Article

Prosecuting starvation in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

J. Solomon Bashi

• Wisconsin international law journal, Vol. 29, Spring 2011, p. 34-69

English

Photocopies

Although numerous governments have manipulated food supplies in an effort to control their constituents and target specific populations, there is no legal precedent for trying and convicting government leaders for government-induced famines. As the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) attempts to administer justice to the victims of the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) regime, which held power from 1975 to 1979, the court should examine the feasibility of prosecuting the DK leaders for the starvation that they caused. While starvation may not have been the most brutal type of crime committed by the DK regime, it was certainly the most prevalent. This article discusses the evolution of starvation as an international crime and ascertains how these laws apply to any potential prosecution for starvation of DK leaders in the ECCC.