H. Res. 533

In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

October 10, 1998.

Whereas under the Vietnamese communist occupation of

Cambodia (the former People’s Republic of Kampuchea

and the State of Cambodia) between 1979 and 1989,

Hun Sen was among a large number of former Khmer

Rouge members who were designated by the Vietnamese

communists as surrogate leaders of the People’s Republic

of Kampuchea, where international human rights organizations documented widespread human rights violations;

Whereas during the period leading to internationally supervised elections in 1993, as Prime Minister of the State

of Cambodia and a Politburo member of the communist

Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), Hun Sen was responsible for the disappearances, murder, and assassination

attempts against democratic opponents of the Cambodian

People’s Party;

Whereas after the Cambodian People’s Party lost the 1993

national election, Hun Sen organized a military force

that threatened a military coup, resulting in his being

given a share of the Prime Minister position with Prince

Norodom Ranariddh, the election winner, and his Cambodian People’s Party maintaining control of the military,

the internal security forces, and provincial government

administration;
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Whereas in July 1997, Hun Sen ordered a coup d’etat

against First Prime Minister Prince Ranariddh which resulted in the deaths of a large number of civilians caught

in the crossfire and the torture and summary execution

of at least 100 government officials and the forced displacement of at least 50,000 people as assaults continued

on people or communities loyal to Prince Ranariddh;

Whereas during the period leading to the July 1998 national

election there were widespread threats, assaults, and the

suspected assassination of scores of members of parties

opposed to Hun Sen;

Whereas in September 1998, Hun Sen ordered a violent

crackdown on thousands of unarmed demonstrators, including Buddhist monks, who supported credible investigations of irregularities in the electoral process and the

change in the format for allocating seats in the National

Assembly which permitted Hun Sen to maintain a small

edge over Prince Ranariddh’s FUNCINPEC Party and

entitled Hun Sen to maintain the post of Prime Minister,

which resulted in the brutality toward tens of thousands

of pro-democracy advocates and the deaths and disappearances of an unknown number of people, and led to

widespread civil unrest which threatens to further destroy

Cambodian society; and

Whereas Hun Sen has held, and continues to hold, high government office in a repressive and violent regime, and has

the power to decide for peace and democracy and has instead decided for killing and repression, who has the

power to minimize illegal actions by subordinates and allies and hold responsible those who committed such actions, but did not, and who once again is directing a campaign of murder and repression against unarmed civil-
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ians, while treating with contempt international efforts to

achieve a genuinely democratic government in Cambodia:

Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That it is a sense of the House of Representatives that—

(1) the United States should establish a collection

of information that can be supplied to an appropriate

international judicial tribunal for use as evidence to support a possible indictment and trial of Hun Sen for violations of international humanitarian law after 1978;

(2) any such information concerning Hun Sen and

individuals under his authority already collected by the

United States, including information regarding the

March 1997 grenade attack against Sam Rainsy, should

be provided to the tribunal at the earliest possible time;

(3) the United States should work with members of

interested countries and nongovernmental organizations

relating to information any country or organization may

hold concerning allegations of violations of international

humanitarian law after 1978 posed against Hun Sen

and any individual under his authority in Cambodia and

give all such information to the tribunal;

(4) the United States should work with other interested countries relating to measures to be taken to bring

to justice Hun Sen and individuals under Hun Sen’s au-
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thority indicted for such violations of international humanitarian law after 1978; and

(5) the United States should support such a tribunal for the purpose of investigating Hun Sen’s possible

criminal culpability for conceiving, directing, and sustaining a variety of actions in violation of international

humanitarian law after 1978 in any judicial proceeding

that may result.

Attest:

Clerk.