Captured Khmer Rouge army chief Ta Mok sits in a prison cell at the Cambodia military prosecution center in Phnom Penh, in this March 6, 1999 file photo. Relatives of ailing ex-Khmer Rouge army chief gathered in the capital, Phnom Penh, on Friday July 14, 2006, seeking permission to visit him at a military hospital where he was reportedly close to death, a relative said. (AP Photo)Friday, July 14, 2006
By Phann Ana and Adam Piore
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Former Khmer Rouge Military Commander Ta Mok has lapsed into a coma and could be about to die, his lawyer Benson Samay told reporters Thursday.
"The situation is urgent," Benson Samay said at a Phnom Penh press conference, adding that he had summoned Ta Mok's children to the hospital where he was being treated.
"He could pass away tomorrow morning, in a few days or next week if his condition does not improve," he said.
The 81-year-old prisoner is expected to be a key defendant—and witness—in the upcoming Khmer Rouge tribunal and his death would be a blow to efforts to uncover and trace responsibility for the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians during the 1975-1979 Pol Pot regime.
Prosecutors for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia began the investigative phase of the tribunal on Monday.
Ta Mok had tuberculosis, his lungs and bronchial tubes were severely inflamed and he lapsed into the coma Wednesday night, according to Benson Samay. Doctors drained fluid from his lungs and throat Wednesday, he added.
Preah Ket Mealea Hospital has been coordinating with Calmette Hospital to treat him, Benson Samay said.
"The fluid is very dangerous and could choke him to death," Benson Samay said.
Ta Mok's niece Ven Ra said earlier this week that her uncle had been asking for medical assistance in prison for at least three months.
"He said they wanted to let him die," she said.
Benson Samay denied Thursday that authorities wanted Ta Mok dead, arguing that they had fulfilled their obligations. But he added: "If he had been brought to the hospital about a month ago, he might have been saved. But it is so late now."
Nuon Dara, Ta Mok's doctor at the military prison, dismissed those complaints.
"He always accuses us of this," Nuon Dara said, referring to Benson Samay. "I treated [Ta Mok] and monitored him for a long time, and his health was never in serious condition. He got sicker when he arrived at the hospital, he was just a little sick at the prison."
Ta Mok's death at this time would be "outrageous," given the amount of resources the government has at its disposal to care for him, said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
"If he dies we will miss an important piece of history and it will make the job of the prosecutors more difficult," Youk Chhang said.
"Why has someone not visited him?" he asked.
Ta Mok is alleged to have created one of the first interrogation and execution centers in areas of southwestern Cambodia "liberated" by the Khmer Rouge prior to their victory in 1975.
The center was part of a nationwide network of wartime Khmer Rouge prisons that were later superseded by the notorious S21 prison and torture center in Phnom Penh.
Ta Mok is also believed to have overseen brutal purges that resulted in the execution of tens of thousands of cadre in the regime's Eastern Zone.
On Thursday, however, Benson Samay told reporters that Ta Mok had actually been in charge of breeding poultry, planting rice and constructing infrastructure projects like roads, dams and bridges during Democratic Kampuchea.
"Please inform the whole world that I have never killed anyone during that period," Benson Samay quoted Ta Mok as saying.
"Ta Mok has mentioned that the international medias have blamed him for all the atrocities but have failed to investigate what the Western governments had done when they initially supported the Khmer Rouge," Benson Samay said, reading from a statement.
"He will reveal all the details when the time comes and the world will be shocked," he added.
"The situation is urgent," Benson Samay said at a Phnom Penh press conference, adding that he had summoned Ta Mok's children to the hospital where he was being treated.
"He could pass away tomorrow morning, in a few days or next week if his condition does not improve," he said.
The 81-year-old prisoner is expected to be a key defendant—and witness—in the upcoming Khmer Rouge tribunal and his death would be a blow to efforts to uncover and trace responsibility for the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians during the 1975-1979 Pol Pot regime.
Prosecutors for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia began the investigative phase of the tribunal on Monday.
Ta Mok had tuberculosis, his lungs and bronchial tubes were severely inflamed and he lapsed into the coma Wednesday night, according to Benson Samay. Doctors drained fluid from his lungs and throat Wednesday, he added.
Preah Ket Mealea Hospital has been coordinating with Calmette Hospital to treat him, Benson Samay said.
"The fluid is very dangerous and could choke him to death," Benson Samay said.
Ta Mok's niece Ven Ra said earlier this week that her uncle had been asking for medical assistance in prison for at least three months.
"He said they wanted to let him die," she said.
Benson Samay denied Thursday that authorities wanted Ta Mok dead, arguing that they had fulfilled their obligations. But he added: "If he had been brought to the hospital about a month ago, he might have been saved. But it is so late now."
Nuon Dara, Ta Mok's doctor at the military prison, dismissed those complaints.
"He always accuses us of this," Nuon Dara said, referring to Benson Samay. "I treated [Ta Mok] and monitored him for a long time, and his health was never in serious condition. He got sicker when he arrived at the hospital, he was just a little sick at the prison."
Ta Mok's death at this time would be "outrageous," given the amount of resources the government has at its disposal to care for him, said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
"If he dies we will miss an important piece of history and it will make the job of the prosecutors more difficult," Youk Chhang said.
"Why has someone not visited him?" he asked.
Ta Mok is alleged to have created one of the first interrogation and execution centers in areas of southwestern Cambodia "liberated" by the Khmer Rouge prior to their victory in 1975.
The center was part of a nationwide network of wartime Khmer Rouge prisons that were later superseded by the notorious S21 prison and torture center in Phnom Penh.
Ta Mok is also believed to have overseen brutal purges that resulted in the execution of tens of thousands of cadre in the regime's Eastern Zone.
On Thursday, however, Benson Samay told reporters that Ta Mok had actually been in charge of breeding poultry, planting rice and constructing infrastructure projects like roads, dams and bridges during Democratic Kampuchea.
"Please inform the whole world that I have never killed anyone during that period," Benson Samay quoted Ta Mok as saying.
"Ta Mok has mentioned that the international medias have blamed him for all the atrocities but have failed to investigate what the Western governments had done when they initially supported the Khmer Rouge," Benson Samay said, reading from a statement.
"He will reveal all the details when the time comes and the world will be shocked," he added.
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