Top Rebel Defectors’ Legal Fate Unclear

A day after negotiating the defections of two key Khmer Rouge guerrilla leaders, Cambodian Premier Hun Sen brushed aside questions about whether the men would be tried for the genocide crimes committed from 1975 to 1979. Hun Sen’s action indicated that a deal had been struck allowing Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea to surrender in exchange for not being tried. The Cambodian government and the United States have said that they wanted the Khmer Rouge leaders captured and tried for genocide and crimes against humanity. A Cambodian official said that the premier supports a tribunal for those responsible for the deaths of more than 1 million Cambodians during the Khmer Rouge’s rule but that justice should be left to local courts.