PHNOM PENH, Friday August 16, 2013 – Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Sok An and the Secretary-General’s Special Expert on United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT) David Scheffer met on Friday to exchange views on three topics relating to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).
The main subject of their discussions was how to move the Case 002 forward expeditiously.
One of the principal obstacles is the continuing financial problem, especially the budget shortfall on the national side of the ECCC, which still needs U.S $2.9 million of its $9.4 million budget for 2013.
His Excellency Dr. Sok An, who is also the Chairman of the Royal Government Task Force on the Khmer Rouge Trials, and David Scheffer said that a joint mission of Cambodia and U.N. is to leave Phnom Penh on 18 August 2013 for some capitals of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in an effort to raise funds for the Court.
They also discussed the issue of reparation for the victims of the Khmer Rouge, whose regime, officially known as Democratic Kampuchea (DK), ruled from 17 April 1975 to 6 January 1979 during which nearly some 2 million people died of starvation, execution, forced labor and diseases.
Both sides welcomed the positive response from the Cambodian government to the request made by Co-Lead Lawyers for Civil Parties on the proposed forms of reparation, particularly those relating to memorialization and education that have been requested by victims who continue to suffer from physical and psychological pain as a result of Khmer Rouge’s atrocities. End