DATE=8/31/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CAMBODIA - U-N (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253283
BYLINE=JOE COCHRANE
DATELINE=PHNOM PENH
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A United Nations negotiating team has concluded
two rounds of talks with Cambodian government
officials on establishment of a war crimes tribunal
for former Khmer Rouge leaders. As Joe Cochrane
reports from Phnom Penh, the talks were described as
promising, although the sides remain apart.
TEXT: U-N Assistant Secretary-General for Legal
Affairs Ralph Zacklin, says Cambodia cannot achieve
justice, legitimacy or meet international legal
standards if it prosecutes Khmer Rouge leaders without
U-N participation.
The U-N official spoke to reporters after a week of
negotiations between the world body and the Cambodian
government. He says he is hopeful Phnom Penh will
drop its demand that Cambodia's existing courts run
the tribunal, and agree to an international tribunal,
conducted under Cambodian law.
//ZACKLIN ACT //
I would like to stress that what underlines the debate
over the organization of the tribunal - its structure
and composition - is a conceptual difference over the
nature of this tribunal, and the international
legitimacy it could obtain.
//End Act//
The U-N official says prosecuting former Khmer Rouge
leaders, who are blamed for the deaths of as many as
two million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979, is two
decades overdue. He says a tribunal could help
Cambodia face its tragic past and take steps to end
its culture of impunity.
But Mr. Zacklin says Cambodia's judicial system is
incapable of meeting international legal standards on
its own.
//ZACKLIN ACT//
Well I don't think the United Nations can engage
itself in a process which does not meet the
international standards. By doing so, it would lend
itself to practices which are in violation of human
rights of individuals. It would
lend itself to a process which is not a genuine
process but a show trial. And this is not what the
United Nations is interested in.
//END ACT//
Mr. Zacklin says the next step in the process will be
a scheduled meeting between Secretary-General Kofi
Annan and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen later this
month in New York, during the annual General Assembly.
He says he is hopeful an agreement will be reached
that would allow the U-N and Cambodian government to
begin what could be more than a year of work to
prepare the first trials. (SIGNED)
NEB/JC/FC
31-Aug-1999 05:48 AM EDT (31-Aug-1999 0948 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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