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Anti-corruption measures needed to strengthen Cambodia genocide court: UN

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] UN and Cambodian government officials said Wednesday in a statement issued after a series of high-level meetings that they needed to address ongoing problems facing the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in its efforts to try former Khmer Rouge officials suspected of crimes against humanity by "enhancing its human resources management, including anti-corruption measures." The statement, however, provided few details and a UN Secretariat delegation led by Assistant-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Peter Taksoe-Jensen cancelled a scheduled press conference before leaving Phnom Penh. In September a New Zealand judge serving on the court warned colleagues and prosecutors at a meeting of court officials that its upcoming genocide trials "are so important for the people of Cambodia must not be tainted by corruption." The court has thusfar received little funding from international donors partly due to allegations of kickbacks for positions and other irregularities. Outgoing US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli said in September that the US will begin providing direct financial aid to the ECCC once the tribunal takes adequate measures against corruption.The ECCC plans to try as many as eight suspects for their roles in the Khmer Rouge regime, which is generally held responsible for the genocide of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979. In June, court officials announced plans to complete operations a year early because of limited funding but said they would still be able to prosecute all the suspects.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on December 11, 2008 (boomark / email).