UNITED NATIONS LEGAL COUNSEL COMPLETES FORMAL DISCUSSIONS WITH CAMBODIAN GOVERNMENT ON ESTABLISHMENT OF TRIBUNAL TO TRY KHMER ROUGE LEADERS

Press Release
SG/SM/7481

UNITED NATIONS LEGAL COUNSEL COMPLETES FORMAL DISCUSSIONS WITH CAMBODIAN GOVERNMENT ON ESTABLISHMENT OF TRIBUNAL TO TRY KHMER ROUGE LEADERS

The following statement was issued today by the Office of the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

Earlier today, 6 July, in Phnom Penh, Hans Corell, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and the United Nations Legal Counsel, completed formal discussions with the Royal Government of Cambodia on the establishment of a tribunal to try Khmer Rouge leaders. The tribunal envisaged would be a Cambodian court with the participation of international judges and prosecutors. Because the outstanding substantive issues were resolved by the Secretary-General and Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen, the discussions focused on technical issues involved in forming the tribunal, and were frank and comprehensive. Mr. Corell provided his Cambodian counterpart, Mr. Sok An, Senior Minister and Chairman of the Council of Ministers, with a draft Memorandum of Understanding that would govern the relationship between Cambodia and the United Nations. The Memorandum of Understanding would be signed by the United Nations and Cambodia after the Cambodian Parliament passes legislation that is in keeping with the understanding between the parties. As Mr. Corell and Mr. Sok An agreed in a post meeting press conference, the responsibility for moving the process towards completion now lies squarely with the Government of Cambodia.

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