The following letter, with 25 sponsors listed below, was sent to members of the International Relations/Foreign Relations and Appropriations Committees of the U.S. House and Senate on December 16.

NGO LETTER TO CONGRESS ON CAMBODIA

As non-governmental organizations that advocate for human rights or perform humanitarian work with the people of Cambodia, we write in support of U.S. policies for justice and reconciliation. On November 13, Cambodia's two leading political parties resolved their post-election standoff and agreed to form a new governing coalition. Although this agreement was a long time in coming, and many challenges for the coalition lie ahead, we are hopeful that Cambodia is on the road to peace and stability. The moral, political, and financial assistance of the international community, including the U.S., will be crucial to ensuring the coalition's success.

Congress and the Administration have the power to assist the construction of democracy in Cambodia by encouraging cooperation among these parties and helping the coalition to succeed. In particular, the conditions placed in the 1999 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act should be deemed to have been sufficiently met to allow the restoration of the full range of U.S. assistance.

Especially damaging to the healing process now underway in Cambodia would be any effort in the new Congress to adopt language similar to the non-binding Sense of Congress resolution (H.Res.533) which emerged from the House of Representatives on October 10. The resolution called for U.S. "collection of information…for use as evidence to support a possible indictment and trial of Hun Sen." We believe that this resolution, as well as its counterpart introduced in the Senate (S.Res.309), presented an oversimplified, one-sided view of the volatile situation and devastating recent history of Cambodia. 

These resolutions may be dismissed as inconsequential by many members of Congress. H.Res.533 was approved by only seven members, utilizing suspension of the rules. However, its backers were able to use the media to convince many people that this resolution had the unanimous support of the Congress. The resolution's intrusion into a complex political situation in Cambodia had a negative impact on the standing of the U.S. Government, on the ability of diplomats to work as neutral brokers, and potentially on the work of U.S. non-governmental organizations.

We share concern about continuing human rights abuses in Cambodia, including legitimate complaints against the government and its political opponents. Responsibility for political violence and intimidation extends across party lines, from terrorist attacks by Khmer Rouge remnants to racially-motivated murders, village feuds and banditry. These violations have been well documented by neutral Cambodian human rights groups, as well as by the United Nations Center for Human Rights in Phnom Penh (UNCHR).

However, we believe these abuses cannot be separated from the deep societal trauma of the Pol Pot genocide or the decade of civil war that followed the destruction of his Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. The UN Secretary General is taking the lead in forming an international tribunal to indict leaders of the Khmer Rouge for genocide and crimes against humanity, to be implemented through the UNCHR and UN Special Representative Thomas Hammarberg. We support these efforts, since no true reconciliation will come to pass in Cambodia until the perpetrators of genocide are brought to justice. The latest UN Human Rights Report on Cambodia emphasized that "the most serious human rights violations in Cambodia in recent history had been committed by the Khmer Rouge, and noted with concern that no Khmer Rouge leader had been brought to account for his crimes."

We fear that the House and Senate resolutions may distract or deter these proceedings. The men whom Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) dismissed on the House floor as "a handful of geriatric Khmer Rouge leaders" are in fact among the worst criminals the world has ever known. Advanced age does not somehow reduce their culpability. Hun Sen, like his main competitors, should be held accountable for any abuses of power he has committed, but no abuses can be compared to those committed by the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979.

The details of Khmer Rouge rule have been thoroughly researched by individual Western scholars and by the U.S. State Department-supported Cambodia Genocide Program. We repeat the assessment of two of these scholars, Craig Etcheson and Stephen Heder, in their letter to Congress on September 26: "Calls to indict Hun Sen of Cambodia for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity have no basis in fact or law. No credible evidence exists to support a charge that Hun Sen was implicated in such crimes."

As Etcheson and Heder pointed out, there are legitimate questions of responsibility for human rights violations committed in Cambodia during the 1990s. We believe, however, that it makes sense to investigate the most serious violations first in a court of international law. If the instigators of the Khmer Rouge's well-documented crimes against humanity are held accountable for their actions, then the culture of impunity that reigns in Cambodia will be significantly affected. Violations that do not cross the thresholds defined in international law should be resolved internally by a neutral and independent judiciary.

We appeal to the leadership of both Houses of Congress, to the Chairman and membership of the House International Relations Committee, Senate Foreign Relations Committee and to the many members of Congress who have worked for reconciliation, social recovery and human development in Cambodia, to assure that the U.S. contributes constructively to a new era in Cambodia.

Some of our agencies have been involved with Cambodia since Pol Pot was driven from power almost two decades ago. Some worked inside the country, while others assisted refugees on the border or in the U.S. We have all closely followed the continuous tumult of Cambodia's history since that time. It is fair to say that our Cambodian friends want societal peace and a chance to rebuild the lives of their families and their country. They (and we) despair of the costly partisan conflicts among their leaders to advance their own political and economic agendas. As Cambodia enters a new stage of reconciliation and development, we hope that the Congress will help, not hinder, this process.

Sincerely yours,

Published quarterly by the U.S.-Indochina Reconciliation Project (USIRP)

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