Dengarkan

Cambodia’s National Assembly has just finalised a new law that makes it illegal to deny atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime.

The Khmer Rouge was responsible for the death of nearly 2 million people during their four-year reign of terror in the 1970s.

The new law imposes punishments of up to 2 years in prison or a fine of 1,000 US dollars.

Victims of the Khmer Rouge regime have welcomed the proposal.

72-year-old Bou Meng is one of only three survivors of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison.

“It was a big prison set up by Pol Pot. My wife and I were detained there. I don’t have any problems now and I support what the government is doing.”

The new law has the backing of Prime Minister Hun Sen, himself a former cadre of the Khmer Rouge.

The move comes ahead of national elections in July, which the PM’s ruling party is expected to win by a landslide.

Hun Sen has been campaigning aggresively, and has suggested that an opposition victory would bring back the Khmer Rouge.

“If there is no Khmer Rouge regime, why do we need to try them? So, as far as I’m concerned, we still have time to propose a new law to punish anyone who says that there’s no Khmer Rouge regime.”

The proposal came after the release of a recording of Kem Sokha, the deputy president of the opposition party, in which he accused Vietnam of fabricating the detention and torture of thousands of Cambodians at the Tuol Sleng prison.

The PM, Hun Sen, has repeatedly warned Cambodians of the chaos that will ensue across the country if the opposition leader doesn’t apologise for his comments.

But Kem Sokha from the Cambodia Rescue Party dismisses the charges.

“It’s the usual tactics of the CPP, the ruling party, during election time. They always misinterpret things in order to win over public opinion. They falsely accuse, spread misinformation and threaten the opposition.”

Kem Sokha conceded that victims of the Khmer Rouge were tortured and killed in the Tuol Sleng prison, but claims it was carried out with the support of the Vietnamese.

And he believes that he was misquoted by Hun Sen.

A few days after the law was finalised, a former top Khmer Rouge leader, Nuon Chea, expressed remorse for atrocities committed while in power.

He’s now on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity at the UN-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh.

To date, only one senior-level Khmer Rouge figure has been convicted of crimes committed during that period – two other leaders are still on trial.

The opposition Cambodia Rescue Party quickly declared its support for the new law, while political experts say it’s a step in the right direction, for a country still coming to terms with its turbulent history.

But Loa Monghai, the former president of the Asian Human Rights Commission, says the law has to be used wisely.

“It’s important because all of us admit that Khmer Rouge did the wrong thing. And denying that would be an affront to the victims, the deaths and the survivors who are still victims of the Khmer Rouge rule that hurt them, hurt the memory of those who died and those who have been killed and assassinated.”

“But when you decide something based on emotion, the law will not be good to implement. You cannot trust the law without an independent or impartial judiciary because then we don’t know whether the law will be used discriminately or not.”