"There was overwhelming evidence that the Khmer Rouge violated the Nuremberg Principles, the United Nations Charter, the laws of war, and possibly the UN Genocide Convention, yet no individuals have ever been tried in legitimate courts, much less punished. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, in 1979, the United States and China funneled aid to the deposed regime and undermined all efforts to try the Khmer Rouge leaders Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan, Sonn Senn, Noun Chea, Ta Mok and others. Accountability was not part of the UN’s $2 billion reconstruction program for Cambodia, which ran from 1993 to 1994 and ended with disputed elections and no mention of war crimes. Today, Cambodian domestic politics threaten to defeat a proposed UN tribunal to try the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders.

"The uncertain fate of the UN-approved Khmer Rouge war-crimes tribunal raises a troubling question: Was amnesty for Khmer Rouge war crimes the price for peace in Cambodia?"

Peter Maguire - Columbia University Ph.D.