How to file as a civil party
- Fill out a Victim Information Form available at the ECCC information center (House 6A, Street 21, Tonle Bassac I, Chamkar Mon, Phnom Penh) or the ECCC website (www.eccc.gov.kh).
- Send the application to the Victims Unit via email ( victimsunit@eccc.gov.kh) or by post to the ECCC, National Road 4, Choam Chau, Dangkao, Phnom Penh, or the ECCC Information Centre.
- Include details verifying your status as a victim, and have any evidence of the crime(s) attached.
- Completed applications will then be transferred by the Victims Unit to the greffier of the Office of the Co-Investigating Judges or the Chambers, as appropriate, through the Case File Officer, together with all necessary information concerning common representation.
- If applicable, the judges will decide on the admissibility of the Civil Party application and such decision shall be open to appeal before the Pre-Trial Chamber or the Supreme Court Chamber depending on the stage of the proceedings.
"I respect the law ... but I can no longer hold back my anger," the 52-year-old said.
As a civil party to the trial of Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, who is also known as Duch, Rin has a healthy respect for the judicial process.
But even so, "we've been waiting too long for justice", she said.
Rin is not the only person troubled by the mixed emotions of participating in the trial of the man who allegedly ordered the death of so many, and her frustration is symbolic of the ongoing antagonism between speed and scope at the UN-backed tribunal.
The tribunal's Victims Unit is now flooded with applications from people seeking legal recognition for their suffering under the 1975-79 regime - up to 1,800 victim and civil party applications have been received and are now waiting to be processed.
But ongoing delays, coupled with what critics call an erosion of the legal rights of civil parties at the pretrial stage, have many wondering whether victim participation on the scale previously planned is still a priority for the near-bankrupt court.
Untested ground
Cambodia's Extraordinary Chambers is the first hybrid tribunal in history to encourage victims like Rin to play a central role in the proceedings. For the first time ever, victims as civil parties are legal participants in the criminal proceedings. A civil party has most, if not all, of the rights as the prosecution and defense, including access to documents and the ability to produce evidence in court.
Terith Chy, head of the Victims Participation Project at the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), is facilitating the applications of several civil parties and says that civil parties are often uncertain of their role.
"They want to tell the court what happened, everything they saw," he said. "But they are worried about how long the process has taken and will take."
The extent to which victims will be able to participate in the trials has been a contentious issue ever since the inception of the tribunal two years ago.
Cecile Aptel, who is in charge of the International Center for Transitional Justice's Cambodia program, describes it as a case of push-and-pull for the court.
"When victims play an active role in legal proceedings, they feel directly involved in the judicial process and empowered," she said. "But this also creates a challenge for the ECCC: to ensure that a potentially large number of victims can participate effectively in the proceedings."
Despite continuing calls for more applicants, the court has, in practice, made repeated attempts to backpedal on the rights initially given to parties, some observers claim.
They want to tell the court what happened, everything they saw ... but they are worried about how long the process has taken.
In July, civil party Theary Seng was denied the chance to address the court directly during Ieng Sary's appeal against his pretrial detention on the basis she had legal representation. When she then dismissed her lawyer, she was again denied the right to speak.
Written amendments were pushed through last week at the fourth plenary session of judges requiring parties to apply at least 10 days ahead of the initial hearing if they want to speak and giving the court the power to force them into groups with a single lawyer representing them.
Setting a precedent
"Decisions made by the ECCC judges may have a significant impact on choices made by other mass crimes courts about whether or not victims should play an active part in proceedings and the appropriate scope of their participation," said Anne Heindel, a legal adviser to DC-Cam.
According to Aptel, the court could potentially "lead the way and create tremendously important precedents in international criminal law".
But a major flaw in the right of KR victims to participate is that currently no legal representation is provided to parties willing to seek civil party status.
"The court needs to get money for representation so their part [in the trials] will be meaningful," said DC-Cam's Terith Chy.
Court spokesperson Helen Jarvis said that the court's new budget, for which funds are now being sought, has provisions for more staff and support activities, and for "a modest level of legal assistance to support those approved to become civil parties".
But observers, who are concerned it might be another year until other defendants are even indicted, are warning that the court's legitimacy is at stake.
"Victim participation is important for the court's legitimacy because it is the best way of making a few trials of a handful of persons relevant to survivors 30 years after the fact," Heindel said. The Victims Unit declined repeated requests for comment.
Decentralisation to get $82 million in govt, private funding in '09
The program hopes to focus the new budget on capacity-building programs that will promote job growth at district, commune levels
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T he committee’s 2009 budget has benefitted from increased funding by 16 private developmental partners, including the UN Development Program, the World Bank, Denmark-based Danida and several other foreign NGOs.
Some funds will be allocated to development and service projects at the national, provincial, district and commune levels, Keat Chhon, minister of finance and chairman of the committee, told workshop attendees.
One-third of the budget, some $26 million, will come from Cambodia's national budget, he said, while development partners - including foreign NGOs and UN agencies - will contribute the remaining funds.
They can't just count off... roads and irrigation systems they plan to build.
The D&D program was first implemented by the Interior Ministry in 2002 to help shift administrative functions from Phnom Penh-based line ministries to the province, district or commune level.
Prum Sokha, secretary of state for the Interior Ministry, said the government has increased its budget allocation to the program since 2002, when funds were only 1.5 percent of national revenues. The budget last year was $22.9 million.
The budget figures announced Tuesday represent estimates of how the funds will be allocated and could vary, Chhieng Yanara, secretary general of the Council for Development of Cambodia (CDC), told the workshop.
He said the budget includes $42.8 million in direct funds for the commune level - an increase of 31 percent over last year's figures - which breaks down to $6.3 million for district projects, $13.2 million for the provinces and $8.37 million for national programs.
The government will also spend $15 million outside the budget to fund social and environmental capacity-building programs, he added.
Chhor Sophal, deputy chief of party for the Local Administration and Reform Program, said he was pleased with the D&D committee's work so far but that programs need to be implemented at a faster pace.
He said the government needs to make funds available at the commune level more quickly. He also suggested the D&D's commune committees must get local residents more involved in projects and better explain how they can benefit from them.
"They can't just count off the number of new roads and irrigation systems they plan to build," he said.
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