[JURIST] The Director of Administration of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive], the court established to try former Khmer Rouge leaders, agreed late Monday to make public the text of a controversial audit [PDF text] of the ECCC's human resources practices. The audit was authorized [JURIST report] by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) [official website] in February 2007 in response to corruption allegations [press release]. Although the contents of such audits are rarely disclosed, the Cambodian administration of the ECCC chose to release the findings [press release] because of speculation caused by a statement [text] published on the UNDP website September 25, summarizing its findings. The audit criticizes the recruitment techniques and qualifications of Cambodian ECCC staff members and suggests the possibility of retracting UN support for the tribunal.

The ECCC was established by a 2001 law [text as amended 2005, PDF] to investigate and try surviving Khmer Rouge officials. The Khmer Rouge is generally held responsible for the genocide of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians who died between 1975 and 1979. BBC News has more. AFP has additional coverage.