By Ek Tha
PHNOM PENH, May 17, 2013 (PRU) – Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister His Excellency Dr. Sok An on Friday met with diplomats from Australia, France and Japan to discuss the difficulties currently being faced by the ECCC in regard to both chronic lack of funds and the acute need to speed up proceedings, particularly in the light of the recent death of Ieng Sary, leaving only two accused now facing trial.
The delegation consisted of Their Excellencies Serge Mostura and Yuji Kumamaru (Ambassadors of France and Japan, as Co-Chairs of the Friends of the ECCC) and Mr Dave Gorge (Chargé d’Affaires of Australia, the current chair of the Principal Donors Group (PDG) in New York.
They presented to Dr Sok An a letter from the PDG, responding to his letter of 29 March 2013 regarding the dire situation facing the Extraordinary Chamber within the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). All agreed that this is a common problem that needs collective solution between Cambodia, the United Nations and the donors.
The Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Chairman of the Royal Government Task Force on the Khmer Rouge Trials, said that all stakeholders, including Cambodia, U.N and donors, need to speak “one language” on how to address the persistent crisis of budget shortfalls as well as the need to bring the current trial to completion as soon as possible in view of the acute age of the defendants, one of whom had died and another one has been severed from the case due to health concerns.
His Excellency Dr. Sok An, Dr Sok An repeated his view that a new approach is needed with a clear completion strategy. Both Cambodia and U.N. are working on this as well as restructuring the existing operation of the court and reducing the number of staff.
ECCC officials presented a concept paper on these challenges, and reported that significant steps have already been taken, cutting Cambodian staff from 335 in 2010 to a projected 234 by July 2013 and reducing spending from $11.7 million in 2011 to $8 million for 2013, but Cambodia’s side of the court needs another $3.4 million for 2013. The international side of the court also faces another looming financial crisis in the coming months.
Cambodia has to face the reality that it cannot further increase its already significant contribution without jeopardising the country’s judicial reform program, as the funds for the ECCC already exceed the commitment from the national budget to the country’s Supreme Court by 257% and to the Appeal Court by 300%. Since 2006, Cambodia has already provided $7.4 million in cash and $9.5 million in kind for a total of $16.9 million (making it the third largest contributor after Japan and Australia).
Cambodia and the U.N. continue to seek new donors and contributions from existing friends of the ECCC to support the latter to complete its mission of providing justice to nearly 2 million victims who died under the Democratic Kampuchea regime, known as ‘the killing fields’, which ruled the country from 17 April 1975 to 6 January 1979. End.