The Cambodian Genocide and the Culture of Impunity

The Cambodian genocide and the culture of impunity Bruce Leimsidor, Università Ca Foscari In Cambodia, in less than four years, from April 1975, to January 1979, the Khmer Rouge, in a fanatical and brutal attempt to establish a pre- industrial agrarian society, conducted a genocide that resulted in the deaths of almost two million of its own people--- nearly one fourth of Cambodia s population--- through murder, torture, starvation, disease and overwork. Although its atrocities have been carefully documented, and there can be no doubt as to the existence of the crimes and their scope, the Cambodian genocide remains one of the few modern mass crimes against humanity for which there has been no serious attempt, either on the national or international level, to punish the perpetrators. Some 35 years after the fall of the regime, only one of the perpetrators has been tried, convicted, and is currently in jail. Two more have been arrested, but it is doubtful whether their trials will ever be completed, and it seems almost certain that there will be no further arrests. Strangely enough, there seems to be little sense of outrage in Cambodia that almost all of the perpetrators have been able to live out their lives in liberty. How did this abrogation of justice happen; how does it persist; and how does one account for the widespread indifference of much of the Cambodian populace?