Cambodian Government Threatens Legitimacy of Khmer Rouge Tribunal
Ominous signs of political manipulation by the Cambodian government and a repeated failure to tackle corruption continue to plague the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, said the Open Society Justice Initiative in a report released today. With the court’s first trial already underway, the judicial process will be discredited unless the government reverses course.
The tribunal, established to try senior members of the Khmer Rouge for crimes against humanity, has charged five suspects in the murder of almost two million people between 1975 and 1979. Recent public warnings by senior officials against additional indictments have added to fears of political meddling. It appears that the government of Cambodia is attempting to block the investigating judges from interviewing certain insider witnesses who hold current positions of power.
"The Cambodian government risks undermining the Khmer Rouge Tribunal," said James A. Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative. "The combination of unaddressed corruption and the appearance of political interference is a toxic mix for the court."
The government has also refused to cooperate with the United Nations to create a process for court staff to report corruption. A confidential UN report in August 2008 detailed complaints of the court’s staff paying kickbacks to political overseers. With no safeguards in place, whistleblowers put their jobs and safety at risk. This policy encourages a culture of silence and undermines the court.
In March, the long-awaited trial of Kaing Guek Eav (a.k.a. Duch), the commander of the infamous Toul Sleng S-21 Prison where thousands of Cambodians were tortured and killed, began in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. The trial provides Cambodians with a unique opportunity to hold Khmer Rouge leaders to account for one of the most devastating episodes in their history.
Recent Developments at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia: May 2009 is the latest in a series of regular Justice Initiative publications offering news, analysis, and recommendations on the ECCC. Previous reports and other background information on the court are available at www.justiceinitiative.org/.
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The Open Society Justice Initiative, an operational program of the Open Society Institute, pursues law reform activities grounded in the protection of human rights, and contributes to the development of legal capacity for open societies worldwide. The Justice Initiative combines litigation, legal advocacy, technical assistance, and the dissemination of knowledge to secure advances in the following priority areas: anticorruption, equality and citizenship, freedom of information and expression, international justice, and national criminal justice. Its offices are in Abuja, Budapest, London, New York, and Washington, D.C.