Hard decision for Cambodia

The decision to give amnesty to Ieng Sary is one that only Cambodians can make. It is unfortunate that it also may be the only decision they can make.

Few believe his claims of innocence. Most would love to see his neck stretched by the hangman.

But Cambodians including King Norodom Sihanouk must choose between seeking justice for the millions who were killed and brutalized, and trying to arrange a peaceful future for the living. It is no easy choice, but it is one that the Khmer people must make for themselves.

Ieng Sary is a liar. He is guilty of crimes against humanity -- his own people -- exactly as the court found in 1979. He also is a prominent figure, with power over a small but effective army and political force. His defection to the government, if Phnom Penh agrees to his difficult surrender demands, would be important in many ways.

It would reduce the actual effectiveness of the armed Khmer Rouge opposition by a great deal. It would isolate the very worst of this murderous opposition -- Pol Pot, Ta Mok, Nuon Chea, Son Sen. They would be left with no "moderate" to front for their vicious crimes, Ieng Sary's job for so long.

This is the quandary in which Cambodia now finds itself. It can reject Ieng Sary's amnesty plea in the cause of justice, and thus face more fighting, deaths and destruction. It can accept Ieng Sary's onerous demands and prevent some, or most, of such violence.

As King Sihanouk said, the past should not be forgotten. But he can make a choice to put the past behind him and look to the future. For decades, Cambodians have faced such harsh and stark choices. Lon Nol or the Khmer Rouge. Flight from the country they loved or death from vicious rulers. The Khmer Rouge or the Vietnamese.

Now they are caught once again between two such hard choices: hold their noses and grant amnesty to Ieng Sary the criminal, or reject his surrender and subject the country to still more violence and disruption.

Only Cambodians can make this choice. But which ever one they make, they deserve understanding and support. The friends of Cambodia have been fortunate not to have had to live through what the Khmers have suffered. All we in Thailand can do is to offer the Cambodians and their government moral support. After their past 25 years of tragedies, they deserve no less.

-- The Bangkok Post