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.
Khmer Rouge history is a sensitive subject in Cambodia, though the ongoing Khmer Rouge trials and recent inclusion of more comprehensive teaching materials in the national secondary curriculum have helped. But while it took many years to get a textbook into the nation’s classrooms, the authors say the real challenges have just begun. Dy Khamboly, [...]
The Khmer Rouge tribunal’s international co-investigating Judge Marcel Lemonde had summoned six senior government officials for witness testimony, including Senate President Chea Sim, National Assembly President Heng Samrin, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhom and Senators Sim Ka and Ouk Bunchoeun. Giving speech to mark the 30th anniversary of the reconstruction of the [...]