Kerry op-ed on war crimes tribunal in Cambodia [View All]

[karynnj]

Thirty years after the Khmer Rouge slaughtered about 1.7 million people, Cambodians have received a small measure of justice. A joint Cambodian-United Nations (UN) tribunal this month found Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity -- the first conviction of a leading Khmer Rouge figure.
<snip>
Duch's conviction is a milestone for Cambodia. But the work of the tribunal is hardly finished, and the stakes for the Cambodian people are too high for the international community to walk away now. The next set of cases will be more complex and politically charged, testing the will of Cambodia and the international community. The four most senior surviving Khmer Rouge leaders are sitting in the docket: former President Khieu Samphan; the group's chief ideologue Nuon Chea; Foreign Minister Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith. These are some of the architects of the brutalities committed against the Cambodian people during the disastrous rule of the Khmer Rouge.

But on the cusp of these trials, the tribunal's future is uncertain. With Duch's conviction, some contributors have been tempted to declare victory and go home. Donor support is flagging, and a $7 million funding gap has already emerged for the current fiscal year. This April, Cambodian staff at the court stopped receiving their salaries as the money ran out until Japanese donors stepped up in early July. Moving forward with what one U.S. expert rightly calls the "Nuremberg trial of Cambodia" will be difficult unless the tribunal is properly funded.
<snip>
Cambodia's courts suffer from a number of institutional and organizational shortcomings, and judicial proceedings are all too often politicized. Strengthening Cambodia's judiciary is a long-term undertaking, but the Khmer Rouge tribunal can accelerate the process of reform by demonstrating the virtues of judicial independence, fairness, and due process of law. The more Cambodians witness a higher standard of justice, the more they will be inclined to demand it in their own judicial system. If the tribunal can help catalyze domestic judicial reforms, that success would be among its most significant and lasting legacies.

Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_15754546?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com#ixzz0wsYVTv9b


It was hard to get the full intent of the editorial - on the need for accountability on these war crimes and the possible influence on improving the Cambodian courts, after they see the impact of fair trials.