By Youk Chhang
Pol Pot quit the world on April 15, 1998. However, his demise does not bring closure
to a history of horrors during which over a million lives were taken. Nor does his death mean a complete failure
of the Khmer Rouge regime. The Communist Party of Kampuchea's Standing
Committee and Central Committee members -- both full rights members and
candidate members – and the high-ranking members most loyal to Pol Pot who
participated in establishing the Khmer Rouge policies are somewhat in hiding
today. Along with thousands of other Khmer Rouge soldiers, some of them,
unfortunately, also implicated in the mass executions; these officials are
taking refuge under the umbrella of "national reconciliation". They are all trying to hide from their
victims, as well as from their personal legal accountability before society and
history. Though of Khmer blood and
origin like their victims, the defecting Khmer Rouge leaders remain a gang of
people whose brains were possible washed and sharpened with Pol Pot's ideology.
A number of the top-ranking members of this gang caused the killing and torture
of people they perceived as "enemies of Angkar".
The ideology unarguably enticed them to kill the
enemies of Angkar on the ground that "If you are to eradicate grasses, you
must eradicate all their roots" or "Keeping you is no gain, losing
you is no loss". This ideology
continues to have a deep impact on present-day Cambodia, undermining the
rebuilding of the country based on the rule of law, democracy and human
rights. This ideology remains in
existence, deep inside their brains; it is an invisible partner of the
defecting Khmer Rouge leaders, some of them are now in the government and the
military, functioning as decision-makers and setting down policies for
Cambodian society. Although Pol Pot
physically perished, he continues as an ideological and spiritual monster who
sucks the blood and bone of the defecting Khmer Rouge leaders and threatens
them to successfully implement those policies on a "100-percent Win"
and "Great Leap Forwards" base.
All members of the Royal Government of Cambodia the
individual three parties represented in the National Assembly and the Senate,
have two obligations to address this state of affairs: 1) they must agree that
any Khmer Rouge leaders be punished who are found guilty by an independent
tribunal, operating according to international norms and standards, of having
established, participated in establishing, or encouraged their subordinates to
implement the policy of massive executions; and 2) they should provide
sufficient social services in a timely manner to the families of the Khmer
Rouge defectors, especially to women and children, in the form of social
welfare, work assistance and education meaning that the Khmer Rouge defectors
should be granted the same rights and services as other Cambodians.
A failure to address this second issue in a
satisfactory manner would be tantamount to ignoring basic human needs, and
indirectly allowing the Khmer Rouge defectors to live outside the rule of law
in Cambodia. Moreover, failure to
achieve both historical obligations not only means refusing to provide fair
justice to the over one million victims put to death with such suffering and
injustice; it also resembles opening Pol Pot's coffin and allowing his corpse,
in effect, to strut right out into broad daylight. And
that would greatly encourage him and serve as
congratulations for his continued victory.
We must not allow Pol Pot this posthumous victory.
_____________________________________________________________
Youk CHHANG, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam)
P.O. Box 1110
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Tel: (855)
23-211-875
Fax: (855) 23-210-358
Email: dccam@bigpond.com.kh
Home page: http://welcome.to/dccam