Tribunal and Controversy:

It is a widely accepted fact that Pol Pot is the key figure responsible for the genocide that killed almost 2 million peoplethrough systematic killings, starvation,and overwork. About twenty years later, the question has developed as to what to do with Pol Pot. Pol Pot was arrested and tried in a peopled tribunal by his own party, the Khmer Rouge. He was found guilty of murder of Son Sen, attempted murder of Ta Mok and also efforts to stop the Khmer Rouge for collaborating with the current government in Cambodia. However, no where in this peoples tribunal was Pol Pot tried for human rights violations. Cambodia aimed to seek an international trial at the Hague for Pol Pot which would try him for genocide and human rights violations. However, there are many who were opposed to this.

Cambodian Opposition:

There are many people who would like to make sure that an international trial does not happen for Pol Pot. Few Cambodian politicians have escaped association with the Khmer Rouge. For instance, after Vietnam drove the Khmer Rouge from power, Prince Ranariddh became an anti-Vietnamese resistance leader allied with Pol Pot. His rival, Hun Sen was an early Khmer Rouge leader whom the Vietnamese later installed in power. Many believe that with an international trial, each faction will try to portray the others as collaborators of Pol Pot. The Cambodian justice system is supposedly extremely corrupt and politicized therefore, trying Pol Pot in Cambodia is out of the question. This would inflame tensions between the different parties and create instability.

Cambodia's opposition leader stated that the government was afraid of a free and fair Khmer Rouge genocide trial for fear that it would expose criminals from its own ranks. Sam Rainsy stated "The current Phnom Penh government is very afraid of an international trial, because the international trial would identify the criminals correctly, this includes the many criminals who are holding power in the country right now".

Cambodian Support:

Many Cambodian people would like to see Khmer Rouge leaders, especially Pol Pot, tried for genocide. The Khmer Rouge regime affected everyone in Cambodia and millions of people lost loved ones. A poll taken in 1999 said that 80% of people asked still wanted a trial that would prosecute Khmer Rouge leaders. During the mock trial in Anlong Veng, the people present were chanting "Crush! Crush! Crush! Pol Pot and his clique.!" .

When I asked Saphor for her opinion on an international trial, this what she said: "I want to know why the Khmer Rouge killed all of these people. Everyone keeps blaming Pol Pot, but he did not ill all these people, there were many other people helping him. They should put other leaders on trial. Why did everyone wait for this, when this happened in 1979?".

Hun Sen showed strong support for wanting to send Pol Pot to an international trial. He stated "I want to send him to an international court, this is an international problem".

International Controversy:

Internationally, there are split reactions to an international trial of Pol Pot. China was a public ally of the Khmer Rouge and do not want to see Pol Pot brought to trial. China announced that it did not support the proceedings of bringing Pol Pot before an international trial. Some believe that this attitude portrays the overall fears about this trial,

that Pol Pot would say something about them that would hurt them. Thailand also opposes a Tribunal that may expose its role in supporting the Khmer Rouge.

The court at the Hague is a United Nation body and the UN record in dealing with the Khmer Rouge is not too clean. The Pol Pot government continued to hold a seat at the United Nations and claimed to speak on behalf of Cambodia for over ten years. The United States and China were responsible for the UN policy. All international aid was cut off from Cambodia and in 1991, the UN Human Rights Sub-commission dropped from its agenda references to genocide in Cambodia.

The US also played a major role in the power of the Khmer Rouge. After the Khmer Rouge lost power, the US consistently supported it and recognized the Khmer Rouge as the official representatives of Cambodia. A major reason for this was the Khmer Rouge were anti-Vietnamese. The Americans held these same views and thus, continued to support the Khmer Rouge.

All of this controversy and opposition to the international trial proves that there is not one true villain in this scenario. Many people are responsible for the tragedy that occurred in Cambodia. The question then becomes, whom to prosecute?

International Trial:

President Clinton had ordered that plans be devised for Pol Pot's arrest and trial. On April 11, a Khmer Rouge general said that Pol Pot had stated his willingness to stand trial at an international court. However, on April 15, 1998 Pol Pot died before he was able to stand trial. This was a relief to many, but a disappointment to those who suffered during his regime and were seeking justice.

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