Nuon Chea during his Khmer Rouge heydays.07/19/2006
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN (Japan)
PAILIN, Cambodia--The man once dreaded as Pol Pot's Brother No. 2 said recently that he did not order any of the atrocities that led to the annihilation of almost a quarter of his countrymen.
He also maintained the ultra-Maoist revolutionaries had good ideas, but they were sabotaged by traitors.
Nuon Chea, the most senior surviving member of the Khmer Rouge, is likely to stand trial for crimes against humanity in the first internationally recognized tribunal of Khmer Rouge leaders, planned for next year.
He has spoken repeatedly to interviewers in recent years, and consistently maintained he did not order any atrocities.
Only two suspects have so far been detained ahead of the U.N.-backed tribunal. Nuon Chea and other senior cadre, along with Ieng Sary and Khieu Samphan, live freely and in relative comfort. Their old stronghold, Pailin, has become something of a Khmer Rouge retirement village.
The Asahi Shimbun interviewed Nuon Chea, 80, at his modest but comfortable home near the Thai border on July 6, four days before prosecutors began investigations into Khmer Rouge crimes.
The regime was responsible for the deaths from execution, starvation, overwork and sickness of an estimated 1.7 million people between 1975 and 1979.
Nuon Chea acknowledged that as a leader he was responsible--to some degree.
"If the people faced hardship as a result (of our regime's policies), I feel responsibility as one of the leaders of the regime. I'm sorry for that," he said.
Yet, he said, "Legal responsibility is a different problem."
When the Khmer Rouge took power in 1975, they emptied the cities of people, abolished commerce, executed thousands of class "enemies," and began a program of collectivized agriculture loosely modeled on Mao Tsetung's calamitous Great Leap Forward.
"Our ideals were independence of our country, unity of the people and social justice," Nuon Chea said. "In order to realize those ideals, it was necessary to combine the power of farmers and that of intellectuals."
Concerning forced labor and starvation, he said, "They took place against the will of our regime. We had enough food for our people.
Overwork was unnecessary. But some evil-minded people destroyed our plans by depriving the people of their food. Our regime's policies were basically correct."
As the paranoid regime began collapsing in on itself, untold thousands of people accused of being traitors were tortured and then clubbed to death at the "killing fields" that are scattered around the country.
Asked about his involvement in the killings, Nuon Chea said, "I was not involved in them. I did not know at all about what took place among low-ranking people. If I had known about that, I would have punished them."
The regime was overthrown by a Vietnamese invasion in 1979, but Khmer Rouge guerrillas continued to fight the government for almost two decades.
In December 1998, eight months after the death of Brother No. 1, Pol Pot, the Cambodian government struck a deal, offering Khmer Rouge leaders clemency to end the country's civil war. Nuon Chea surrendered his forces to the government.
A low-ranking Khmer Rouge soldier, now also living in Pailin, said he welcomes the Khmer Rouge tribunal.
"I want to know what actually happened (under the Pol Pot regime)," the 56-year-old said. "Leaders (of the Khmer Rouge) should tell the truth, and receive punishment if they committed crimes."
(IHT/Asahi: July 19,2006)
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN (Japan)
PAILIN, Cambodia--The man once dreaded as Pol Pot's Brother No. 2 said recently that he did not order any of the atrocities that led to the annihilation of almost a quarter of his countrymen.
He also maintained the ultra-Maoist revolutionaries had good ideas, but they were sabotaged by traitors.
Nuon Chea, the most senior surviving member of the Khmer Rouge, is likely to stand trial for crimes against humanity in the first internationally recognized tribunal of Khmer Rouge leaders, planned for next year.
He has spoken repeatedly to interviewers in recent years, and consistently maintained he did not order any atrocities.
Only two suspects have so far been detained ahead of the U.N.-backed tribunal. Nuon Chea and other senior cadre, along with Ieng Sary and Khieu Samphan, live freely and in relative comfort. Their old stronghold, Pailin, has become something of a Khmer Rouge retirement village.
The Asahi Shimbun interviewed Nuon Chea, 80, at his modest but comfortable home near the Thai border on July 6, four days before prosecutors began investigations into Khmer Rouge crimes.
The regime was responsible for the deaths from execution, starvation, overwork and sickness of an estimated 1.7 million people between 1975 and 1979.
Nuon Chea acknowledged that as a leader he was responsible--to some degree.
"If the people faced hardship as a result (of our regime's policies), I feel responsibility as one of the leaders of the regime. I'm sorry for that," he said.
Yet, he said, "Legal responsibility is a different problem."
When the Khmer Rouge took power in 1975, they emptied the cities of people, abolished commerce, executed thousands of class "enemies," and began a program of collectivized agriculture loosely modeled on Mao Tsetung's calamitous Great Leap Forward.
"Our ideals were independence of our country, unity of the people and social justice," Nuon Chea said. "In order to realize those ideals, it was necessary to combine the power of farmers and that of intellectuals."
Concerning forced labor and starvation, he said, "They took place against the will of our regime. We had enough food for our people.
Overwork was unnecessary. But some evil-minded people destroyed our plans by depriving the people of their food. Our regime's policies were basically correct."
As the paranoid regime began collapsing in on itself, untold thousands of people accused of being traitors were tortured and then clubbed to death at the "killing fields" that are scattered around the country.
Asked about his involvement in the killings, Nuon Chea said, "I was not involved in them. I did not know at all about what took place among low-ranking people. If I had known about that, I would have punished them."
The regime was overthrown by a Vietnamese invasion in 1979, but Khmer Rouge guerrillas continued to fight the government for almost two decades.
In December 1998, eight months after the death of Brother No. 1, Pol Pot, the Cambodian government struck a deal, offering Khmer Rouge leaders clemency to end the country's civil war. Nuon Chea surrendered his forces to the government.
A low-ranking Khmer Rouge soldier, now also living in Pailin, said he welcomes the Khmer Rouge tribunal.
"I want to know what actually happened (under the Pol Pot regime)," the 56-year-old said. "Leaders (of the Khmer Rouge) should tell the truth, and receive punishment if they committed crimes."
(IHT/Asahi: July 19,2006)
7 comments:
Not only Nourn Chea, Pol Pot, Kieuv Samphon are denying the killing of his own people. Even all the serial killers around the world were also denied before putting to dead. Animals KR keep on praying man may be your luck will come. Cold blood people please show some remorses....
Something to read . . . when in doubt just take a look at one of those Hun Sen's cabinet members. Can you identify anyone of them came from the same "foxhole"?
http://amekhmer.free.fr/khcrucial-event/0mtes-tum-files/monique-yuon.pdf
Those few "Prak Snouk" are so important to them and they would sacrafice own race and the country to keep and serve those "Prak Snouk".
After 50 years or so, Kaun Khmer should not have any more doubt - WE CAN ALMOST HAVE THEIR NAMES PRINT ON OUR FOREHEAD.
IF HUN SEN WITH HIS WHOLE HEART WILLING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HIS IDENTITY IS KHMER - WILLING TO ABANDON ALL HIS GREEDINESS AND POWER - WILLING TO COME OUT AND DEFENSE FOR OUR RACE AND COUNTRY - THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF KAUN KHMER ARE SO WELL EDUCATED IN ALL KIND OF AREA OF EXPERTISE WAITING TO HELP REBUILD/RESTORE OUR BELOVED COUNTRY.
YOU CAN ALWAYS HAVE "PRAK SNOUK" ANY TIME ANY WHERE YOU WANT/WISH. BUT DO ALWAYS REMEMBER TOO, "PRAK SNOUK" CAN ALSO EASILY KILL YOU.
COME ON HONEY LET DO THE MONKEY!
Well physically the leaders didnt kill Khmer it the stupid Khmer who kill each other with a little blow from the Hanoi and we already hacking each other. Go do some research man before you put all Khmer to hell.
that's right! it the stupid khmer who kill khmer. The [Khmer] leaders had never killed any Khmer. They are/were in France, China, North Korea, and Hanoi.
IF THAT SO, ISN'T THAT WHAT IT MEANS "FOLLOWING ORDERS".
THEY DID KILL THEIR OWN PEOPLE. I DID NOT SEE ANY FOREIGNERS KILLING US DURING THAT REGIME, BUT THE KHMERS WHO FOLLOWED ANGKAR'S ORDER. WE DID NOT KNOW WHO WAS ANGKAR DURING THAT TIME, BUT ONLY KNEW WHEN WE CAME OUT. A MYSTERY LED TO CONFUSION AMONG SURVIVORS OF THE KILLING FIELD. THE TRIBUNAL SHOULD DO THEIR BEST TO FIND OUT TO UNCOVER THE MYSTERY. THANKS ANYWAY TO THE TRIBUNAL FOR YOUR EFFORTS. A SURVIVOR.
Khmer rouge, Khmer Communist Red leaders are held responsible. The are serving evil. Yuon's slave
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