Mechanics of Staging a Trial: 101

More details emerge in reports today about the mechanics of the proposed tribunal to prosecute members of Cambodia's former Khmer Rouge.

According to John Aglionby, south-east Asia correspondent for The Guardian:

The tribunal will comprise mainly Cambodian judges and prosecutors, but the agreement of at least one international judge will be required to obtain a conviction.

Still some diplomats and human rights activists are quoted as remaining unconvinced that the impoverished country's people would see justice for the 1975-79 genocide.

The international community has promised about £22.6m of the £29.5m estimated budget, with Phnom Penh contributing the rest.

I'm sure debate about whether Cambodia can afford to pick up the balance will soon be a thread in media speculation.

... a Cambodian government spokesman, Khieu Kanharith, said on Saturday. "We want this [tribunal] to be formed as soon as possible."

Such enthusiasm is probably not genuine, according to Kek Galabru, the president of the Cambodian human rights group Licadho. "If the government really had the political will to establish this tribunal we should have had one already," she told the Guardian. "So we are not sure that the tribunal will happen, even though the government has no more excuses to delay."

Phnom Penh-based diplomats are equally sceptical. "The government has undoubtedly been dragging its heels on this, and at times actively working against the formation of a tribunal," one senior western diplomat said.

The government's attitude was so uncooperative two years ago that the UN pulled out of the tribunal negotiations. The process was further delayed last year when Cambodia's political system was deadlocked after a general election produced a hung parliament.

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