May 7, 1998

So Brother Number One is dead. But Brother Number Two lives; he is Nuon Chea. Brother Number Three happily thrives; he is Ieng Sary. Brother Number Four is also alive, though perhaps not amused in recent weeks; he is Ta Mok. Brother Number Five is always fine; he is Khieu Samphan. There are others, including Khieu Thirith, Khieu Ponnary, Ke Pauk, Khang Khek Euv, and Mam Nay. These people were all centrally involved in the planning and execution of high state policy during the period of the Cambodian genocide. And all are still free in Cambodia.

After Adolf Hitler's death, the world did not shrink from the legal pursuit of Hitler's top henchmen. Neither should the world shrink from the task of judging Pol Pot's top officers. Should Cambodia's equivalent of Göring, Goebbels, Himmler, Eichmann, and Ribbentrop be forgotten, and left to get on with what remains of their lives? Mok, Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ke Pauk, Ieng Sary and the others all stand accused of culpability for the crimes of the "Pol Pot time". Cambodia cannot truly begin to heal until these accusations are definitively answered.

It is pathetic that only upon Pol Pot's death does the world seem truly moved to action. The United States is now drafting genocide indictments against Pol Pot's top colleagues. The United Nations has launched an official investigation to determine if there is evidence that the Khmer Rouge committed crimes against humanity. Thailand has announced its cooperation with efforts to capture the suspected war criminals. Perhaps even China will withdraw its reluctance to see justice done. It's a bit late, as Khieu Kanharith recently noted. But late is much better than never. In fact, it is essential.

After decades of manipulation, abuse and betrayal by so many countries of the region and the world, the international community owes Cambodia a great debt. UNTAC was a substantial down payment, but it does not settle the account. The international community must remain engaged with Cambodia's rehabilitation, and this implies far more than rebuilding economic infrastructure and social institutions. The ethical underpinnings of Cambodian society were ruthlessly torn asunder by the Khmer Rouge, replaced by a culture of violence and impunity. This is why the rehabilitation of Cambodia necessarily also entails reviving a sense of moral integrity in Cambodian society. The most crucial place to begin is with the problem of impunity.

Some wonder, why bother? Why bother to trouble ourselves with a few discredited old men who are gradually being stripped of their ability to kill again? The answer is clear. Crimes against humanity are the worst crimes, worse than crimes against an individual, worse than crimes against the state. These are crimes against all of humanity. When the most monstrous crimes humans have ever conceived go unpunished, why should Cambodians worry about lesser crimes?

What is wrong with insulting my elders, and ignoring their words? The Khmer Rouge insulted elders in my village, and then killed them, but no punishment was ever meted out for that. What is wrong with threatening to kill a motodop in order to possess his bike? The Khmer Rouge stole every moto and everything else in the entire country, and no one was ever punished for that. What is wrong with intimidating political opponents, even killing some of them? The Khmer Rouge killed all of their opponents, and a goodly number of their supporters; they were never punished. Any crimes I could commit will be less than those committed by the Khmer Rouge. They got away with it, so why shouldn't I also do as I wish? This goes to the root of the problem of impunity.

Until the worst crimes are punished, lesser crimes will be relativized. Until the matter of Khmer Rouge impunity is formally addressed, there will always be a ready excuse for the anarchy in Cambodian society: the Khmer Rouge were worse. Until the worst perpetrators are brought before the law, there can be no rule of law in Cambodia. Genocide justice is essential for reconciliation and national reconstruction.

I believe that the top Khmer Rouge leaders do not really know the magnitude of the chaos they initiated and supervised. They need to learn a few things. Mok says hundreds of thousands died, yes, but not millions. He is wrong. He needs to learn that the number of executions passed 1 million, and the total dead nearly 2 million. He needs to learn that when you set in motion a killing machine, there is no telling when it will stop. All Cambodians need to learn this.

On July 10, 1976, Ieng Sary explained to his colleagues at the Democratic Kampuchea Ministry of Foreign Affairs that in Cambodia, up to "5%" of the people "are traitors", and that these "pests" must be exposed and exterminated. Ieng Sary needs to learn that when you dehumanize people, once you have described them as pests or microbes, you have laid the essential foundation for genocide and crimes against humanity. He also needs to learn that by propagating this line, he exposed himself to charges of complicity in genocide, as well as of planning and commanding genocide. All Cambodians also need to learn these lessons.

Khieu Samphan says that what was done in Democratic Kam-puchea was necessary to save Cambodia from being swallowed by the "yuon". Khieu Samphan needs to learn that when patriotic vigilance is transformed into racial paranoia, pogroms and military aggression, not only is it an international crime, but it also a totally counterproductive foreign policy. All Cambodians need to learn this lesson, as well.

Ke Pauk says that he was just following orders. He needs to learn that in a civilized society, following illegal and immoral orders is a crime in and of itself, even if refusal to do so would put your own life at risk. Cambodia needs to learn this, too, if Cambodia is ever to return to the ranks of civilized nations.

In death, Pol Pot is revealed for what he was, just a man, evil to be sure, but just a man. And just as the evil Pol Pot is no longer 10 feet tall, so are his accomplices in genocide cut down to size. It is time to judge the criminals, who are now seen to be not monsters, but rather mere humans who had a monstrous disregard for human life. It is time for an accounting of the worst crimes. The lessons which will be learned through that accounting will do more to heal Cambodian society and promote national reconciliation than anything else we can do.

- Craig Etcheson is a long-time observer of Cambodia who studies the wounds inflicted by genocide.

Phnom Penh Post, Issue 7/8, April 24 - May 7, 1998