Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> JURIST - The Paper Chase

Legal News

: JURIST - The Paper Chase

Rights group warns Cambodia Khmer Rouge trials threatened by credibility problems

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The first trial in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) is in danger of being tainted by the body's failure to meet international fair trial standards, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Saturday. The ECCC will begin its prosecution of former Khmer Rouge leaders with Kaing Guek Eav, better known as "Duch," on Tuesday. HRW claims political interference is apparent in the prosecution's approach of trying few of the possible former Khmer Rouge leaders, in the name of "national reconciliation." HRW called on the international community, which is providing financial support for the tribunal, to demand that such concerns over corruption and political influence be addressed. HRW's plea follows the release of an Open Society Justice Initiative report, which raised similar concerns last week. UN and Cambodian officials called for anti-corruption measures in December after allegations were made of kickbacks for judicial appointments. ECCC judges denied the corruption allegations in January, stating that they had no reason to pay kickbacks to government officials. A New Zealand judge serving on the ECCC insisted in an August address to colleagues that the genocide trials "are so important for the people of Cambodia must not be tainted by corruption." The Khmer Rouge regime is generally held responsible for the genocide of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 15, 2009 (boomark / email).