Prosecutor says more work needed in controversial Khmer Rouge case

Picture of Meas Muth who is wanted for trial as case#3.

Monsters and critics
May 9, 2011,

Phnom Penh (DPA)- The international prosecutor at the UN-backed war crimes tribunal called on the court's investigations office Monday to do more work in a case that observers worry is headed for an early closure.

In a statement prosecutor Andrew Cayley said he was 'of the view that the crimes alleged have not been fully investigated.'

Tribunal observers fear political interference combined with UN inaction and donor indifference could mean that Case 003 - and a subsequent case known as Case 004 - will not reach trial.

Cases 003 and 004 reportedly involve two senior military officers and three mid-level Khmer Rouge cadres from the 1975-79 regime.

In October, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told visiting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that he would not permit Cases 003 and 004 to proceed, a message he has stated publicly several times.

Cayley said the file against the suspects in Case 003 listed crimes that, if proven, would amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as crimes under Cambodian law.

It recently emerged that the investigating judges had not even questioned the suspects before passing the case back to prosecutors, further stoking fears the court was buckling to political pressure.

Cayley said he wanted the investigating judges to question the suspects, notify them they were under investigation, interview additional witnesses, and examine alleged crime sites including several potential mass graves.

Trial observers have criticized the performance of the investigating judges' office, and warned that the way Cases 003 and 004 are dealt with could undermine the court's legacy.

The tribunal's rules mean the investigating judges can dismiss Cayley's requests, in which event the prosecutor would have to appeal the case to the tribunal's pre-trial chamber.

Anne Heindel, a legal adviser at the Phnom Penh-based genocide research organization DC-Cam, said Friday that opposition to the case by the investigating judges and by the chamber's Cambodian judges meant it was unlikely Cayley would be able to keep the case alive.

The tribunal's first case, in which former security chief Comrade Duch was convicted of war crimes, concluded in 2009 but is under appeal.

The second case, against four elderly Khmer Rouge leaders, is expected to begin later this year to determine their alleged roles in the deaths of up to 2.2 million people.