By Michelle Vachon
The cambodia daily

A former Khmer Rouge soldier examines his new RCAF military hat during an integration ceremony on Feb 9, 1999, at their former headquarters in Anlong Veng.

In 1999, a new chapter in the history of Cambodia began. Major problems would continue to plague the country—from poverty and malnutrition, to broken-down roads and land issues. But at least the country would now address them in peacetime.

The war was finally over. For the first time since the 1960s, no region of Cambodia was under threat from either foreign forces or Cambodian factions. The Khmer Rouge had surrendered, and the new year started with Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea visiting Angkor’s most famed temples on their “defection tour,” during which they received VIP treatment.

At the Water Festival in November, it became obvious that, no matter the difficulties ahead, Cambodians believed in this peace. From all accounts, the boat races attracted more people than in previous years, and the atmosphere was definitely one of celebration.

The AK-47s, which guards had usually carried in plain sight along Norodom Boulevard, would progressively disappear as the government implemented its disarmament policy.

Still, the tension in the air, built over decades of conflicts, took months to wane. In the debate over the Khmer Rouge trial, which would continue throughout the year, the government and some former Khmer Rouge members warned of the risk of Khmer Rouge forces rekindling the civil war if their former leaders such as Ieng Sary, who had defected in 1996, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea faced trial.

While saying in January 1999 that no former Khmer Rouge leader was guaranteed immunity, Prime Minister Hun Sen invoked national reconciliation to oppose their being put on trial. As he and the UN argued over the composition and mandate of the tribunal, Hun Sen would remind the UN and other governments of their support of the Khmer Rouge during the 1980s.

The capture of Khmer Rouge leader Ta Mok in March and the reappearance of Duch, the former director of the Tuol Sleng torture center, and his arrest in May gave the Cambodian authorities two prominent figures to bring to trial. In December, the Cambodian government sent to the UN a draft law that gave Cambodian judges a majority on the tribunal, an issue that had been a major point of contention between the government and the UN.

On Dec 21, Hun Sen declared that the Council of Ministers did not need UN approval to vote on the law. But three days later, the council postponed a decision to allow for more discussions with the UN, explained Minister of Cabinet Sok An. It would take three years for Cambodia and the UN finally to agree on a formula for the trial.

The surrender of the Khmer Rouge brought up the matter of reducing Cambodia’s military budget. Demobilization, which continues today, started with the elimination of ghost soldiers; by October, a government source reported that more than 15,000 of these nonexistent or dead soldiers had been eliminated from the payroll.

Also in 1999, the Cambodian Mine Action Center was rocked by accusations of corruption and misappropriation of funds, which led to the dismissal of Sam Sotha, CMAC director-general and Richard Warren, the UN Development Program adviser to CMAC. An independent audit conducted by KPMG revealed wrongdoing ranging from nearly $500,000 issued in fraudulent salaries to donated vehicles sold.

In May, Hun Sen discreetly signed a subdecree banning the import of toxic waste after a scandal over the dumping of 3,000 tons of mercury-contaminated waste in Sihanoukville. Formosa Plastics Corp of Taiwan had brought the waste by ship in November 1998, and dumped it with the approval of government officials. The company was forced to leave the country—and took the toxic waste with it.

On June 7, former Khmer Rouge commander Nuon Paet was sentenced to life for the abduction and execution of three Western backpackers in Kampot province in 1994. Later that month, two more Khmer Rouge members, Sam Bith and Chhouk Rin, were also charged in the crime.

In July, more than 10,000 Cambodians joined the funeral procession of Piseth Pilika, a film actress and traditional dancer was shot by two gunmen on July 6 in Phnom Penh. In October, the office of Hun Sen issued a statement denying a story published on Oct 7 by the French publication L’Express, which said that Bun Rany, Hun Sen’s wife, had ordered the killing of the actress because she was her husband’s mistress. The statement mentioned that Sam Rainsy’s sister-in-law worked for the publication. The killers have never been found.

The nitric-acid attack on Tat Marina, which left the karaoke actress disfigured for life, never led to trial. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Khun Sophal, the wife of Svay Sitha, undersecretary of state for the Council of Ministers, but she remains at large.

Cambodia became a member of Asean on April 30, 1999. The International Monetary Fund resumed loan assistance to the country in October—assistance that had been interrupted in 1997 due to the government’s deficient control of illegal logging and poor way of generating funds for its budget.

Finally, the Senate was created and the 61 appointed members sworn in on March 25 for a six-year term. The institution was expected to receive a budget of more than $1 million, which King Norodom Sihanouk asked senators to justify.