Whether foreigners like it or not, Cambodians should decide who's 'most responsible' for Khmer Rouge crimes

PHNOM PENH (Herald) - Any decision to expand the Khmer Rouge tribunal beyond those now on trial will need the support of Cambodians and key donors such as Japan and Australia, The Diplomat  said in a commentary published Wednesday following recent attempts by a UN-backed Swiss judge to extend the investigations to those further down the chain of command.

The regional current affairs magazine noted that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) had been
tasked with putting those "most responsible" into the dock, which is "widely accepted as the surviving members of the Khmer Rouge Standing Committee."

The three now on trial – Pol Pot's former deputy Nuon Chea, former head of state Khieu Samphan and former foreign minister Ieng Sary – "wrote and deployed government policy" between 1975 and 1979, it said, noting that the fourth defendant, Sary's wife and former social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, had been found medically unfit for trial.

"Whether the definition of what constitutes 'most responsible' for the deaths of up to 2.2 million people should be extended to include district officials is an important point," the commentary said.

"Additionally, the further investigators descend down the ranks, the closer they get to the very people who made the tribunal possible in the first place.

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