Phnom Penh
01 April 2009
As the Khmer Rouge tribunal goes through its first trial, for prison chief Duch, more light will be shed on the regime, educating people about the dark period in their history, a tribunal spokesman said Monday.
“The trial is not for revenge,” said Reach Sambath, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”
Duch, 66, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, is facing charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder, for his role as the head of Tuol Sleng and Prey Sar prisons and the Choeung Ek “killing fields,” where up to 16,000 Cambodians were executed and dumped into mass graves.
Duch’s trial “will explain the real history of Cambodia,” Reach Sambath said. “It will allow the younger generation to understand what happened.”
Callers from the audience had many questions about the trial and the history of the Khmer Rouge, including the exact death toll from the regime; researchers put it between 1.7 million and 3 million.
“We expect that by the end of the mandate of the [tribunal] we can find out clearly the exact figure of the victims killed in the Khmer Rouge regime,” Reach Sambath said.
The tribunal will hold trials for four other senior-most leaders, he said: ideologue Nuon Chea, head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, foreign minister Ieng Thirith.
That number could widen, however, if the Pre-Trial Chamber of the Khmer Rouge tribunal sides with recommendations from international prosecutor Robert Petit. His recommendation that the indictments be widened has been opposed by Cambodian prosecutor Chea Leang.
“The controversy of more indictments proposed by the international co-prosecutor and rejected by his Cambodian counterpart is under consideration at the Pre-Trial Chamber,” Reach Sambath said.
“The trial is not for revenge,” said Reach Sambath, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”
Duch, 66, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, is facing charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder, for his role as the head of Tuol Sleng and Prey Sar prisons and the Choeung Ek “killing fields,” where up to 16,000 Cambodians were executed and dumped into mass graves.
Duch’s trial “will explain the real history of Cambodia,” Reach Sambath said. “It will allow the younger generation to understand what happened.”
Callers from the audience had many questions about the trial and the history of the Khmer Rouge, including the exact death toll from the regime; researchers put it between 1.7 million and 3 million.
“We expect that by the end of the mandate of the [tribunal] we can find out clearly the exact figure of the victims killed in the Khmer Rouge regime,” Reach Sambath said.
The tribunal will hold trials for four other senior-most leaders, he said: ideologue Nuon Chea, head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, foreign minister Ieng Thirith.
That number could widen, however, if the Pre-Trial Chamber of the Khmer Rouge tribunal sides with recommendations from international prosecutor Robert Petit. His recommendation that the indictments be widened has been opposed by Cambodian prosecutor Chea Leang.
“The controversy of more indictments proposed by the international co-prosecutor and rejected by his Cambodian counterpart is under consideration at the Pre-Trial Chamber,” Reach Sambath said.
7 comments:
We all know and agree that Khmer Rouge Tribunal is not for a revenge. It is a source to understand the regime. Therefore, why Sihanouk and Hun Sen are so scared about this tribunal? Even they have committed any crime, they won't get executed as well. So, I urge all the criminals should come forward to clear themselves. Areak Prey
This is a show trial. The real culprits are the American, the Vietnamse and the Chinese communists who made the Khmer Rouge mad and inhumane. If the Khmer Rouge is respobsible for this crime against the Cambodian people, so were the America with their B52 bombing savagely over Cambodia, and the Vietnamese who operated in Camdodia from 1965 to 1991 with the KR and later with HunXen.
6:56 AM
did you watch the video link posted above? In there, as reported by a British guy, at the time when the world abandons and punishes Cambodia, Vietnam was actually the one there to help us.
Hate Vietnamese for whatever your justification. Just watch the documentary and you'll see who was Khmer's friend when we really needed it.
Oh come on!! To some this trial not only gives them some justice to their loved ones, but it also is a sweet REVENGE! What goes around will come around. I can't wait to see these criminals get whipped...hang...tortured...or even burned. REmember...the civil code law back in the days known as "an eye for an eye"...This is the only way we show to the rest of humanity that crime against humanity will not be tolerated whatsoever!!! We have to give these guys the harshest punishment they deserve.
7:25 AM
Blame me for being too young to experience the Khmer Rouge's atrocity to understand the pain some older khmer have experience, blame me for being too peaceful, blame me for having the buddhist belief of forgiveness.
I believe Cambodia has stability and peace today because we forgave each other when the last of the Khmer Rouge surrendered. If we seek revenge like that guy above mentioned so savagely, you are nothing better than them who murdered your family and the Khmer Rouge would still be roaming the jungles in Preah Vihear and all those Northwestern regions in Cambodia.
Blame me for seeking peace the peaceful way.
How about over FIVE MILLIONS VIET ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE FLOCKING INTO CAMBODIA< AND BECAME XMER CITIZENSHIP VERY EASY< AND HAD MORE PRIVILEGES THAN THE OWNERS OF CAMBODIA ????
Ang Ah Sok Kong, ex-Viet Cong general took control of money from tourists visiting Angkor Wat. Khmer people live on 1/2 dollar a day. Cambodia is Vietnamised into the Viet Indochinese Federation.
Right, this tribunal trial is not for revenge, it is for justice. But how it can be justice without allowing to investigate other involving suspects?
I don't really hope that Douch's trial will explain the history, because he will have to give away the responsibility to Pol Pot who died. So, the history is already death.
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