Outgoing consultant blasts tribunal judges

A consultant to the investigating judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal

spoke of the “toxic atmosphere” within the “professionally

dysfunctional” office in resigning in protest last month over the

handling of the court’s controversial third case. The news

follows a public statement issued by the investigating judges on Sunday

acknowledging that multiple staffers from their office had left amid

disagreements over the Case 003 investigation, which was closed in April

and appears to have been scuttled amid opposition from the Cambodian

government. In a resignation letter dated May 5 and addressed to German

co-investigating judge Siegfried Blunk, Stephen Heder, a noted historian

of the Khmer Rouge period, said he and others in the office had become

increasingly disillusioned with the judges’ action in the case.

“In

view of the judges’ decision to close the investigation into Case File

003 effectively without investigating it, which I, like others, believe

was unreasonable; in view of the UN staff’s evidently growing lack of

confidence in your leadership, which I share; and in view of the toxic

atmosphere of mutual mistrust generated by your management of what is

now a professionally dysfunctional office, I have concluded that no good

use can or will be made of my consultancy services,” Heder wrote. He

declined to comment yesterday beyond the resignation letter.

In

response to the resignations of Heder and at least three foreign staff

members from the office, Blunk and his Cambodian counterpart, You

Bunleng, said on Sunday that they “welcome the departure of all staff

members who ignore the sole responsibility of the [co-investigating

judges]” over Case 003.

The suspects in this case remain

officially confidential, though court documents reveal them as former KR

navy commander Meas Mut and air force commander Sou Met, men thought to

be responsible for thousands of deaths.

Blunk and You Bunleng

have evinced a siege mentality in their public statements in recent

weeks, lashing out at those who have questioned their professional

behaviour.

Last month, the judges ordered international

co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley to retract a statement he had made outlining

further investigative steps he planned to request in Case 003, as he is

permitted to do under court rules.

The judges accused Cayley of

breaching the court’s confidentiality rules in an order that Cayley has

appealed. They have since rejected his investigative requests.

Yesterday,

the tribunal’s Pre-Trial Chamber ruled in a unanimous decision that

this retraction order, which Blunk and You Bunleng had stipulated be

carried out within three days, be suspended pending a final decision on

Cayley’s appeal.

In their decision, the Pre-Trial Chamber judges

noted that “the information the Co-Investigating Judges ask the

International Co-Prosecutor to retract is quoted in the Order issued by

the Co-Investigating Judges”.

“As such, the information will

remain in the public domain even if it is ‘retracted’ by the

Co-Prosecutors,” the Pre-Trial Chamber said.

The Pre-Trial

Chamber judges have historically split in ruling on matters related to

cases 003 and 004, with the Cambodian judges opposing the cases and the

international judges in favour. Clair Duffy, a trial monitor with the

Open Society Justice Initiative, said “reason has prevailed” with

yesterday’s decision, though she cautioned that it was still too early

to say whether the chamber will reverse Blunk and You Bunleng’s

rejection of the requests for additional investigation in Case 003.