A Cambodian woman cries as she prays at Choeung Ek memorial, 15 km (9 miles) south of Phnom Penh, during the 31st anniversary of the Khmer Rouge regime on April 17, 2006. It has been 31 years since the Khmer Rouge overthrew Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh and unleashed the genocide which killed an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
A young Cambodian boy looks to a tree used for killing children at the Choeung Ek memorial, on the outskirt of capital Phnom Penh, Monday, April 17, 2006, to mark the 31st anniversary of the Khmer Rouge regime. Two hundred Khmer Rouge survivors and fifty saffron clad Buddhist monks gathered together with Cambodia's main opposition party on Monday to commemorate the 1.7 million Cambodians who lost their lives during Pol Pot's genocidal regime. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)AFP
Victims of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge called for trials of its former leaders to begin as soon as possible, at a ceremony marking the day the regime took over 31 years ago.
As 50 monks said prayers for the dead at Choeung Ek, the country's most notorious killing field that is marked by a stupa filled with human skulls, opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Cambodians "can no longer stay quiet".
"These skulls are asking us to find justice for them ... we need to respond to them," he told reporters as some 200 people gathered to offer food and flowers to the monks.
After five years of bitter civil war, the communist guerrillas marched into the capital Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975.
Hours later, they emptied the city, forcing millions into the countryside in what was to become one of the worst genocides of the 20th century.
Their brutal four-year rule saw the abolition of religion, property rights, currency and schools as the entire country was turned into a vast agricultural labour camp, leading to the deaths of up to two million people.
A tribunal for former Khmer Rouge leaders is expected to open later this year, after almost a decade of talks between the government and the United Nations.
"I want the trials to start soon," said Min Yoeun, 53, who lost six family members to the regime, including one who was killed at Choeung Ek, where an estimated 9,000 people were executed.
"Nowadays, I am almost crazy -- I lost my husband, children and brothers to the Pol Pol regime," she said, referring to Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, who died in 1998.
Another victim, Chuon Sem, said: "I am appealing to the international community to help to try the Khmer Rouge leaders as soon as possible. Cambodian families were very miserable under the regime".
So far only two former regime leaders are in jail awaiting trial, and observers worry that others -- including Pol Pot's number two Nuon Chea and former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan -- could die before the joint UN-Cambodian tribunal convenes.
"We celebrate this ceremony to share the pain and sadness of the people across the country who suffered from the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime," Sam Rainsy said.
The low-key ceremony was the only one marking the Khmer Rouge's takeover.
The government remembers victims of the Khmer Rouge on May 20, or the "Day of Anger", which marks the day the regime collectivised the country.
As 50 monks said prayers for the dead at Choeung Ek, the country's most notorious killing field that is marked by a stupa filled with human skulls, opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Cambodians "can no longer stay quiet".
"These skulls are asking us to find justice for them ... we need to respond to them," he told reporters as some 200 people gathered to offer food and flowers to the monks.
After five years of bitter civil war, the communist guerrillas marched into the capital Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975.
Hours later, they emptied the city, forcing millions into the countryside in what was to become one of the worst genocides of the 20th century.
Their brutal four-year rule saw the abolition of religion, property rights, currency and schools as the entire country was turned into a vast agricultural labour camp, leading to the deaths of up to two million people.
A tribunal for former Khmer Rouge leaders is expected to open later this year, after almost a decade of talks between the government and the United Nations.
"I want the trials to start soon," said Min Yoeun, 53, who lost six family members to the regime, including one who was killed at Choeung Ek, where an estimated 9,000 people were executed.
"Nowadays, I am almost crazy -- I lost my husband, children and brothers to the Pol Pol regime," she said, referring to Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, who died in 1998.
Another victim, Chuon Sem, said: "I am appealing to the international community to help to try the Khmer Rouge leaders as soon as possible. Cambodian families were very miserable under the regime".
So far only two former regime leaders are in jail awaiting trial, and observers worry that others -- including Pol Pot's number two Nuon Chea and former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan -- could die before the joint UN-Cambodian tribunal convenes.
"We celebrate this ceremony to share the pain and sadness of the people across the country who suffered from the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime," Sam Rainsy said.
The low-key ceremony was the only one marking the Khmer Rouge's takeover.
The government remembers victims of the Khmer Rouge on May 20, or the "Day of Anger", which marks the day the regime collectivised the country.
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