The Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), a coalition of 18 local NGOs, would like to express its understanding of and support for the United Nations decision to withdraw from the current process of establishing a tribunal for the Khmer Rouge. For the past four years we have watched carefully the difficulties the UN has faced in dealing with the Cambodian Government over the establishment of a tribunal which will meet internationally accepted standards of justice.

Nevertheless, we, and the Cambodian people in general, are deeply saddened and disappointed by the loss of hope for justice with regard to this terrible period in our recent history. The following are among our reasons for sadness at the loss of the prospect of a credible tribunal:

-This loss will leave the millions of Cambodians who perished and all who suffered without recourse to law and justice;

-It will encourage the perpetrators of genocide in their belief in impunity and give them cause to commit further crimes;

-It shows the UN Convention on Genocide (and by implication other UN Conventions) to be helpless in the face of human suffering and crime;

-It distinguishes Cambodia, despite Cambodian ratification of the Convention on Genocide, from countries such as Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and East Timor, where credible tribunals have been established and are working;

-It discourages other countries where there are genocide and crimes against humanity from the hope of redress.

The United Nations` withdrawal from the process of negotiating an international tribunal leaves the matter of redress and justice with regard to the Khmer Rouge in the hands of the Cambodian courts. The Cambodian courts already held one tribunal in 1979; it did not provide anything like the necessary redress. In 1997, when the question of a tribunal re-arose, the then co-Prime Ministers Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen spoke strongly of Cambodian courts` incapacity to fulfill this function. In January 1999 the CHRAC added its own appeal to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for UN assistance.

CHRAC is unwilling to let the matter rest in this impasse. We, as well as the rest of the human rights community and the Cambodian people at large, continue to believe in the need for and power of justice to provide some closure for this terrible period in our history. We also believe that only the United Nations has the power and credibility needed for justice.

We do not ask the UN to re-enter the negotiations which have so clearly failed despite its best efforts. We do, however, ask the UN to persist in its best efforts to provide for redress and justice in Cambodia. We also ask the UN to refuse participation or support for any process which does not meet international standards.

With regard to individual member states of the UN, CHRAC urges them not to consider participating in any tribunal unless it is held under the auspices of the UN.

CHRAC feels that national sovereignty should not be an obstruction to truth and justice. It wishes to appeal to our government to fulfill its obligations to find justice for our dead by not hesitating to accept the international standards of justice. Our government should make efforts to reach up to the UN and accept its terms and conditions.

CHRAC also wishes to appeal to the international community to encourage our government to make such endeavors. Any political expediency simply to have a trial to save face would turn this trial into a political trial, which would benefit no one.

For more information, please contact:
▪ Mr. Sok Sam Oeun, Executive Director of CDP at 012 901 199
▪ Mr. Thun Saray, President of ADHOC at 016 880 509
▪ Dr. Lao Mong Hay, Executive Director of KID at 012 959 454

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