AFP
PHNOM PENH — Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court announced Wednesday that it would investigate more suspects from the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, blamed for the deaths of up to two million people.
"The international prosecutor is authorised to make an introductory submission to co-investigating judges to open additional judicial investigations," court spokesman Lars Olsen told AFP.
Based on the investigations, the tribunal will have to decide whether to prosecute these suspects, a move that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has already strongly opposed for fear it could spark civil war.
The tribunal was created in 2006 to try leading members of the 1975-1979 regime, and five former leaders are currently being held on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The court's long-awaited first trial of Kaing Guek Eav, better known by the alias Duch, is now under way, and he has accepted responsibility for overseeing the execution of more than 15,000 people at the regime's main prison.
The new suspects in question are lower-level members of the communist movement, whose names have not been made public. It was not immediately known how many suspects would be investigated.
Cambodian prosecutors have opposed their international colleagues' wishes to pursue more indictments.
Hun Sen, himself a former low-level commander for the communist movement, has publicly stated he would rather the court failed than pursue other former regime members, fearing another civil war.
But critics have accused the administration of trying to protect former regime members who are now in government.
The Khmer Rouge killed up to two million people as it emptied Cambodia's cities and enslaved the population on collective farms.
The regime was ousted by Vietnamese-led forces in 1979 after nearly four years of iron-fisted rule, but continued to fight a civil war until 1998.
"The international prosecutor is authorised to make an introductory submission to co-investigating judges to open additional judicial investigations," court spokesman Lars Olsen told AFP.
Based on the investigations, the tribunal will have to decide whether to prosecute these suspects, a move that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has already strongly opposed for fear it could spark civil war.
The tribunal was created in 2006 to try leading members of the 1975-1979 regime, and five former leaders are currently being held on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The court's long-awaited first trial of Kaing Guek Eav, better known by the alias Duch, is now under way, and he has accepted responsibility for overseeing the execution of more than 15,000 people at the regime's main prison.
The new suspects in question are lower-level members of the communist movement, whose names have not been made public. It was not immediately known how many suspects would be investigated.
Cambodian prosecutors have opposed their international colleagues' wishes to pursue more indictments.
Hun Sen, himself a former low-level commander for the communist movement, has publicly stated he would rather the court failed than pursue other former regime members, fearing another civil war.
But critics have accused the administration of trying to protect former regime members who are now in government.
The Khmer Rouge killed up to two million people as it emptied Cambodia's cities and enslaved the population on collective farms.
The regime was ousted by Vietnamese-led forces in 1979 after nearly four years of iron-fisted rule, but continued to fight a civil war until 1998.
5 comments:
To ECCC,
Norodom Sihanouk is the leader of khmer people murderers, including Hun Sen,Chea Sim, Heng Samrin, plus his cronies.
Please bring them to testify for their involvement in Cambodian Killing Fields.
King Sihanouk is the political pracmaticer caused 2 miollions Cambodian people life. It is absurd in the royal history in the Globe, that King Sihanouk has allies with communists by using the west money.
Good bless Khmer people.
Oh my God, I pray that they can successfully bring in more people to testify! It just isnt fair that only a handful of these people are taking the blame while others let go....they didnt let go of my families!
Where were the UN and US? Where was the World compassion? Where was God? Where were you when we need you during the KR regime? I was there and watched the innocent Cambodian dying. I had only the questions without answers. How come the UN and US just show after the Vietnamese invaded and liberated the Cambodians from the bloody hand of Khmer Rouge?? Until now I still can not get the right answers!!
Dear all,
Now, we should wake up and identify who we are because individual or interest group who created this English website (KI media)in which almost information provided only in favor of oppositition party, but it is not so helpful to the public interest in terms of sensibility, creativity, contructivity, productivity, and neatral judgement. If u say that Cambodia is not a demoncratic country, u a 100% wrong.
By the way, if u say that the demoncracy in Cambodia is not fully applied or partially carried out, of course your idea or judgement is sensible and valuable. But, it is still acceptable because Cambodia case is not as the same as other countries cases, we need sometime to make change.
If were u, anyway, I may be very shame due to the fact that information provided is only attacked individual person that lead to conflict of interests (your own problem). My suggestion is that u should provide fair and neatral information that would help our country and people. Especially; foreigners shall not be able to look down our nation due to the fact that we a in unique unity. Why? Because it does not matter even we fight with each other. We attack just in the purpose of progress and future develpment of ow own nation. If we try to attack individual, we can not change because of conflict of interest between supporters and oppositors. We can achieve a goal and do thing change unless we break difference and combine into commond interest,goal and vision.
We should learn from the past experiece, we lost when we broke, we won when we united.
From Thana
I am sorry, I am not intellectual person. My education backgrownd is little and my English is poor too.
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