VOA News
September 09, 2013
The United Nations-backed Khmer Rouge war crimes court in Cambodia has been dealt another blow with the resignation of one of its prosecutors.
Britain's Andrew Cayley issued a statement Monday that he was stepping down as co-international prosecutor due to personal reasons. Cayley was appointed to the post in 2009.
The under-funded tribunal has been plagued by numerous problems since its creation in 2006. About 200 Cambodian employees at the court walked off the job last week to demand months of back wages.
The Cambodian side of the court, which lacks nearly $3 million in funding, has dealt with allegations of mismanagement and corruption.
Human Rights Watch has accused the Cambodian government of intentionally withholding funds to obstruct the trials of former leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime, which is blamed for the deaths of nearly two million Cambodians during its bloody, four-year rule in the late 1970s.
The court has handed down only one conviction, and the advanced age of the remaining defendants has cast doubt on prospects of finishing its job while they are still alive, or able to participate in their trials for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, both in their 80s, are the only senior Khmer Rouge leaders alive and considered fit to stand trial. The group's leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998.
No comments:
Post a Comment