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HISTORY
OF THE NEGOTIATIONS ON THE KHMER ROUGE TRIBUNAL BETWEEN THE
UNITED NATIONS AND CAMBODIA
A
CHRONOLOGY
(Prepared
by the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs on 8 February
2002.)
First
Phase:
Request from Co-Prime Ministers Hun Sen and Prince Rannaridh
21 June 1997
A joint
letter addressed to the Secretary-General by the two Prime
Ministers of Cambodia requesting the assistance of the United
Nations in bringing to justice persons responsible for genocide
and crimes against humanity during the Khmer Rouge regime from
1975 to 1979.
23 June 1997
By letter
of 23 June 1997, the Secretary-General transmitted the letter of
the two Prime Ministers to the Presidents of the General
Assembly and the Security Council, respectively (A/51/930 -
S/1997/488 of 24 June 1997). No action taken by any of these
organs.
13 July
1998
Pursuant to
General Assembly resolution 52/135 of 12 December 1997, the
Secretary-General appoints a three-member Group of Experts for
Cambodia to evaluate the existing evidence, to assess the
feasibility of bringing Khmer Rouge leaders to justice, and to
explore options for bringing to justice Khmer Rouge leaders
before an international or national jurisdiction (A/52/1007 of 7
August 1998).
14 - 23
November 1998
The Group
of Experts visits Cambodia and Thailand.
15 March
1999
The Report
of the Group of Experts for Cambodia Pursuant to General
Assembly Resolution 52/135 is submitted to both the Security
Council and the General Assembly. In its report, the Group
recommends the establishment of an international tribunal to try
the Khmer Rouge officials for crimes against humanity and
genocide committed from 17 April 1975 to 7 January 1979
(A/53/850 - S/1999/23/1).
Second
Phase:
Request by Prime Minister Hun Sen; the concept is changed
17 June 1999
A request
from Prime Minister Hun Sen for the UN to provide experts to
assist Cambodia in the drafting of a Cambodian Law allowing
foreign judges and prosecutors to participate in the proceedings
of the Tribunal.
29 July
1999
In a
meeting with the Cambodian Permanent Representative, the Office
of Legal Affairs presents the UN proposal on the establishment
of a mixed tribunal for the prosecution of Khmer Rouge leaders.
(A note setting the main elements of the mixed tribunal is
handed out).
2 August
1999
In its
response to the 29 July note, Cambodia restates its position on
an existing national tribunal for Cambodia, welcoming the
assistance of legal experts from foreign countries, and
reiterates the request for assistance in drafting the law and
sending foreign judges and prosecutors.
26
August - 1 September 1999
The first
UN mission to Cambodia to conduct negotiations on the legal and
practical aspects of establishing under Cambodian Law a mixed
tribunal for the prosecution of Khmer Rouge leaders. A model of
a mixed tribunal meeting international standards of justice is
proposed, and comments on the draft Cambodian Law are submitted.
20
September 1999
In an Aide-Mémoire
to the Secretary-General, Prime Minister Hun Sen outlines three
options for UN involvement in a Khmer Rouge tribunal: 1) provide
a legal team and participate in a tribunal conducted in
Cambodia's existing courts; 2) provide a legal team which would
not participate in the tribunal; 3) withdraw completely from the
proposed tribunal.
20
December 1999
The draft
Law on the Establishment of Extraordinary Formation in the
Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed
During the Period of Democratic Kampuchea" is submitted to the
Office of Legal Affairs by the Cambodian Permanent
Representative, with a note that it will be submitted to the
Council of Ministers for adoption on 24 December 1999.
23
December 1999
In a letter
of 23 December 1999, the Legal Counsel, Mr. Corell, expresses
concerns at some key provisions of the draft Law relating, in
particular, to the composition of the Extraordinary Formation,
the Office of the Prosecutor, the role of the investigating
judge, and the question of financing.
28
December 1999
A revised
draft "Law on the Establishment of Extraordinary Chambers in the
Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed
During the Period-of Democratic Kampuchea" is transmitted to the
Office of Legal Affairs, with a note that it will be submitted
for the second and last time to the Council of Ministers on 6
January 2000.
5
January 2000
In a letter
to the Permanent Representative of the Cambodian Mission,
Mr.Corell submits for the consideration of his Government a
non-paper summarizing UN's concerns.
18 January 2000
A further
revised draft Law on the Establishment of Extraordinary Chambers
in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes
Committed During the Period of Democratic Kampuchea is submitted
to the Secretary-General. (An analysis of the text reveals that
with the exception of minor drafting changes, the new text does
not address any of the concerns raised in the Office of Legal
Affairs' Non-Paper of 5 January 2000.)
8
February 2000
In a letter
addressed from the Secretary-General to Prime Minister Hun Sen,
four key issues are identified: guarantees for the arrest and
surrender of indictees; amnesty and pardon; the appointment of
an independent, international prosecutor; and the appointment of
a majority of international judges.
10
February 2000
In a letter
addressed to the Secretary-General, Prime Minister Hun Sen does
not welcome the gap in the positions between the UN and
Cambodia, in particular, in the light of the positions taken by
other Member States.
16 - 22
March 2000
A second UN
mission travels to Cambodia to conclude the discussions on the
draft Law on the Establishment of Extraordinary Chambers in the
Courts of Cambodia and the UN cooperation in the establishment
and operation of the Chambers.
21 March 2000
Letters
exchanged between Messrs. Corell and Sok An on the questions of
amnesty, co-prosecutors and their power to act independently in
case of disagreement; the question of the dispute-settlement
mechanism is still pending.
8 April
2000
The
Cambodian Chargé d'Affaires submits a letter from Mr. Sok An
relating to the "disagreement of co-prosecutors' options" (six
options are presented).
19 April
2000
Secretary-General's letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen, in which
he comments on the options presented by Mr. Hun Sen, and puts
forward a -proposal of the United Nations regarding the
pre-trial mechanism for resolving disputes between the
co-prosecutors/investigating judges.
22 April
2000
Prime
Minister Hun Sen responds to the Secretary-General's letter of
19 April in which he states that the exchange of letters between
the UN and Cambodia could not be executed before the Law is
adopter. He proposes a "special chamber" formula to settle
disagreements between the co-prosecutors.
25 April
2000
A second
letter from the Secretary-General to Prime Minister Hun Sen in
response to his letter of 22 April urging him to accept the UN
proposal.
27 April
2000
Prime
Minister Hun Sen responds to the Secretary-General's letter of
25 April requesting an extension of the temporal jurisdiction of
the Extraordinary Chambers beginning in 1970.
17 May
2000
Secretary-General's letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen in which he
seeks confirmation that Mr. Hun Sen accepts, through Senator
Kerry, the proposal made in the Secretary-General's letter of 19
April regarding the mechanism to resolve any differences between
the co-investigating judges and the co-prosecutors, and that the
temporal jurisdiction of the Extraordinary Chambers be limited
to 1975-1979.
19 May
2000
Prime
Minister Hun Sen confirms the understanding regarding the
mechanism to resolve differences between the co-prosecutors and
co-investigating judges.
4 - 7 July 2000
A third UN
mission travels to Cambodia to finalize the Agreement between
the UN and the Government of Cambodia on the UN cooperation in
the establishment and operation of the Extraordinary
Chambers. On 7 July, the Legal Counsel presents a draft
Memorandum of Understanding governing the cooperation between
the UN and Cambodia in the establishment and operation of the
Court, and a marked-up copy of the Law to ensure its conformity
with the MOU.
9 January 2001
An
unofficial translation of the Law as adopted by the National
Assembly on 2 January 2001 is received from the UN Human Rights
Office in Phnom Penh. In a letter of 9 January 200 1, Mr. Corell
raises concerns with regard to some of its provisions.
9 February 2001
Mr. Corell
requests an official translation of the Law as adopted.
25 May
2001
A letter
from Mr. Sok An regretting the delay in the process of
finalizing the amendment "necessitated by the Constitutional
Council decision on the Draft Law as adopted by the National
Assembly" (a "mistaken" reference to the death penalty in the
Law).
8 June
2001
In his
letter to Mr. Sok An, Mr. Corell reiterates the need for an
official translation of the Law. He also reiterates the need
for consistency between the two instruments.
26 June
2001
Mr. Sok An
informs Mr. Corell that the Council of Ministers revised the
text of Article 3 of the Law in order to comply with the ruling
of the Constitutional Council, and adds that the Law is being
transmitted to the National Assembly for adoption, for the
Senate and the Constitutional Assembly for review, and for
promulgation by the Head of State.
2 July
2001
In his
letter to Mr. Corell, Mr. Sok An expresses his understanding of
the relationship between the Law and the Agreement. While
accepting the principle that they should be in conformity with
each other, he rejects the notion of "imposition".
6 July 2001
In his
response, Mr. Corell reiterates the need for consistency between
two documents.
18 August 2001
Mr. Sok An
submits the Law on the Establishment of the Extraordinary
Chambers, as adopted on 10 August 200 1, in its Khmer version,
with a note that the unofficial translation of the Law in both
English and French, is being finalized.
31 August 2001
The English
and the French translation of the Law on the Establishment of
the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the
Prosecution of Crimes Committed during the Period of Democratic
Kampuchea are submitted
to the Office of Legal Affairs under cover of a letter from Mr.
Sok An of 30 August 2001.
2
October 2001
Mr. Sok An
extends an invitation to Mr. Corell to come to Cambodia to
finalize the Articles of Cooperation.
10
October 2001
In his
letter to Mr. Sok An, Mr. Corell sets out his comments and
suggestions with respect to the Law and the Memorandum of
Understanding designed to bring the two instruments in line with
each other.
23
November 2001
Mr. Sok An
acknowledges receipt of the letter and the revised draft
Agreement, stating that his response is still partial; he raises
in this connection objection to the primacy of the Agreement
over the Law.
18
December 2001
In his
letter to Mr. Sok An, Mr. Corell indicates that a comprehensive
response will be sent once the Cambodian team completes its
review of the UN comments.
22 January 2002
Mr. Sok An
sends detailed response to Mr. Corell.
8
February 2002
Mr. Corell
informs Mr. Sok An that the United Nations is no longer in a
position to continue the negotiations. [End]
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