Scheuer made the remarks during a meeting hosted by the Cambodian government at the Friendship Building of the Council of Ministers, chaired by Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Vongsey Vissoth.

The meeting was attended by senior government officials, ambassadors from 10 partner countries, UN representatives and ministerial leaders.

The ECCC, a tribunal set up to prosecute the crimes of the Khmer Rouge regime (April 17, 1975 – January 6, 1979), which sought to establish a utopian agrarian society based on forced labor, concluded its work more than two years ago.

Its hybrid structure, with most of the staff and decision-makers of Cambodian origin, made it a unique model of national and international cooperation.

The UN official stressed the need to preserve and institutionalize the legacy of the ECCC by integrating it into the Cambodian education system and keeping it accessible to academics, legal professionals and the public.

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