REF: ECCC PRESS RELEASE
Sambath Reach
8 April 2010
PRESS RELEASE
MORE THAN 6,000 PEOPLE PARTICIPATED IN KR TRIBUNAL STUDY TOURS IN THE 1ST QUARTER
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia has hosted 18 Khmer Rouge Tribunal Study Tours in the first quarter of 2010 from January to March, bringing 6,350 people to the court and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.
The study tour is a one day programme for Cambodians to learn about the workings of the tribunal at first hand through a guided tour in the museum and briefings by court officials in the courthouse. It is meant to increase the knowledge of the Democratic Kampuchea and the interests and understanding of the ECCC proceedings among ordinary Cambodians, especially the youth who were born after 1979 and villagers in rural areas who have less access to the media coverage of the ECCC.
Starting on 19 January, the ECCC has organized 18 tours in the first quarter and brought 6,350 people in total, including 6,240 villagers from 11 provinces and 110 students and teachers from the Bak Touk High School in Phnom Penh. Among them were 760 Cham Muslims from the provinces of Takeo, Kampong Cham, Sihanoukville and Pursat.
In this period, the ECCC’s Pre-Trial Chamber held public hearings on the appeals against the extension of provisional detention in Case 002. During the three-day PTC hearings in February, 1,775 people including 1,390 Study Tour participants observed the proceedings from the public gallery.
For the breakdown of the participants, please see attached the table.
As part of the court’s outreach work, the Public Affairs Section also went out to a number of villages to host video screenings in collaboration with the Bophana Centre as well as schools to give lectures on the ECCC proceedings. On 1 March, more than 7,000 students at Bak Touk High School were sensitized on the tribunal, and another 700 students at Meanchey University received briefings on the tribunal by PAS outreach team on 31 March.
Seeing the enthusiasm among Cambodians to learn more about the tribunal, the ECCC plans to continue hosting the KRT Study Tour programme as well as other outreach activities in the rest of the year.
For further information, please contact:
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Reach Sambath Chief of Public Affairs, ECCC
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Dim Sovannarom Press Officer, ECCC Mobile:
+855-12 488 094 |
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Lars Olsen Legal Communications Officer, ECCC Mobile: +855 (0) 12 488 023 Tel: +855 (0) 23 219 814 ext. 6169 email: ols...@un.org
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Yuko Maeda Public Affairs Officer Mobile: +855-12 488 319 Tel: +855 23 219 841 ext. 6139 Email: mae...@un.org |
