European Parliament resolution on the trial of Khmer Rouge members in Cambodia
Date: 2001-01-18
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Cambodia, crime against humanity, criminal procedure, democratisation, dictatorship, government violence

C 262/258

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.9.2001

Thursday 18 January 2001

9. Trial of former Khmer Rouge in Cambodia

B5-0055, 0057, 0063, 0070, 0075 and 0080/2001

European Parliament resolution on the trial of Khmer Rouge members in Cambodia

The European Parliament,

A. having regard to the need to try all leaders of Democratic Kampuchea responsible for the deaths of

some two million Cambodians under the 1975-1979 ‘killing fields’ regime,

B. having regard to the agreement adopted in July 2000 between the UN and the Cambodian govern-
ment for the purpose of setting up a special Tribunal composed of Cambodian and foreign judges to
try those responsible for Cambodian deaths between 1975 and 1979,

C.

convinced that the democratic process in Cambodia, the stability of the new institutions and the reha-
bilitation of civil society can only become a reality if those responsible for this genocide are obliged to
face a court,

D. having regard to the amnesty law exonerating from their crimes all Khmer Rouge members who

rallied to the regime,

E. whereas those chiefly responsible continue to live out an untroubled life in the country in regions

bordering on Thailand,

F. whereas only two such persons are today in prison, Ta Mok, who had supplanted Pol Pot within the
Khmer Rouge movement in 1997 by having him sentenced to life imprisonment, before being cap-
tured in March 1999, and Kang Kek Leu, former director of the Tuol Sleng torture centre,

Commemorates with profound sadness the victims of the horrifying genocide that engulfed Cambo-

1.
dia;

2. Welcomes the fact that on 2 January 2001 the National Assembly of Cambodia, followed on 15 Jan-
uary 2001 by the Senate, passed unanimously a draft law on the Khmer Rouge trial;

3. Welcomes the fact that the Tribunal to be held in Phnom Penh will include both Cambodian and
foreign judges and prosecutors, and will focus on crimes committed by Khmer Rouge leaders from April
1975 to January 1979;

Calls on the Constitutional Council to approve this draft law as quickly as possible before it is signed

4.
into law by King Sihanouk;

Calls on the Cambodian Government, once the law is passed, to meet again with UN officials to sign

5.
a cooperation agreement and start the trial process;

Hopes that the trials will begin as soon as possible, and not later than the end of the year; hopes also

6.
that they will not be confined to the two individuals responsible currently imprisoned;

7.
Recalls that the transparency and impartiality of the judicial system as well as international judicial
cooperation and respect for democratic principles are essential elements for the renewal of EU/Cambodia
relations;

8. Welcomes the ending of the culture of impunity from which dictatorial regimes guilty of violating
human rights have too often benefited;

9.
Draws attention to the extensive EU assistance to Cambodia, amounting to nearly USD 786 million
between 1992 and 1998, and including € 67,1 million for the European Programme for the Rehabilitation
of Cambodia;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the UN and

10.
ASEAN, and to the Government and Parliament of Cambodia.