Tuesday, 23 December 2008

The Khmer Rouge Tribunal Has to Open Access to Information Broadly - Monday, 22.12.2008

Posted on 23 December 2008.
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 592

“To be a model for the world, the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, created by the Phnom Penh government and by the United Nations, should have a broader access to information, or make it at least comparable to the tribunal, supported by the United Nations which convicted the initiator of the genocide in Rwanda.

“Early last week, some civil society organizations, observing the process of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, had presented strong recommendations, asking for open and broad access to information at this tribunal, emphasizing, ‘The public should be aware of the progress of the confidential investigations carried out by the tribunal.’

“This recommendation, one among four recommendations presented by civil society organizations, including the Cambodian Defenders Project, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association – ADHOC, the Khmer Institute for Democracy, the Cambodian Justice Initiative (which is a section of the Social Justice Initiative ) is said to help improve the potential of the tribunal.

“The civil society organizations said, ‘The fact that the accused are still in custody during the investigation processes results in a demand for public information about the status of the investigation processes.’

“This statement added, ‘If the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia have to provide positive examples for the judicial system in Cambodia, this court has to guarantee transparency immediately, and strengthen the involvement and discussion with different non-government organizations again.

“Other recommendations relate to the monitoring by the United Nations side of the court, by the UN law office which brings the leaders of both side, Cambodia and the United Nations, together at the administration of this court, and finally, pointing to the important role of donors for the management of the funds provided to the court.

“The head of the Public Affairs Office at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, Ms. Helen Jarvis, said that recently, the court conducted two events published through television, about the decisions of two hearings of the court and also a joint statement by the co-prosecutors was issued.

“She added, ‘It is absolutely surprising that they talked about a lack of transparency.’

“The coordinator of the Cambodian Justice Initiative, Mr. Long Panhavuth, said that the long process of investigations by the tribunal make the publics tired, as it is still not possible to predict what the court really continues to do, especially when the rest of the hearings will start.

“Mr. Long Panhavuth asked, ‘How many witnesses have the co-prosecutors interviewed during this month? How many times did the investigators travel to investigate something at other places during this month? The publics want to know these things.’

“’A good experience for Khmer compatriots and for the Khmer Tribunal will be the trial of the former Tuol Sleng Prison chief Kaing Gek Eav, called Duch, early in 2009. We would like to show the activities of a tribunal supported by the United Nations that convicted a man, who is accused to be the initiator of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, which led to the killing of around 800,000 people, to spend the rest of his life in prison.’

“On Thursday, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda – ICTR – announced that Théoneste Bagosora was convicted for ‘genocide, crimes against humanity, and for war crimes.’

“If the Khmer Rouge Tribunal is really independent, we believe that information about the different investigations by the co-prosecutors and by the co-judges should not be hidden further, but it must be rather be broadly open, so that the public can know it.”

Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.309, #, 21-23.12.2008
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Monday, 22 December 2008

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