Putting a Price on Justice

Newsday carries “U.S. Wants Khmer Court Justice Assurance” by William C. Mann of Associated Press.

It provides some update on U.S. thinking concerning the proposed U.N.-backed tribunal.

The United States will pay none of the $56.3 million needed for a tribunal to punish members of the Khmer Rouge for Cambodia's killing fields of the 1970s until convinced that the trials will meet international standards of justice, the State Department said Thursday.

"The United States joins the millions of Cambodians, Cambodian-Americans and others in remembering the victims of this deplorable regime," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Thursday in a statement marking the Khmer Rouge anniversary.

But, he said, "For the United States to contribute to this process, we believe, as U.S. law stipulates, that the tribunal must meet internationally recognized standards of justice. As the formation of the tribunal moves forward, we will engage with the Government of Cambodia, the United Nations and interested countries to achieve this goal."

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