HUN SEN: Digging a hole and burying the past does not mean not finding justice for the Cambodian people. I don’t want Cambodians to practice revenge outside of the legal framework. At an earlier stage, I worried that tribunals would lead to war. The Khmer Rouge was like a fire that was not extinguished. I didn’t want to throw oil on it. But this was before the surrender of [top Khmer Rouge commanders] Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan in 1998.
We have to have both. If we’re not careful with the trial, there could be panic among the people. This would lead to war. And how many people could be killed? But if we only have peace without justice, that’s not enough either.
We need both legs, not just one. Those people who pretend to be teachers of Cambodia only take one leg into consideration. Before 1991 all they wanted was peace, no justice. Now they want the opposite.
Now that we’ve passed the law [authorizing a tribunal], there are three options. The United Nations could send judges and prosecutors. The U.N. could participate in only the technical aspects of the trial. Or the U.N. could not get involved in the tribunal at all, leaving it totally to Cambodians.
It’s a type of political cruelty. They were looking down on the legislative needs of Cambodia. Some U.N. officials need to take a lesson to relearn the meaning of independence and sovereignty.
Yes, I want that. A lot of people are very afraid of accountability for the whole 1970-1998 period. They are cowards.
Between China and the Cambodian government, we agree not to talk about the Khmer Rouge. Some say Hun Sen is playing the China card, but China is not a card for Cambodia to play. There are 52 cards in a deck, [and] we need all of them, small and large, rich and poor.
It’s up to the court of law. But as a citizen of Cambodia, I don’t think it should cover more than 10 people… If we prosecute all the lower-level [cadres], it will mean war.
