One of the bigger news stories a couple of weeks ago was the execution of Saddam Hussein.  From what I gleaned from the coverage, however, the focus was more on the timing of his execution than on the crimes he committed to warrant a premature death.   Sadly, few perpetrators of the heinous crime of genocide ever stand trial.  This is  the case in Cambodia, where in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge many of those responsible for the genocide were eventually incorporated into the government, creating a bitter peace that my tour guide, Baht, describes as “half-finished.”

With the ousting of the Khmer Rouge by Vietnamese troops in 1979, the Khmer Rouge core regrouped in Western Cambodia and continued attacks throughout the 80’s and 90’s.  Wanting an end to the fighting through peaceful elections, the United Nations’ Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) oversaw well-behaved elections in 1993.   Though the elections were peaceful, the results weren’t pleasing to the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP- a party that has its history in the old Communist party and which counts many former Khmer Rouge as members.  It is headed by Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge soldier who defected to Vietnam in 1977 after the Khmer Rouge began purging its ranks).

Like a spoiled child, the CPP threatened secession until it was agreed that there would be two Prime Ministers, of which Hun Sen was one.  UNTAC declared the operation a success and left Cambodia to a half-formed peace, where the bad guys not only went unpunished, but were given power as well.

History cannot teach any lessons in Cambodia today.  As Baht said (paraphrased), “what do I tell my kids?  They know my stories, but that is all.  I cannot tell them about what happened to the Khmer Rouge because maybe they will think ‘if I do bad things, get power, make money, I will not get punished.’  They cannot learn from what happened to the Khmer Rouge.”  And since the CPP has had power, according to Baht, Cambodia’s painful recent history has been glossed over in school.

Not only is history silent, but the mourning is as well.  Prior to 1993 (when the CPP was incorporated into the government), the Cambodian people would celebrate “Angry Day” on the 20th of May (?).  On this day, people would go to the local killing field where they would tell their stories and their loved ones’ stories,  cry together, and burn effigies of Pol Pot, Ieng Sary and the other Khmer Rouge top leaders.  (I’ve also heard that sometimes people burned an effigy of Cambodia’s beloved King Sihanouk whose own political machinations helped pave the way for the Khmer Rouge.)  Similarly muted are celebrations on January 7th, known as Victory Over the Genocide Day and which mark the day the Vietnamese entered Cambodia and sent the Khmer Rouge fleeing.

This peace is half-finished, says Baht.  Not only is it half-finished for Cambodians, but the rest of the world should consider it incomplete as well.  It is an abomination that top Khmer Rouge leaders should have ever been allowed inside the United Nations as legitimate politicians (please note, I need to fact check this, but I believe I read it in Samantha Power’s A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide).   Though there is now a joint UN-Cambodian Government court established to try Khmer Rouge criminals set to begin this year, it seems to me to be a bit compromised given that the current Prime Minister, Hun Sen, has a long and complicated relationship with the Khmer Rouge.

So while the news discusses the politics and timing of Saddam’s execution (which are undoubtedly important), I prefer to focus on his crimes in the first place.  When some genocide masterminds such as Pol Pot and Slobodan Milosovic get to die in their sleep, it is justifying to know that at least one has received his due.

For the Cambodians, however, the wait continues.