Cambodian amnesty bid

The haste with which Cambodian leader Hun Sen is moving to secure an amnesty for Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary is in striking contrast to the long wait for justice for the victims of the Killing Fields.

The Maoist guerrilla group has appeared on the brink of collapse several times over the last two decades but on each occasion foreign maneuvering and domestic political interests have combined to save it, rehabilitate it and perhaps most cruelly, even give it international legitimacy despite its crimes.

Hidden away on the border with Thailand, the movement lost its last remaining political relevance after it boycotted the 1993 election. Nevertheless, the leaders continued to organize seasonal killing campaigns and grew rich on border trade.

But now the revolution looks closer than ever to sputtering to its death, ironically in part because of an unseemly turf war over the gem and timber riches around Pailin.

And some of the leaders want an amnesty. A pardon for some of the worst crimes against humanity this century. Redemption from a death sentence passed by a Cambodian Court in 1981. It is an idea Hun Sen fully supports.

'Why do I prefer to grant him amnesty?' Hun Sen asked on Saturday. 'Because I strongly need to stop the war.'

After 30 years as a member of the central committee, Ieng Sary now claims that he was not involved or even aware of the Khmer Rouge's worst atrocities, saying he was only No. 6 in the lineup. It is a defense that is disingenuous and incredulous.

After decades of turmoil, war and revolution Cambodia is rebuilding. The Khmer Rouge tried to obliterate the past, wipe out existing culture and religion and start anew. They succeeded in part which makes the process of rehabilitation that much more difficult.

If Cambodia is to have any sort of future it must be built on principles, not political shortcuts. The dead, and the young who will inherit this scarred country, are owed at least that.

-- The Nation, Bangkok