Progress in Khmer Rouge but 'major issues' remain: UN spokesman

Cambodia: Progress in Khmer Rouge but 'major issues' remain: UN
spokesman


26 January 2007 - A judicial review committee in Cambodia, looking to
resolve differences that have stalled the long-awaited trials of former
Khmer Rouge leaders, accused of mass killings and other horrific crimes
during the 1970s, has made progress over the last two weeks but several
"major issues" still need to be resolved, a United Nations
spokesman said today.

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) Review
Committee concluded its two-week session in the capital Phnom Penh
earlier today, on the draft Internal Rules for the court, Farhan Haq
told reporters in New York. The UN is funding most of the $56.3 million
three-year budget for the Khmer Rouge trials.

"Solid progress was made during the two-week session of the Review
Committee, significantly narrowing differences on a number of issues.
Nevertheless, there remain several major issues to be fully
resolved," he said.

"Such as the way in which Cambodian and international law can be
integrated into the Internal Rules to ensure a transparent and fair
registration process and full rights of audience for foreign defence
counsel," he added. A further meeting of the Review Committee is
scheduled for March.

In a press release from Phnom Penh, the Review Committee said it was
"acutely aware of the urgent need to ensure fair and open trials for
the benefit of the Cambodian people," adding that it was "committed
to achieving that goal" and had been working constantly since
November on the various disagreements.

Judges and prosecutors for the trials were sworn in last July. Under an
agreement signed by the UN and Cambodia, the trial court and a Supreme
Court within the Cambodian legal system will investigate those most
responsible for crimes and serious violations of Cambodian and
international law between 17 April 1975 and 6 January 1979.

The UN will pay $43 million of the $56.3 million budget for the trials,
with the Government of Cambodia providing $13.3 million.

At a pledging conference in 2005 to support the UN assistance to the
trials, former Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that the crimes
committed under Khmer Rouge rule "were of a character and scale that
it was still almost impossible to comprehend," adding that "the
victims of those horrific crimes had waited too long for justice."

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