THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

Vol. 7, No. 23

16-29 October, 1998

THE

first concrete step towards possible accountability for Khmer Rouge

leaders will be taken in November, with the arrival of three

international law experts under the auspices of the United Nations.

Led by Australian jurist Sir Ninian Stephen, the commission will arrive

on November 14 for at least a week's work. Its mandate is to "evaluate

the existing evidence [against KR leaders] and propose further

measures", according to the General Assembly resolution of November 26,

1997.

According to the Assembly's recommendation, the experts will examine

evidence pertaining only to the KR period of 1975-79, and only to the

top leaders. This mandate would likely exclude investigation of current

government leaders such as Prime Minister-elect Hun Sen who were

lower-ranking members of the Khmer Rouge, or of acts committed after

January 7, 1979.

The UN action is unrelated to the United States

House of Representatives' Resolution 533, which is merely a domestic,

non- binding resolution calling for an "international judicial

tribunal" for Hun Sen and his associates.

US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who sponsored Resolution 533, said on

the House floor: "We must not permit legislative action in Cambodia...

to focus exclusively on a handful of geriatric Khmer Rouge leaders,"

according to the Congressional Record.

However, UN rights envoy for Cambodia Thomas Hammarberg has called the

UN action a "breakthrough". He was the force driving the world body to

at last take action on the Khmer Rouge question 19 years after the

regime's overthrow. The Assembly resolution, which condemns the crimes

of the KR for the first time, was passed in response to Hammarberg's

1997 report to the Assembly.

The Royal Government of Cambodia has also repeatedly expressed its

support for such an undertaking; in June 1997 the two Prime Ministers

[Hun Sen and Norodom Ranariddh] wrote to the UN asking for assistance

in bringing the KR to justice.

The commission convened in New York in September, meeting with

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, other UN officials and key diplomats,

Hammarberg said by email. He plans to arrive in Cambodia October 23,

and his visit will overlap with that of the experts.

During their visit, the commission will examine Khmer Rouge-era

archives at the Documentation Center of Cambodia and the former Tuol

Sleng prison, and meet with government officials.