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Procedural Deadlock Leaves Future of Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Doubt

Sok Khemara

   Almost 13 years and $300 million after it was established, the
   U.N.-backed tribunal prosecuting Khmer Rouge atrocities has less than a
   year remaining in its mandate and uncertain prospects of bringing
   anyone else to trial.

   Since it was sworn in on July 2006, the hybrid Cambodian and
   international court has managed to convict torture center chief Comrade
   Duch' in 2010 and bring in guilty verdicts against Khmer Rouge leaders
   Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan in 2018. All three were sentenced to life
   imprisonment for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide,
   torture, and murder.

   Two other top suspects -- Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith -- died before
   their cases could be concluded.

   Potential charges against three other suspects, however, remain in
   limbo amid disagreement between the Cambodian and international
   prosecutors and the stated wishes of the Hun Sen government not to see
   any further convictions. The prime minister and many ruling party
   members were once mid-level Khmer Rouge cadres themselves before they
   turned against the regime.

   The impasse is disturbing to some legal experts, who fear political
   considerations will outweigh demands for justice on behalf of the
   surviving victims of the 1975-79 Pol Pot regime, which is held
   responsible for an estimated 1.7 million deaths.

   "There is uncertainty about whether cases against three remaining
   accused ... will be finally resolved consistent with the legal
   principles and rules of the court," the advocacy group Open Society
   Justice Initiative said in an analysis in January.

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