An United Nations-backed panel discussion at Rutgers University in the US state of New Jersey, has explored the role of genocide and war crimes prosecution in Cambodia and how accountability has helped ‘reconcile’ the country.
Speaking at the event, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Stephen Mathias stated,
“It can be argued that the development of individual criminal responsibility, like we saw in the case of Duch [Kaing Guek Eav], for perpetrators of genocide and war crimes and crimes against humanity has been one of the major legal developments of the last 60 years which began with the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals”
“One of the principal tasks of the Office of Legal Affairs at the UN is to insist that accountability follows serious international crimes like those that were committed in Cambodia”
“And the Secretary-General of the United Nations is at the forefront of the efforts of the United Nations to ensure that impunity is not tolerated.”
Also at the event was the manager of the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme, Kimberly Mann who highlighted the importance of bringing the perpetrators of such crime to justice.
See the report from the UN News Centre here.
