Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the Adoption of the Draft Agreement by the U.N. General Assembly over the Khmer Rouge Trials

May 14, 2003

The Government of Japan welcomes the fact that a draft resolution, of which Japan is a main sponsor, for approving a draft agreement concerning cooperation between the Government of Cambodia and the United Nations for the Khmer Rouge (KR) Trials was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on May 13.
After the announcement by the United Nations in February last year that it would drop talks with the Government of Cambodia, Japan has been working for the realisation of the Khmer Rouge Trials, especially by urging the two parties to resume talks and sponsoring the draft resolution to give the UN Secretary-General a clear mandate to reopen negotiations with the Government of Cambodia.
It is the position of the Government of Japan that, respecting the will of the Cambodian government and people to the fullest, the former Khmer Rouge leaders involved in the atrocities during the Democratic Kampuchea period should be properly punished. The Government of Japan thus hopes that the Constitutional Authorities of Cambodia will soon ratify the draft agreement and the Government of Cambodia and the United Nations will continue their efforts with support from the international community, toward the realization of the Khmer Rouge Trials.

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