Human Rights Center

After a decade of negotiation leading to the adoption of its internal rules in June 2007, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) is the first serious effort to bring the law to bear, however belatedly and incompletely, on the horrendous crimes committed by leaders of the Khmer Rouge more than a quarter of a century ago. In power for just under four years (1975 to 1979), the Khmer Rouge more than decimated Cambodia. At least 1.7 million Cambodians, fully one quarter of the population, were killed or died as a result of the oppressive policies imposed by the Khmer Rouge, with execution, starvation, exhaustion from slave labor, malnutrition, and torture as the leading causes of death.

The success of the ECCC experiment will be determined largely by how the Cambodian people and Cambodian institutions respond to the tribunal. Failure to integrate victims’ voices into the upcoming trials or interminable delay in bringing the defendants to justice will undermine the legitimacy of the ECCC. At the same time, should the Tribunal devise a strategy for meaningful and streamlined participation by victims, the ECCC could become an example for other tribunals attempting to bring the perpetrators of mass crimes to justice. Frequently updated reports and videos from the ECCC proceedings, sponsored by Asian International Justice Initiative and the East-West Center, are available here.

In the fall of 2008, the Human Rights Center conducted a national population-based survey about knowledge and attitudes towards social reconstruction and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). The results were presented in Cambodia in January 2009 through a series of workshops with national and international stakeholders including national and international NGOs, diplomatic representations, UN agencies, ECCC judges and staff, and members of the national judicial system.