‘This country has a long way to go.'

Canadian co-prosecutor Robert Petit. In his opening statement, he told the tribunal that hearing the facts would give back to the victims of the Khmer Rouge the dignity that was denied to them in their last moments. After three years in Cambodia, Mr. Petit resigned, effective this week, citing personal reasons, and will resume his work for the federal Justice Department in Ottawa. “It’s obvious that some people in the government, from the prime minister downward, think they have a right to tell the courts what to do here,” he said in an interview, addressing the issue of political interference in Cambodian courts. “It’s not their job to take that on. It’s mine. It’s the court’s.” Jared Ferrie

Canadian prosecutor Robert Petit speaks out about his bitter struggle to bring more killers to just
Friday, Sep. 04, 2009
The Globe and Mail

This week Canadian lawyer Robert Petit's three-year stint as co-prosecutor for Cambodia's war-crimes tribunal officially came to an end. He cited “personal and family reasons” for his departure, but it's widely believed that political pressure is really to blame.

Co-sponsored by the United Nations and Cambodia, the tribunal has cost $150-million but so far just five aging Khmer Rouge leaders have been charged, with only one brought to trial.

Mr. Petit, a 48-year-old veteran of conflict remediation in Rwanda, Bosnia, East Timor and Sierra Leone, says he has solid cases against another six veterans of the regime.

Cambodia's prime minister, himself a former Khmer Rouge officer as are many of his political allies, has said he'd rather see the court fail than expand its caseload because another civil war could result. But on Wednesday, a day after Mr. Petit's resignation took effect, the tribunal's Cambodian judges failed to persuade their international counterparts to block any new investigations.

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