PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: A Swiss judge has resigned from Cambodia’s UN-backed tribunal of former Khmer Rouge leaders accused of war crimes, alleging staunch opposition from a Cambodian counterpart to the crucial investigation of new suspects.Laurent Kasper-Ansermet said Monday the conflict had created “a dysfunctional situation” on the court, which is seeking justice for an estimated 1.7 million people who died of starvation, exhaustion, lack of medical care or torture during the communist Khmer Rouge’s 1970s rule.
Opposition to expanding the trials is not new. Prime Minister Hun Sen has publicly chided and threatened the tribunal several times, saying it should not extend its prosecutions to more Khmer Rouge figures, some of whom have become political allies.
Kasper-Ansermet had replaced a German judge who himself left in October and also cited government interference. Human Rights Watch already had accused Siegfried Blunk of failing to conduct genuine and impartial research beyond the one suspect convicted last year and the top Khmer Rouge leaders currently on trial in the second case to go before the court.
Kasper-Ansermet said in a statement issued by the tribunal Monday that a Cambodian colleague, You Bunleng, had constantly contested his authority. He accused Bunleng of “active opposition” to new cases and said that during an informal meeting, Bunleng had refused to even discuss them. Bunleng could not immediately be reached for comment.
Prosecutors have compiled substantial evidence for so-called Cases 003 and 004, which include two top military commanders who also were leaders in CambodiaÂ’s post-Khmer Rouge military, according to confidential court documents obtained by AP. The documents allege both took part in purges that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.
The government, however, has openly stonewalled. Hun Sen told Ban last year that new cases would “not be allowed.” He has warned that new cases could spark renewed civil war, though his opposition likely stems from the many Khmer Rouge officials, like himself, who are now in government and who fear investigators could find new evidence of war crimes.