Justice for Cambodia (Justice pour le Cambodge) is a French non profit organization. Its mission is to promote the rights of the Khmers Rouges victims at the Extraordinary Chambers which are being set up to bring to trial the senior Khmers Rouges leaders and those who were most responsible for the crimes that were committed under the so called “Democratic Kampuchea” from April 17, 1975 to January 6, 1979.

For the first time in history, victims might participate as parties to the upcoming trial of the Khmer Rouges leaders and those most responsible of the crimes committed between April 17, 1975 and January 6, 1979. This would mean that victims can be represented by a legal counsel, ask questions to witnesses, call for witnesses, request investigation measures, appeal decisions including those made by the Investigating Judges during the investigation phase etc. This will dramatically change the way an international tribunal organizes its proceedings.

To our knowledge, there is no other organization specializing strictly in the promotion of victim rights in the context of the Extraordinary Chambers. Yet, Justice for Cambodia is aware of the work done locally by other organizations and is very interested in collaborating with them, particularly with human rights organizations where lawyers are present, such as Adhoc or Licadho, in order to fulfil its purposes by being a source of propositions for the Extraordinary Chambers.

Together with other Cambodian organizations, Justice for Cambodia participates in the Collective for Victims of the Khmers Rouges. This Collective has recently produced a White Paper, Proposals relating to the rights of Victims of the Khmer Rouges before the Extraordinary Chambers, which was officially handed over to the Extraordinary Chambers teams and Mr Sok An, vice-Prime Minister of the Cambodian Government, on May 4, 2006.

As far as its resources allow, Justice for Cambodia also intends to offer its services to all individuals, without exception, who consider themselves victims of the Khmer Rouge regime, whether or not they reside in Cambodia, and to provide assistance to their dependents, successors, and legal representatives. Our goal is to put victims directly in contact with French or foreign lawyers.

Victims will be introduced to lawyers who act on a voluntary and free–of–charge basis. Cambodian lawyers who assist victims or work with foreign lawyers are compensated solely through the organization, to the extent that funds are available.

Justice for Cambodia promotes compliance with Cambodian law and adheres to the principles of due process, fairness and impartiality recognized by International Criminal Law.

The organization is independent of any governmental authority and any national or international institution, and it is not aligned with any political party.

Supported by public donations, Justice for Cambodia is aware of its duty to make transparent disclosures of information, especially concerning financial matters, and the organization is managed in a rigorous and impartial way.