The Associated Press
A rights group demanded the resignation Monday of the two judges responsible for indictments at Cambodia’s tribunal on Khmer Rouge war crimes, alleging that they improperly halted investigations into further suspects.
The major New York-based group Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the two-judge indictment panel, comprising You Bunleng of Cambodia and Siegfried Blunk of Germany, had violated its duties by failing “to conduct genuine, impartial, and effective investigations” into suspects beyond the one convicted last year and four set for trial.
The group said justice could not be obtained as long as the two judges held their jobs.
Critics allege that the judges ended investigations prematurely in response to political pressure from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has openly opposed expanding the trials with additional indictments of former Khmer Rouge figures, some of whom have become his political allies.
Blunk has restrictions on what he can say publicly, but has insisted that he and You Bunleng “have worked independently from outside interference.”
The U.N.-backed tribunal is seeking justice for 1.7 million people who died of starvation, exhaustion, lack of medical care or torture during the communist Khmer Rouge’s time in power in the 1970s.
Tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen responded Monday to the Human Rights Watch statement by saying that You Bunleng and Blunk “will continue to perform their duties independently,” and that their decisions are subject to checks and balances that are part of the tribunal’s structure.
He added that no final decisions had yet been made on further indictments.
Controversy over the judge’s actions began in April, when they issued a “closing order” halting further investigation into suspects cited in documents known as Case 003. Human Rights Watch said a closing order was expected soon in Case 004.
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