The human, political and economic catastrophe Cambodia witnessed during the Khmer Rouge years continues to haunt the country. Even as the trial of the former leaders of Khmer Rouge awaits royal assent, the controversy over bringing the criminals to book remains mired in political wrangles, legal concerns, divisions among the survivors and new interventions by the UN and foreign governments. The saga of the trials also exposes the value, perversions and uncertainties that accompany retrospective justice for mass murder.
