Cambodia sets genocide trial rules

A panel of Cambodian and international judges on Wednesday approved rules clearing the way for the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal to put suspects on trial for genocide.

The decision, which ends months of infighting, is the first concrete step toward prosecuting one of the worst genocides of the 20th century since court officials were sworn in last July.

"These rules will ensure us ... fair and transparent trials," co-prosecutor Robert Petit told reporters, adding they had been adopted unanimously.

"Now that the rules are adopted, we can move forward."

The rules are essential because they govern every aspect of the tribunal's operations, but previous agreement had been held up because of wrangling over legal fees and other procedures.

Jurists at the tribunal praised the agreement and vowed to get quickly to work.

"We are aware that the world's eyes are on these cases," Cambodian co-prosecutor Chea Leang said.

Concerns about the rights of suspects — particularly whether steep legal fees would limit their access to lawyers — were among the issues that had held up adoption of the rules.

Rules ensure a fair trial

But Richard Rogers, with the office of the defence, said the rules would ensure a fair trial for the suspects in the genocide that left up to two million dead.

"The rules include all the fundamental rights that those accused need for a fair trial. That's a very good start for the defence," he said.

The first trials of the leaders of the 1970s regime had initially been expected this year.

However, the delays mean the trials are unlikely to start before early 2008, officials say.

Cambodian and foreign prosecutors who have been building cases since last year would probably send those files to investigating judges within weeks, Petit said.

The rules dispute had dragged on since November, with international and Cambodian jurists failing three times to come to an agreement before meeting for a final session last week.

The tribunal's opening last year had already been delayed by years of protracted negotiations between the United Nations and Cambodia.

The repeated deadlocks among the Cambodian and international judges raised concerns that the long-stalled tribunal would ultimately fail.

Quick trials are the last chance for Cambodians to find justice for crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge more than 30 years ago, with rights groups and legal advocates concerned that ageing former regime leaders will die before being brought to justice.

One defendant is in custody

So far only one possible defendant is in custody — former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Khek Iev, also known as Duch — while several live freely in Cambodia.

The only other person to have been arrested for crimes committed during the regime, military commander Ta Mok, died in prison last July. Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998.

Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed during the communist regime's 1975-1979 rule.

The Khmer Rouge abolished religion, schools and currency, exiling millions onto vast collective farms with the aim of creating an agrarian utopia.