Green light for Khmer Rouge trials

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has said he sees "no more obstacles" to beginning trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders by the end of the year.

Hun Sen told his cabinet that a revised draft law approved Friday would help his country close what he called a black page in Cambodia's history.

He said the first to stand trial would be the infamous Khmer Rouge military commander Ta Mok, known as "the butcher".

Another former Khmer Rouge cadre, the former commander of the regime's S-21 interrogation center Khang Khek Ieu, known as Duch, is also expected to face charges.

The two men are the only high ranking members of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodian jails.

The revised draft law passed by the Cambodian government Friday now moves on to the National Assembly, the Senate, the Constitutional Council and finally to King Norodom Sihanouk.

Hun Sen said he expects the process to be completed by August.

An original draft law for Khmer Rouge trials was pushed back to the cabinet earlier this because it contained references to the death penalty, a punishment which does not exist under Cambodian law.

The new draft replaces that with life imprisonment.

Iron fist

A government spokesman said officials would soon begin talks with the United Nations on funding for the trials, as well as seeking the help of international experts on establishing how the court will work.

The Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 when an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died from execution, starvation, overwork and disease.

Many were executed as suspected spies and others were killed simply because they wore glasses or were trained professionals -- a feature the Khmer Rouge associated with intellectuals who were seen as enemies of the revolution.

No Khmer Rouge leader has ever stood trial for the group's actions.

The former Khmer Rouge leader or Brother Number One, Pol Pot, died in April 1998.

Other senior members of the regime survive and are living under an amnesty granted after they surrendered their forces to government troops.