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Cambodia's former king questions necessity of Khmer Rouge tribunal

The Associated Press (apwire)

Cambodia's former king said a U.N.-backed tribunal for former Khmer Rouge leaders will cost too much money and questioned whether it was worth it since the aging officials could die before a verdict.

Former King Norodom Sihanouk said some consider the tribunal to be ''necessary, indispensable and beneficial'' because it will bring the surviving leaders to justice and help victims find peace.

But Sihanouk, 83, said he believes the cost of the ''super luxurious life of the judges'' of the tribunal could easily exceed the US$56 million (euro45 million) budgeted for the trials.

Also, by the time a verdict is reached, ''there will probably be only one or two ... living Khmer Rouge leaders,'' he said in a letter dated July 15 posted on his Web site.

The former monarch said last week that he opposed the tribunal because it will target too few of those responsible for the group's extremist policies, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people during its 1975-79 rule.

Earlier this month, judges and prosecutors from Cambodia and abroad were sworn in for the long-awaited U.N.-backed trials of the former Khmer Rouge leaders on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Prosecutors have begun gathering evidence for the trials, expected to begin in 2007.

Sihanouk stepped down as king and was replaced by his son, Norodom Sihamoni, in 2004. He is widely respected, but his opinion is unlikely to affect trial preparations.

The Khmer Rouge were ousted in 1979 by invading Vietnamese forces. In 1982, Sihanouk became president of a Western-backed coalition government in exile that included the Khmer Rouge and fought the Vietnamese-installed government until a 1991 U.N.-sponsored peace agreement.

Sihanouk also said in his letter that he doesn't think the tribunal would ease the suffering of the regime's victims.

He said he objected to genocide memorials that display victims' skulls and bones, an apparent reference to a site often called the ''Killing Fields'' just outside the capital, Phnom Penh.

At least 14,000 Khmer Rouge victims were buried at the site, which is frequented by foreign tourists.

Sihanouk said that exhibiting the skulls and bones was done ''for the pleasure of tourists,'' and did nothing for the ''wandering souls'' of those killed, and that their bones should be cremated in accordance with Buddhist custom.


PHNOM PENH, Cambodia

2006-07-19 18:01 (KST) ©2006 OhmyNews


For me it revealed the stupidity and the lack of wisdom of the high-ranking people in Cambodia.

At least I do not understand why he could say ''super luxurious life of the judges''. Based on what he could make this statement? I really doubt that. Trial always takes a long time and a complicated procedure and consideration, so it is almost no doubt that it would cost a huge sum of money. As a retired king I suspect his motive to speak about the tribunal. He should have known his influence over the kingdom's politics.

Then, I cannot agree with the point he questioned the necessity of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. If there was no trial against the wrongdoers, where would have been the justice? People are punished when they commit even only a comparatively small crime like theft, so how could he question when the Khmer Rouge leaders ordered to kill over ten thousands of people? Certainly I agree that the tribunal might not be able to heal the pain as it was too huge and deep inside, but to show the justice and to show Cambodia is facing the history it is obviously needed to have this fair, transparent trial.

I have been to the killing fields, and I think it is there because it is always reminding people the terrifying history that should not be repeated again. I wonder how the retired king in this country know the feeling of the tourists when they are wandering. At least I do feel very sad and sorry to the people during the Khmer Rouge period, particularly when this kingdom had once been a very great and intelligent one.

This is not the first time I feel sick with the politician or the high-ranking people in this country, and this time I think this retired king is ridiculous. God bless his intelligence.