ABC Radio Australia
In Cambodia, the UN-backed tribunal will on Friday complete its first week of hearings into the evidence against three leaders of the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge movement.
Week one of this long-awaited trial was dominated by testimony from the most senior living cadre, Nuon Chea, who was deputy to Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot for nearly four decades.
But Nuon Chea showed little inclination to take responsibility for the crimes of the Khmer Rouge.
Presenter: Robert Carmichael
Speakers: Nuon Chea, Cambodian former communist politician; Lay Pheng, Cambodian man attending Khmer Rouge tribunal
CARMICHAEL: The man known as Brother Number Two for his deputy leadership role in the ultra-Maoist movement told the court the Khmer Rouge was not to blame for the two million deaths that took place during its rule of Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.
Instead, Nuon Chea told the UN-backed court, Vietnam was behind the country's catastrophe.
NUON CHEA: Everything was under the control of Vietnam, from the Hanoi headquarters, from the Ho Chi Minh headquarters. So these crimes , war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, were not (committed by) Cambodian people, it was Vietnam who killed Cambodians.
CARMICHAEL: Nuon Chea also put some blame on the shoulders of so-called bad elements, whom he claimed had infiltrated the revolutionary movement during the 1960s.
But the bulk of the blame, he said, lay with Hanoi, which he claimed had long harboured designs on Cambodia, and still did.
NUON CHEA: I don't want the next generations to misunderstand the history. I don't want them (to think) that the Khmer Rouge are bad people, are criminals. Nothing is true about that.
CARMICHAEL: It was vintage Nuon Chea, a man, historians say, whose antipathy towards Vietnam helped colour the Khmer Rouge's hatred of its eastern neighbour.
But his argument did not impress everyone in the tribunal's 500-seater auditorium. Some laughed out loud at his statements; others were angry.
Hardly a family in Cambodia was left unscarred by the Khmer Rouge's rule, when the country was turned into a massive worksite, the population enslaved, and individuals reduced to mere function.
One of those affected was 62-year-old Lay Pheng. In 1975 he and his wife were forced out of Phnom Penh along with the rest of the population. The following year they fled to Vietnam.
What does he think, then, of Nuon Chea's comments blaming Vietnam for the mass deaths under its rule of Cambodia?
LAY PHENG:"It is not true. And in fact on the contrary, the Khmer Rouge even killed a lot of Vietnamese people and Vietnamese soldiers."
CARMICHAEL: Lay Pheng says every member of his wife's family died under the Khmer Rouge, and explains what he wants from the tribunal.
LAY PHENG:I want the court to sentence the Khmer Rouge leaders and deliver justice for the people that were killed so they can find peace. And it's not only me - other people also want this. It's the same for my wife and my children. We really want to see a judgement from this court soon.
CARMICHAEL: The three leaders face charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for their alleged roles in devising the policies that led to so many deaths. They deny culpability.
The other two accused are former head of state Khieu Samphan and the foreign affairs minister Ieng Sary.
One of Ieng Sary's former aides, Long Norin, appeared as a witness over the past two days. He said foreign ministry staff worked in fear as colleagues were taken away for 'study sessions' - a euphemism for being arrested and then executed as spies.
But three decades on, Long Norin still seemed unwilling to assist the prosecution much in its pursuit of evidence against Ieng Sary. On numerous occasions he claimed he did not remember many answers to which he had given a written statement in 2007.
Long Norin's testimony was so varied that the prosecution wondered aloud whether he was now reluctant to testify against his former boss, something the witness said was not the case.
The court will hear further evidence in the trial of the three leaders next week.
6 comments:
1. Champa gone .
2. Prey Norkor gone.
3. Kampuchea-Krom gone.
4. Lao gone.
5. Cambodia with 7 million of yuon everywhere.
6. Thailand ( not so easy ) but will be next after Cambodia.
So what Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan have said about yuon killing Khmer , yuon ' s ambition to put Lao and Cambodia under it annex is 1000% correct and has very strong foundation.
Communist Party of Kampuchea or Khmer Rouge.
The Communist Party of Kampuchea was a combination of 80 % of former Khmer Viet Minh and 20 % of a Paris students group was created in 1960 by 3 former figures as follow:
1. Tou Samouth.
2. Nuon Chea.
3. Pol Pot.
After 1954 Geneva conference there were about 5000 of Khmer Viet Minh fighters in Cambodia . About 1000 of these former Khmer Viet Minh went to Hanoi with Son Ngoc Minh or better known as Achar Mean including other Khmer Viet Minh like Pen Sovann.
Nearly all of 4000 of these former Khmer Viet Minh later joined the Communist Party of Kampuchea through Tou Samouth, Kea Meas , So Phim, Rhos Nhim and many other Khmer Viet Minh senior military commanders.
So that why from the beginning of the foundation of this Communist Party of Kampuchea or Khmer Rouge there were about 80 % of these former Khmer Viet Minh fighters and senior military commanders such as Tou Smouth, Keo Meas , So Phim and Rhos Nhim ect…
After the fall down of Phnom to Khmer Rouge or Communist Party of Kampuchea on April 17, 1975 these former Khmer Viet Minh fighters became the chiefs of villages, communes , districts and Zones like So Phim in Eastern Zone Secretary and Rous Yim in Northern Zone Secretary .
Note:
1. Tou Samouth , So Phim , Rhos Nhim , played important role in joining all former Khmer Viet Mint fighters into the Communist Party of Kampuchea after the Communist Party of Kampuchea was created in 1960.
2. Nuon Chea Played important role in joining other former Khmer Issarak like Ta Mok , Ke Pok into the Communist Party of Kampuchea or Khmer Rouge after the Communist Party of Kampuchea was created in 1960.
3. The First name of the Communist Party of Kampuchea was the Cambodian Worker’s Party and renamed to the Communist Party in 1966 after Tou Samouth was arrested and killed in 1962.
4. Between 1960-1975 Pol Pot had about 40 % or 45 % especially after 1970s.
Pol Pot solders never train in Hanoi or worked under the command of yuon Viet Minh as majority of former Khmer Viet Minh fighers in the Communist Party of Kampuchea were trained and fought side by side wit yuon Viet Minh during First Indochina War 1946-1954 against French colony in Cambodia.
The founder and the members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea or Khmer Rouge are between 1975-1979 are:
1. Pol Pot the Secretary General of Communist Party of Kampuchea.
2. Nuon Chea duputy Secretary of Communsit Party of Kampuchea.
3. Ieng Sary.
4. Keo Meas
5. So Phim.
6. Son Sen.
7. Ta Mok .
Vietnam's bad intention toward Cambodia will be unmasked by the international communities.
We need to take this Cambodia’s land thief, Vietnam, to the international court of justice; otherwise Vietnam will keep creating turmoil in Cambodia.
After 1989, did Vietnam truly withdraw all of its troops back to Vietnam?
Did Vietnam comply with the 1991 Paris peace accord?
Millions of illegal and legal Vietnamese have been residing inside Cambodia after Vietnam’s invasion in January 1979, causing extreme concerns amongst Khmer people about the prospect that Cambodia would be the second Kampuchea Krom (the current southern part of Vietnam).
How much Khmer natural resource has Vietnam destroyed after its invasion in January 1979?
The killings during the Pol Pot's era were committed by the Khmer rouge, the Khmer Vietminh, etc.
Notice that the Khmer Vietminh were created and brainwashed by Vietnam to make Khmers fight with Khmers, to make Khmers kill each others.
How about the K5 project, which killed hundreds of thousands of Khmer people in the 80's? This K5 scheme was totally orchestrated by Vietnam.
Vietnam must pay for this enormous K5 project crime. We need to take Vietnam to the international court about this K5 issue regarding Vietnam’s catastrophic action in Cambodia. Vietnam’s current dominance in Cambodia also contributes to the present majority of Khmer people’s misery.
History clearly recorded the expansion of the Viet, Cambodia is at breaking point right now. The Khmer Rouge leaders are using the Viet as a scape goat for their atrocity against their own people.
The Khmer Rouge in fact faithfully served executed the Viet policy of expansionism by eliminating the only people they claimed they wanted to protect. The lingering question is, you want to protect your people by killing them on behalf of the Viet??
let not forget that the Khmer Rouge themself was a lackeys of the Viet, rely on the Viet for protection, traninng and arm supplies until 1975. Even the final push for PP, the Khmer Rouge still rely on the NVA for atellery supports.
so when the Khmer Rouge leaders ordered the killing of innocent Cambodian, are they doing it to protect Cambodia ?? and then, may I ask for who, if the people they want to protect were all gone?
some documents survived the test of time and forensic evidence clearly shown the hand written orders by the top leaders, are they claiming the Viet did them too.
Yes Viet are colonizing Cambodia and these Khmer Rouge leaders were their faithful servants. otherwise, they should have known that united we statnd.
History clearly recorded the expansion of the Viet, Cambodia is at breaking point right now. The Khmer Rouge leaders are using the Viet as a scape goat for their atrocity against their own people.
The Khmer Rouge in fact faithfully served executed the Viet policy of expansionism by eliminating the only people they claimed they wanted to protect. The lingering question is, you want to protect your people by killing them on behalf of the Viet??
let not forget that the Khmer Rouge themself was a lackeys of the Viet, rely on the Viet for protection, traninng and arm supplies until 1975. Even the final push for PP, the Khmer Rouge still rely on the NVA for atellery supports.
so when the Khmer Rouge leaders ordered the killing of innocent Cambodian, are they doing it to protect Cambodia ?? and then, may I ask for who, if the people they want to protect were all gone?
some documents survived the test of time and forensic evidence clearly shown the hand written orders by the top leaders, are they claiming the Viet did them too.
Yes Viet are colonizing Cambodia and these Khmer Rouge leaders were their faithful servants. otherwise, they should have known that united we statnd.
i viet/youn accusation is probably partly true, however, it's not everything they knew and wanted to say. his testimonies, although partly true, perhaps, was very selective and carefully planned. i think the court or the prosecutor should continue to dig more into it by questioning what he say more and more. cambodia needs a smart lawyer(s) to do this, a tenacious prosecutor that is!
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