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Cambodia welcomes UN go-ahead to organize Khmer Rouge tribunal
.c The Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodia on Saturday praised the United
Nations' decision to go-ahead with a tribunal to prosecute Khmer Rouge
leaders for genocide and crimes against humanity, a quarter-century
after the brutal regime decimated the country.
The United Nations said Friday in New York that it now has enough
money to pursue its longtime agreement with Cambodia to hold the
tribunal, and asked the government to start organizing the trials.
``This is very good news, a positive step. Now maybe we can have hope,
a real hope, to see the establishment of that tribunal,'' said Kek
Galabru, president of the Cambodian human rights group Licadho.
The breakthrough came eight years after the government first sought
U.N. help in financing the prosecutions, and more than 25 years after
the communist revolutionaries decimated their Southeast Asian nation's
population through mass executions, torture, starvation and overwork.
The U.N. said it had received enough funding to finance staffing and
operations of what will be called the Extraordinary Chambers ``for a
sustained period of time.''
It said Secretary-General Kofi Annan was determined to see it up and
running ``as soon as possible.''
No former Khmer Rouge leaders have been tried for the regime's
extremist policies of exterminating intellectuals, professionals,
minority groups, political enemies and others; of emptying cities and
driving people into forced labor in the countryside; and of allowing
massive food shortages to kill many more.
An estimated 1.7 million of Cambodia's 8 million people died during
the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule.
Khmer Rouge chief Pol Pot died in 1998. Several of his top
lieutenants, aging and infirm, still live freely in Cambodia, and
Prime Minister Hun Sen had voiced concern that defendants might die
before trials could start.
The tribunal, expected to last three years, is estimated to cost about
US$56.3 million (euro44 million).
The United Nations, responsible for US$43 million (euro33 million),
has collected about US$38.4 million (euro30 million) from member
states.
Om Yentieng, a member of the government's tribunal task force, said,
``if it is true, it is good news.'' He said the government will
continue to appeal for donors to help fund its US$13.3 million (euro10
million) share of the budget for the trials.
Youk Chhang, director of a center documenting Khmer Rouge atrocities,
said the government should quickly start dealing with issues of
logistics, such as the premises and recruitment of personnel.
``Let's be united for justice,'' he said.
04/30/05 01:54 EDT
.c The Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodia on Saturday praised the United
Nations' decision to go-ahead with a tribunal to prosecute Khmer Rouge
leaders for genocide and crimes against humanity, a quarter-century
after the brutal regime decimated the country.
The United Nations said Friday in New York that it now has enough
money to pursue its longtime agreement with Cambodia to hold the
tribunal, and asked the government to start organizing the trials.
``This is very good news, a positive step. Now maybe we can have hope,
a real hope, to see the establishment of that tribunal,'' said Kek
Galabru, president of the Cambodian human rights group Licadho.
The breakthrough came eight years after the government first sought
U.N. help in financing the prosecutions, and more than 25 years after
the communist revolutionaries decimated their Southeast Asian nation's
population through mass executions, torture, starvation and overwork.
The U.N. said it had received enough funding to finance staffing and
operations of what will be called the Extraordinary Chambers ``for a
sustained period of time.''
It said Secretary-General Kofi Annan was determined to see it up and
running ``as soon as possible.''
No former Khmer Rouge leaders have been tried for the regime's
extremist policies of exterminating intellectuals, professionals,
minority groups, political enemies and others; of emptying cities and
driving people into forced labor in the countryside; and of allowing
massive food shortages to kill many more.
An estimated 1.7 million of Cambodia's 8 million people died during
the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule.
Khmer Rouge chief Pol Pot died in 1998. Several of his top
lieutenants, aging and infirm, still live freely in Cambodia, and
Prime Minister Hun Sen had voiced concern that defendants might die
before trials could start.
The tribunal, expected to last three years, is estimated to cost about
US$56.3 million (euro44 million).
The United Nations, responsible for US$43 million (euro33 million),
has collected about US$38.4 million (euro30 million) from member
states.
Om Yentieng, a member of the government's tribunal task force, said,
``if it is true, it is good news.'' He said the government will
continue to appeal for donors to help fund its US$13.3 million (euro10
million) share of the budget for the trials.
Youk Chhang, director of a center documenting Khmer Rouge atrocities,
said the government should quickly start dealing with issues of
logistics, such as the premises and recruitment of personnel.
``Let's be united for justice,'' he said.
04/30/05 01:54 EDT