Thursday, 18 February 2010

Tribunal to launch digital Web portal


via CAAI News Media

Thursday, 18 February 2010 15:04 James O'Toole

THE Khmer Rouge tribunal announced plans Wednesday to make court materials, including previously classified information, available digitally through a “virtual tribunal” project.

UN court spokesman Lars Olsen said the new portal will include “all case-related evidence which we can make public without copyright concerns”. This material, he added, will consist of “minutes of meetings from Democratic Kampuchea, situation reports from district chiefs, and all the evidence which has been classified” up to this point.

“The whole public case file would be included,” he said.

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THIS IS PART OF THE ONGOING EFFORTS FROM THE COURT TO IMPROVE ... OUTREACH ACTIVITIES.
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The “virtual tribunal” is being developed in partnership with the US’s Berkeley and Stanford universities, and will include court documents and videos as well interviews, education tools and expert commentary, the court said in a statement Wednesday. Olsen said no specific launch date has been set for the project, though the court hopes to unveil it “during this year”.

Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, said organising all of the court’s data on one site will make it easier for observers to follow proceedings.

“Even though the court’s public documents are already available, having this special software in place, it helps the public access better,” he said, adding that the project would “contribute to historical and legal education in Cambodia”.

Olsen said the finished product will hopefully be of use to both scholars of the Khmer Rouge era and members of the general public.

“This is part of the ongoing efforts from the court to improve and enhance its outreach activities in order to foster a greater understanding among regular Cambodians of the court process,” he said.

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