Victims Applaud UN Tribunal Stance

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
18 April 2008

Members of civil society and survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime welcomed the words of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said this week the international community must play a role in helping a hybrid tribunal close one of history’s “darkest chapters.”

The tribunal is facing growing financial difficulties, as donor countries evaluate whether the courts can meet international standards and deserve funding.

“Now is a good chance to find enough money to try Khmer Rouge leaders,” said Seng Theary, executive director of the Center for Social Development, who has filed suit against jailed leader Nuon Chea in tribunal proceedings. “That’s why I support and appeal to any country to fund the Khmer Rouge tribunal and participate.”

The tribunal has faced allegations of corruption and mismanagement, but it is now asking donors for up to $114 million over the original $56 million budget.

Ban said Tuesday, on the 10th anniversary of Pol Pot’s death, that the UN and the government are “actively engaged” in bringing five jailed former Khmer Rouge leaders to trial.

“With the support of the international community, it is my hope that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia will soon deliver long-overdue justice for the people of Cambodia,” he said, referring to the tribunal by its official name.

Van Nath, a survivor of the infamous Tuol Sleng prison, whose chief, Duch, is awaiting trial in tribunal detention, said Friday he supported more funding for a speedy tribunal.

Kek Galabru, founder of the rights group Licadho, said she hoped the coming of the new year would help donors change their minds to help finish the tribunal proceedings.

“If it stops, we have to release the Khmer Rouge leaders,” she said.

UN Chief Calls for Tribunal Aid

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
16 April 2008

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon marked the 10th anniversary of Pol Pot’s death to remind member countries to support the Khmer Rouge tribunal.

Pol Pot died April 15, 1998, and was cremated on a makeshift pyre before he was brought to trial for his role in Khmer Rouge policies.

Five former leaders are now in detention, awaiting trial under the tribunal, known officially as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

The tribunal was originally budgeted at $56 million, but officials have asked for an additional $114 million and have been forced to cut costs to extend operations.

Donors say they will not fund a tribunal that does not meet international standards and have asked tribunal officials for assurances of its integrity.

“I would like to remind the international community of the urgent importance of bringing to closure one of history’s darkest chapters,” Ban said in a statement. “With the support of the international community, it is my hope that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia will soon deliver long-overdue justice for the people of Cambodia.”

‘Long-overdue’ justice necessary in Cambodia, says Secretary-General Ban

UN News Centre

15 April 2008 – Noting that today is the tenth anniversary of the death of the notorious Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the United Nations-backed tribunal to “soon deliver long-overdue justice for the people” of the South-East Asian country.

“I would like to remind the international community of the urgent importance of bringing to closure one of history’s darkest chapters,” Mr. Ban said in a statement.

“The United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia remain actively engaged in efforts to hold the Khmer Rouge senior leaders and those most responsible accountable for their horrific crimes.”

The Secretary-General said it was his hope that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) – which has been operational since July 2006 – could soon deliver justice.

Under an agreement signed by the UN and Cambodia, the ECCC was set up as an independent court using a mixture of Cambodian judges and staff and foreign personnel. It is designated to try those deemed most responsible for crimes and serious violations of Cambodian and international law between April 1975 and January 1979.

Estimates vary but as many as three million people died during the rule of the Khmer Rouge, which was then followed by a protracted period of civil war in the impoverished country.

UN chief calls for speedy Cambodia justice

UN Chief Ban Ki-moon

New York (dpa) - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday called for Cambodia's courts to deliver a verdict on the mass killings in the 1970s by the country's Khmer Rouge government, whose leader Pol Pot died 10 years ago.

Pol Pot led communist troops to topple the US-backed government in Phnom Penh in April, 1975, and launched a country-wide sweep to wipe pout the middle class and intellectuals, resulting in more than 2 million deaths from forced labour and extermination.

He died 10 years ago this week. But Cambodia's efforts to bring the handful of Khmer Rouge survivors to justice have dragged on despite international assistance to establish a tribunal to prosecute those responsible for the genocide.

Ban called for closure on the Khmer Rouge cases, which he called "one of history's darkest chapters."

"The UN and the Royal government of Cambodia remain actively engaged in efforts to hold the Khmer Rouge senior leaders and those most responsible accountable for their horrible crimes," Ban said in a statement.

"With the support of the international community, it is my hope that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia will soon deliver long-overdue justice for the people of Cambodia," he said.