Wednesday, 22 October 2008

Australia helps bring former Khmer Rouge leaders to justice

ISRIA

I am pleased to announce a further $5 million Australian contribution to the United Nations (UN) for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), also known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

I advised Cambodia's Ambassador for Australia, Meas Kim Heng, of this contribution today.

Under an agreement between the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia, the ECCC will conduct trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders charged with crimes against humanity during the 1975-1979 period, in which it is estimated up three million people perished under the Khmer Rouge regime.

In 1997 the then newly formed Cambodian Government requested UN assistance in establishing a trial process to prosecute the senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge. The Cambodian National Assembly in 2001 passed a law to create a Court to try serious crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge regime.

This court is called the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed during the Period of Democratic Kampuchea (Extraordinary Chambers or ECCC).

While the court was created by the Cambodian Government and UN, the ECCC is independent and will provide a new model for court operations in Cambodia.

Australia has been a long-term supporter of Cambodia's efforts to bring Khmer Rouge leaders to justice.

This new funding will support the United Nations' contribution to the work of the ECCC over the next two years. Australia has previously provided over $4 million towards the ECCC's operations.

There has been significant progress since the ECCC began its work, with five individuals charged and held in provisional detention awaiting trial.

The ECCC provides an historic opportunity to achieve justice for the victims of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.

Australia urges Cambodia and the international community to intensify their cooperative efforts to ensure that the trials are completed in a timely manner and according to internationally acceptable standards of justice, fairness and due legal process.

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