Voice of America
Phnom Penh
23 April 2009
In Cambodia, the trial of one of Pol Pot's surviving henchmen has been told how security camps designed by the Khmer Rouge and operating as early as 1971 were designed from the outset to torture and kill.
More than 200 villagers who lived around camp M13 attended the court to hear evidence from Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, on how their district was used as a prototype for death camps that would later be constructed by the Khmer Rouge.
MI3 was built in a communist-controlled area in 1971 while the Khmer Rouge were still fighting the U.S.-backed Lon Nol government. Four years later Pol Pot and his ultra-Maosists came to power and established 196 death camps across the country, including the dreaded S21.
Duch initially ran M13, and is on trial for crimes against humanity after overseeing the extermination of more than 16,000 people while at the helm of S21 between 1975 and 1979.
Seventy-year-old Khai Sorn lived near M13, but as a result life was tough and her days on the family farm were numbered.
She says during the Pol Pot regime life was very hard because the people were not allowed to stay at home and she was forced to live in the jungle.
Duch described the camps as a security office. He said each one, including S21 and M13 had a duty to detain, to torture, to interrogate, and finally to smash and kill.
Tribunal spokesperson Helen Jarvis said the villagers were trucked in as part of broader attempts to open the legal process to the public and the victims of Khmer Rouge regime. But she says they may have gotten more than they bargained for.
"... that has to be shocking for anybody," Jarvis said. "Indeed, I think the villagers probably did not expect they would hear something quite that straight forward when they arrived here today."
About two million people, or a third of Cambodia's population, died under the Khmer Rouge. But ongoing conflicts and international politics meant efforts to find some kind of justice were delayed until earlier this year.
Duch is the first senior Khmer Rouge figure to face trial. He is the only one of five in custody to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. The others are likely to be tried in the next year or two.
More than 200 villagers who lived around camp M13 attended the court to hear evidence from Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, on how their district was used as a prototype for death camps that would later be constructed by the Khmer Rouge.
MI3 was built in a communist-controlled area in 1971 while the Khmer Rouge were still fighting the U.S.-backed Lon Nol government. Four years later Pol Pot and his ultra-Maosists came to power and established 196 death camps across the country, including the dreaded S21.
Duch initially ran M13, and is on trial for crimes against humanity after overseeing the extermination of more than 16,000 people while at the helm of S21 between 1975 and 1979.
Seventy-year-old Khai Sorn lived near M13, but as a result life was tough and her days on the family farm were numbered.
She says during the Pol Pot regime life was very hard because the people were not allowed to stay at home and she was forced to live in the jungle.
Duch described the camps as a security office. He said each one, including S21 and M13 had a duty to detain, to torture, to interrogate, and finally to smash and kill.
Tribunal spokesperson Helen Jarvis said the villagers were trucked in as part of broader attempts to open the legal process to the public and the victims of Khmer Rouge regime. But she says they may have gotten more than they bargained for.
"... that has to be shocking for anybody," Jarvis said. "Indeed, I think the villagers probably did not expect they would hear something quite that straight forward when they arrived here today."
About two million people, or a third of Cambodia's population, died under the Khmer Rouge. But ongoing conflicts and international politics meant efforts to find some kind of justice were delayed until earlier this year.
Duch is the first senior Khmer Rouge figure to face trial. He is the only one of five in custody to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. The others are likely to be tried in the next year or two.
14 comments:
i don't know what kind of crime they were thinking, but as a KR survivor, i've seen they kill toddlers, children and the entire family for no apparently reason. people were helpless to do anything then. they just kill people at their own will. if that's not ignorance, then maybe someone else can enlighten the me and the world about this brutal killing method of the KR regime and people!
I also witnessed many killings. The Khmer Rouge enjoyed killing. When they got a chance to torture the victim, they had a lot fun: they killing the innocent for fun.
They also rape alot of girl, when i was KONG JALAT, there were a girls in my group, at night those young kid soldier came and took them away! they rape them and killed them and mocking at them, of caurse one victim survivor said...
she is now marriage to an american.."momen church"
Sound like the killing fields was a pre-determined crime against humanity. Planned 4 years before the crime took place.
Perhap pol pot was just a scapegoat?
Of course! No doubt about it. They had deliberatley planned the killing since before they defeated the Republic Regime of Lon Nol. And Pol Pot was a mastermind.
Who are the khmer rouges anyway?....Everyone say khmer rouge killed khmer, khmer rouge killed khmer.Now it seems like a legend. Can any one in here tell me who the khmer rouges are?...The trial runs by the UN-Cambodian gov. showed only a few of them from the killing camps. Are all khmer rouge the killers or just some of them?
It is impossible for these few people could killed million of khmers without their net work of Angkars, which they claimed as their top invisible boss. I heard
that in April 17,1975, the king was tricked the lon nol soldiers, and the lon nol governments,
from educators to social workers,teachers, students,the riches, and some innocents to greet the kingslave ahnuok, instead they were tricked and executed. These happened way before pol pot took power in 1978. when pol pot found out,they ran to Vietnam for proctection. Pol Pot went after those khmer rouge < puok romdoss chass or so called puok pear yerp> but they got away. Pol Pot was puok Nearideiy. When puok nearideiy came into power the life seems little better but people still worked hard. It seems that puok nearideiy only interesting in finding puok pear yerp the killers or some called puok romdoss chass and yuon only. 80% of khmers were killed by puok romdoss chass- the sihanouk-leftwing khmer rouge. The khmer rouge who ran to yuon to escap from the crime are the killers.
No one can find the truth about the khmer rouge unless the start asking siahnuok before he go down nine stags to hell. I have no doudt that pol pot was one of the killer, but 80% of the khmer rouge still live freely. This tribunal isjust a slap of the khmer face.
Most leaders Kr are from University of Hanoï,some from Pékin.
11:13 AM
are your sure, they are from Peking and Hanoi ? Almost the KR leaders were educated in France and in the Western world (included the US, Canada, UK etc...)
they dropped out not educated.
Dr. hunkvak is a pagoda kid dropped out and joined with the high school dropped out sihanuok. pot pot also dropped out from school and some of their educated lift-wing retarded maoists were learned and became an anti-educators and the
capitalism...eeoyre!
These people knew the fast way to get PhD. as you can see nowerday. They never attending any school, but all got PhD...hehehe!!
11:10AM,
Tons of truth is right there in front of everyone, but no one is brave is to accept/handle the truth.
I agree with 11:35AM that most of the KR leaders were the Frencnh educated: they were Hou Yun (Ph. D) Hu Nim (Ph. D), Khiev Samphan (Ph.D), Chuon Mom, Ieng Sary (BA), Khiev Ponnary (BA), Khiev Thirith (BA), Pol Pot, and many more well-educated.
According to the "Quality of Mercy"
written by William Shawcross, Pol Pot gave direct orders to Dutch to kill Hou Yun and Hu Nim on different occasions, and the Angka Leu, consisting of the Pol Pot Ieng Sary, Khiev Ponnary, Khiev Thirith, Nuon Chea, So Sen, Khiev Samphan were the masterminds of the killing. They all deliberately planned it to purify the Khmer society which needed to have only one million people to rebuild a new
Cambodia under the Angka Leau's Great Leap Forward strategy, which finally plung to deep hell.
the bottom line was, under the idiot KR regime, there was no justice for cambodian people. that's what happened when they abolished law, etc... laws are there to protect people's rights and society from killing one another over trivial things, however during the KR reign, there was no such law to protect anyone, so they kill people and abuse people under their own free will. that is one thing people should learn from this tragic past; rule of law is the ten commandments of cambodia. they must not be ignore again! god bless cambodia.
the KR regime was like the dark age in case you don't know. they were like tadpole in the fishbowl - so short-sighted, blind to the outside world. that is a lesson in history that everyone can learn from in order to avoid with all cost from now on!
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