Potential for History Making

Dame Silvia Cartwright has been confirmed as a judge on the upcoming Cambodian war crimes tribunal. NZ’s Governor General headed a list of seven judges submitted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, from which Cambodian PM Hun Sen selected 5. The 3-year Khmer Rouge Tribunal will investigate former party leaders from Pol Pot’s murderous 1975-79 reign, under which 1.7 million Cambodians lost their lives. When selected to try Rwandan war criminals in 1995, Dame Silvia was not in a position to commit to the trials and sees the Khmer Rouge Tribunal as her second chance at playing a part in international justice. “I felt then that [the Rwandan trial] was something I should be doing, but I couldn’t for a whole lot of reasons. It has lurked in the back of my mind ever since.”