Ban Ki-moon says Cambodia "committed" to Khmer Rouge court

Oct 28, 2010, 5:36 GMT

Phnom Penh - The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was short on detail Thursday about the prospects for Cambodia's war crimes tribunal, one day after Prime Minister Hun Sen told him he would not tolerate further prosecutions of former Khmer Rouge cadre.

Speaking at the Tuol Sleng genocide museum in Phnom Penh, Ban said he had met earlier with senior government officials to discuss the subject.

But he would not be drawn on whether the UN would walk away from the process, saying that he felt Phnom Penh was 'committed to completion of the process.'

'The United Nations will discuss this matter with the international community members, particularly donors. That's what I can tell you at this stage,' he said.

He added that the decision on whether to proceed with more prosecutions should be made solely by the hybrid UN-Cambodian court.

Hun Sen's comments Wednesday prompted criticism that he was again interfering with the judicial process. The Open Society Justice Initiative, a George-Soros-funded tribunal monitor, condemned them as an 'unacceptable attempt to strangle the court.'

Late Wednesday the government toned down its message when Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said that, contrary to media reports, Hun Sen had not expressly forbidden further prosecutions.

'We don't say 'forbidden', because you cannot dictate, you cannot impose your will on the court,' Khieu Kanharith said, adding that the prime minister would simply prefer that the next two cases did not proceed.

He said Hun Sen had a number of reasons - including a perceived threat to political stability - for opposing further prosecutions.

Ban's spokesman Yves Sorokobi stressed that the tribunal must remain free from political interference, and that all parties must respect the judicial process.

'We have to give [court officials] the space that they need to make the proper decision. There should be no political interference with their work,' he said Wednesday.

The Khmer Rouge is considered responsible for the deaths of up to 2.2 million people in the 1970s.

Hun Sen also told Ban that he wanted the UN's human rights office to close, something Sorokobi said the secretary general would take into consideration, since its presence was a matter of agreement between the UN and a member state.

Earlier this year, the tribunal convicted former Khmer Rouge security chief Comrade Duch of war crimes and crimes against humanity for the deaths of more than 12,000 people at the S-21 security prison, now the Tuol Sleng genocide museum.

The UN chief is scheduled to depart on Thursday for Vietnam, where he will attend a summit between the United Nations and the Association of South-East Asian Nations bloc. He will conclude his Asian tour in China.

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