A US investigation into the possibility of bringing Khmer Rouge supremo Pol Pot to trial is the fruition of an act passed in 1994 by the US Congress, an Khmer Rouge expert said Thursday.
Youk Chhang, director of the US-funded Documentation Center of Cambodia, said the US is taking the initiative to arrest rebel leaders because of “The Cambodian Genocide Justice Act” which helped to set up the center.
The Documentation Center is researching the leaders of the Democratic Kampuchea regime to provide information for possible prosecution of those responsible for crimes against humanity.
Carol Rodley, charge d’affaires at the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, said Thursday that the embassy had no comment on the matter.
But the US Embassy in Bangkok, while refusing to comment on reports that US President Bill Clinton had ordered Pol Pot’s arrest and his removal to a third country to be tried for war crimes, said Washington had boosted its drive to bring Pol Pot to justice.
Phnom Penh-based analysts confirmed that the US Embassy here is aware of the international initiative. The primary aim, one analyst said, is to arrest the “big three”—which could include Pol Pot, Ta Mok, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan. All four men are reported to be in northern Cambodia near the Thai border and, according to information compiled by historian Ben Kiernan, all four held senior posts on the Democratic Kampuchea standing committee.
“I think if they really wanted Pol Pot they should arrest him now,” Youk Chhang said. “The US, anybody. Let’s just stop mixing politics and justice.”
A Thai Embassy official based in Phnom Penh called the initiative for a trial “premature” and said Thai involvement in arresting Pol Pot would be violating “an internal affair” of Cambodia.
“If there would be a trial for Pol Pot it would have to be an initiative of the Cambodian government and the international community as a whole,” the official said.
Diplomats and observers said they believe the political will exists in Cambodia to bring Khmer Rouge leaders to justice.
“Otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here working on these documents,” Youk Chhang said of his Phnom Penh office.
However, the initiative is designed for the Thais to arrest Pol Pot and not the Cambodians because there is not enough confidence in the resolve of the rank-and-file Cambodian armed forces to keep Pol Pot alive, the Phnom Penh-based analyst said.
“I believe that Pol Pot’s only chance of survival would be to escape to Thailand because if he fell into the hands of these ex-defector forces or the RCAF guys, there would not be a guarantee that he would make it to a trial,” the analyst said, implying the architect of Khmer Rouge could be murdered.
Bangkok-based Thai government officials said no official contact from the US had been made.
But Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Kobsak Chutikul declined to comment on any unofficial approaches made by Washington to Bangkok about the issue. (Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse)
