Repeating his earlier opposition to expanding the list of defendants to be brought before the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has now told the visiting UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, that he will not allow the projected additional indictments of alleged senior Khmer Rouge figures to go ahead. This was confirmed by the Foreign Minister, Hor Namhong, when he quoted Hun Sen as saying that 'case three will not be allowed'.
While many in the international community and the international prosecutors at the tribunal have argued for a further five or six former Khmer Rouge figures to be brought before the court after the trial of the remaining four defendants now in custody, Hun Sen has been bitterly opposed to this proposal. He has claimed that to continue with additional indictments would lead to 'civil war', or at very least would undermine Cambodia's stability.
Hun Sen's opposition to expanding the tribunal's case load seems to outsiders to be an over-reaction, but within Cambodia it is more correctly seen as part of his long-stated determination 'to bury the past', a past in which far too many serving officials worked with the Khmer Rouge. From Hun Sen's point of view, the sooner this fact is glossed over the better. And his view will prevail since, first, he has indicated he will not permit any additional officials being being brought before the tribunal for questioning; and secondly, because the Cambodian judges on the tribunal are not ready to join with their international colleagues in approving additional indictments.
Photo courtesy of the ECCC.
