Few will mourn Pol Pot's death

The death of the former leader of Cambodia has cheated the hangman. Pol Pot, the bloodiest tyrant in the history of our region, came as speculation of a war crimes trial neared a climax. Khmer Rouge leaders, who had been sending out hints for months, finally agreed publicly to turn over Pol Pot for an international trial. But instead of a trial, Pol Pot died in his sleep. Instead of a hangman, Pol Pot faced his wife in his own simple bed in a jungle hut. He choked, his heart stopped, the worst murderer of our time died peacefully in his own bed.

Many people will not be satisfied with this. The anti-climax of a sublime death by a monstrous tyrant will frustrate and even offend. These include the professional Khmer Rouge hunters who have worked years to prepare a shocking, and iron-tight, case against Pol Pot in an international court. But they also include ordinary men and women around the world, including the Cambodian diaspora Pol Pot's regime created. In the disappointment of the ordinary death, there are bound to be charges and finger- pointing. That country failed to bring Pol Pot to justice, and that official dithered when he could have hastened the appearance of Pol Pot at Geneva or some other international court. In the first few hours after the news of the tyrants death, there were already the beginnings of a conspiracy theory surrounding his death.

It would be wise to remember a few things about Pol Pot and his recent history. The first is that no Khmer Rouge ever spoke of giving up Pol Pot to a court, a foreign country or the international community until this past week. Last year, the movement invited a foreign newsman to watch the humiliation and house arrest of Pol Pot -- already, by then, a physical wreck.

Last December, they invited the Bangkok Post to photograph and interview Pol Pot and other Khmer Rouge leaders. But there was no sign the Khmer Rouge was going to shop Pol Pot, their founder and long-time leader.

Second, only two forces have had clear chances to capture Pol Pot. The first was the Vietnamese army, which maintained more than 100,000 combat troops in Cambodia for nearly seven years. The second was the Vietnamese-advised Hun Sen army, still in power in that country. But within several months of the 1979 Vietnamese capture of Phnom Penh, it was clear that the invaders needed Pol Pot as a bogeyman to justify their continuing occupation.

Another lingering question is whether Pol Pot was murdered. The timing of his death was too convenient, many claim. But this line of reasoning, too, devolves into a conspiracy theory. It is certain this is a mystery whose solution never will be known.

Someone may have nudged Pol Pot out of this corporeal existence with a pillow over the face, say, or a few pills in his evening water. If so, their reward will come later. Pol Pot was one of the worst tyrants in the history of the world. He created the barbarous conditions that affected his country more than any leader, including King Sihanouk. The death of a dictator is never a bad thing. Those who feel somehow cheated at the manner of Pol Pot's death must realise that, nevertheless, he has gone off to his reward or karma.

It is somewhat selfish to wish he had lived longer so that a judge could decide the manner of his death. Almost all Cambodians wish he never had been born.

-- Bangkok Post