Top Buddhist priests swore in Cambodian and foreign judges today for the trials of surviving Khmer Rouge leaders accused of responsibility for the deaths of 1.7 million people.
Although no date has been set for the trials of Pol Pot's top surviving henchmen, the ceremony at the Royal Palace marked the beginning of the legal process, a tribunal spokesman said.
"It will end negative speculation that the trials will not take place," a spokesman said. Many people feared the surviving leaders of the "killing fields" era would die of old age before facing the judges.
Almost every Cambodian family lost relatives under the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime, and none of its top leaders, some of whom are alive and living quietly in Cambodia, has ever faced trial.
Prosecutors are due to start assembling their cases in early July and the tribunal, its composition and methods worked out in years of talks with the United Nations, could start trials early next year.
The Buddhist monks swore in 27 legal experts - 17 Cambodians and 10 foreigners -- appointed to the tribunal, which has a three-year budget of $56.3 million.
Only two top cadres are in custody accused of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
Pol Pot, the "Brother Number One", died in 1998 in his jungle hideout nearly 10 years after a Vietnamese invasion ended the ultra radical Khmer Rouge attempt to create an agrarian utopia.
"Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, former head of state Khieu Samphan and former foreign minister Ieng Sary are living in the northwest near the Thai border.