The Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), a coalition of 18 local NGOs, wishes to appeal to the Cambodian government and United Nations for the establishment of an independent, impartial and credible tribunal with internationally recognized standards to ensure justice for the Cambodian people in future negotiations following the recent passing of the resolution with regards to the Khmer Rouge trials.

Without a credible tribunal that will try perpetrators responsible for crimes against humanity committed during the Khmer Rouge period from 1975-1979, the 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 will show the UN Convention on Genocide (and by implication other UN Conventions) to be helpless in the face of human suffering and crime; it will distinguish 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 will discourage other countries where there are genocide and crimes against humanity from the hope of redress.

CHRAC, 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 Cambodian history.

CHRAC wishes to appeal to the Cambodian government to fulfill its obligations to find justice for the dead by accepting the international standards of justice. CHRAC also wishes to appeal to the international community to encourage the Cambodian 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
▪ Dr. Kek Galabru, President of LICADHO 012 802 506

PDF: Download full statement