Global Policy Forum

By Elizabeth Becker

After nine months, the United Nations revived plans yesterday for an international trial for the surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge. They are charged with genocide and gross human rights violations in the deaths of more than one million Cambodians in the 1970's. But the resolution that ultimately passed in a key committee had been watered down to meet Cambodia's approval.

Although it calls for resuming negotiations on creating a special crimes tribunal, it requires that such a tribunal adhere to 2 of the 53 articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The measure also notes with approval a new Cambodian law that insists that Cambodia's ill-trained and corrupt courts have the final say in the proceedings, rather than the United Nations.

Sponsored by Japan and France, the measure passed the committee unanimously, with more than 100 voting for it 37 abstaining. It still faces a General Assembly vote, but is expected to pass.

It was immediately criticized by several diplomats and rights advocates for failing to ensure that the trial would meet adequate international standards for fairness. "The resolution fails to include explicit language guaranteeing the tribunal will meet international standards, and it lacks a solid commitment from the Cambodians," said a senior diplomat whose country nevertheless voted for it. After four years of talks on a tribunal with Prime Minister Hun Sen's government, such complaints have become familiar. In February, deadlocks and disappointments over the tribunal led the United Nations to announce that the talks had stopped.

Nations led by Australia, France, Japan and the United States worked to start another effort. Cambodia is one of relatively few countries to suffer such devastation since World War II without seeing those who carried out the actions brought to trial — despite the 23 years that have elapsed since the Khmer Rouge were overthrown. In that time, there have been trials or truth commissions for Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa and the former Yugoslavia. Secretary General Kofi Annan reconsidered. In August, he said he would resume talks if given a "clear mandate."

The new resolution was intended to provide that mandate, but even its original sponsors disagreed over whether it was strong enough to ensure fairness. Australia withdrew its sponsorship at the last minute, when Cambodia called for changes. "We found the changes to weaken the text, but we were not prepared to vote against it," said Ambassador John Dauth of Australia.

Scholars and rights experts said they feared that with so many governments eager to redress an omission, there had been more willingness to water down international law to win Cambodian approval.

"This resolution does not even ask the Cambodian government to live up to the very minimum international standard for a fair trial, much less build in guarantees that those standards will be adhered to," said Stephen R. Heder, a Cambodia scholar at the University of London.

Prime Minister Hun Sen, a minor Khmer Rouge military officer in the first years of the killings, engaged in drawn-out talks with the United Nations. Under his direction, Parliament passed a law to set up a tribunal. The measure had provisions unacceptable to the United Nations.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.