRT project coordinator for Adhoc, predicted that the fund request would drop by US$14 million, but stressed that any request should take into account the needs of the victims.

“The injection of these funds may make the KRT officers, judges and prosecutors feel happy to work, but there is no word of any help offered to victims,” he said. “They spend their own money to file lawsuits without any financial support from the KRT; it’s unfair.”

Kek Galabru, president of local rights Licadho, said that the KRT should deal with rumors relating to corruption to gain more financial assistance from the donor community. “If everything is not clearly revealed, then the international communities will be hesitant to provide more donations.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen said in an interview with The Mekong Times on June 3 that the international community must help fund the KRT as Cambodia is poor.

Cambodia needs money to build bridges, roads and irrigation systems for its citizens, he said, adding that any disruption resulting from lack of budget for the KRT process is not Cambodia’s responsibility and would tarnish the UN’s reputation.

Tribunal Seeks to Lower Budget Proposal: A continued sign of ECCC budget funding?

Tribunal Seeks to Lower Budget Proposal

By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
02 April 2008

Khmer Rouge tribunal officials are seeking to reduce a proposed budget to international donors, as it cuts expenses in an effort to prolong operations.

Tribunal spokeswoman Helen Jarvis said Tuesday the courts were looking at ways to lower a request to donors for $114 million, to extend court proceedings against five jailed Khmer Rouge leaders through 2011.

"Everybody recognizes it's a large increase, and we recognize that we have to justify such a large increase," Jarvis said. "We are currently trying to see if we can reduce that figure. So we are discussing this in much more detail with judicial officers and the administrative staff of the court."

The tribunal is also cutting expenditures in order to continue operations on the Cambodian side of the hybrid courts through May, she said.

The administrative budget for the Cambodian side of the courts was expected to run out in April, including salaries for staff.

The cost-cutting measures follow a trip by tribunal administrators to New York last week to brief more than 20 donor representatives on the progress of the courts.

The tribunal should be careful in reducing its estimates, to ensure the process of the tribunal is not hurt, said Seng Theary, executive director of the Center for Social Development.

Civil society should also be consulted in the reduction of the estimate, she said.