About 100 staff working at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of
Cambodia (ECCC) went on strike in protest of unpaid wages on September
1.
The court’s 250 Cambodian workers including judges and
prosecutors have not been paid since June of this year because of cash
shortages.
The delay made United Nations Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon on August 28 urge international donors to provide financial
support to keep the tribunal running.
ECCC spokesman Neth
Pheaktra said staff officially confirmed that they will not return to
work until the salary issue is solved.
According to the court’s 2013 budget forecast, the ECCC needs about 3 million USD to pay salaries for Cambodian employees.
Since its inception in 2006, the ECCC has spent 173 million USD paying for its Cambodian and international staff.
After
nearly eight years of operation, the court has sentenced only one
former Khmer Rouge leader who was Chairman of the notorious S-21 Prison
to life imprisonment for his involvement in the death of about 15,000
people.
It is now conducting trials against two other
former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, who are
charged with war crimes and genocide and crimes against humanity.-VNA