III

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. RES. 124

To state the sense of the Senate that members of the Khmer Rouge who

participated in the Cambodian genocide should be brought to justice

before an international tribunal for crimes against humanity.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 24, 1997

Mr. ROTH (for himself, Mr. THOMAS, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mr. GRAMS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

Foreign Relations

RESOLUTION

To state the sense of the Senate that members of the Khmer

Rouge who participated in the Cambodian genocide

should be brought to justice before an international tribunal for crimes against humanity.

Whereas the Khmer Rouge recently staged a show trial of Pol

Pot, the reputed leader of the Khmer Rouge during the

Cambodian genocide;

Whereas the Khmer Rouge have been promoting their National Solidarity Party and proclaiming their support for

‘‘liberal democracy’’ as a means to legitimate their role

in Cambodian politics;
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SRES 124 IS

Whereas, while the Khmer Rouge have been weakened since

the Paris Peace Accords of 1991, they remain a key

source of violence in Cambodia;

Whereas Cambodian People’s Party leader and Second Prime

Minister Hun Sen staged a bloody and illegal coup

against the First Prime Minister and leader of the

FUNCINPEC Party, Norodom Ranaridhh;

Whereas Hun Sen maintains that the coup was necessary because elements of FUNCINPEC were on the verge of

consummating a deal to bring the Khmer Rouge military

and political organization into the legitimate political

arena;

Whereas Norodom Ranariddh, by contrast, has argued that

FUNCINPEC had no plan to form an alliance with the

Khmer Rouge and that this allegation was used as a pretext by Hun Sen for the coup;

Whereas Norodom Ranaridhh asserts instead that he was on

the verge of finally destroying the Khmer Rouge and

bringing them to justice;

Whereas Norodom Ranaridhh further asserts that the real

reason for the coup was that Hun Sen fears that convening an international tribunal to bring the Khmer Rouge

to justice would implicate Hun Sen in genocidal atrocities;

Whereas Hun Sen has consistently argued that the top

Khmer Rouge leadership—including, but not limited to

Pol Pot—must be brought to justice before an international criminal tribunal;

Whereas earlier this year Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen

wrote to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan

asking for ‘‘the assistance of the United Nations and the
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international community in bringing to justice those persons responsible for the genocide and crimes against humanity during the rule of the Khmer Rouge from 1975

to 1979’’;

Whereas, after the coup, troops loyal to Norodom Ranariddh

appear to have formed a military alliance with troops

loyal to the Khmer Rouge leadership, thus reinforcing the

fears of the Cambodia people that the Khmer Rouge will

use any means necessary to regain power;

Whereas peace, democracy, stability, the rule of law and national reconciliation in Cambodia are unlikely to be

achieved until the Khmer Rouge are brought to justice;

and

Whereas the Cambodian Genocide Justice Act states that it

is the policy of the United States to support efforts to

bring to justice members of the Khmer Rouge for their

crimes against humanity, and in circumstances which the

President deems appropriate, to encourage the establishment of an international criminal tribunal for the prosecution of those accused of genocide in Cambodia and

provide such tribunal with relevant information: Now,

therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that:

2 (1) a primary objective of U.S. policy toward

3 Cambodia should be the establishment of an inter4 national tribunal for the prosecution of those respon5 sible for the Cambodian genocide;

6 (2) in compliance with the Cambodian Genocide

7 Justice Act and the objectives stated above, the

8 President should immediately deem it appropriate to
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1 encourage the establishment of an international

2 criminal tribunal for the prosecution of such mem3 bers of the Khmer Rouge;

4 (3) in further compliance with the Cambodian

5 Genocide Justice Act, the United States should sup6 port efforts to bring members of the Khmer

7 Rouge—including Pol Pot—to justice for their

8 crimes against humanity before an international tri9 bunal, including providing that tribunal with any in10 formation available on such members’ involvement in

11 the Cambodian genocide; and

12 (4) the Secretary of State should encourage all

13 Member countries of the Association of Southeast

14 Asian Nations, the People’s Republic of China,

15 Japan, and other interested countries to support

16 such a tribunal.

Æ.