http://online.wsj.com/
SEPTEMBER 8, 2009
Regarding Sophal Ear's op-ed "Cambodian 'Justice'" (Sept. 1): I agree with the author's concerns that recent changes in personnel at the Khmer Rouge War-Crimes Tribunal have placed unqualified persons in charge of the critical tasks of the Victims Unit, which oversees the participation of civil parties in the tribunal. Despite seemingly good intentions, the court's attempt to include victims as civil parties in an international criminal trial has failed.
With an estimated five million survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide still living, any serious attempt to include victims in the process would have resulted in overwhelming submissions to the Victims Unit. The Victims Unit was nevertheless established late, without sufficient staffing and financial resources, and was never able to catch up with processing the proportionately small number of applications it received.
The Judges now stand ready to substantially reduce or eliminate the role of civil parties in advance of the second trial due to concerns about the time involved in adjudicating the large number of expected defense challenges.
Whatever the Court's ultimate decision about the scope of victim participation in the second trial, it has the obligation to explain the changes directly to affected victims and to respectfully hear their views. I would encourage the Court to write civil party applicants individually to acknowledge their applications, notify them of any anticipated change in procedure, and assure them that their participatory role will remain historically significant. Additionally, the Court should invite each applicant to Phnom Penh to hear about proposed changes from judicial officials and be given an opportunity to voice their opinions. Finally, if representative victims are called to testify during the second trial, a number of these persons should be voted for by the current civil party applicants from among a group pre-selected by a Victim's representative.
Youk Chhang
Director, Documentation Center of Cambodia
Phnom Penh
SEPTEMBER 8, 2009
Regarding Sophal Ear's op-ed "Cambodian 'Justice'" (Sept. 1): I agree with the author's concerns that recent changes in personnel at the Khmer Rouge War-Crimes Tribunal have placed unqualified persons in charge of the critical tasks of the Victims Unit, which oversees the participation of civil parties in the tribunal. Despite seemingly good intentions, the court's attempt to include victims as civil parties in an international criminal trial has failed.
With an estimated five million survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide still living, any serious attempt to include victims in the process would have resulted in overwhelming submissions to the Victims Unit. The Victims Unit was nevertheless established late, without sufficient staffing and financial resources, and was never able to catch up with processing the proportionately small number of applications it received.
The Judges now stand ready to substantially reduce or eliminate the role of civil parties in advance of the second trial due to concerns about the time involved in adjudicating the large number of expected defense challenges.
Whatever the Court's ultimate decision about the scope of victim participation in the second trial, it has the obligation to explain the changes directly to affected victims and to respectfully hear their views. I would encourage the Court to write civil party applicants individually to acknowledge their applications, notify them of any anticipated change in procedure, and assure them that their participatory role will remain historically significant. Additionally, the Court should invite each applicant to Phnom Penh to hear about proposed changes from judicial officials and be given an opportunity to voice their opinions. Finally, if representative victims are called to testify during the second trial, a number of these persons should be voted for by the current civil party applicants from among a group pre-selected by a Victim's representative.
Youk Chhang
Director, Documentation Center of Cambodia
Phnom Penh
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