Millions in aid has failed to bring justice, rights monitor says

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer Washington
10 December 2007

Fifteen years of aid money and millions of dollars have failed to bring a court system capable of providing justice to Cambodians, a leading rights leader said Monday.
Kek Galabru, who founded the prominent rights group Licadho, said Monday's International Rights Day march was good, but the overall view of Cambodia's progress was not promising. "What we want is not just the freedom for one day, today, but law," she said, for the future freedoms of assembly, protest and expression.
Licadho issued a report ahead of Rights Day, calling for real reform of the courts, which suffer allegations of corruption and politicization, and lead to impunity for criminal government officials.
Donors were not evaluating the right progress as they give millions of dollars in aid, Kek Galabru said, as a guest on "Hello VOA."
"Evaluation should not be based on training and court-building renovation, but actual daily work on legal procedures," she said.