10 judges sworn-in for intl tribunal on Khmer Rouge survivors

Bangkok, July 3 (UNI) Ten international judges were sworn in today in Phnom Penh, ending the long wait for the start of the process to bring justice to the nearly 2 million Cambodians who died during the four-year brutal Khmer Rouge rule three decades ago.

The oath-taking ceremony, conducted in the traditional Buddhist way in the Royal Palace in the Cambodian capital, was witnessed by UN officials and telecast live on national television.

The long-delayed international tribunal, set up under a 2003 agreement between the United Nations and the Cambodian government, comprises 17 Cambodian and 13 foreign judges.

It will be funded mainly by international donors. Hearings are to be telecast live and the entire trial is expected to last three years.

Concerns have been expressed over a speedy trial since the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders are too old and ailing with their former top leader Pol Pot having passed away in 1998.

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