UN Approves Agreement With Cambodia To Prosecute Former Khmer Rouge Leaders
New York, May 13 2003 5:00PM
The United Nations today approved a plan to create special courts to try former leaders of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge
regime.
The 191-member General Assembly <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2003/ga10135.doc.htm">adopted by consensus a resolution containing the draft
agreement between the world body and Cambodia concerning the prosecution - under Cambodian law - of crimes committed
during the period of Democratic Kampuchea. The Assembly also decided to fund the trials through voluntary contributions
rather than via the regular UN budget.
The 32-article draft plan would create "Extraordinary Chambers," comprising one trial court and one Supreme Court within
the existing national court structure of Cambodia, and contain a mix of international and Cambodian judges. According to
the plan - which stresses the impartiality and independence of the prospective jurists - decisions in the two chambers
would be taken by majority of four judges and five judges, respectively.
The plan also sets out the duties of the prosecutors and investigating judges, rules of procedure, defendants' rights
and procedures governing witness and expert testimony. With respect to amnesty, the plan states that "the Royal
Government of Cambodia would undertake not to request one for any persons who might be investigated or convicted of
crimes under the agreement."
The resolution adopted today urges UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Cambodian Government to "take all measures to
allow the agreement to enter into force and be fully implemented." The Assembly also appeals to the international
community to provide assistance, including financial and personnel support, to the Extraordinary Chambers.
The Secretary-General had warned that in a report that "the opportunity of bringing those responsible to justice might
be lost" if the courts were funded by voluntary contributions rather than through regular UN dues payments. And while
diplomats earlier this month hailed the plan's consensus approval by the Assembly's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural
Committee, which deals with human rights issues, they too warned that justice could yet be denied if governments failed
to contribute generously to the courts' operation.