In the days leading into the trial of four Khmer Rouge leaders, legal analysts say there are few if any past hindrances to the prosecution that would prevent full proceedings.
With pressure mounting on the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal, two civil party representatives said Thursday the court will be judged on the quality of justice it provides to victims of the regime. “When we speak about justice, we want to focus on quality,” Seng Theary, a Cambodian-American lawyer who has pushed for more access of victims to court procedures, told “Hello VOA” Thursday. Ly Monysak, who lost 21 family members to the Khmer Rouge, said he was now concerned a trial of four jailed leaders will not be completed in their lifetimes
Khmer Rouge survivors will hold a religious ceremony on Saturday at the “killing fields” of Cheoung Ek, where thousands of people were executed and buried in mass graves after they were tortured in various prisons under the regime. Chum Mey, who lived through incarceration at the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, said he plans to tell the souls of the dead to be prepared for their killers to go on trial. The first UN-backed tribunal hearing for Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith is June 27, marking the beginning of the court’s second trial.
On Monday the United Nations-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh will open its hearing into the four surviving leaders of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge movement. Cambodians have waited three decades for this day: when the surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge movement appear in court charged with an array of crimes – genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, murder. The list is long.
Cambodians living in the Seattle, Wash., area have begun putting their names on a petition asking the US to join an international landmine treaty. Organizers of the petition, including a Cambodian landmine victim and Nobel Prize laureate, Tun Channareth, say they want to collect 1,000 signatures before sending the petition to US President Barack Obama
Interior Minister Sar Kheng on Thursday upbraided government agencies and non-government groups for failing to cooperate against human trafficking, saying the lack of a clear strategy was adding to the problem. Sar Kheng, whose ministry oversees a special anti-trafficking unit, said the lack of cohesion meant a a waste of resources. He spoke at an anti-trafficking workshop in Phnom Penh to about 80 participants from the government and NGOs, including provincial authorities
The United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia Surya Subedi wrapped up his fifth visit to Cambodia on Friday expressing concern about the lack of progress on land rights and freedom of speech in the country.