Cambodian tribunal plan leaves local judges with veto power

Cambodia released a long-awaited plan Tuesday to bring surviving Khmer Rouge leaders to justice, but it leaves the country's judicial system in charge, possibly dooming U.N. support.

Cambodia released a long-awaited plan Tuesday to bring surviving Khmer Rouge leaders to justice, but it leaves the country's judicial system in charge, possibly dooming U.N. support.

The trial plan, which has been sent to the United Nations for its scrutiny, would set up "special chambers" in Cambodia's court system to judge top Khmer Rouge leaders in the deaths of 1.7 million people during the communist revolutionary group's rule in the late 1970s.

Following suggestions by the United States, the plan calls for the tribunal and its appeals system to have judicial panels with a majority of Cambodians and a minority of foreigners, requiring a "supermajority" - or majority plus one - to pass rulings.

It also calls for co-prosecutors - one Cambodian, one foreign - who will be required to work in tandem to make indictments.

While U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and individual U.N. member states are asked to submit suggestions for foreign participants in the tribunal, all appointments are ultimately left with Cambodia's judicial oversight board, the Supreme Council of Magistracy.

One independent Cambodian expert predicted Tuesday that the appointment procedure will be a red flag for U.N. legal experts, who have expressed reservations over any tribunal formula leaving decisions in the hands of Cambodia's notoriously corrupt and politicized courts.

"I doubt that the United Nations will get involved, because those provisions could not inspire trust," said Lao Mong Hay, director of a Cambodian think tank, the Khmer Institute for Democracy.

Lao Mong Hay noted that no matter what the makeup or professionalism of the judges' panel, just one of the co-prosecutors could effectively halt indictments against several Khmer Rouge who many fear won't be tried because of their close links to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Hun Sen himself has downplayed the possibility of U.N. involvement in a tribunal, giving the world body just a few days to review the plan before it is submitted to the Cabinet for approval Friday.

In New York, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Cambodia's U.N. Ambassador Ouch Borith delivered the text to the U.N. Office of Legal Affairs on Monday.

Asked whether Cambodia could expect a response from the United Nations before Friday, Eckhard said, "I don't think that would be realistic."

"Two-and-a-half months ago, when they told us they would be submitting this revised text, they said they expected to have it in two weeks. So all I can say is that we've got it, we're translating it, we're studying it. But I really can't comment on the deadline," he said.