Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK: The credibility of Cambodia’s judiciary will come under international scrutiny in 2006 as plans to set up a special tribunal to prosecute the surviving members of the barbaric Khmer Rouge regime gather pace. That the long awaited trial has moved from 10 years of debate, over its formation, to concrete action and justice was signalled in December, when the United Nations began interviewing 21 international jurists who have applied to serve as the foreign judges and prosecutors for this tribunal.

Early February, Michelle Lee, the UN deputy coordinator for the trial, is expected to open an office for the Khmer Rouge tribunal in Phnom Penh. And by mid-2006, the groundwork is expected to be complete for prosecutors to begin investigating crimes committed by Khmer Rouge leaders. Yet, this is only half the equation of the unique judicial process that will be unveiled in Cambodia for this trial. The other half deals with the Cambodian judges to be selected for this trial — a procedure that has still to begin.

It is a process that will be haunted by questions on the independence and capability of Cambodian judges to sit on the bench of such an august tribunal. And a harsh judgement delivered this month against Sam Rainsy, leader of Cambodia’s opposition party, inspires little confidence in the South-east Asian country’s judiciary, which stands accused of caving in to political and other pressures.

The US government, the UN human rights envoy for Cambodia and international human rights groups were among those who issued strong statements criticising the decision of a Phnom Penh court for sentencing Rainsy to 18 months imprisonment and a 14,000 US dollar fine on charges of defaming Cambodian Prime Minster Hun Sen and the leader of a royalist party, Prince Norodom Ranariddh.

Yash Ghai, the UN Secretary-General’s human rights envoy for Cambodia, stated that he had heard many complaints about the arrest and detention of respected political figures, journalists and trade union activists. “(There is also concern) about many irregularities that have been reported in connection with these cases,” he said. “The verdict against Sam Rainsy needs to be seen in this light.”

Questions about the Cambodian judiciary’s capability to handle cases in a war crimes tribunal surfaced soon after an agreement was signed by the UN and Phnom Penh in 2003, since each of the special courts that will hear the cases will have a majority of Cambodian judges on each bench. This new judicial mechanism of having a mix of international and local judges, with the latter having a larger presence, for a war crimes tribunal is in stark contrast to the special tribunals set up for the crimes against humanity committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Both the Rwanda and Yugoslavia tribunals had only international jurists to ensure high standards of justice.

The London-based Amnesty International and the New York-based Human Rights Watch have been among the leading voices criticising the inclusion of Cambodian judges, saying that their lack of experience would undermine the high standards of international justice required for war crimes tribunals. But arguments about who is eligible to sit on the bench of this special tribunal appears to be of little consequence to a Cambodian public, relieved that after nearly a 25-year-wait the promise of justice appears palpable. “If you ask people here, the feeling is that the trial has already started,” Michael Hayes, editor-in-chief of the English language Phnom Penh Post, said during a telephone interview from Cambodia. “There is a sense that the wait is finally over.”

Cambodia human rights activists echo that sentiment, too. “Many Cambodians are talking about the trial now that the UN is here,” Ny Chakrya, of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, told IPS. “I am optimistic that work on the tribunal will move fast in the new year. The government will also have to show its support and political will.”

But UN officials and Cambodia watchers, following the plans for the trial, will not hazard a guess on when the first surviving member of the brutal Khmer Rouge will be in the dock, since the prosecutors have to build up a strong case. Some say the first trial could begin in 2007. During the reign of terror by the Khmer Rouge from 1975-79, close to 1.7 million people were executed or died of forced labour and famines in Cambodia.

Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, died in 1998.—Dawn/IPS News Service