The United Nations has withdrawn its support for Cambodian efforts to mount a war crimes tribunal. The decision has dismayed governments that had hoped the world body would assist Phnom Penh as it tried to provide some justice for victims of genocide during the years of Khmer Rouge rule. The U.N. acted as it did because there was no guarantee that the Cambodian proposal would do just that; it rightfully chose not to participate in a coverup.

The U.N. was asked in June 1997 by Cambodia's co-prime ministers to help bring to justice those responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million people during the Khmer Rouge's bloody reign of terror from 1975 through 1979. Eventually, experts recommended that an international court be established, but that proposal was rejected by Mr. Hun Sen, who was by then the country's sole prime minister.

He preferred a domestic court that would have the participation of foreign judges and prosecutors. U.N. officials helped draft a law to permit that, but the legislation approved by the National Assembly did not include an agreement negotiated between the national government and the world body. That bill became law, and Mr. Hun Sen declared that it would take precedence over any agreement that had been negotiated. Concerned that its continued involvement would provide a fig leaf for a flawed tribunal, the U.N. decided to withdraw its support for the process.