The Phnom Penh Post

An article in today's edition of the Post describes how many of Cambodia's ethnic minorities are being left out of the tribunal process. Though such groups were often targeted under DK, because many ethnic minorities live in far-flung areas of the country, they don't have the resources to travel to the ECCC.

"I want to see the faces of those KR leaders directly when they are on trial," Teal Perng, of the Kreung community, told the Post. "But we do not have the money to travel to Phnom Penh to visit the court."

During the hearings I have already attended at the ECCC, I have seen several busloads of Khmer Rouge survivors brought in to watch proceedings. This is a good effort, and it should be expanded.

The UN has a new top administrator at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

Knut Rosandhaug will take over for Michelle Lee June 1 as deputy director of administration. He arrived in Cambodia Sunday and has spent the last week meeting staff and undergoing orientation, according to tribunal spokesman Peter Foster.

Rosandhaug, of Norway, has worked the last four years as a director of the UN Mission in Kosovo. In that position, he coordinated all legal, administrative and operational activities for the Kosovo Property Agency and the Kosovo Property Claims Commission.

Joseph Mellot, of the State Department's Office of War Crimes Issues, has been in Cambodia since Friday conducting a review of the ECCC.

"He is here as part of our ongoing assessment of the court's progress," U.S. Embassy spokesman Jeff Daigle wrote by email Wednesday. Mellot is a special adviser to the U.S. ambassador-at-large for War Crimes Issues.

It remains unclear whether the U.S. will consider funding the tribunal and Daigle wrote he could not "speculate on when, or even if, a decision to fund the ECCC might be made."

"If we were to consider funding the ECCC," Daigle wrote, "we must be convinced that it is capable of meeting international standards of justice."

In a recent Lowell Sun editorial piece, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry calls on America to provide direct funding to the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

"The court faces a looming financial crisis," writes Kerry, who helped negotiate the founding of the ECCC with the United Nations and Cambodian government. "Indeed, there is a real danger that the ECCC will collapse before it even gets off the ground."

Though Kerry admits that there have been legitimate concerns about the court's independence and alleged financial improprieties, he proposes the U.S. contribute $2-million to support victims' rights and witness protection programs.

Nearly a week after he was rushed from the ECCC with high blood pressure, Khieu Samphan remained hospitalized Tuesday, court spokesman Reach Sambath said.

Sambath said Samphan's condition is not critical and doctors at Calmette Hospital will release him to tribunal custody once his checkup is complete.

The former DK head of state was taken to Calmette last Wednesday, the same day Ieng Thirith appealed her pre-trial detention before the ECCC. Media reported that Samphan became stressed while working on a book.

Judges have turned down a request for visitation among the five defendants detained at the ECCC. The only exception, which I've noted before, is regular contact between husband and wife Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith.

"It is true that approximately 30 years have passed between the alleged acts and the arrest of the Charges Persons, during which time they have had the opportunity to contact each other," the Co-Investigating Judges wrote in a decision released last week. "However, the potential for prejudicial collusion increases considerably once the persons in question are arrested and charged."

At that point, the Co-Investigating Judges wrote, suspects have access to case files, which describe the nature of their individual responsibility and potential legal arguments against them. Interestingly, this issue of access to case files figured prominently in the appeal hearing of Ieng Thirith last week. Prosecutors repeatedly argued that access to her case file would make it easier for the former social affairs minister to identify and intimidate witnesses.

While Ieng Thirith complained that she felt "unwell " in court Wednesday, another Khmer Rouge defendant was taken to Calmette Hospital.

Former DK Head of State Khieu Samphan was treated for high blood pressure. Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said his condition was not critical.

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Shuffling into the courtroom, her frail figure wrapped in a beige cardigan, Ieng Thirith looked more grandmotherly than menacing during her first ECCC appearance Wednesday.

But the former social affairs minister has not completely lost her edge. Cambodian courtroom observers (some witnesses for the tribunal) were hesitant to lock eyes with the so-called "First Lady" of Democratic Kampuchea. Most kept their attention focused on lawyers and judges, reserving their curiosity about Thirith for quick, quiet glimpses.

Defense attorneys for Comrade Duch say they won't ask for any additional investigative work into their client's first case file. Other parties involved with the tribunal are undecided at this point.

"We may or may not ask for more investigation," said Kong Pisey, a lawyer representing several civil parties, on Tuesday. "I need to spend time going through the case."

The Co-Investigating Judges announced last Thursday that they had finished investigations into Duch's first case file. From that point, all parties have 15 days to request further investigative action.