Phnom Penh Wednesday, 11 May 2011
“Only four people have applied to become civil party complainants in Case 003.”
Lawyers for the victim participants of the Khmer Rouge tribunal said Tuesday the court violated their rights by not releasing enough information to them about a potential case at the court, which is facing increasing pressure to conduct further trials.
Controversial Case 003, which could see two more Khmer Rouge leaders indicted, saw investigating judges issue conclusion on April 29, which should have given prosecutors and civil parties both 15 days to appeal for more investigation.
However, civil party participants were not given access to the case file, which prevented them from taking “any meaningful actions,” lawyers Silke Stuzenski and Hong Kim Suon said in a statement.
As a result, civil party complainants—who are supposed to participate in trials as a means of national reconciliation for the genocide—face a “high risk” of rejection from the case, the lawyers wrote.
Under court rules, victims are supposed to demonstrate they are victims of particular crimes by the accused. But the names of the accused in Case 003 have remained confidential with the court, making such a petition impossible. Only four people have applied to become civil party complainants in Case 003, a court official said.
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