Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
controlled Cambodia. Euphemistically known as the 'events of 1997' in Cambodia, much
of the international community condemned the violence as a coup.
As 1998 began, the CPP announced an all-out offensive against its enemies in the north.
By April it was closing in on the Khmer Rouge strongholds of Anlong Veng and Preah Vi-
hear, and amid this heavy fighting Pol Pot evaded justice by dying a natural death on 15
April in the captivity of his former Khmer Rouge comrades. The fall of Anlong Veng in
April was followed by the fall of Preah Vihear in May, and the surviving big three, Ta
Mok, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, were forced to flee into the jungle near the Thai
border with their remaining troops.
When Jemaah Islamiyah (affiliated with Al Qaeda) bomber Hambali was arrested in Thailand
in August 2003, it later surfaced that he had been living in a backpacker hostel on Boeng Kak
lake for about six months.
The 1998 election result reinforced the reality that the CPP was now the dominant force
in the Cambodian political system and on 25 December Hun Sen received the Christmas
present he had been waiting for: Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea were defecting to the
government side. The international community began to pile on the pressure for the estab-
lishment of some sort of war-crimes tribunal to try the remaining Khmer Rouge leader-
ship. After lengthy negotiations, agreement was finally reached on the composition of a
court to try the surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge. The CPP was suspicious of a UN-
administered trial as the UN had sided with the Khmer Rouge-dominated coalition
against the government in Phnom Penh, and the ruling party wanted a major say in who
was to be tried and for what. The UN for its part doubted that the judiciary in Cambodia
was sophisticated or impartial enough to fairly oversee such a major trial. A compromise
solution - a mixed tribunal of three international and four Cambodian judges requiring a
super majority of two plus three for a verdict - was eventually agreed upon.
Early 2002 saw Cambodia's first-ever local elections to select village- and commune-
level representatives, an important step in bringing grassroots democracy to the country.
Despite national elections since 1993, the CPP continued to monopolise political power at
local and regional levels and only with commune elections would this grip be loosened.
The national elections of July 2003 saw a shift in the balance of power, as the CPP consol-
idated its grip on Cambodia and the Sam Rainsy Party overhauled Funcinpec as the
second party. This trend continued into the 2008 election when the CPP's majority grew.
However, the 2013 election saw a massive reversal in the trend as the opposition managed
