The Extraordinary Chambers

The Justice Initiative views the ECCC as the last real chance to bring some measure of justice to victims of the Khmer Rouge, and thus is committed to working with Cambodian civil society, all organs of the ECCC, government funders and observers, the United Nations and its agencies, media, and other stakeholders to ensure that the ECCC trials are—and are seen to be—independent, legitimate, and fair. Since 2003, we have maintained an on-the-ground presence in Cambodia to monitor developments, engage in advocacy and provide technical assistance to help prepare for the ECCC’s establishment and operation. The Justice Initiative and Bridges Across Borders (BAB) have joined forces to staff the project with a full time international court monitor and liaison, Heather Ryan, and a full time Cambodian project coordinator, Panhavuth Long, both based in Phnom Penh. In 2006, we placed a resident fellow, Tara Urs, with the Khmer Institute for Democracy (KID) for 12 months to focus on outreach activities by providing information on the ECCC to people in the provinces and conveying their reactions and needs to the court.

Throughout 2007, the ECCC has made significant and long-awaited steps in the path towards justice for the grave crimes committed under the Democratic Kampuchea regime between April 17, 1975 and January 6, 1979. This has included the passage of the ECCC’s internal rules governing the tribunal’s procedure, which were adopted by the ECCC’s judges in plenary session on June 12, 2007. On July 18, 2007, the Co-Prosecutors filed Introductory Submissions with the Co-Investigating Judges for five unnamed individuals. On July 31, 2007, charges were laid against Kaing Guek Eav (otherwise known as Duch, the former head of Toul Sleng). The ECCC’s first trials are expected to begin in early-mid 2008.

Meanwhile, the Justice Initiative intensified its monitoring role throughout 2007, and issued its June 2007 report detailing the progress and challenges of the ECCC in its first year of official operations since the judges and other officials were sworn in on July 3, 2006. In August 2007, the Justice Initiative began producing a monthly report on developments at the tribunal. These, and the Justice Initiative’s previous reports, are available on the sidebar of this page.

In previous years, the Justice Initiative has taken a series of international technical advisors to Cambodia to work with NGOs, the Government Task Force on the Khmer Rouge trials (the Cambodian government’s administrative body which was the ECCC’s predecessor, preparing for the creation of the tribunal), and ECCC staff to prepare for the court’s establishment. The aim was for experts from other international and hybrid courts—including those addressing mass atrocities in places such as Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Darfur, Uganda, DRC, East Timor, and the former Yugoslavia—to assist the new tribunal to incorporate their lessons and best practices into the ECCC’s work. The advisors’ visits also provide an opportunity for us to collaborate with Cambodian NGOs and gather information on local needs and viewpoints concerning the court and its progress.

The Justice Initiative has helped produce: working papers on topics essential to the ECCC’s functioning, such as on the nomination of judges, the treatment of witnesses and victims, and international standards for fair trials; briefing papers to the ECCC on topics such as effective outreach, defense counsel issues, and evidence to highlight specific needs and issues; and memoranda to interested states to provide funders and other states with ongoing guidance on priority issues which must be addressed at various stages of the process. In New York and in Cambodia, we are actively engaged on issues such as ECCC funding and staffing, training, outreach, monitoring, victim and witness protection and support, fair trial standards, court access and transparency, and legal and procedural issues. We have established the listserve KRT-Talk in order to provide daily updates on the ECCC to all interested parties.

International Technical Advisory Visits to Cambodia
In October 2006, Professor Diane Orentlicher (American University Law School professor of international law), Luc Cote (formerly Chief of Investigations for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and former Chief of Prosecutions for the Special Court for Sierra Leone); David Tolbert (Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia); Professor Michael Scharf (Professor, Director of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center, and Director of the Cox Center War Crimes Research Office at the Case Western Reserve University Law School); Susana SaCouto (Executive Director of the War Crimes Research Office at American University) and Kelly Askin (Senior Legal Officer, Open Society Justice Initiative) led a ‘best practices’ and international law workshop for the ECCC’s Prosecution staff, Investigating Judges, and Principal Defender.

In May 2006, David Scheffer, currently Northwestern University law professor and head of its Human Rights Center launched the Khmer version of the ‘Justice Initiatives’ journal focused on the ECCC and met with court officials and Cambodian NGOs to discuss international standards of due process.

In August 2005, Hon. Patricia Wald, formerly a judge at the ICTY and a U.S. judge for over 20 years, met with representatives from the government and civil society to discuss criteria for judicial selection, judicial codes of conduct, and rules of procedure and evidence. In September 2005, John Ralston, formerly the chief of investigations at the ICTY and executive director of Institute for International Criminal Investigation, and Dr. Craig Etcheson, a renowned expert on the Khmer Rouge, met with government and civil society to provide recommendations on training investigators. In October 2005, Binta Mansaray, head of the Outreach Program of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, focused on outreach planning for the ECCC and lessons learned on outreach at the Special Court. In December 2005, Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association, met with numerous members of government, the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia (BAKC), civil society, international organizations, and the donor community to discuss cooperation between the IBA and the BAKC on issues related to the independence and capacity of the of the Bar, and the role of the BAKC in the trials.

In January 2005, Kirsten Keith and Julia Baly returned to Cambodia for two weeks to work more intensively on issues related to court security, tribunal set-up, protection of victims and witnesses, and investigations. In March 2005, Marijana Nikolic, head of the interpretation unit at the Yugoslav Tribunal, focused on preparations for interpreters and translators for the KRT. In July 2005, James A. Goldston, Executive Director, Open Society Justice Initiative met with government officials and NGOs to discuss the role of civil society at the ECCC.

In November 2004: Judge Phillip Rapoza, judge coordinator of the Serious Crimes Panels in East Timor; Brenda Hollis, former prosecutor and investigator with the Yugoslav Tribunal and special consultant to the prosecution of the Special Court for Sierra Leone; and Richard Rogers, OSCE’s chief of Legal Systems Monitoring Section in Kosovo, focused on judicial integrity, investigations, courtroom management, monitoring modules, and international criminal law and practice.

In July 2004: Wanda Hall, former outreach advisor for the International Criminal Court; Julia Baly, former investigator and trial attorney for the ICTY; Kirsten Keith, former case manager for the Yugoslav and Rwanda Tribunals; Helen Brady, international legal advisor to the office of the prosecutor of the IICTY; and Heather Ryan, former court monitor of and court liaison to the ICTY, focused on tribunal outreach, protection of victims and witnesses, security, international criminal law and practice, court monitoring, and alternative/complementary justice mechanisms. In late July 2004 and October 2004, Mary Davis, former judge of the Supreme Court of New York and current defense attorney trainer in Afghanistan, focused on the selection of judges, judicial independence and integrity, and defense issues.

In March 2004: David Scheffer, former US ambassador at large for war crimes issues; Nina Bang-Jensen, executive director of Coalition for International Justice; Mike Pan, former special advisor to the prosecutor of the Special Court of Sierra Leone; and Susana SaCouto focused on tribunal pre-establishment challenges, court advocacy and outreach, international criminal law and practice, political and financial challenges, selection of local judges, and victim and witness protection issues.

In October 2003: Greg Stanton, president of Genocide Watch; Craig Etcheson; an expert on Khmer Rouge crimes; and Susana SaCouto, director of the War Crimes Research Office at American University’s Washington College of Law, focused on assessing the needs and wants of Cambodians and NGOs, rules of criminal procedure, and training needs of ECCC staff.

Open Society Justice Initiative staff actively working on ECCC issues and who regularly visit Phnom Penh include Kelly D. Askin, senior legal officer, International Justice, and Tracey Gurd, associate legal officer, International Justice. Both have extensive experience with other international/ized courts, in international criminal/humanitarian law, and with gender crimes.

ECCC Working Papers

International Standards for the Treatment of Victims and Witnesses in Proceedings before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed during the Period of Democratic Kampuchea, May 2004.
See http://www.justiceinitiative.org/db/resource2?res_id=101759

International Standards for the Nomination of Judges to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed during the period of Democratic Kampuchea, February 2004.
See http://www.justiceinitiative.org/db/resource2?res_id=101576

Lessons Learned: Start-up Phase of Extraordinary Chambers for Prosecution under Cambodian Law of Crimes Committed during the Khmer Rouge Period, July 2003.
See http://www.justiceinitiative.org/db/resource2?res_id=101633

For the Extraordinary Chambers project, the Open Society Justice Initiative is partnering with the International Criminal Law Services Foundation

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