U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (R) greets a Cambodian judge during a visit to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC), on the outskirt of Phnom Penh October 27, 2010. According to the UN and Cambodia's Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ban is in the country for three days to meet Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, visit the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal, the genocide museum and a hospital.
REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA - Tags: POLITICS)
REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA - Tags: POLITICS)
28th October, 2010
(RTTNews) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that it was up to the U.N.-backed war crimes court to decide whether to pursue further cases against members of Cambodia's former Khmer Rouge regime.
"This is the decision to be made by the court. The United Nations will discuss this matter with international community members, particularly donors," Ban told reporters in Cambodia.
He made the remarks while visting a former prison and torture center in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, where he offered prayers to the victims of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. He left for Vietnam later on Thursday after completing his three-day Cambodia trip.
Ban's statements came a day after Prime Minister Hun Sen told the U.N. chief that his government would not allow further prosecutions of former Khmer Rouge cadres.
Hun told Ban that the four former Khmer Rouge leaders currently awaiting trial would be the last to be prosecuted, insisting that the move as required to preserve peace and political stability in the country.
The U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Cambodia was established in 2006 to prosecute members of the Khmer Rouge regime. The tribunal has concluded just one case and is scheduled to begin hearing the second one early next year.
Earlier this year, the tribunal had sentenced Kaing Guek Eav, a former Khmer Rouge prison chief known as Comrade Duch, to 30 years in prison after finding him guilty of committing crimes against humanity.
"This is the decision to be made by the court. The United Nations will discuss this matter with international community members, particularly donors," Ban told reporters in Cambodia.
He made the remarks while visting a former prison and torture center in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, where he offered prayers to the victims of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. He left for Vietnam later on Thursday after completing his three-day Cambodia trip.
Ban's statements came a day after Prime Minister Hun Sen told the U.N. chief that his government would not allow further prosecutions of former Khmer Rouge cadres.
Hun told Ban that the four former Khmer Rouge leaders currently awaiting trial would be the last to be prosecuted, insisting that the move as required to preserve peace and political stability in the country.
The U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Cambodia was established in 2006 to prosecute members of the Khmer Rouge regime. The tribunal has concluded just one case and is scheduled to begin hearing the second one early next year.
Earlier this year, the tribunal had sentenced Kaing Guek Eav, a former Khmer Rouge prison chief known as Comrade Duch, to 30 years in prison after finding him guilty of committing crimes against humanity.
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