Huot Sambath after his arrest (L) and before his arrest (R) (Photo: DC-Cam)Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
15 August 2007
The Committee of the Khmer Rouge Victims is pushing the Khmer Rouge tribunal to act on a lawsuit submitted by one of Cambodia's highest-profile victims, the group said Wednesday.
Marie-Felicite Sambath, 72, has filed a suit against the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime for suffering the loss of her husband—an ambassador for former prince Norodom Sihnaouk's government—as well as her daughter, mother and sister.
Sambath has so far been unable to convince the tribunal to advance her case, opening questions on how individual victims should find justice for suffering on such a mass scale.
Sambath claims her husband was killed in the infamous torture prison, Tuol Sleng, which was overseen by Kaing Khev Iev, alias Duch, the only person to so far be indicted by special courts of the tribunal.
The prosecutors office has so far failed to act on Sambath's suit, which was filed nine months ago, said Chhay Hok Pheng, a member of the Committee of the Khmer Rouge Victims who led a delegation to Cambodia recently.
He would like to file up to 45 similar suits, he said.
"This push is to find justice for the victims, and they will be able to express their pain and make their demands legally," he said. "We would like to see immediate trial."
The rules of the Khmer Rouge tribunal do allow for so-called "civil party actions," in which victims are entitled to file such suits.
A special Victim's Unit was created on paper when the rules were adopted earlier this year, allowing victims as a unit to receive "moral reparations."
So far, however, the Victim's Unit has not been formed.
Marie-Felicite Sambath, 72, has filed a suit against the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime for suffering the loss of her husband—an ambassador for former prince Norodom Sihnaouk's government—as well as her daughter, mother and sister.
Sambath has so far been unable to convince the tribunal to advance her case, opening questions on how individual victims should find justice for suffering on such a mass scale.
Sambath claims her husband was killed in the infamous torture prison, Tuol Sleng, which was overseen by Kaing Khev Iev, alias Duch, the only person to so far be indicted by special courts of the tribunal.
The prosecutors office has so far failed to act on Sambath's suit, which was filed nine months ago, said Chhay Hok Pheng, a member of the Committee of the Khmer Rouge Victims who led a delegation to Cambodia recently.
He would like to file up to 45 similar suits, he said.
"This push is to find justice for the victims, and they will be able to express their pain and make their demands legally," he said. "We would like to see immediate trial."
The rules of the Khmer Rouge tribunal do allow for so-called "civil party actions," in which victims are entitled to file such suits.
A special Victim's Unit was created on paper when the rules were adopted earlier this year, allowing victims as a unit to receive "moral reparations."
So far, however, the Victim's Unit has not been formed.
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