Muslims to US Ambassador: Chams Suffered 'Enormously' Under Khmer Rouge

Seng Ratana, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
25 October 2007

More than any other group under the Khmer Rouge regime, the Cambodian Cham Muslims suffered and were killed, US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli said Thursday, following a meeting with Islamic leaders who plan to file numerous suits against the regime.

Representatives from nearly 370 mosques across the country are preparing to take statements from their Cham followers, sometimes called Khmer Islam, who may have suffered under the Khmer Rouge.

Mussomeli hosted a group of imams and other Muslim leaders at his residence in Phnom Penh, saying twice as many Chams died under the regime as other groups.

"The Cham community suffered enormously," Mussomeli said. "The Khmer Rouge had no tolerance for those who believe in God or who believe that murder goes against God's law."

As many as 300,000 Chams died between 1975 and 1979, according to the Documentation Center of Cambodia, and many mosques were destroyed as the regime dismantled religion, currency and the education system.

The Khmer Rouge "arrested and killed seven of our aunts and uncles," Mohammad Dren, a Cham leader from Takeo province, told VOA Khmer Thursday. "I want to file suit against Pol Pot, to file suit over the killing of my relatives, who were beaten to death. [Cadre] killed my relatives because they would not eat pork. They refused to eat pork, no matter what happened. Even if they were to be killed, they still would not eat it."

Ali Usman, an imam from Kampong Cham province, said he would seek genocide charges stemming from the murder many Khmer Islam in Kampong Cham province.

The Khmer Rouge "killed all of them" in the province, he said. "It was a genocide. There were none left. Even the mosque in my village was used as a dining hall."

The Documentation Center of Cambodia will help the Muslim leaders gather information from their followers to produce the charges, allowing for a criminal suit and a civil suit, center director Youk Chhang said.

The first kind of suit would look at whether the Cambodian Muslims underwent genocide, he said.

Educating the imams was important to the center, so that they might help other Chams understand what happened.

"The important thing is explaining to them, so they will understand," he said. "They are imams, the religious leaders in the villages. And they will go down the villages, and they can tell all the Khmer Islams all over the country."

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said the tribunal would receive as many suits as possible, including those from minority groups.

The Chams comprise about 10 percent of Cambodia's population.

Remarks by Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli (during the) Meeting with Cham ECCC Complainants

U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Joseph Mussomeli, gives a speech to Cambodian Khmer Rouge victims at his residence in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007. Cambodia called on donors Thursday for more money for the U.N.-assisted genocide tribunal, whose mandate of trying former Khmer Rouge leaders is likely to extend longer than expected, officials said Thursday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Source: US Embassy, Phnom Penh

October 25, 2007

Good morning. Issalaamu Aliekum. Welcome to my house. Ahlan Wasahlan. Last year we had over a thousand victims of the Khmer Rouge sit right where you are now sitting, and we discussed how one of the greatest crimes of the 20th century has gone unpunished for 30 years. As we all know, the Khmer Rouge systematically tortured, starved, and eradicated over 2 million fellow Cambodians. No one was safe, not if you were a Cham Muslim or a Vietnamese, or a Buddhist monk or a city dweller, not if you had a diploma or wore eye glasses. All of these people and many others -- along with their families -- were murdered.

The Cham community suffered enormously. The Khmer Rouge had no tolerance for those who believed in God or who believed that murder goes against God’s law. No, for the Khmer Rouge they were God, they were the law. They had an absolute right of life and death over everyone. Such terrible arrogance was destined to fail.

Recently, there has been considerable progress in finally bringing these murderers to justice. The progress has not been smooth and there have been obstacles, but with patience and perseverance many obstacles have been overcome. The internal rules have been finalized, lawyer fees agreed upon, two arrests have now been made, additional investigations are proceeding, and already pre-trial public hearings are being scheduled. And now today we gather to mark another historic occasion: the filing of victims’ complaints by individual Cham victims.

One of the more laudatory practices of the ECCC is that individual victims of the Khmer Rouge regime may seek to join criminal complaints with the prosecutor or join an ongoing case as a Civil Party. This is especially fitting since obliterating individualism and denying the infinite value of each human life were key objectives of the Khmer Rouge. They would not have agreed with the Koran that taking the life of a single innocent person is the same as if you kill all of humanity (Sura 5:32). For the Khmer Rouge the taking of innocent lives was justifiable if it served their purpose of building a false paradise here on earth. So it is particularly appropriate that individual victims can now file complaints and seek some small measure of recognition for their suffering.

The judges of the ECCC should be applauded for creating a Victims Unit, which will assist those who file a complaint or join a civil party application. And the Documentation Center of Cambodia should also be applauded for providing assistance to the Cham victims in this effort. With the filing of these cases, the Cham are re-claiming a part of their identity so clearly linked to Cambodia’s history for hundreds of years. Though the Khmer Rouge leadership tried mightily to “smash” your religion and traditions, you endured and are flourishing once again in a more open, tolerant Cambodia.

These victims’ filings will serve two important objectives: memory and justice. Under Democratic Kampuchea the Cham mortality rate was more than twice that of the general population. Because they defended their faith and their customs, the Cham were singled out as “first category enemies” by the Khmer Rouge. They were among a select few who rose up defiantly against the savage cruelty of Democratic Kampuchea. And for their courageous stand, they suffered enormously.

As these victim complaints go forward, all Cambodians will be looking to the UN, the ECCC, and the Cambodian government to meet a number of significant challenges. The ECCC is a new type of war crime tribunal -- the first ever based on a civil law tradition -- so birthing pangs were inevitable. The ECCC is now facing some serious management problems, which reflect not only its newness but the difficulties of assimilating international technical assistance to a national court framework. Streamlining and improving the management of the ECCC will be crucial as we move forward.

The ECCC also faces problems in delivering justice in a timely fashion. Providing efficient court trials will require vast resources properly managed. These resources in turn rely on donors who will insist that money be accounted for in a transparent manner. The operation of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal needs additional oversight mechanisms working in conjunction with the administration of the court.

Finally, because this is a court of law in which international standards of justice are being applied to crimes against humanity, we should be especially careful to ensure that court operations are not tainted by allegations of corruption or favoritism. This criminal proceeding is a sacred trust and it is our sacred duty to ensure that no one profits in our efforts to bring to justice the killers of these millions of Cambodians.

But time is running out as the killers grow old and fade away. Patience is often a virtue, but it can also be a great impediment to justice. All those who died and all those who suffered: their deaths and their pain need to be vindicated, need to be sacramentalized. The victims of the genocide deserve justice; Cambodians deserve to have their hunger for justice satisfied.

Mussomeli meeting with Khmer-Islam who are ECCC complainants

Cambodian Muslims walk in the compound of the residence of Joseph A. Mussomeli, U.S ambassador to Cambodia, during a meeting in Phnom Penh October 25, 2007. They complained to the ambassador that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, which was set up to try Khmer Rouge leaders, was too slow. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Joseph A. Mussomeli (R), U.S ambassador to Cambodia, greets Cambodian Muslims during a meeting at his house in Phnom Penh October 25, 2007. They complained to the ambassador that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, which was set up to try Khmer Rouge leaders, was too slow. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Joseph A. Mussomeli, U.S ambassador to Cambodia, addresses Cambodian Muslims during a meeting at his house in Phnom Penh October 25, 2007. The Cambodian Muslims complained to the ambassador that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, which was set up to try Khmer Rouge leaders, was too slow. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Cambodian Muslims listen to a speech by Joseph A. Mussomeli, U.S ambassador to Cambodia, during a meeting at his house in Phnom Penh October 25, 2007. They complained to the ambassador that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, which was set up to try Khmer Rouge leaders, was too slow. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea