UN and Cambodia set up office for war crimes court to try former Khmer Rouge leaders

The United Nations and the Cambodian Government have set up an administrative office for the court that will try former leaders of the Khmer Rouge accused of horrific crimes, including killing hundreds of thousand of citizens during the 1970s, a spokesman for the world body announced today.

The creation of the office marks a shift from the planning phase to the actual establishment of what will be known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed during the Period of Democratic Kampuchea, according to spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

The court will be made up of Cambodian and international judges who are in the process of being selected, he said, citing a joint statement which calls on donor countries to make up a $9.6 million shortfall in the court’s budget.

Under an agreement signed by the UN and Cambodia, a trial court and a Supreme Court within the Cambodian legal system are being set up to prosecute those most responsible for crimes and serious violations of Cambodian and international law between 17 April 1975 and 6 January 1979.

The three-year budget for the trials is about $56.3 million, of which $43 million is to be paid by the UN and $13.3 million by the Government of Cambodia.