Cambodian PM undermining KRouge court: activists

Source: AFP

PHNOM PENH — Cambodian premier Hun Sen's calls to limit prosecutions at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal bring into question the independence of the war crimes court, a leading rights group said Thursday.

New York-based Human Rights Watch alleged Hun Sen has attempted to control the court by asserting war could return to Cambodia if cases are brought against additional members of the late 1970s regime.

"Hun Sen has no role in this court, yet he keeps trying to use his hold over its Cambodian personnel to interfere," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

The lobby group demanded the court's judges, who are expected to soon rule whether to pursue additional former Khmer Rouge cadres, show independence in their decision.



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It must not be forgotten that Hun Sen is a former member of the Khmer Rouge. He has a vested interest in limiting the scope of these prosecutions.

:mad:

Yes, Hun Sen was a member of the Communist Party of Kampuchea prior to his defection to Vietnam and collaboration with the Vietnamese occupation of his country. Many of the current leaders of Cambodia were also members of the CPK. Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians were members of CPK mass organizations or the army. Tens of thousands were guerrillas in the 1990's. Where to draw the line? There are immunity agreements in some cases that facilitated the end of the war. Should they be disregarded?

Hun Sen left the KR went to Vietnam and was a part of the armed struggle to defeat the KR.


Hun Sen's interest in limiting the prosecutions is not personal but his interest in moving the country to reconciliation.


The question of how much prosecution to engage in after a country experiences wide spread genocide is a very difficult one because if it is not limited it would consume the country.

Rwanda faces a similar problem and has no prosecutions and is trying to integrate and reconcile everyone.


Hun Sen is clearly guilty of corruption but he has done more than any other Camobodian to end the genocide of the Khmer Rouge.