Khmer Rouge trial is some way off

The weekend's preliminary agreement between Cambodia and the United Nations of a formula for a trial of Khmer Rouge leaders is a positive step in the right direction. But whether it results in an actual trial remains to be seen.

Saturday's announcement that Hun Sen has agreed to a formula which is also satisfactory to the United Nations to bring former Khmer Rouge leaders to an international-standard trial has been welcomed worldwide. Cambodians who lost an estimated 1.7 million loved ones to the Khmer Rouge's ferocious rule dubbed the "killing fields" have been waiting patiently for 25 years for some kind of justice.

The Yale University-funded Cambodian Genocide Documentation Center has reams of details from which investigators could build a case against those indicted. But decoding the documents will take months of meticulous research involving a legion of translators, according to center director Youk Chhang. But the most contentious issue is who will be indicted and under the agreed formula this is the responsibility of Cambodia. To date, Hun Sen has only two rebels in jail awaiting trial -- military chief Ta Mok and born-again Christian Duch.

There are just too many variables remaining for the international community to be clinking their glasses in celebration of a coming Khmer Rouge trial. Because unless someone has a reliable crystal ball a trial of Khmer Rouge leaders is still in the unforeseeable future.

-- The Bangkok Post