Inside the ECCC

The Panel. LtoR: Helen Jarvis, Robert Petit, Caroline Schmidt-Gross, Hisham Mousar, David Boyle

The penultimate forum on the Legacy of the Khmer Rouge took place at Pannasastra University tonight and gave the audience an insight into the current Khmer Rouge Tribunal, the ECCC, from those who know its inner workings.Three key members of the ECCC took to the stage alongwith human rights advocate Hisham Mousar under the stewardship of moderator Caroline Schmidt-Gross. Leading the panel in reminding the audience of the background leading up to the formation of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Helen Jarvis is the ECCC's Public Affairs Chief and effectively the public voice of the Tribunal. Alongside her, Canadian Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit explained the advantages of the hybrid court and how it will be his job to prove who is guilty and to explain why Khmer killed Khmer, the latter being a task about which he has his own reservations. The third member of the ECCC was Australian lawyer David Boyle, an investigator in the Office of the Co-Investigating Judges who must test the submissions of the prosecutors for truth, balance and impartiality. It was my first opportunity to hear it 'from the horse's mouth' so to speak and I found it of great interest. They fielded a couple of questions on the possibility of acquittal and the participation of victims in the Tribunal's proceedings before the forum closed. Amongst the audience was an interested spectator, Raoul Jennar, now an advisor to the Prime Minister and the Tribunal and a longtime analyst of Cambodian political affairs.

Helen Jarvis - Chief of Public Affairs, ECCC

Robert Petit - Co-Prosecutor, ECCCDavid Boyle - Investigator, Office of the Co-Investigating Judges, ECCC and Hisham Moussa, ADHOCRaoul Jennar - veteran Cambodian analyst