Khmer Rouge may be tried for genocide
Khmer Rouge may be tried for genocide
PHNOM PENH (AP): A researcher gathering evidence against the
Khmer Rouge said on Sunday he believes enough documentation
exists to convict the communist guerrilla group's leadership for
war crimes and genocide committed during its brutal four-year
rule of Cambodia.
Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia,
said his center has selected 53 Khmer Rouge documents out of an
archive of more than 3,000 to be presented to a visiting team of
UN experts assessing the possibility of an international tribunal
against the Khmer Rouge.
"We have plenty of information and have selected specifics
bearing the names of the leadership," Youk Chhang said.
"I am not a lawyer, but as a survivor of the Khmer Rouge
genocide, I think it is enough," he said. "But let the experts
and lawyers decide."
Sir Ninian Stephen, former governor-general of Australia, and
American Stephen Ratner, an authority on international law and
war crimes, arrived in Phnom Penh on Saturday for a week-long
visit.
The third member of the team, Rajsoomer Lallah, former chief
justice of Mauritius, is due in Phnom Penh on Monday.
The trio were appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in
July to assess existing evidence against top Khmer Rouge leaders,
held responsible for the deaths of as many as 2 million people by
execution, starvation and disease.
Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh, co-prime ministers at
the time, wrote Kofi Annan in June 1997 requesting assistance in
bringing the Khmer Rouge to justice.
Supreme Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot escaped prosecution when he
died of an apparent heart attack in April, but many top members
of the guerrilla group are still alive and at large.
Former Khmer Rouge deputy prime minister Ieng Sary received
amnesty from the Cambodian government in 1996 after leading a
massive defection of rebel forces that crippled the movement. The
amnesty, however, did not cover indictments by an international
court.
One-legged Khmer Rouge army chief Ta Mok and ideological chief
Nuon Chea continue to lead a dwindling band of supporters against
the government in the mountainous jungles of the Thai-Cambodian
border.