Recent Developments at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

Ominous signs of political manipulation by the Cambodian government and a repeated failure to tackle corruption continue to plague the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, according to this report released by the Open Society Justice Initiative. With the court's first trial 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.

Recent Developments at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia is the latest in a series of regular Open Society Justice Initiative publications offering news, analysis, and recommendations on the ECCC.