Silke Studzinsky: Only Foreign Lawyer to Represent Victims of the Khmer Rouge Genocide Victims
Friday, March 06, 2009 - Editor:
Since February 2008, a 50-year-old German lawyer Silke Studzinsky has worked for the Extraordinary Chambers in the courts of Cambodia (ECCC) after she had arrived Cambodia. At the present time, she plays an important bridge between the victims of Pol Pot Regime and Khmer Rouge Tribunal Judges.
Silke Studzinsky, from Berlin, member of the German lawyers association, is a very experienced Germany lawyer. She used to work as a freelancer lawyer for her own office for around 13 years, not employed by any organization. 50 percent of her daily work in that time was represented for women or girls, especially Silke worked with the ones who were victimized. Moreover this international lawyer was also a former member of the international Criminal Court (ICC) in 2006. Later on she was recognized by many international courts.
Regarding to occupation hobbies, European human beings are almost completely different from Asian ones, who most of whom do not change their jobs for their whole life. Ms. Silke Studzinsky said that “I work as a lawyer more than ten years. I am tired of the same work at the same place with the same coworkers”. Therefore, to gain as well as share her valuable experiences with the new world, she was attempted to change her job environment and applied for a civil party lawyer at the UN-backed court, ECCC in Cambodia.
At ECCC, which is new to her, she is responsible for receiving complaints from some victims of Khmer Rouge Regime, helping those victims to find evidence and helping the civil parties to have reparation. Working as a civil party lawyer, she sometimes has to go to some provinces such as, Battambang, with the members of the Center for Social Development (CSD) etc.
“Civil party lawyer is not paid by the court, so those are in hard condition,” she complained.On September 3rd, she received the first complaint before the Khmer Rouge court concerning with a sexual violence under the Khmer Rouge era. Her transgendered plaintiff (male to female) was raped several times by Pol Pot soldiers and was punished for having committed moral offences and for behaving as a woman. She was forced to get her long hair cut and to wear men's clothing. Further more, the Khmer Rouge cadres in Democratic Kampuchea threatened to kill her if she would not marry a woman. Concerning to the civil Silke confirmed that “These kinds of parties have a right to address the court and can represent themselves without a represented lawyer”. “Civil parties are not demanded to be represented," she said. However, lately she has represented more than 12 cases so far. “Civil party lawyer is not paid by the court, so those are in hard condition,” she complained.
Besides, she said with soft voice that she also has worked for Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) as an adviser on court motoring, collecting victims’ forms to the court.
