German Judge Seigfried Blunk has resigned from the UN-backed Cambodian genocide tribunal, claiming that the Cambodian government (itself staffed by many former Khmer Rouge cadres) had attempted to interfere in trial proceedings by attempting to halt further prosecutions.
Judge Blunk’s statement claimed that he had resigned because “his ability to withstand such pressure by government officials to perform his duties independently could always be called into doubt, and this would call into doubt the integrity of the whole proceedings”.
Blunk’s resignation has been applauded by groups such as Human Rights Watch, which last week declared that he had failed to conduct impartial and effective investigations.
The Khmer Rouge trials, in process since 2009, have thus far only led to the successful conviction of one member of the infamous regime, which killed roughly a quarter of Cambodia’s populations during its reign of terror between 1975 and 1979. The Cambodian Prime Minister and several members of his administration have indicated that they do not want further prosecutions after the current trial – the second – has ended.
Hopefully, Blunk’s resignation and the demands of rights groups both within Cambodia and abroad will focus more attention on the need to uphold the legal processes of the Khmer Rouge trials. Until corruption within the tribunal is addressed, justice will never be served, no matter how many judges are flown out to Phnom Penh.
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