- July 11, 2001 

No death penalty in Khmer Rouge trials

The Khmer Rouge are blamed for the deaths of some 1.7 million Cambodians during their 1975-79 rule   

 PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Attempts to create a U.N.-assisted tribunal in Cambodia to try Khmer Rouge leaders cleared have another hurdle, with lawmakers specifying life imprisonment as a potential verdict option.

In January, lawmakers had approved a draft law to bring justice against Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for 1.7 million deaths in the late 1970s.

Weeks later, the Constitutional Council said it worried the tribunal might allow the death penalty, which is forbidden by the constitution.

It took the Cabinet five months to make the amendment, which was forwarded two weeks ago to lawmakers. The National Assembly vote was near unanimous.

The Senate, the Constitutional Council and King Norodom Sihanouk must now approve it.

 COUNTRY PROFILE

At a glance: Cambodia

 Provided by CountryWatch.com

  CNN.com Asia

More news from our

Asia edition

The United Nations will then negotiate on setting up the long-awaited court, a process Prime Minister Hun Sen has said could happen before the end of the year.

 Khmer Rouge Leader Pol Pot died in 1998 but most of his top deputies remain alive and live freely in Cambodia. No one has been brought before a court to account for atrocities committed during the Khmer Rouge regime.

 The government has dragged its feet in approving the tribunal law, after formally requesting the United Nations' help in early 1997.

 Former Khmer Rouge cadres are in the senior ranks of the government and military. Cambodia is also concerned an international court would be a challenge to its sovereignty.

 The draft law calls for a minority of foreign judges and prosecutors to cooperate with a majority of Cambodian counterparts.

International participation is seen as essential by the United Nations because of concerns that Cambodia's judiciary is vulnerable to political influence.