 |
| Leakhena Nou (L) with a KR victim (Photo: AP) |
Robert Carmichael, VOA
Phnom Penh May 26, 2011
A US-based organization for survivors of the Khmer Rouge condemned the UN-backed war crimes tribunal on Thursday for preventing overseas Cambodians from taking part in the court’s controversial third case. Tribunal observers fear the court is trying to dismiss those cases in the face of stringent government opposition.
The U.S.-based survivors group ASRIC says the war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh will fail to deliver justice if it ditches its third and fourth cases that are opposed by the Cambodian government.
The judges closed the investigation into case three about one month ago. But the international prosecutor, Andrew Cayley, later said the investigation into case three was deficient and said more work should be done. Since then, Cayley has been ordered by the court to retract the criticism but he says he will appeal the order.
ASRIC says the tribunal cannot decide on the merits of its third case without a proper investigation.
Leakhena Nou is the founder of ASRIC, which is the only Khmer Rouge survivors’ organization in the United States.
“Cambodian survivors and Cambodian society deserve better than this because they’ve suffered for 35 years and they have not had their day in court,” she said. “So just prosecuting the five senior-most defendants is not enough if there is evidence that leads to other potential perpetrators, then the court officials need to do the right thing.”
No comments:
Post a Comment