According to Alex Hinton, the Democratic Kampuchea violence was genocide both in
the "strict sense" of the Genocide Convention such as the attacks on ethnic
minorities like Cham and Vietnamese and religious groups like Buddhist monks, and
in the broad sense such as "attempts to annihilate political and economic groups"
(Post, October 7, 2005).
Hinton's assertion is wrong in law and in fact.
There is no evidence the Khmer Rouge leadership had an intent to destroy any group
based on their race, ethnicity or religion. Admittedly, some members of ethnic and
religious minority groups died during DK, but dead bodies do not necessarily equate
with genocide.
On the Chams: The notable incident occurred in 1976 in which a high-ranking DK official
was killed and a few were injured in the Cham armed rebellion in Kampong Cham. As
a result, the Cham in that the area were dispersed and those responsible apprehended.
This was a military or security response rather than conduct based on race or ethnicity.
In addition, a lot of Chams, like other ethnicities, were part of the communist revolution
and worked for the top organs of the state from the National Assembly's Permanent
Committee (Mat Ly) to the top secret state security apparatus S-21, such as Yeu Math,
Ny Sman, Tam Math and Sim Mel. True, of 14,000 S-21 prisoners, about 40 Chams were
"processed" through the prison, and about 20 of these were executed. Nothing,
including their confessions, suggested they were killed because they were Cham. Like
many other prisoners, they were arrested and sent to S-21 because of being implicated
in alleged anti-revolutionary activities. Sim Mel, who was one of the S-21 interrogators,
was executed based on the fact that he, without permission, killed many prisoners
he interrogated. His victims included Meas Ke, a director of Prince Sihanouk's Cabinet,
and a fellow KR soldier, Keng Mam. These deaths caused Duch to suspect Mel and recall
him from interrogation duties and place him in an S-21 food production unit. Implicated
by a prisoner as a traitor, he was brought back to S-21, interrogated and killed.
In regions with high Cham populations, DK created a "Khmer-Islamic Educational
Training Unit" which was usually staffed by Chams and even had their own cooperative
centers. For instance, in the eastern region there was a "Khmer-Islamic Training
Unit" attached to Region 203. Mzas Loh and Mat Ly (who also became CPP high-ranking
officials), according to their biography, were a part of the Unit. Ysa Osman, a researcher
of the Documentation Center in his Oukobah (2002) found that KR committed genocide
against Chams but the evidence he collected, such as the act of prohibiting Islamic
practices, is not evidence of genocide.
On the Buddhist monks: Contrary to Hinton's assertion, there was no evidence to suggest
that the KR had a policy or intent to destroy Buddhist monks. The temples in all
main centers remained intact. Admittedly, a few wooden temples and big houses in
remote regions were dismantled in order to use the wood for building cooperative
centers, storage and primary schools.
Immediately after the DK takeover, monks were allowed to stay in the temples but
were told to produce food and cook for themselves. This was a main factor causing
them to disrobe and become farmers/workers like the rest of the society. Forced disrobing
and prohibition of religious practice are not crimes under the Genocide Convention.
True, some of them died from the harsh conditions, but this kind of death is not
genocide.
On the Vietnamese: They were allowed to leave the country without harm. About 400,000
left by the end of 1976, although an unknown number remained. When border conflicts
intensified in 1977, public anti-Vietnamese rhetoric began to emerge through state
media, but it was meant for the enemy over the border. Admittedly, there were a number
of Vietnamese killed in response to the coup plot in mid 1977. Again, this was a
response to a security threat and not because of their ethnic background. Ben Kiernan's
evidence of the central genocidal policy against Vietnamese was his interview with
a layperson who claimed to have seen a top secret "Directive from 870, (the
CPK Center)": (Pol Pot Regime, p269), that "instructed local officials
to arrest all ethnic Vietnamese..." In fact, there was no "Directive from
870" because the Office 870 did not issue either that alleged directive or directives
of that nature.
Alex Hinton is incorrect to claim that (1) killing of political and economic groups
is also genocide in the "broad sense" of the convention, and (2) that most
scholars of genocide agree.
The Travaux Préparatoires of the Genocide Convention demonstrate that destroying
groups based on political affiliation or economics was expressly excluded from the
convention. Although scholar Beth Van Schaack (1997) argues that destruction of political
groups constitutes genocide based on a higher law or jus cogens, even she did not
attempt to argue that politicide is a crime under the convention, in any sense. Her
problem is, however, that genocide is a treaty-based crime and as such the Vienna
Convention on the Law of Treaties applies. This convention does not allow "smart"
or broad interpretation of a treaty - either something is in the treaty or it is
out.
In the case of Cambodia, such incorporation of politicide would be contrary to current
jurisprudence on genocide and the terms of the convention. It would be a retroactive
move, an act that is prohibited by the 1993 Constitution and the Paris Accords 1991.
Bora Touch, Sydney
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