[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 399 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 399

   Urging the President to provide encouragement and support for the 
   ratification, establishment, and financing of a tribunal for the 
      prosecution of surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 25, 2004

 Ms. Millender-McDonald (for herself, Mr. Rohrabacher, and Mr. Lantos) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Urging the President to provide encouragement and support for the 
   ratification, establishment, and financing of a tribunal for the 
      prosecution of surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime.

Whereas the Khmer Rouge regime of Democratic Kampuchea, led by Pol Pot, 
        Secretary General of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, and other members 
        of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist 
        Party of Kampuchea, subjected the people of Cambodia, including various 
        religious groups and ethnic minorities, to genocide and other crimes 
        against humanity between April 17, 1975, and January 7, 1979;
Whereas genocide and other crimes against humanity committed during the Khmer 
        Rouge regime led to the deaths of over 1,700,000 Cambodians;
Whereas former United States Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, stated in 
        1991: ``Cambodia and the U.S. are both signatories to the Genocide 
        Convention and we will support efforts to bring to justice those 
        responsible for the mass murders of the 1970s if the new Cambodian 
        government chooses to pursue this path'';
Whereas the Cambodian Genocide Justice Act (22 U.S.C. 2656 note) states that 
        ``it is the policy of the United States to support efforts to bring to 
        justice members of the Khmer Rouge for their crimes against humanity'' 
        and ``urges the President to collect, or assist appropriate 
        organizations and individuals to collect relevant data on crimes of 
        genocide committed in Cambodia; . . . to encourage the establishment of 
        a national or international criminal tribunal for the prosecution of 
        those accused of genocide in Cambodia; and . . . to provide such 
        national or international tribunal with information collected pursuant 
        to'' the Cambodian Genocide Justice Act;
Whereas the Group of Experts for Cambodia, established pursuant to United 
        Nations General Assembly Resolution 52/135, recommended in a report 
        dated February 18, 1999, that ``the United Nations establish an ad hoc 
        international tribunal to try Khmer Rouge officials for crimes against 
        humanity and genocide'' and that ``as a matter of prosecutorial policy, 
        the independent prosecutor appointed by the United Nations limit his or 
        her investigations to those persons most responsible for the most 
        serious violations of international human rights law and exercise his or 
        her discretion regarding investigations, indictments and trials so as to 
        fully take into account the twin goals of individual accountability and 
        national reconciliation in Cambodia'';
Whereas, after 5 years of negotiations, the United Nations and the Royal 
        Government of Cambodia have agreed to establish a tribunal, the 
        Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of 
        Crimes Committed during the Period of Democratic Kampuchea, that 
        recognizes Cambodian sovereignty and has jurisdiction under Cambodian 
        law to try those accused of crimes against humanity during the Khmer 
        Rouge regime;
Whereas, although a majority of the judges on the tribunal will be from 
        Cambodia, all decisions will require the affirmative vote of at least 
        one judge nominated by the Secretary General of the United Nations;
Whereas the Extraordinary Chambers will combine the advantages of national 
        justice with international procedural and legal standards in a manner 
        similar to the tribunals established for Sierra Leone, East Timor, and 
        Kosovo;
Whereas, on May 13, 2003, the United Nations General Assembly approved the 
        agreement between the United Nations and the Royal Government of 
        Cambodia and appealed to the international community to provide 
        assistance, including financial and personnel support, to the 
        Extraordinary Chambers;
Whereas, on June 6, 2003, the United Nations and the Royal Government of 
        Cambodia signed an agreement ``to regulate the cooperation between the 
        United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia in bringing to trial 
        senior leaders of Democratic Kampuchea'';
Whereas the agreement now awaits ratification by the National Assembly of 
        Cambodia and financial support from the international community;
Whereas Chhit Choeun (also known as Ta Mok), former Chief of the General Staff 
        of the Armed Forces of the Khmer Rouge, and Kang Khek Iev (also known as 
        Deuch), commandant of the Tuol Sleng prison during the Khmer Rouge 
        regime, are now in detention in Cambodia awaiting trial; and
Whereas other surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime continue to live 
        freely in Cambodia with complete impunity: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) urges the President to encourage the National Assembly 
        of Cambodia to ratify the agreement between the United Nations 
        and the Royal Government of Cambodia to establish a tribunal, 
        the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the 
        Prosecution of Crimes Committed during the Period of Democratic 
        Kampuchea, for the prosecution of surviving leaders of the 
        Khmer Rouge regime of Democratic Kampuchea who committed 
        genocide and other crimes against humanity between April 17, 
        1975, and January 7, 1979; and
            (2) urges the President, after such agreement is ratified, 
        to provide support for the establishment and financing of the 
        Extraordinary Chambers, consistent with the Cambodian Genocide 
        Justice Act (22 U.S.C. 2656 note).
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