Statement by Mr. Hirofumi Nakasone, Minister for Foreign Affairs, on the Initial Hearing of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge Trials

February 17, 2009
Japanese

On February 17 (Tue), at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) in the suburbs of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, the initial hearing of Mr. Kaing Guek Eav (better known as Duch), former director of the Headquarters of the S21 National Internal Security Police, Tuol Sleng interrogation center, was held. Japan heartily welcomes the holding of the initial hearing of the Khmer Rouge Trials.
From a viewpoint that the trials are vital for the enhancement of peace in Cambodia, Japan has sent Mr. Motoo Noguchi, Professor (Senior Prosecutor) of the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, and Senior Attorney of the International Legal Affairs Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as an international judge of the Supreme Court Chamber. Japan has also been making active diplomatic efforts for the realization of the Khmer Rouge Trials, and especially, made a voluntary contribution of US$21.6 million, which accounts for approximately half of the original United Nations component of the budget, for the Trials.
Japan strongly hopes that the trials, which will render justice to the serious crimes perpetrated under the former regime of the Khmer Rouge, will be carried out properly and promptly without delay, as all the detained leaders of the former regime are aged persons.

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