Media Alert - Expert Source

Northwestern University Law Professor and War Crimes Tribunal Expert David Scheffer is on the ground at the trial to provide expert commentary

Scheffer's Cambodia Tribunal Monitor website to host video footage of closing arguments (www.cambodiatribunal.org)

CHICAGO, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Northwestern University Law Professor David Scheffer is in Phnom Penh, Cambodia this week to analyze and provide commentary on closing arguments in the trial of Kaing Guek Eav (alias "Duch"). The trial, which began in March of this year, is overseen by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).

Duch is the first of five senior Khmer Rouge officials charged with crimes under the jurisdiction of the ECCC, established through a joint partnership of the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia to prosecute senior members of the Khmer Rouge. Duch allegedly oversaw mass torture and execution in Khmer Rouge prison camps resulting in the deaths of more than 14,000 people, including Cambodia's notorious Tuol Sleng, or S-21, camp.

Scheffer is currently the Mayer Brown/Robert A. Helman Professor of Law and Director of the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, Illinois. He was previously the U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues (1997-2001) and led the U.S. delegation in U.N. talks establishing the International Criminal Court. As part of his work, he also established hybrid criminal tribunals (including the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia) and coordinated U.S. responses to atrocities anywhere in the world.

During the first term of the Clinton Administration, Scheffer served as senior adviser and counsel to the U.S. Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Madeleine Albright, and served on the Deputies Committee of the National Security Council from 1993 through 1996.

Scheffer also serves as co-managing editor of the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor website with Youk Chhang, Executive Director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia. The Chicago-based website - www.cambodiatribunal.org - is the leading source of news on the Khmer Rouge trial. First launched in September 2007, it hosts comprehensive information about the trials including English- and Khmer-translated video footage, a blog from on-the-ground reporters, the latest news updates, official documents from the trials and commentary from nationally and internationally recognized experts on the court proceedings as well as on topics such as the recent history of Cambodia, politics, human rights and international law.

The Cambodia Tribunal Monitor was developed by a consortium of academic, philanthropic and non-profit organizations committed to providing public access to the tribunal and ensuring open discussions throughout the judicial process. The site sponsors include Northwestern University School of Law's Center for International Human Rights, the Documentation Center of Cambodia, the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation and the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.

The website concept was conceived by Illinois State Senator Jeff Schoenberg, a Chicago-area legislator who also advises the Pritzker family on its philanthropy.

NOTE:

For more information on the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor web site or for other questions about the trial, please contact James Chase at 312.573.5476 (work), 804.833.3451 (cell) or via email at james_chase@jtpr.com

SOURCE Cambodia Tribunal Monitor

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RELATED LINKS
http://www.cambodiatribunal.org