Khmer Rouge tribunal halts salaries

PHNOM PENH (AP):

About 300 Cambodians working at the United Nations-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal will not be paid this month and some have worked without pay since October, because funds from donor countries have dried up, a tribunal spokesman disclosed yesterday.

International staff are paid by the United Nations and will continue to receive salaries. The salaries of local staff, however, are funded by contributions from donor countries, said Huy Vannak, a tribunal spokesman.

"Despite the fact that no key donor countries have pledged any new financial assistance, the court pursues its work as normal," he said.

The tribunal is seeking justice for an estimated 1.7 million people who died from torture, starvation, exhaustion or lack of medical care during the Khmer Rouge's 1970s rule. It opened in 2006 after years of wrangling between Cambodia and the United Nations, and just one trial has been completed.

The lengthy delays have been costly and raised fears justice will not be achieved because of the shaky health of the aging defendants. Its latest hurdle is a disagreement between the United Nations and Cambodia over the appointment of a new judge.

About two-thirds of the tribunal's 480 employees are Cambodian. Cambodian judges and prosecutors stopped receiving salaries in October, while the remainder who do mostly administrative work will not be paid this month, Huy Vannak said.