Monday, November 21, 2011

Khmer Rouge Genocide Trial Opens in Cambodia

A Cambodian Khmer Rouge victim, right, weeps during a Buddhist ceremony near Choeung Ek stupa, the site of the Khmer Rouge's former "killing fields," on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011. (Photo: AP/Heng Sinith)
The 3 elderly defendants sat silently as the judge opened proceedings

VOA News

Three top Khmer Rouge leaders went on trial in Cambodia Monday on charges of genocide and other atrocities during the communist movement's reign of terror in the late 1970s.

Nil Nonn, the judge presiding over the U.N.-backed court, declared the trial open and read out the names of the defendants.

Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan, reputed chief ideologue Nuon Chea and Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary listened silently as the charges were read aloud in a crowded courtroom in Phnom Penh.


The three are accused of crimes against humanity, including genocide, homicide and torture. The Khmer Rouge ruled from 1975 to 1979, when up to two million Cambodians - one quarter of the population - are estimated to have died.

A fourth defendant, Ieng Thirith, was ruled unfit to stand trial last week because she has Alzheimer's disease. She is Ieng Sary's wife and served as the minister for social affairs for the Khmer Rouge.

The Khmer Rouge's supreme leader Pol Pot died in 1998 in a jungle camp, where he was held prisoner after his former comrades turned on him.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

THE WORLD SUPERPOWERS KILLED KHMER PEOPLE.

THE VIETNAM KILLED KHMER PEOPLE.

SIHANOUK AND MONIQUE KILLED KHMER PEOPLE.

POL POT,NUON CHEA,KHIEV SAMPHAN,IENG THIRITTH,AND THE REST OF KHMER ROUGE OFFICIALS KILLED KHMER PEOPLE.

Anonymous said...

ECCC is design to charge Gonocide , crimes against humanity and war crimes between 1975-1979 only.

But other Gonocides , other crimes against humanity and other war crimes also committed by :

1. Nixon, Kissinger.

2. Ho Chi Minh.

3. China.

4. Former Soviet Union.

1. Nixon and Kissinger must held accountable for B 52 bombing in Cambodia between 1969-1973 which caused about a million Cambodian lives, mass atrocities and starvation.

2. Vietnam war the North fought the South, US supported the South China and former Soviet Union supported the North and that Vietnam war spreaded into Cambodia .

So Ho Chi Minh, Nixon and Kissinger and former Soviet Union all must be charged with Genocides, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Cambodia.

So this is Hanoi,China-US ECCC in Cambodia.

ECCC can twist or turn real Khmer history around or upside down to many younger Khmer generation but not everyone.