Agence France Presse
July 23, 2006
FORMER Khmer Rouge chief Ta Mok, who died last week, will be buried tomorrow in the once rebel stronghold of Anlong Veng, villagers said as a coalition of rights groups today questioned his death.
More than 3000 people have come to Anlong Veng to view Ta Mok's corpse, which has been laid out for the public, his hands clasping incense sticks and money, since yesterday.
The former military commander who briefly led the Khmer Rouge during its final days - and was awaiting trial for his role in Cambodia's genocide - died Friday aged 80 in the capital Phnom Penh.
"The people have decided to bury him (in Anlong Veng)," said Meas Mut, a son-in-law of Ta Mok, who, while condemned through much of Cambodia, is remembered here for his generosity.
Workers in a nearby pagoda were pouring concrete for what will be Ta Mok's tomb and eventually, villagers say, a shrine for the rebel.
"He never thought about his own interests. He thought about the people ... he taught us to be independent, to not be slaves," said Meas Mut, who is also a former Khmer Rouge military official.
Ta Mok trained to be a teacher but took up the gun instead in the 1950s to battle French colonialism and quickly worked his way into the leadership of Cambodia's communist revolution.
He later gained a reputation for his brutality, earning the nickname "The Butcher" for his role in some of the darkest episodes of the Khmer Rouge regime, during which he is thought to have been behind some of the worst violence that saw thousands die.
Up to two million people were executed or died of starvation and overwork between 1975 and 1979 when the Khmer Rouge, then led by Pol Pot, forced millions into the countryside in their attempt to create an agrarian utopia.
The only rebel who refused to surrender or strike an amnesty deal with the government, Ta Mok was arrested in 1999 along the Thai border and had remained in detention since then awaiting trial.
Cambodian and foreign judges have been tasked with prosecuting former leaders of the regime in a tribunal that opened earlier this month, but the first trials at the UN-backed legal effort were not expected until mid-2007.
Ta Mok was one of only two former regime leader in jail awaiting prosecution.
Several other key Khmer Rouge figures remain free in Cambodia, angering Ta Mok's supporters who say he had been unfairly detained and denied proper medical care during his last days.
A coalition of 20 Cambodian rights groups, the Alliance for Freedom and Advocacy, also questioned Ta Mok's health care, calling today for an autopsy to be performed on his body.
"It is very regrettable that the Cambodian Government was not willing to let Ta Mok see good, professional doctors," the group said.
"We call on the United Nations to immediately perform an autopsy on Ta Mok."
More than 3000 people have come to Anlong Veng to view Ta Mok's corpse, which has been laid out for the public, his hands clasping incense sticks and money, since yesterday.
The former military commander who briefly led the Khmer Rouge during its final days - and was awaiting trial for his role in Cambodia's genocide - died Friday aged 80 in the capital Phnom Penh.
"The people have decided to bury him (in Anlong Veng)," said Meas Mut, a son-in-law of Ta Mok, who, while condemned through much of Cambodia, is remembered here for his generosity.
Workers in a nearby pagoda were pouring concrete for what will be Ta Mok's tomb and eventually, villagers say, a shrine for the rebel.
"He never thought about his own interests. He thought about the people ... he taught us to be independent, to not be slaves," said Meas Mut, who is also a former Khmer Rouge military official.
Ta Mok trained to be a teacher but took up the gun instead in the 1950s to battle French colonialism and quickly worked his way into the leadership of Cambodia's communist revolution.
He later gained a reputation for his brutality, earning the nickname "The Butcher" for his role in some of the darkest episodes of the Khmer Rouge regime, during which he is thought to have been behind some of the worst violence that saw thousands die.
Up to two million people were executed or died of starvation and overwork between 1975 and 1979 when the Khmer Rouge, then led by Pol Pot, forced millions into the countryside in their attempt to create an agrarian utopia.
The only rebel who refused to surrender or strike an amnesty deal with the government, Ta Mok was arrested in 1999 along the Thai border and had remained in detention since then awaiting trial.
Cambodian and foreign judges have been tasked with prosecuting former leaders of the regime in a tribunal that opened earlier this month, but the first trials at the UN-backed legal effort were not expected until mid-2007.
Ta Mok was one of only two former regime leader in jail awaiting prosecution.
Several other key Khmer Rouge figures remain free in Cambodia, angering Ta Mok's supporters who say he had been unfairly detained and denied proper medical care during his last days.
A coalition of 20 Cambodian rights groups, the Alliance for Freedom and Advocacy, also questioned Ta Mok's health care, calling today for an autopsy to be performed on his body.
"It is very regrettable that the Cambodian Government was not willing to let Ta Mok see good, professional doctors," the group said.
"We call on the United Nations to immediately perform an autopsy on Ta Mok."
No comments:
Post a Comment