Tribunal Urges Victims to File Proper Complaints

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer Original report from Phnom Penh02 October 2009

The head of the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s Victims Unit said Friday victims who wished to file complaints for the upcoming case against four jailed leaders of the regime should take care to file properly, to ensure speedy processing.
Some filings have included different names and dates of birth, which have delayed the process, chief of the unit Helen Jarvis said. Sometimes survivors changed their names and dates, and “this is something we have to take into account,” she said.
Hong Kimsuon, a lawyer for civil parties, said the names were indeed different for many people from one regime to the next.
The UN-backed tribunal is preparing for the case against four leaders: chief ideologue Nuon Chea, former head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith.
The Victims Unit has asked that complaints by civil parties be filed by mid-November, as the first tribunal trial, for prison chief Kaing Kek Iev, or Duch, draws to a close.
“Over recent months, the Victims Unit has played a greater role in assessing completeness and internal consistency of applications made, in order to reduce delays associated with such deficiencies at later stages of the process,” Jarvis said.