Opinion about Cambodian genocide in Phnom Penh - I have been there.....published in the Boston Globe
The Khmer Rouge, genocide, and justice
Echo opinion letter published in The Boston Globe:
Stephen Kinzer asserts that the term “genocide” is often used inappropriately in situations where it does not apply.
For example, Kinzer states that the Cambodian-on-Cambodian carnage committed by the Khmer Rouge during the 1970s should not be considered genocide because “there was no ethnic difference between killers and victims.”
True enough, considering that genocide involves an intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Nevertheless, the widespread and systematic (horrendous) killings that took place in Cambodia did not go unpunished.
They resulted in the conviction of Khmer Rouge leaders for multiple crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. (But no real "Nuremburg" type of trial took place.
Echo opinion letter published in The Boston Globe:
Stephen Kinzer asserts that the term “genocide” is often used inappropriately in situations where it does not apply.
I have been to Phnom Penh
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| My visit to the Killing fields in Cambodia |
Accordingly, he recommends that it be dropped from our “political vocabulary.”
For example, Kinzer states that the Cambodian-on-Cambodian carnage committed by the Khmer Rouge during the 1970s should not be considered genocide because “there was no ethnic difference between killers and victims.”
True enough, considering that genocide involves an intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Nevertheless, the widespread and systematic (horrendous) killings that took place in Cambodia did not go unpunished.
They resulted in the conviction of Khmer Rouge leaders for multiple crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. (But no real "Nuremburg" type of trial took place.
In fact, the brutal leader of the genocide Pol Pot died mysteriously, probably the victim of purposeful euthanazia. Only one man was tried for the widespread "genocide".)
On the other hand, the large Vietnamese community living in Cambodia, in fact, was targeted for extermination, for which the Khmer Rouge head of state, Khieu Samphan, was tried and convicted of genocide by a United Nations-backed tribunal.
The tribunal’s Supreme Court Chamber, on which I sat, affirmed his conviction.
Whether or not genocide should be dropped from our political vocabulary, it continues to have an important place in our legal vocabulary.
From Phillip Rapoza in New Bedford, Massachusetts
The writer retired in 2015, as chief justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, after which he served as an international judge on the Supreme Court Chamber of the Khmer Rouge tribunal, formally known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.
On the other hand, the large Vietnamese community living in Cambodia, in fact, was targeted for extermination, for which the Khmer Rouge head of state, Khieu Samphan, was tried and convicted of genocide by a United Nations-backed tribunal.
The tribunal’s Supreme Court Chamber, on which I sat, affirmed his conviction.
Whether or not genocide should be dropped from our political vocabulary, it continues to have an important place in our legal vocabulary.
From Phillip Rapoza in New Bedford, Massachusetts
The writer retired in 2015, as chief justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, after which he served as an international judge on the Supreme Court Chamber of the Khmer Rouge tribunal, formally known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.
Labels: Khmer Rouge, Massachusetts, New Bedford, Phillip Rapoza, Pol Pot
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 7:20 AM
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