|
|
Article: Cambodia: Year Zero on trial: the trial of a few surviving leaders of the notorious Khmer Rouge regime, which ruled Cambodia in the 1970s, is finally underway. But the court is a strange one, the outcome pre-determined. Lawyer Brooks Duncan dares to raise some of the questions the court will try to ignore.
- Article from:
- New Internationalist
- Article date:
- September 1, 2008
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 New Internationalist Magazine. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
The 'second edition' of An
Introduction to the Khmer Rouge Trials, a pamphlet in both English and Khmer, recently landed on my desk in Cambodia. (1) The foreign-financed booklet, promoted by the Cambodian Government and described as 'educational', says that the trials will set the historical record 'straight'.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
The trials are indeed seeking to rewrite history. But they are more likely to criminalize ideas and political ideologies than to outlaw the abuse of power. The countries funding the trials--including the US, Britain, Japan, Canada and India--have already determined what the history lesson is to be.
The ...