The Court eats it own

More news in the Cambodia Daily today, this time two articles. The first is on the front page and includes a photo of the infamous detention center. If there was any doubt about it consisting of a few containers this should put them to rest. The story Tribunal Justice and Judicial Legacy at Odds is quite an interesting read. Its a long one which I will post as soon as it appears online.

The second story is where the action is. In the national section the awkwardly entitled ECCC Needs Outreach, Understanding: Officials, appears to have the Court Officials criticizing their own Public Affairs office; "Poor funding for outreach to the public and an insufficient effort on the part of tribunal staff to explain the long awaited process are putting the courts credibility in danger", they are quoted as saying.

Hard to know what to read from this, are they trying to point out there is a lack of funds? Are they blaming the Public Affairs staff? Are they blaming the ECCC staff in general for not being transparent enough? ECCC Public Affair's Chief Helen Jarivs, did her best to defend the office in the story, saying she would welcome more money and noting that the ECCC is way ahead of where other tribunals were in outreach at this stage. The court is a pretty complex organization, and its own internal rules are still under development so its not too surprising that the general public is not sure how its all going to work.

All and all a little disturbing to see the ECCC staff arguing among themselves in the press. Lets hope they all get on the same page soon.

ECCC Needs Outreach, Understanding: Officials

Thursday, November 16, 2006

By Douglas Gillison
THE CAMBODIA DAILY

The tribunal established to try former Khmer Rouge leaders is not doing enough to explain itself to the Cambodian public, tribunal officials said Wednesday.

Poor funding for outreach to the public and an insufficient effort on the part of tribunal staff to explain the long-awaited court process are putting the tribunals' credibility in danger, they said.

"We're going to fail if we don't have the proper outreach program," co-prosecutor Robert Petit said in an interview.

"What I’ve been worried about is the lack of time and opportunities," he said, adding that the budget for outreach was also a concern. "I don’t think it’s adequate."

Co-Investigating Judge Marcel Lemonde agreed.

"If we are misunderstood, if the general public doesn’t understand our mission, we will fail," he said, adding that tribunal staff have recently discussed holding monthly news briefings to explain tribunal operations better, though no date has yet been set for the first such meeting.

At a September public forum on the Khmer Rouge tribunal organized by the Center for Social Development in Kratie province, Petit said he was confronted by basic questions the tribunal must strive to answer for all of Cambodia.

"The majority of people wanted an explanation of why these things happened. Why did they kill? Why did they keep killing after they had the power?" Petit said of the forum.

"We haven’t done a good job of telling people there is a mountain of evidence and about the way we get through it," he said.

The fact that the tribunal will be about criminal accountability and not financial retribution has not been sufficiently explained to the public, and members of the public do not understand how tribunal organs such as the offices of the co-prosecutors, the co-investigating judges and the Supreme Court Chamber function, he added.

Helen Jarvis, chief of public affairs for the tribunal, said the tribunal would welcome additional funds for outreach but her office was doing what it could.

"We've done what we can do. It’s for others to decide," she said. "I think compared to what was done in other tribunals, we're well ahead," she added.

In addition to the $50,000 currently budgeted this year for outreach in the form of print and radio announcements, the tribunal recently received close to $72,000 in extra-budgetary funding from Norway and Australia. This will pay for outreach visits to the provinces as well as producing the current edition of the tribunal's introductory pamphlet, Jarvis said.

Tribunal representatives have made recent visits to pubic events in Sihanoukville, as well as Kratie and Kampot provinces, she added.

Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, said the work of explaining how the tribunal functions is not for the tribunal's investigators and judges but for the office of pubic affairs.

"This is a crucial time," he warned. "If you find it difficult to understand [the tribunal process], imagine the villager," he said, adding that the tribunal's outreach could be improved, even without more funding.

Weekly meetings with members of the public and simple publications explaining the court’s rules, such as the tribunal’s introductory pamphlet, could help narrow the gap between the public's expectations and the realty of the tribunals work, he said.