Connie Levett
The Age (Australia)
Portrait of an artist as a tortured young man: Vann Nath is one of only a few survivors of the notorious S-21 torture prison. (Photo: Andrew Meares)Vann Nath is a good witness, a rare survivor of Tuol Sleng, Cambodia's most notorious Khmer Rouge torture prison, and he is willing to reawaken the demons of his past at a genocide tribunal. The question is: will he survive long enough to do that?
The 60-year-old is fighting serious kidney disease with twice-weekly dialysis, while the 29 judges — 17 Cambodian and 12 international — of the genocide tribunal battle each other over the rules of engagement.
There is a threat of a walk-out by the international judges, amid allegations of Government interference and concerns about the independence of the Cambodian judges. Many senior Government officials, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, were mid-ranking Khmer Rouge officers.
At stake is justice for the more than 1.7 million Cambodians who died between 1975 and 1979 under the murderous Pol Pot regime.
"I have never forgotten what happened in Pol Pot's regime," says Vann Nath, a painter and writer. "They tortured me brutally, and not only me. People still remember. All people in Pol Pot's regime cannot forget."
Vann Nath is one of only seven survivors from the 17,000 prisoners sent to Tuol Sleng, Phnom Penh security prison 21 (S-21), the country's largest torture and detention centre. He was spared after prison commander Commodore Duch discovered his artistic talents and made him paint portraits of Pol Pot.
Of the seven camp survivors, three are still alive.
The aim of the genocide trial is to bring "senior leaders and those most responsible" to court. Pol Pot escaped justice when he died in 1988. Since 2003, when the tribunal was agreed to in principle, two more senior leaders, Ta Mok and Son Sen, have died. Duch is the only senior Khmer Rouge figure in jail awaiting trial.
"There is tremendous pressure, unbelievable pressure. A number of the potential defendants have died, a number of the potential witnesses have died," says Dr Helen Jarvis, head of public affairs at the tribunal, which goes by the unwieldy title of the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia.
"On a larger scale, many Cambodians who hoped to see justice in their lifetime didn't make it. The pressure is immense but I don't think we in the courts can make up for 30 years of lost time.
"It would be foolish to establish the court on an unsound basis, since we have to have a good legal structure."
For Vann Nath, the trial matters for two reasons: "If they don't bring them to court (the Khmer Rouge) won't know what they did (was wrong). We need them to be responsible for what they did.
"If we don't do it, the young generation will not know what is wrong and what is right."
About half of Cambodia's 14 million population is under 18, born almost a generation after the event.
At the court this week when a group of 200 Cambodian law students met French tribunal judge Marcel Lemonde, they sought assurances that the trial would go ahead. All have family members who were victims of the brutal regime.
Law student Nhean Raksmay, 22, says the tribunal is needed to ensure the genocide never happens again. "Twenty-eight years ago, Cambodia went through war and fear and now we are living in peace," he says. "We have modern equipment, modern education and we can travel wherever we want.
"I hope Cambodians are walking in the right direction and will be recognised internationally. "
How Cambodian justice is perceived internationally will depend on the outcome of the tussle on the internal regulations that govern the tribunal. Two sources of tension are the independence of the judges and the role of foreign prosecutors.
The judges were sworn in in July 2006. With the present delay, it is unlikely hearings will begin before 2008, according to Judge Lemonde. "There is one point on which the international judges are unanimous — these trials should take (place) quickly or not at all," he told Agence France Presse recently.
In the West, questions are being raised about how free and fair the genocide tribunal can be when 19 local judges have been appointed by Cambodia's thuggish Prime Minister and former Khmer Rouge soldier Hun Sen. There are also questions about China's role in delaying the trial, analysts say, because it does not want its role as a backer of the Khmer Rouge re-examined.
What you hear less of in the West is the ambiguous role of the UN. Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia which has chronicled the genocide, says the Cambodian people have reservations about both sides of the tribunal and the UN's need to document its own role.
"The conflict is that both sides are associated with the Khmer Rouge," he says.
There is no sunset clause on the tribunal but it has funding for only three years. Seven months into the process, they are still wrangling over the rules of engagement. For Vann Nath, time is precious. His life-saving dialysis costs $1275 a month, but he receives no support from the Cambodian Government. A Swedish non-government organisation gives him some financial help.
After 28 years, he still has the bad dreams. But he also has a wife, three children and two grandchildren who bring him great joy. "Sometimes when I talk about the regime I will dream again, then I cannot sleep and if I sleep I dream."
Yet, despite the nightmares, Vann Nath wants his day in court to talk about the Pol Pot regime one more time.
The 60-year-old is fighting serious kidney disease with twice-weekly dialysis, while the 29 judges — 17 Cambodian and 12 international — of the genocide tribunal battle each other over the rules of engagement.
There is a threat of a walk-out by the international judges, amid allegations of Government interference and concerns about the independence of the Cambodian judges. Many senior Government officials, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, were mid-ranking Khmer Rouge officers.
At stake is justice for the more than 1.7 million Cambodians who died between 1975 and 1979 under the murderous Pol Pot regime.
"I have never forgotten what happened in Pol Pot's regime," says Vann Nath, a painter and writer. "They tortured me brutally, and not only me. People still remember. All people in Pol Pot's regime cannot forget."
Vann Nath is one of only seven survivors from the 17,000 prisoners sent to Tuol Sleng, Phnom Penh security prison 21 (S-21), the country's largest torture and detention centre. He was spared after prison commander Commodore Duch discovered his artistic talents and made him paint portraits of Pol Pot.
Of the seven camp survivors, three are still alive.
The aim of the genocide trial is to bring "senior leaders and those most responsible" to court. Pol Pot escaped justice when he died in 1988. Since 2003, when the tribunal was agreed to in principle, two more senior leaders, Ta Mok and Son Sen, have died. Duch is the only senior Khmer Rouge figure in jail awaiting trial.
"There is tremendous pressure, unbelievable pressure. A number of the potential defendants have died, a number of the potential witnesses have died," says Dr Helen Jarvis, head of public affairs at the tribunal, which goes by the unwieldy title of the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia.
"On a larger scale, many Cambodians who hoped to see justice in their lifetime didn't make it. The pressure is immense but I don't think we in the courts can make up for 30 years of lost time.
"It would be foolish to establish the court on an unsound basis, since we have to have a good legal structure."
For Vann Nath, the trial matters for two reasons: "If they don't bring them to court (the Khmer Rouge) won't know what they did (was wrong). We need them to be responsible for what they did.
"If we don't do it, the young generation will not know what is wrong and what is right."
About half of Cambodia's 14 million population is under 18, born almost a generation after the event.
At the court this week when a group of 200 Cambodian law students met French tribunal judge Marcel Lemonde, they sought assurances that the trial would go ahead. All have family members who were victims of the brutal regime.
Law student Nhean Raksmay, 22, says the tribunal is needed to ensure the genocide never happens again. "Twenty-eight years ago, Cambodia went through war and fear and now we are living in peace," he says. "We have modern equipment, modern education and we can travel wherever we want.
"I hope Cambodians are walking in the right direction and will be recognised internationally. "
How Cambodian justice is perceived internationally will depend on the outcome of the tussle on the internal regulations that govern the tribunal. Two sources of tension are the independence of the judges and the role of foreign prosecutors.
The judges were sworn in in July 2006. With the present delay, it is unlikely hearings will begin before 2008, according to Judge Lemonde. "There is one point on which the international judges are unanimous — these trials should take (place) quickly or not at all," he told Agence France Presse recently.
In the West, questions are being raised about how free and fair the genocide tribunal can be when 19 local judges have been appointed by Cambodia's thuggish Prime Minister and former Khmer Rouge soldier Hun Sen. There are also questions about China's role in delaying the trial, analysts say, because it does not want its role as a backer of the Khmer Rouge re-examined.
What you hear less of in the West is the ambiguous role of the UN. Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia which has chronicled the genocide, says the Cambodian people have reservations about both sides of the tribunal and the UN's need to document its own role.
"The conflict is that both sides are associated with the Khmer Rouge," he says.
There is no sunset clause on the tribunal but it has funding for only three years. Seven months into the process, they are still wrangling over the rules of engagement. For Vann Nath, time is precious. His life-saving dialysis costs $1275 a month, but he receives no support from the Cambodian Government. A Swedish non-government organisation gives him some financial help.
After 28 years, he still has the bad dreams. But he also has a wife, three children and two grandchildren who bring him great joy. "Sometimes when I talk about the regime I will dream again, then I cannot sleep and if I sleep I dream."
Yet, despite the nightmares, Vann Nath wants his day in court to talk about the Pol Pot regime one more time.
1 comment:
It's a great show for the Mini-series :" The Khmer Rouge trial Court ".
It suits to the budget $56 million dollars.
Enjoy it.Thanks.
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