Original report from Washington
10 March 2010
The Khmer Rouge tribunal should be considered beyond its legal proceedings and in the context of the healing process for Cambodians, a rights activist and civil party complainant said Friday.“If we see this court as just a group of 15 or 20 people with prosecutors discussing among themselves, it is very weak, fragile, and wasting so much money,” Seng Theary, a Cambodian-American lawyer, told an audience at the National Press Club in Washington. “But we have seen that this court has provided lots of benefits to the public.”
“These include inspiring people to talk about their past, encouraging them to participate as civil party representatives or investigation or watch the court from a distance,” she said. “These are the advantages that should be expanded.”Seng Theary, who lost family members to the regime and is participating in trials of its leaders, said that many people who had never spoken about their suffering under the Khmer Rouge had begun to discuss it now. Some were even documenting their past for a younger generation to study.
No comments:
Post a Comment