Cambodia’s government has approved a draft law that will jail for up to five years anyone denying atrocities, including genocide, committed by the Khmer Rouge.
The draft law – which aims to prevent a repeat of the Khmer Rouge’s crimes and provide justice for victims – was approved during a cabinet meeting chaired by the prime minister, Hun Manet, on Friday, the government spokesperson Pen Bona said.
The bill stipulates “the prosecution of any individual” who denies or condones the atrocities committed under the Khmer Rouge, according to a government statement.
The bill’s definition of atrocities includes genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, for which a UN-backed court prosecuted top Khmer Rouge leaders nine years ago.
Under the seven-article bill, people who “deny the truth of the bitter past” will be jailed for between one and five years and could face fines of $2,500 (10 million riel) to $125,000.
The ultra-Maoist movement led by Pol Pot wiped out about 2 million people through starvation, torture, forced labour and mass executions during its 1975-79 rule.
The draft bill, which comes months before the 50th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge takeover in mid-April, will be sent to parliament soon for approval, Pen Bona said.
It was made at the request of influential former leader Hun Sen, who in May claimed that some politicians still refused to recognise the Khmer Rouge’s genocide and called on the government to punish them by law.
The law would replace a similar bill, also initiated by Hun Sen and enacted in 2013, that bans statements denying crimes by the communist Khmer Rouge and carries a sentence of up to two years in jail.
Rights groups have accused Hun Sen – who ruled Cambodia for nearly four decades – of using the legal system to crush opposition.
The longtime leader, himself a former Khmer Rouge cadre, stepped down in 2023 and handed the premiership to his eldest son, Hun Manet.
A UN-backed tribunal found two top Khmer Rouge leaders guilty of genocide in a landmark ruling in 2018.
