Khmer Rouge tribunal says kickback allegations unsubstantiated

Feb 16, 2007, 8:07 GMT

Phnom Penh - A spokesman for Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal denied allegations Friday that judges were forced to pay kickbacks.

'The allegations are not true. They are totally unsubstantiated,' Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia press officer Reach Sambath said by telephone.

The New York-based Open Society Justice Initiative released a statement Thursday which said that the credibility of the court had been undermined by allegations that court personnel, including judges, must pay considerable kickbacks to Cambodian government officials in exchange for their positions on the tribunal.

The organization gave no details in its release about who had made the allegations or what evidence there was to support them.

Sambath said a routine external audit of the tribunal was underway. He denied it was related to the allegations and said the results were expected within two weeks.

The allegations threaten to further undermine the credibility of the 56-million dollar trials to try a handful of surviving former Khmer Rouge leaders, slated to get underway later this year.

Organizations including New York-based Human Rights Watch have accused the government, which still comprises a number of lower ranking former Khmer Rouge, of lacking the political will to hold the trials.

The Khmer Rouge's Democratic Kampuchea regime ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, during which time up to 2 million Cambodians died.