ECCC Reparations

This blog is designed to serve as a repository of analyses, news reports and press releases related to the issue of RERAPATIONS within the framework of the Extraordinary Chambers in Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), a.k.a. the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Tribunal Budget Sees End in 2015

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer

Original report from Washington

02 February 2010

Khmer Rouge tribunal officials expect to finish trials at the UN-backed court by 2015, trying only 10 defendants at a cost to donors of around $100 million, according to budget documents obtained by VOA Khmer.

According to a budget proposal for 2010 and 2011, the tribunal is seeking $93.3 million to try five Khmer Rouge cadre already in detention. In an additional proposal, from 2012 to 2015, the tribunal is seeking $320,000 to potentially try an additional five Khmer Rouge cadre, who have yet to be arrested or charged.

“All offices, including the Office of Administration, are anticipated to be closed by the end of 2015,” according to the “Preliminary Budget Estimates 2012-2015.”

The 2011 budget proposal, meanwhile, anticipates a conclusion of Case No. 002, of five leaders currently in custody, by the middle of 2012. A third case could be finished by 2014.

However, Lars Olsen, a spokesman for the tribunal, said the court is committed to the judicial process, not deadlines.

“Everyone is committed to making sure that we have expedient and fair trials in all these cases, and a deadline is currently not on the agenda,” he told VOA Khmer.

Olsen confirmed both budget proposals had been submitted to donors.

Donors have not yet pledged additional funding for the new budgets, but representatives in New Yorktold VOA Khmer last week they are considering them. At least one diplomat said some donors would like to see the court wrap up by 2012.

Tribunal Judges Consider Duch Verdict

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer

Original report from Phnom Penh

02 February 2010

Trial judges for the Khmer Rouge tribunal are now considering their verdict for prison chief Kaing Kek Iev, whose trial wrapped up late last year, court officials said Tuesday.

Tribunal judges and other officials began a week of plenary sessions Tuesday, with renewed focus on the tribunal’s efficiency, including in the verdict of Kaing Kek Iev, or Duch, officials said.

“The trial chamber currently is preparing the verdict,” said Kong Srim, president of the tribunal’s Supreme Court Chamber and head of the plenary session. No date for the verdict has been set.

Kong Srim said the court was facing “many challenges” in meeting its timeframe, but officials had “a new determination” to provide justice “on time and with efficiency.”

“These trials will continue to be fair and transparent, not only for the accused, but also for the thousands of victims,” said judge Silvia Cartwright, vice president of the plenary session, in opening remarks.

Tribunal officials meet for plenary sessions twice a year, and this session they are also expected to address the level of participation allowed for civil party lawyers, who represent victims of the regime in a bid for greater reconciliation from the trials.

Officials will consider whether the rules should restrict access to hearings for all civil party lawyers, who could then choose limited representatives, a move the civil parties oppose.

In their opening statement Kong Srim and Cartwright said a representative model would “strengthen the participation of the victims.”

Lars Olsen, a spokesman for the tribunal, said judges would make their decision at the end of a weeklong discussion.

On Tuesday, USprosecutor Andrew Cayley and French reserve prosecutor Nicholas Koumjian were sworn in as tribunal jurists. Cayley replaces Canadian prosecutor Robert Petit, who left the court in September after advocating for more arrests and indictments.