March 28, 2003
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's cabinet has approved a landmark draft agreement with the United Nations on a genocide tribunal to try surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge, officials said. "The entire cabinet approved and accepted what the prime minister briefed them on," government minister Sok An, Cambodia's chief trial negotiator, told reporters.
The cabinet had been widely expected to approve the draft, which was the result of four years of often tortuous talks between Cambodia and the UN. It will then be sent to Cambodia's parliament, Sok An said.
Officials have expressed hope that ratification would come before national elections in July, but not before the UN General Assembly signs off on the draft when it convenes, likely in April, to discuss the agreement. "We are waiting for the decision and the adoption by the UN General Assembly," Sok An said.
UN and Cambodian negotiators last week concluded a draft accord on the structure of the court, with international participation, that would bring to justice the former leaders of the ultra-Maoist regime held responsible for the deaths of up to two million Cambodians during its rule from 1975 to 1979.
According to the draft, the tribunal's two chambers would be comprised of a total of seven Cambodian judges and five international judges, but decisions of the court would be made under the so-called "super-majority" formula, in which at least one international judge would need to vote in the majority.
The court also would be streamlined to two levels from the previously planned three, eliminating a final appeal option. Hun Sen has said such a move would help cut costs, which experts have estimated would run to 60 million dollars.
Diplomats and the European Union hailed the agreement, but rights monitor Amnesty International slammed it for serious deficiencies which the group said "reflect a significant retreat from current international law and standards." Despite years of setbacks, a UN negotiating team was directed by the General Assembly to restart talks with Cambodia last December.
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