K. Rouge members on trial in Cambodia
Source: Agencies |
June 28, 2011, Tuesday
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THE top four surviving members of the brutal Khmer Rouge went on trial yesterday before a tribunal aimed at finding justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who died in Cambodia's "killing fields" of the 1970s.
With the aging leaders all in their late 70s or early 80s and with Khmer Rouge overlord Pol Pot long dead, the trial before the UN-backed panel represents the last, best chance for Cambodia to bring accountability to the Khmer Rouge leadership blamed for the deaths.
All four of the defendants say they are innocent.
During their 1975-79 reign, the Khmer Rouge killed as many as a quarter of their countrymen through executions, medical neglect, overwork and starvation.
On trial are Nuon Chea, 84, who was Pol Pot's No. 2 and the group's chief ideologist; Khieu Samphan, 79, the former head of state; Ieng Sary, 85, the former foreign minister, and his wife, Ieng Thirith, 79, who served as minister for social affairs.
Chief Judge Nil Nonn opened the court session with procedural matters, including reading out the charges against the four, which include crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, religious persecution, homicide and torture.
Although all four defendants were present for the start of yesterday's session, three of them were allowed to exercise the right to excuse themselves due to poor health, leaving only Khieu Samphan in the courtroom.
Theary Sang, a human rights advocate representing some victims who are allowed a role in the proceedings, said it was fair to excuse the defendants because of their infirmity, but said it would be a shame not to hear their statements.
"We cannot try ghosts," Theary Sang said. "As a victim, I desire truth and justice from the defendant which is best obtained when he or she is coherent and alert."
Testimony and presentation of evidence is expected to begin in August or September, 32 years after the Khmer Rouge was kicked out of power in 1979 with the help of a Vietnamese invasion.
For more than a decade afterward, they waged a bloody insurgency against the Phnom Penh government. Pol Pot escaped justice with his death in 1998, then a prisoner of his own comrades as his once-mighty guerrilla movement was collapsing.
Lawyers for the defendants came out fighting yesterday, giving a hint of points they may raise later.
Lawyer Ang Udom reminded the court that Ieng Sary had been convicted and sentenced to death in absentia in 1979 by a Vietnamese-established court and that he received a royal pardon in 1996 when he led a mass defection to the government. However, the tribunal has already ruled he is still liable for charges.
Michel Pestman, representing Nuon Chea, said a full accounting of the historical context of the Khmer Rouge should include a probe of the wartime US bombing of Cambodia and Vietnam's role.
With the aging leaders all in their late 70s or early 80s and with Khmer Rouge overlord Pol Pot long dead, the trial before the UN-backed panel represents the last, best chance for Cambodia to bring accountability to the Khmer Rouge leadership blamed for the deaths.
All four of the defendants say they are innocent.
During their 1975-79 reign, the Khmer Rouge killed as many as a quarter of their countrymen through executions, medical neglect, overwork and starvation.
On trial are Nuon Chea, 84, who was Pol Pot's No. 2 and the group's chief ideologist; Khieu Samphan, 79, the former head of state; Ieng Sary, 85, the former foreign minister, and his wife, Ieng Thirith, 79, who served as minister for social affairs.
Chief Judge Nil Nonn opened the court session with procedural matters, including reading out the charges against the four, which include crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, religious persecution, homicide and torture.
Although all four defendants were present for the start of yesterday's session, three of them were allowed to exercise the right to excuse themselves due to poor health, leaving only Khieu Samphan in the courtroom.
Theary Sang, a human rights advocate representing some victims who are allowed a role in the proceedings, said it was fair to excuse the defendants because of their infirmity, but said it would be a shame not to hear their statements.
"We cannot try ghosts," Theary Sang said. "As a victim, I desire truth and justice from the defendant which is best obtained when he or she is coherent and alert."
Testimony and presentation of evidence is expected to begin in August or September, 32 years after the Khmer Rouge was kicked out of power in 1979 with the help of a Vietnamese invasion.
For more than a decade afterward, they waged a bloody insurgency against the Phnom Penh government. Pol Pot escaped justice with his death in 1998, then a prisoner of his own comrades as his once-mighty guerrilla movement was collapsing.
Lawyers for the defendants came out fighting yesterday, giving a hint of points they may raise later.
Lawyer Ang Udom reminded the court that Ieng Sary had been convicted and sentenced to death in absentia in 1979 by a Vietnamese-established court and that he received a royal pardon in 1996 when he led a mass defection to the government. However, the tribunal has already ruled he is still liable for charges.
Michel Pestman, representing Nuon Chea, said a full accounting of the historical context of the Khmer Rouge should include a probe of the wartime US bombing of Cambodia and Vietnam's role.
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