The United Nations on Tuesday strongly denied that it had ordered Cambodia war crimes judges to reject a new case involving the Khmer Rouge.

Tweet

With the country gearing up for a major Khmer Rouge era trial this month, Cambodian media reports said five UN staff have resigned in protest at a decision to close the new case without properly investigating the charges.

The UN-backed war crimes court has threatened legal action in a bid to prevent publication of leaked details of the case.

"The United Nations categorically rejects media speculation that we have instructed the co-investigating judges to dismiss Case Three," said UN spokesman Martin Nesirky of the new Khmer Rouge inquiry.

The names of the suspects in the case have not been made public, but they are thought to be two ex-commanders from the brutal 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime blamed for up to two million deaths.

"Support for the independence of the judiciary is a fundamental principle that the United Nations upholds in Cambodia as elsewhere," said Nesirky.

Judges and prosecutors at the Cambodia courts "must be allowed to function free from external interference by the royal government of Cambodia, the United Nations, donor states, and civil society," he added.

The Second Trial: will more follow?
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) starts its second trial on June 27. Among the four defendants are Khieu Samphan, the former Khmer Rouge head of state, and Nuon Chea, the deputy to notorious regime leader Pol Pot.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has repeatedly voiced his objection to further trials, however, saying they could plunge the country into civil war.

The international court's investigating judges have been under fire ever since they announced in April they had concluded their investigations into case three, without questioning the suspects.

International co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley -- without the backing of his Cambodian colleague -- demanded the suspects be interviewed and more crime scenes examined but the judges rejected his request last week on technicalities.

Nesirky said the UN will "not comment on issues which remain the subject of judicial consideration, nor speculate on actions that should or should not be taken by the judges or prosecutors in any case."

He added however that the investigating judges "are not under an obligation to provide reasons for their actions at this stage of the investigation in Case Three."

Nesirky said the trial starting this month "will be of true international significance and deserves the ongoing, strong support of the international community."

Cambodian Khmer Rouge Tribunal Monitor Calls for UN Investigation into Judges
International observers who are monitoring the proceedings of the ECCC are calling for the UN to investigate the conduct of two judges. The Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) is questioning the court’s decision to close its politically-sensitive third case, saying it threatens the court’s credibility.

The OSJI is a non-governmental organization funded by US billionaire George Soros that has monitored the Khmer Rouge tribunal since 2003 - three years before the court formally opened its doors.

On Tuesday the OSJI released a report calling on the UN to investigate the conduct of the tribunal’s two investigating judges - Germany's Siegfried Blunk and Cambodia’s You Bunleng.

Monitors say the investigating judges’ decision to close Case Three, which is believed to involve two former senior Khmer Rouge military officers, could constitute judicial misconduct.

The Cambodian government has long said it opposed having Case Three to go to trial. In late April, the two judges announced they were closing the case.

A tribunal spokesperson said Tuesday that the two judges would not comment on the OSJI report.

Happy to see international staff members go
Earlier this week the investigating judges confirmed that a number of international staff members had quit their office. The judges responded by saying they were happy to see them go.

One of those who resigned was Stephen Heder, an academic and Khmer Rouge specialist who was working in the investigating judges’ office as a consultant until he quit on May 5.

In his resignation email to Judge Blunk, Heder accused the judges of closing Case Three without investigating it. He also said Judge Blunk’s leadership had created a “toxic atmosphere of mutual mistrust” in the investigating judges’ office, which he says had become “professionally dysfunctional”.

Source: AFP & VOA News

Lead photo - ECCC on flickr.com - all further use subject to this CC licence