Cambodia genocide verdict a signal to other perpetrators: US

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PHNOM PENH, Nov 17, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The US has welcomed Cambodia’s
landmark genocide verdict and said it served as a warning that perpetrators
of mass atrocities, “even those at the highest levels”, will eventually face
justice for their crimes.

A war crimes tribunal in Cambodia found the Khmer Rouge’s former head of
state Khieu Samphan, 87, and “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea, 92, guilty of
genocide on Friday and sentenced them to life in prison.

The historic verdict comes nearly 40 years after the Khmer Rouge were
expelled from Cambodia following a four-year reign of terror that left about
a quarter of the population dead from starvation, mass executions, and
overwork.

“Their crimes were numerous, calculated, and grave,” US State Department
spokesperson Heather Nauert said, commending the courage of the victims and
witnesses who testified during the trial. “Let this be a message to other
perpetrators of mass atrocities, even those at the highest levels, including
former heads of state, that such actions will not be tolerated and they will
ultimately be brought to justice,” she said in a statement.

Cambodia’s neighbour Myanmar has come under fire in recent months for its
handling of the Rohingya crisis, which United Nations investigators believe
amounts to “genocide” given the atrocities perpetrated on the stateless
Muslim minority.

Myanmar has denied the allegations but UN investigators have urged that the
case be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation
and prosecution.

Despite the show of support for war crimes prosecution, the US is one of
the few Western countries that is not signed up to the ICC, which has a
mandate to investigate the gravest offences including genocide and crimes
against humanity.

The country’s refusal to be party to the body erupted again following an
ICC request to open an investigation into alleged war crimes by the US
military and intelligence officials in Afghanistan, especially over the abuse
of detainees.

White House National Security Advisor John Bolton called the Hague-based
rights body “unaccountable” and threatened to arrest and sanction judges and
other officials of the court if it moved to charge any American.