Pressure grows on 'killing fields' accused
New evidence may lead to the prosecution of seven men implicated in Cambodia's 'killing fields' genocide.
American researchers say they can prove seven Khmer Rouge leaders were responsible for mass murder.
They were all deputies of the notorious dictator Pol Pot, blamed for the torture, execution and starvation of 1.7 million Cambodians during his rule from 1975 to 79.
The findings will increase pressure on the Cambodian Government to bring a UN-assisted tribunal to try former leaders of the regime.
"The report establishes prima facie cases for prosecuting seven former high-ranking Khmer Rouge officials for their roles in the killing fields," said a statement by the Coalition for International Justice, which issued the report with the War Crimes Research Office of American University's Washington College of Law.
"No longer will those most responsible for the deaths of nearly one-third of the population of Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge reign be able to say they did not know."
The report says it has evidence of "a policy of mass murder" implicating Pol Pot's inner circle.
The report - "Seven Candidates for Prosecution: Accountability for the Crimes of the Khmer Rouge" - is written by Cambodia scholar Steve Heder and international humanitarian law expert Brian Tittemore.
No one has been brought before a court to answer for the Khmer Rouge genocide.
Pol Pot died in 1998, but most of his top lieutenants live freely in Cambodia.
