Cambodia Will Preserve Bones of Khmer Rouge Victims as Evidence of Genocide

Cambodia Will Preserve Bones of Khmer Rouge Victims as Evidence of
Genocide
VOA News
Washington
26/02/2007

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen says the bones of victims of the
Khmer Rouge genocide must be preserved as evidence for coming trials.

Mr. Hun Sen rejected calls to burn the victims' remains, saying
cremation would hamper efforts to try the former regime's leaders.

He spoke at a ceremony near the Choeung Ek killing fields, where
thousands died during four years of Khmer Rouge rule, from 1975 to
1979.

Cambodia's former king, Norodom Sihanouk, wants the bones burned
according to Buddhist tradition, rather than displayed for what he
calls the pleasure of tourists.

Cambodia and the United Nations agreed in 2003 to create a tribunal to
try former Khmer Rouge leaders for the atrocities. But no trials have
been held.

The ultra-Maoist movement's campaign to establish a classless,
agrarian society led to the deaths of nearly two million people, from
execution, overwork, disease and starvation.

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