Angkar vs. ECCC

March 4, 2008
Op-Ed by Kok Sap
Originally posted by http://neokhmer.com

Re: Judge You Bun Leng, “The KRT is paying attention to Ieng Sary’s health condition. We are asking foreign (medical) experts to issue an additional expert report on his health, so that we have better information for taking other measures. The decision to send Ieng Sary to receive health care or not is not made by the judge. If the doctors check him up, and they find that his disease must be treated, then we have to take care of him. If the doctors believed that the hospital has the necessary equipments to take care of him, and he is ordered to remain at the hospital, then we must abide by the doctors’ order. The tribunal only apply the law, but when it comes to health, it’s the doctors’ call.”

In such statement, a concern looms over how capable the ECCC is? The treatment of the accused is spectacular. In spite of current government advocating Ieng Sary sanctuary then pardon in 1996, the ECCC pays close attention to what government wanted done. The government insults millions of victim still live on lesser than $1.00 a day and endure its egregious abuses. It is the same government that enabled Ieng Sary a luxurious and most privileged lifestyle. Definitely the fuzzes over Ieng Sary rights from conjugal visit to expensive medical treatment transform ECCC to the core.

Imagine when we were labeled as prisoners after April 17, 1975, each had no right. I remembered how inhumane during the bright red blood under the brilliant guidance revolutionary Angkar. Like the rest, I lived in a village of no choice in Tombon 3 adjacent to Tombon 5 under the illiterate cadres. I witnessed the married prisoners were deprived from raising children in own charge or being near spouse at home. Angkar forced young women aged over 20 to marry wounded fighters. Men or women had no right at all. All were treated as Angkar’s private non living property. Later we learned Angkar was no one but Pol Pot and Ieng Sary themselves.

After its staged People Representatives election in March 1976, the mystic Angkar promised the socialist market systems with its revolutionary currency. I remembered an illiterate Siamese named Phan Yai was the People Representative for my village. All of this person’s children presently live in Texas, US and Martigny, Switzerland.

By then Angkar demanded people no less but absolute self sacrifice to its cause. I remembered I could not argue at all. Many were excluded from voting on the ground of prisoners of war and non citizen status. Then not too long after that, the secret war declared on own cadres like Koy Thuon in Tombon 6 then Tombon 5 leadership followed suit Tombon 4 then Tombon 3 after the reshuffles in Tombon 1 and 2 to take helm in Tombon 3 leadership toward the end of planting season in 1976. Market or currency never happened.

After the first purge, the secured emergence of Comrade Pol Pot as the Supremo of Pact Communist Kampuchea, Angkar was more vigorous in suppression and deprivation on prisoners during the following planting season in 1977. At this juncture, I remembered the incursions along Siam-Khmer border were taken places. Angkar’s undisclosed goal was to minimize threats from rebels along border and Khek Pen secretive Liberation Forces in North and N. West regions while re-staking and reclaiming old borderline demarcation.

The tactic gained trust from population to not revolt against armed forces along the border while China arm-twisted Siam, with unconditional aids for development, from raising hell. When suffered heavy causalities from Siam tanks,F-4 shells and 105 mm artilleries, Angkar was too indiscriminately accepting new recruits from the prisoner crowd to carry on its undeclared war on Siam. This strikes similar tactic in current regime use to kow tow Viet Nam K-5 plan and to win successive elections.

I remembered during the vacuum in first quarter of 1979 when hundred of thousands were forced to flee along Pol Pot-Ieng Sary putsch to the deadly jungles. Too overwhelmingly, many fell sick from exhaustion or fear of bloodshed while stranded on no man‘s land from Pailin to Oddar Meanchey. They were deprived of food and medicine. Those who fled the Pol Pot-Ieng Sary control after January 7, 1979 ended up dead under the same Ta Mok leadership as state enemy. From old grudges, Thai Naval Forces used opportunity to retaliate against fearful refugees from Khmer land under the assumption they were Pol Pot-Ieng Sary elements. Consequently countless fell victims of Siam armed forces at the Angkar silence.

Vividly, I remembered how Angkar mistreated my family members and fellows who fell sick from enduring long hour hard labor and starvation. I also remembered how bright red blood flowed over rice paddies that Angkar nicknamed front battlefields for April 17, war prisoners. I was among millions as a suspected enemy and prisoner who deserved no right. Although, when I fell sick yet I was too fearful to be sick at home. I endured and worked along others who pitied my condition. No medicine or sympathy from Angkar then. As a survivor and victim, I felt more insults at this time from the flawless ECCC way of treating butchers and their master, Sihanouk. What held ECCC back from arresting Sihanouk and all butchers?

First foremost, ECCC bypassed the arrest of the father of killing fields, Sihanouk, who is the root cause of tragedy. Secondary, the list of the accused should not be limited to five that allowed the real hand on butchers roam free and mocked victims still. Third, some victims who had suffered greatly had died under the mockery and insults from the culprits.

For undisclosed reasons, the ECCC treats Cambodia killing field victims and survivors differently in comparison to the Balkan genocide victims. Since its conception, the ECCC percolates own critical ability and insincerity. Yet the ECCC acts supreme in confusing facts over its balkanized excuses. Like it or not ECCC certainly is no more than a mock court for the scholarly pursuit. Victims have no hope in true justice under the UN labeled court; unfortunately many had felt ECCC is no better than UNTAC. Apparently, it is too obvious for victim like me to ignore the ECCC admonition.