Jan 19, 2012
AP
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon on Wednesday appointed the former United States ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues as the special expert to advise the United Nations on assistance to the Khmer Rouge trials in Cambodia.
United Nations spokesman Martin Nesirky said on Wednesday that David Scheffer was well qualified to advise the Cambodia tribunal 'during this critical phase' because he was involved in its establishment. He was also involved in the establishment of the International Criminal Court and tribunals dealing with war crimes in former Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone, and crimes against humanity stemming from the 1994 Rwanda genocide, Nesirky said.
The UN-backed tribunal is seeking justice for 1.7 million people who died of starvation, lack of medical care or execution under the Khmer Rouge's rule in the 1970s.
Three top Khmer Rouge leaders accused of orchestrating Cambodia's 'killing fields' went on trial in late November, and one official has been convicted. Prime Minister Hun Sen has openly opposed expanding the trials by adding indictments of other former Khmer Rouge figures, some of whom have become his political allies.
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