Craig Etcheson is a visiting scientist at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. From 2006 to 2012, he was chief of investigations for the Office of Co-Prosecutors at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. His previous books on Cambodia include The Rise and Demise of Democratic Kampuchea (1984) and After the Killing Fields: Lessons from the Cambodian Genocide (2005).
Extraordinary Justice hands down the final verdict on the UN's controversial 'mixed tribunal.' Starting as an academic observer during the 1980s, Craig Etcheson worked as a fearless and tireless killing fields investigator during the 1990s and then played a key behind the scenesbehind-the-scenes role for the UN during the proceedings. Simply put, nobody knows more about the Khmer Rouge war crimes trials than Etcheson. This is a remarkable, three-dimensional study of the legally simple but politically complex proceedings that took longer to try five defendants than it did for the Allies did to try thousands of war criminals after World War II. -- Peter Maguire, author of <i>Facing Death in Cambodia</i> Few have witnessed or studied the rise, demise, and prosecution of the Khmer Rouge as Craig Etcheson has done for more than three decades. Extraordinary Justice is a gripping eyewitness account of the Khmer Rouge leadership's final coda in front of domestic and international justice, however imperfect that justice might be. Extraordinary Justice will be the definitive reference text for years to come. -- Sophal Ear, author of <i>Aid Dependence in Cambodia: How Foreign Assistance Undermines Democracy</i> In this absorbing, persuasively argued book, Craig Etcheson draws on over thirty years of involvement with Cambodia and on his prolonged association with the so-called Khmer Rouge Tribunal, giving his readers a clear idea of what happened at the Tribunal and the daunting challenges it faced. -- David Chandler, author of <i>A History of Cambodia, 4th Edition</i> Craig Etcheson is one of only a handful of people on the planet who, for the last four-plus decades, has immersed himself in the question of what the Khmer Rouge did while in power from 1975 to 1979 and how to bring them to justice for their crimes of genocide. Extraordinary Justice is a must-read for those interested in how the international community uses the cumbersome rule of law to convict those who thought they could get away with mass murder using their own ill-conceived, unrepentant law of the jungle. -- Michael Hayes, publisher and editor in chief of the <i>Phnom Penh Post</i> A magisterial chronicle of the inner workings of post-conflict justice. * International Law Reporter * A comprehensive review of the search for justice following the 1970s Cambodian genocide. . . . Highly recommended. * Choice * Essential for a broad audience, including academics and practitioners with an interest in international criminal law, transitional justice, the ECCC, and potentially those working in the field of international relations and international organizations. -- Suzanne Schot, University of Groningen * Genocide Studies and Prevention * It is risky to describe any book as 'the definitive account,'...but given the depth of research and the unparalleled inside knowledge of the author, this reviewer is willing to risk it. -- Kenton Clymer, Northern Illinois University * Journal of American-East Relations * As a book written by an insider, Extraordinary Justice profits from information an outsider would never find...The result is a highly readable account for anyone with an interest in transitional, and transnational, justice. * Holocaust and Genocide Studies *