Phnom Penh - Cambodian judges appointed to the Khmer Rouge
tribunal sent an open letter Friday requesting the withdrawal of
allegations made by a respected international human-rights
organization that they paid kickbacks to obtain and keep their
positions.
The letter - signed by Kong Srim, president of the Supreme Court
Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
(ECCC), and issued through the tribunal's press department on behalf
of all Cambodian judges involved in the upcoming trial - said the
February 14 claims of corruption by the George Soros-funded Open
Society Justice Initiative were untrue and deserved an apology.
'This unsubstantiated allegation, which has been published by a
number of national and international media, creates public confusion
and seriously undermines the reputation and integrity of all national
judges appointed to the ECCC,' the letter said.
It added: 'All national judges of the ECCC hereby affirm to you
and the public at large that our decisions to work for the ECCC were
made without being subject to any pressure or promise as mentioned in
your statement.
'We all clearly understand that bringing justice to the people of
Cambodia, especially victims of the Khmer Rouge regime, is a mission
that requires the highest level of professional responsibility.
Therefore, we request you correct by appropriate means this
unsubstantiated allegation.'
On Wednesday, local media published an open letter from Open
Society Justice Initiative executive director James Goldston urging
the tribunal to mount a thorough and transparent investigation into
the allegations for the sake of the credibility of the hearings both
at home and abroad.
Goldston acknowledged that his New York-based organization had not
provided concrete proof to back the allegations but said it was the
group's job to bring the matter to public attention.
He said it was the job of the tribunal to investigate and to show
the public and donors to the 56-million dollar trial set up to bring
a handful of former top leaders of the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge to
justice that it was capable of handling such allegations and stamping
out corruption if it existed rather than ignoring it.
Days after the organization made the allegations, the tribunal
announced it would not deal with the group any further. Sources close
to the court said there was suspicion among some government officials
in the former Communist nation that the timing of the allegations was
political with nationwide commune elections scheduled for April 1.
Friday's letter was issued as the tribunal's local and
international judges continued to try to thrash out differences
between a number of different legal systems and come to agreement on
internal rules for the court, without which proceedings cannot move
forward.
The Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, during which
time up to 2 million Cambodians perished under one of the most brutal
regimes of the past century.
Several prominent members of the current Cambodian government were
Khmer Rouge cadre before defecting and overthrowing that regime, and
some groups have expressed doubt that Cambodia, with its endemic
corruption and complex political past, is capable of holding a trial
of former Khmer Rouge leaders to international standards and on
budget.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
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