Fighting to be remembered

A SURVIVOR: Sophal Stagg tours the Khmer Rouge Tribunal compound in Cambodia. A survivor of the mass killings in that country in the 1970s, she now works to educate the public there about the nation's grim history. (Photo by Tracey Shelton)
Sophal Stagg points toward holding cells during a tour of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal compound in Cambodia. (Photo by Tracey Shelton)
THE COURTROOM: Millions of dollars have been spent - and misspent - for the trial of Khmer Rouge leaders. (Photo by Tracey Shelton)

February 10, 2008
By Elena Lesley, Times Staff Writer
St Petersburg Times (Florida, USA)

Sophal Stagg stopped in front of the villa built to house former leaders of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime and yanked a long weed from the ground. - "This is what I ate to survive," she explained to fellow members of a group touring the Khmer Rouge Tribunal compound in Cambodia. "I thanked God I had this."

They listened quietly as Stagg explained how she sneaked weeds, mice and bugs into the watery rice porridge that was her only sustenance under Pol Pot's notorious regime.

"And these five criminals are living in a luxury house," she continued, angrily pointing toward the villa where five former leaders wait to be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity. "They have three meals a day - their choice - TV, one even has a special toilet. What kind of justice is this?"

Decades have passed since the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Stagg, who now lives in Palm Harbor and goes by "Sophie," thought she and other survivors would never see justice. Yet even though a United Nations-backed tribunal is set to try key leaders this year, she is still unsure what effect it will have on her home country.

Stagg distributes goods in Cambodia every year as part of her work for the Southeast Asian Children's Mercy Fund, the charity organization she founded. But this January marked her first visit to the tribunal complex. Construction on land outside of Phnom Penh, the country's capital city, started several years ago.

In the past, Stagg always bypassed the site. She thought the government would never allow the tribunal to happen and she didn't want to be disappointed.

But now that the country appears determined to try Pol Pot's henchmen, Stagg still has misgivings.

"I can't believe the world has poured so much money into this," she said, referring to tribunal funding she believes has been misused. "It's like an elaborate stage for a two-minute show. Are the international donors blind?"

Stagg said she was shocked by the number of sleek buildings constructed especially for the trials, the inflated salaries of tribunal staff and the "pampering" of defendants.

Each of the aging leaders has a personal doctor. A bulletproof Land Cruiser transports them the 50 yards from their villa to the courthouse, she said.

"I got very sarcastic on the tour," she said with a wry smile. "I said I was surprised they didn't have a red carpet for the Land Cruiser."

After visiting the compound, Stagg said she is more convinced than ever that many involved in the tribunal are "trying to drag it on as long as they can, suck out as much money as possible."

She isn't the first to notice the perceived waste. Allegations of corruption, mismanagement and political interference have long plagued the tribunal.

Negotiations for a court to try leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime, which is responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7-million Cambodians from 1975 to 1979, got off to a slow start in 1997.

Though Pol Pot died of natural causes in 1998, the United Nations and Cambodian government reached an agreement in 2003 outlining a process to try other Khmer Rouge figures.

Fundraising efforts lagged for years, but in July 2006, Cambodian and foreign judges were finally sworn in. A year later, prosecutors submitted a list of suspects to tribunal judges and since that time five people have been taken into custody.

But no one has stood trial, and the tribunal has eaten up most of its $56.3-million budget. Organizers are lobbying for more funding. And they have a good case.

"It is very, very important to put these people on trial as an example to other dictators," said Paul Chuk, a Pinellas Park resident who lost both his parents to the Khmer Rouge. "You cannot abuse people this way and get away with it."

But with all the emphasis on the trappings of justice, Stagg worries the message may not get through to actual Cambodians. She'd like to see less money squandered on construction and salaries, and more devoted to educating the public.

Cambodian schools teach little about the Khmer Rouge regime, and many who lived through it are too traumatized to discuss their experiences, Stagg said. As a result, most young Cambodians know strikingly little about that period.

"Some young people don't even believe it happened," she said.

The lack of information is especially disturbing to Stagg, who has spent much of the past decade trying to raise awareness about the Khmer Rouge. Her memoir, Hear me now: Tragedy in Cambodia, is part of the curriculum in many local schools, and she has given numerous lectures about the Cambodian holocaust.

"I fight to teach about this in American schools," she said. "But I can't believe I have to do it in my own back yard, in Cambodia."

Yet she is now considering doing just that. While she has long brought much-needed goods to the country, Stagg now hopes to raise money for books and a Khmer Rouge curriculum.

The tribunal, she fears, won't be enough.

"They say they want to leave a legacy, but what kind of legacy is that?" she asked. "There will be no justice without education."

Elena Lesley can be reached at elesley@sptimes.com or 727 445-4167.

To learn more

For more about the Southeast Asian Children's Mercy Fund, visit www.Cambodiamercyfund.org