http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slJaIxtGcd0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK1p_swSu8U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5o5N4IthFI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubhUpgVvQt8
Showing posts with label KR atrocities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KR atrocities. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Chilling Evidence in Khmer Rouge Trial
 |
| Em Oeun |
By Luke Hunt
The Diplomat
Chilling evidence surrounding the barbarity of the Khmer Rouge leadership continues to mount at the Extraordinary Chambers for the Courts in Cambodia where three of Pol Pot’s senior henchmen – Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, and Ieng Sary -- are back before a bench of local and international judges.
This time the evidence was delivered by 61-year-old Em Ouen who worked as a medic during 1977 and 1978 and testified he had seen live humans being used for medical experiments, instead of corpses, while in Sector 20, a Khmer Rouge provincial base at Prey Veng southeast of Phnom Penh.
He described how, as a trainee, he was forced to stand and watch as fingers and limbs were amputated saying, “And the whole body would be chopped or operated and cut into pieces and put into a bag to be discarded.”
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Former doctor recounts Khmer Rouge paranoia
|
| Em Oeun |
Joseph Freeman
The Phnom Penh Post
When soldiers yanked people out of the rooms of the Phnom Penh hospital where Khmer Rouge-era physician Em Oeun trained in the late 1970s, there were few explanations and the movement was swift.
The Khmer Rouge “actually arrested people in the hospital”, said Oeun, a civil party in Case 002 who retook the stand yesterday. “They put those people who were arrested in the trucks, which were already prepared outside the hospital premises. I don’t know where they took them to.”
The general atmosphere, as a result of all the inexplicable arrests, was one of constant paranoia and mistrust.
“Normally, people did not talk about the truth, they never chit-chatted, the reason being, we could not find time to converse because they were all afraid,” he said. “At the time, the party paid greater attention to obeying the discipline rather than paying attention to human beings or their lives.”
Tribunal Witness Describes ‘Reeducation’ of Medical Students
 |
| Em Oeun |
Em Oeun, 61, a former medical student of the regime, said Monday that Nuoin Chea told students they should follow the regime’s doctrine.
28 August 2012
Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
PHNOM PENH - Top Khmer Rouge leaders Pol Pot, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan ordered lower cadre to be “faithful” to the Communist Party of Kampuchea and to purge its internal enemies, a witness told the UN-backed tribunal Monday.
Em Oeun told the court the three leaders held political training and re-education of medical students, of which he was one, and “destroyed” those who did not follow.
Nuon Chea, the regime’s ideologue, and Khieu Samphan, its nominal head of state, are on trial for atrocity crimes, alongside Ieng Sary, its foreign minister.
Em Oeun, 61, a former medical student of the regime, said Monday that Nuoin Chea told students they should follow the regime’s doctrine. “If we did not follow the party, we would be responsible for what we had done,” he told the court.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Grisly experiments recalled in Khmer Rouge court
Friday, 24 August 2012
Joseph Freeman
The Phnom Penh Post
Joseph Freeman
The Phnom Penh Post
In the Democratic Kampuchea era, killers loyal to the cause devised many ways to extinguish life: the blunt handles of axes, the power of firearms, overwork, torture and, according to a civil party testifying yesterday at the Khmer Rouge tribunal, medical experimentation.
“They did not bring corpses to be operated on. They brought real human beings for this operation,” said Em Oeun, 61, describing what he witnessed in 1977 and 1978 as a medic in Sector 20, a Prey Vang provincial base under the Khmer Rouge.
Recounting anecdotes comparable to the notorious Nazi medical operations and experiments on concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust, Oeun said trainees stood by to watch and learn as digits and limbs were lopped off.
“And the whole body would be chopped or operated and cut into pieces and put into a bag to be discarded,” he said.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Preventing mass atrocities in Southeast Asia
Tue, 06/15/2010
Alistair D.B. Cook and Priyanka Bhalla, Singapore
The Jakarta Post (Indonesia)
Vietnam invaded Cambodia and established a favorable regime in Phnom Penh. With this in our minds, how far has Southeast Asia come? What have countries, regional and international organizations and civil society accomplished in an effort to prevent such mass atrocities from reoccurring?
The signing of the Paris Peace Agreement in 1991 established the grounds for an election and subsequent coalition government in Cambodia. Since then, Cambodia slowly moved forwards without forgetting its past with a fragile political system supported by the United Nations.
The fragility of its political system was illustrated by the infighting between its co-prime ministers in 1997, which caused ASEAN to suspend Cambodian entry into the regional association until the issues were resolved. The fragility of the political system was coupled with the presence and activities of various United Nations agencies, some of which have caused controversy in the years since the Paris Peace Agreement was signed.
However, on the face of it, international activity illustrates a commitment by the international community to assist Cambodia to rebuild and develop its infrastructure and economy. Examples of this commitment range from the Special Tribunal in Cambodia which was established in 2003 to try Khmer Rouge leaders for their role in the genocide to community-led sanitation projects.
As we plough through 2010, at what seems lightening speed, it is important to take stock and understand where we have come from, where we are, and where we are going. Now is a good a time as any to do so. The Cambodian political system remains fraught with difficulties.
The Special Tribunal for Cambodia has yet to deliver its first verdict against a Khmer Rouge leader, and future trials are in doubt. The Cambodian economy has developed apace but with significant disparity between rich and poor, between urban and rural with increasing concern over land rights.
However, Cambodian civil society has developed significantly into an important check on developments. It provides a mouthpiece to raise awareness on issues such as land rights and provides an important means to mobilize people in a peaceful way.
These developments illustrate that the path to sustainable peace is long and littered with hurdles. Indeed, it is easy to forget why we travel along such a path. However, such a path is unfortunately not exceptional, rather similar paths the world over are walked from Kosovo to Timor Leste.
It is with these various experiences around the world that consensus was reached at the UN General Assembly in 2005 to agree the World Outcome Document. This document contains a commitment to prevent mass atrocities everywhere around the world, and is referred to as the responsibility to protect. It was a significant commitment and one reached by consensus.
The commitment puts the primary onus on an individual country to protect its people from mass atrocities, through all available means, such as an impartial and effective legal system. If a country is unable to provide this, then other countries must be willing and able to assist it in building its capacity.
If a country refuses assistance then the international community must be willing to act to persuade the country to provide protection. This is achieved through diplomatic negotiations or economically through smart sanctions.
In the event that these tools do not work, in agreement with other countries, and through international organizations such as the United Nations, then countries must be prepared to use force to prevent mass atrocities, as occurred in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 with the execution of 1.7 million people.
At a recent regional consultation on the responsibility to protect held in Singapore, hosted by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies' Centre for Non-Traditional Security, academics, civil society activists, and policy-makers met to discuss the responsibility to protect and its impact on the region. The regional consultation heard many interpretations of the responsibility to protect with some participants contending that countries are willing to focus on preventive strategies, but not the use of force.
Through the regional consultation it became clear that some have forgotten the paths we walk to a sustainable peace, which highlights the importance of taking stock, to see where we have come from, where we are, and where we are going.
The Cambodian experience should remind everyone why when push comes to shove, with the added protection that such a decision is made by as many as possible, that the use of force cannot be ruled out as a last resort.
When remembering the mass atrocities that have occurred in the region, it reminds us why consensus was reached in 2005, and this recollection should act as a motivation to ensure that preventive measures are in place. A focus on the use of force loses sight of the objective to prevent mass atrocities through an approach that focuses overwhelmingly on prevention.
However, this regional consultation served as an important reminder to academics, policy-makers and civil society that conversations such as these are ongoing.
It is through a forum such as this, where we can interact and voice our concerns about the commitments we have made, to be reminded why we made them and how we can move forward to prevent mass atrocities from happening again.
Alistair D.B. Cook is post doctoral fellow and coordinator of the Internal and Cross Border Conflict Program, and Priyanka Bhalla is an associate research fellow at the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University
Alistair D.B. Cook and Priyanka Bhalla, Singapore
The Jakarta Post (Indonesia)
The Special Tribunal for Cambodia has yet to deliver its first verdict against a Khmer Rouge leader, and future trials are in doubt. The Cambodian economy has developed apace but with significant disparity between rich and poor, between urban and rural with increasing concern over land rights.It is now over 30 years since Cambodia experienced Genocide between 1975 and 1979 when the Khmer Rouge killed approximately 1.7 million people or 21 percent of their population of about 8 million. Cambodians were powerless to help themselves against the Khmer Rouge. The international community was caught up in the midst of the Cold War and not interested. ASEAN was in its infancy.
Vietnam invaded Cambodia and established a favorable regime in Phnom Penh. With this in our minds, how far has Southeast Asia come? What have countries, regional and international organizations and civil society accomplished in an effort to prevent such mass atrocities from reoccurring?
The signing of the Paris Peace Agreement in 1991 established the grounds for an election and subsequent coalition government in Cambodia. Since then, Cambodia slowly moved forwards without forgetting its past with a fragile political system supported by the United Nations.
The fragility of its political system was illustrated by the infighting between its co-prime ministers in 1997, which caused ASEAN to suspend Cambodian entry into the regional association until the issues were resolved. The fragility of the political system was coupled with the presence and activities of various United Nations agencies, some of which have caused controversy in the years since the Paris Peace Agreement was signed.
However, on the face of it, international activity illustrates a commitment by the international community to assist Cambodia to rebuild and develop its infrastructure and economy. Examples of this commitment range from the Special Tribunal in Cambodia which was established in 2003 to try Khmer Rouge leaders for their role in the genocide to community-led sanitation projects.
As we plough through 2010, at what seems lightening speed, it is important to take stock and understand where we have come from, where we are, and where we are going. Now is a good a time as any to do so. The Cambodian political system remains fraught with difficulties.
The Special Tribunal for Cambodia has yet to deliver its first verdict against a Khmer Rouge leader, and future trials are in doubt. The Cambodian economy has developed apace but with significant disparity between rich and poor, between urban and rural with increasing concern over land rights.
However, Cambodian civil society has developed significantly into an important check on developments. It provides a mouthpiece to raise awareness on issues such as land rights and provides an important means to mobilize people in a peaceful way.
These developments illustrate that the path to sustainable peace is long and littered with hurdles. Indeed, it is easy to forget why we travel along such a path. However, such a path is unfortunately not exceptional, rather similar paths the world over are walked from Kosovo to Timor Leste.
It is with these various experiences around the world that consensus was reached at the UN General Assembly in 2005 to agree the World Outcome Document. This document contains a commitment to prevent mass atrocities everywhere around the world, and is referred to as the responsibility to protect. It was a significant commitment and one reached by consensus.
The commitment puts the primary onus on an individual country to protect its people from mass atrocities, through all available means, such as an impartial and effective legal system. If a country is unable to provide this, then other countries must be willing and able to assist it in building its capacity.
If a country refuses assistance then the international community must be willing to act to persuade the country to provide protection. This is achieved through diplomatic negotiations or economically through smart sanctions.
In the event that these tools do not work, in agreement with other countries, and through international organizations such as the United Nations, then countries must be prepared to use force to prevent mass atrocities, as occurred in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 with the execution of 1.7 million people.
At a recent regional consultation on the responsibility to protect held in Singapore, hosted by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies' Centre for Non-Traditional Security, academics, civil society activists, and policy-makers met to discuss the responsibility to protect and its impact on the region. The regional consultation heard many interpretations of the responsibility to protect with some participants contending that countries are willing to focus on preventive strategies, but not the use of force.
Through the regional consultation it became clear that some have forgotten the paths we walk to a sustainable peace, which highlights the importance of taking stock, to see where we have come from, where we are, and where we are going.
The Cambodian experience should remind everyone why when push comes to shove, with the added protection that such a decision is made by as many as possible, that the use of force cannot be ruled out as a last resort.
When remembering the mass atrocities that have occurred in the region, it reminds us why consensus was reached in 2005, and this recollection should act as a motivation to ensure that preventive measures are in place. A focus on the use of force loses sight of the objective to prevent mass atrocities through an approach that focuses overwhelmingly on prevention.
However, this regional consultation served as an important reminder to academics, policy-makers and civil society that conversations such as these are ongoing.
It is through a forum such as this, where we can interact and voice our concerns about the commitments we have made, to be reminded why we made them and how we can move forward to prevent mass atrocities from happening again.
Alistair D.B. Cook is post doctoral fellow and coordinator of the Internal and Cross Border Conflict Program, and Priyanka Bhalla is an associate research fellow at the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University
Responsability to Protect to be hosted in Cambodia when Cambodians are evicted by force from their lands in drove?
Norodom SirivudhCambodia hosts talks on protecting civilians from atrocities
June 16, 2010
ABC Radio Australia
After World War Two and revelations of the Jewish Holocaust, the world vowed never again. Yet genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other mass atrocites have continued, from the killing fields of Cambodia to the violence of Rwanda and the abuses in Darfur. Five years ago, world leaders at a UN summit agreed that it's the responsibility of each nation to protect their populations from abuse. That commitment was called R2P, the Responsibility To Protect. It has since been reaffirmed by the UN Security Council. Cambodia is hosting the first in a series of talks on the R2P, to investigate its effectiveness in the Asia Pacific region.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speakers: His Royal Highness Prince Norodom Sirivudh, chairman Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace
LAM: Tell us about this two day conference in Phnom Penh?
PRINCE SIRIVUDH: It is very important for us Cambodians for our institute as one of the leading think tanks. As you mentioned here in Cambodia we have passed through a lot of suffering, genocide, the Khmer Rouge and a lot of the population has been killed. So the idea is to bring a new concept as you mentioned for responsibility, to protect. I think because there are a lot of provisions on the structure of the United Nations, even in the Security Council but we must cross the line because the problem is always the notion of serenities and the duty to intervene, that is the problem. And personally and a lot of Cambodian academic people in society now try to engage the Royal Government of Cambodia and the National Assembly Senate all the stakeholders to think about how we can move forward on responsibility to protect its citizens.The state needs to be responsible for its own people and not to allow genocide tohappen.
LAM: And how do you think the Cambodian Government is performing on this front, this responsibility to protect?
SIRIVUDH: I think idea is there, any civil society and think tank has a duty to bring the notions to the National Assembly, so the reason why the two day wash up is to stabilise stakeholders, the civil society and we bring people together and once again thanks to our Australian friends, through Queensland Universities to bring this concept. So I am very encouraged that it seem to me that following the Secretary-General in 2009, we members of the United Nations as a country must implement the responsibility to protect and emphasis the treaty, absolutely. But the problem you must understand that this region, Asia is not only the state, but we must bring the responsibility to the regional grouping, like the EU, like the African Union and ASEAN, and ASEAN must be more flexible to welcome the notion about responsibility.
LAM: Well ASEAN as you know, last year brought out this widely reported charter on human rights, and yet the various performances of the various governments is quite mixed in ASEAN. You can compare say a country like Burma, for instance, where human rights is virtually non-existent, to a country like say Malaysia or Singapore. Where Cambodia is concerned, do you think that the government is taking this notion of the responsibility to protect seriously?
SIRIVUDH: Absolutely, I think it is taking a long time for Cambodia to stabilise and achieve this. But now I think the notion about a charter, we in Cambodia are very supportive about the human rights notion and of course once again about non-interference is still there, but at least we have achieved some progress to have one charter and we have agreed to sit down to talk about human rights.
LAM: Just briefly, do you think that R2P should also extend to land rights? I mean many people in Cambodia, particularly near the cities have been forced off their land and forced to move out of their homes?
SIRIVUDH: Absolutely, when I talk about the state, it must be to protect its people, protect from genocide, from ethnic cleansing and crime. So the land, what is affecting the land conflict is only one part of R2P, but absolutely. I am very, very supportive and will do everything in my capacity as member of the institute and perhaps on behalf of the civil society we will work on this.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speakers: His Royal Highness Prince Norodom Sirivudh, chairman Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace
LAM: Tell us about this two day conference in Phnom Penh?
PRINCE SIRIVUDH: It is very important for us Cambodians for our institute as one of the leading think tanks. As you mentioned here in Cambodia we have passed through a lot of suffering, genocide, the Khmer Rouge and a lot of the population has been killed. So the idea is to bring a new concept as you mentioned for responsibility, to protect. I think because there are a lot of provisions on the structure of the United Nations, even in the Security Council but we must cross the line because the problem is always the notion of serenities and the duty to intervene, that is the problem. And personally and a lot of Cambodian academic people in society now try to engage the Royal Government of Cambodia and the National Assembly Senate all the stakeholders to think about how we can move forward on responsibility to protect its citizens.The state needs to be responsible for its own people and not to allow genocide tohappen.
LAM: And how do you think the Cambodian Government is performing on this front, this responsibility to protect?
SIRIVUDH: I think idea is there, any civil society and think tank has a duty to bring the notions to the National Assembly, so the reason why the two day wash up is to stabilise stakeholders, the civil society and we bring people together and once again thanks to our Australian friends, through Queensland Universities to bring this concept. So I am very encouraged that it seem to me that following the Secretary-General in 2009, we members of the United Nations as a country must implement the responsibility to protect and emphasis the treaty, absolutely. But the problem you must understand that this region, Asia is not only the state, but we must bring the responsibility to the regional grouping, like the EU, like the African Union and ASEAN, and ASEAN must be more flexible to welcome the notion about responsibility.
LAM: Well ASEAN as you know, last year brought out this widely reported charter on human rights, and yet the various performances of the various governments is quite mixed in ASEAN. You can compare say a country like Burma, for instance, where human rights is virtually non-existent, to a country like say Malaysia or Singapore. Where Cambodia is concerned, do you think that the government is taking this notion of the responsibility to protect seriously?
SIRIVUDH: Absolutely, I think it is taking a long time for Cambodia to stabilise and achieve this. But now I think the notion about a charter, we in Cambodia are very supportive about the human rights notion and of course once again about non-interference is still there, but at least we have achieved some progress to have one charter and we have agreed to sit down to talk about human rights.
LAM: Just briefly, do you think that R2P should also extend to land rights? I mean many people in Cambodia, particularly near the cities have been forced off their land and forced to move out of their homes?
SIRIVUDH: Absolutely, when I talk about the state, it must be to protect its people, protect from genocide, from ethnic cleansing and crime. So the land, what is affecting the land conflict is only one part of R2P, but absolutely. I am very, very supportive and will do everything in my capacity as member of the institute and perhaps on behalf of the civil society we will work on this.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
On Island of Massacre, Chams Remember
Cambodian Muslims, known as Chams, bow during Friday prayers at the Noorul Isant mosque, north of Phnom Penh. (Photo: AP)On an island in the Mekong River in Krouch Chhmar district, about 50 km from Kampong Cham provincial town, lies a Cham village that is little more than a few bamboo, thatched-roof houses.
Pich Samnang, VOA
Kampong Cham, Cambodia
Monday, 26 April 2010
The village is on Koh Phal, or “Island of Harvest,” where Cham Muslims resisted the Khmer Rouge in an uprising in September 1975, just five months after the radical Maoists took power in Cambodia.
“The reason for the rebellion was that there was no more Islam,” Chet Sman, a 75-year-old widower and the head of one of the four families living here, told VOA Khmer in an interview recently. “The Khmer Rouge collected our Quran for burning and cut women’s hair, including my mother’s. This is the reason.”
Chet Sman sat in front of an old black-and-white TV in his cottage, smoking tobacco and describing the uprising, which led to a massacre of the Chams on the island. These killings, and others like them, will be a part of the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s upcoming trial against four jailed leaders of the regime.
The Khmer Rouge shut down mosques, forbid prayer and abolished head-covering for women, he said. They also forced the Chams to raise pigs and eat the pork, a deeply offensive act to the traditional Muslims.
Before the Chams of Koh Phal were pushed to rebellion, the Khmer Rouge went house to house, collecting swords, knives and other tools that might be used as weapons, Chet Sman said. But many villagers hid theirs, or quickly constructed new ones, as they decided to resist.
“The desperate villagers who dared fight against the Khmer Rouge with their swords or bamboo wanted to die as our religion disappeared,” he said, his own long knife and axes lying nearby.
In response, the Khmer Rouge surrounded the island with artillery and weapons. Within a week, they had killed the rebellious villagers, burned down their homes, religious schools and mosques and then turned the name of Koh Phal to Koh Phes, or “Island of Ashes.”
Then, two weeks later, Cham villagers in Svay Klaing, 10 kilometers away, rose up as well, after their teachers and religious leaders were arrested by the Khmer Rouge. Many more were killed in a single day and night.
Ysa Osman, author of “The Cham Rebellion,” which chronicles the uprisings, said the Khmer Rouge then sent survivors to four prisons in Kroach Chhmar district, in areas prone to malaria.
“At that time, there were not enough prisons to put people in, as there were thousands of people both young and old,” he said in an interview last week. “So the Khmer Rouge used schools and pagodas as detention centers for the rebellious villagers.”
Among an estimated 1.7 million people who were killed or died of starvation, overwork or torture under Democratic Kampuchea, an estimated 500,000 are believed to be Chams, according to the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
In late 2009, the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal added the charge of genocide for four former Khmer Rouge leaders awaiting trials. The four, Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith, had previously been charged with crimes against humanity, murder, torture and religious persecutions.
As part of the trial, which could begin next year, Yusos Pinyamin, a survivor of the Svay Klaing massacre, was among those who have filed complaints as civil parties, and he said recently he wants justice done more quickly.
He worries the old leaders will die before they see trial.
“I knew that I could not win, but it was not worth living any longer,” the 56-year-old “hakim,” or village elder, said of the 1975 rebellion. “I was so desperate that I could not wait to be killed.”
Pich Samnang, VOA
Kampong Cham, Cambodia
Monday, 26 April 2010
“The Khmer Rouge collected our Quran for burning and cut women’s hair."On an island in the Mekong River in Krouch Chhmar district, about 50 km from Kampong Cham provincial town, lies a Cham village that is little more than a few bamboo, thatched-roof houses.
The village is on Koh Phal, or “Island of Harvest,” where Cham Muslims resisted the Khmer Rouge in an uprising in September 1975, just five months after the radical Maoists took power in Cambodia.
“The reason for the rebellion was that there was no more Islam,” Chet Sman, a 75-year-old widower and the head of one of the four families living here, told VOA Khmer in an interview recently. “The Khmer Rouge collected our Quran for burning and cut women’s hair, including my mother’s. This is the reason.”
Chet Sman sat in front of an old black-and-white TV in his cottage, smoking tobacco and describing the uprising, which led to a massacre of the Chams on the island. These killings, and others like them, will be a part of the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s upcoming trial against four jailed leaders of the regime.
The Khmer Rouge shut down mosques, forbid prayer and abolished head-covering for women, he said. They also forced the Chams to raise pigs and eat the pork, a deeply offensive act to the traditional Muslims.
Before the Chams of Koh Phal were pushed to rebellion, the Khmer Rouge went house to house, collecting swords, knives and other tools that might be used as weapons, Chet Sman said. But many villagers hid theirs, or quickly constructed new ones, as they decided to resist.
“The desperate villagers who dared fight against the Khmer Rouge with their swords or bamboo wanted to die as our religion disappeared,” he said, his own long knife and axes lying nearby.
In response, the Khmer Rouge surrounded the island with artillery and weapons. Within a week, they had killed the rebellious villagers, burned down their homes, religious schools and mosques and then turned the name of Koh Phal to Koh Phes, or “Island of Ashes.”
Then, two weeks later, Cham villagers in Svay Klaing, 10 kilometers away, rose up as well, after their teachers and religious leaders were arrested by the Khmer Rouge. Many more were killed in a single day and night.
Ysa Osman, author of “The Cham Rebellion,” which chronicles the uprisings, said the Khmer Rouge then sent survivors to four prisons in Kroach Chhmar district, in areas prone to malaria.
“At that time, there were not enough prisons to put people in, as there were thousands of people both young and old,” he said in an interview last week. “So the Khmer Rouge used schools and pagodas as detention centers for the rebellious villagers.”
Among an estimated 1.7 million people who were killed or died of starvation, overwork or torture under Democratic Kampuchea, an estimated 500,000 are believed to be Chams, according to the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
In late 2009, the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal added the charge of genocide for four former Khmer Rouge leaders awaiting trials. The four, Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith, had previously been charged with crimes against humanity, murder, torture and religious persecutions.
As part of the trial, which could begin next year, Yusos Pinyamin, a survivor of the Svay Klaing massacre, was among those who have filed complaints as civil parties, and he said recently he wants justice done more quickly.
He worries the old leaders will die before they see trial.
“I knew that I could not win, but it was not worth living any longer,” the 56-year-old “hakim,” or village elder, said of the 1975 rebellion. “I was so desperate that I could not wait to be killed.”
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Cambodia Tribunal Must Not Use Torture "Confessions" as a Legitimate Source of Information
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REDRESS TRUST
INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS
12 October 2009
INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS
12 October 2009
JOINT PUBLIC STATEMENT
CAMBODIA TRIBUNAL MUST NOT USE TORTURE "CONFESSIONS" AS A LEGITIMATE SOURCE OF INFORMATION
CAMBODIA TRIBUNAL MUST NOT USE TORTURE "CONFESSIONS" AS A LEGITIMATE SOURCE OF INFORMATION
What prisoners say or "confess" to under torture should never be admissible in any court proceedings, said Amnesty International, The International Commission of Jurists and the Redress Trust, after submitting a brief to the Pre-Trial Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).
The brief was submitted on 25 September 2009, as part of an application to intervene as "friends of the court" (amicus curiae) in the case of Ieng Thirith, where a dispute has arisen in respect of the potential admissibility of certain statements. In it, the organizations explain that the prohibition on the use of the content of statements obtained by torture by courts is absolute. It both reflects and supports the absolute prohibition on torture and is essential for preserving the integrity of the judicial process and the right to a fair trial. It is also impelled by the moral repugnance at the prospect of using the torturer's creation -- the "confession" -- to seek justice.
Admitting the content of a torture "confession" as evidence, bearing in mind that it was extracted out of a helpless detainee through the intentional infliction of pain and suffering, would irreparably taint any court proceedings.
Article 15 of the UN Convention against Torture, which binds the ECCC, excludes all statements obtained by torture from any court proceedings, with one exception only: torture statements may be used against the suspected torturers themselves, but then only "as evidence that the statement was made." In other words, such statements may be used as part of the proof that the act of torture took place, and not in any way for the truth of its contents or any other purpose. This limitation is clear from the language of the article, which uses the word "only" to prevent any misinterpretations. It is also clear from the history of its drafting in the UN, which the brief describes. During the drafting, proposals to allow the wider use of statements obtained by torture were considered but rejected.
The brief also explains that under international law, the use of statements obtained by torture to prove that they were made, is not limited to proceedings against the actual torturer, but also against commanders and political superiors accused of bearing responsibility for the torture.
The prohibition on the use of "confessions" does not extend automatically to all related material. For instance, other documents in the same file, including registration forms, need not be excluded automatically. However, the admissibility of any such material can nevertheless be challenged, on grounds that it did form part of the statement obtained by torture, that it was obtained by torture independently of the statement, or on other grounds set out in international and Cambodian law.
The organizations urge the ECCC to ensure that its proceedings adhere to international law and standards, which would contribute to the Court's credibility and ability to leave behind a positive and long-lasting legacy. A failure to do so would run counter to the international community's fundamental rejection of torture and refusal to provide it any legitimacy, and potentially undermine the integrity of the ECCC itself.
Regrettably, procedures in the Pre-Trial Chamber involving this brief have been rendered confidential.
The text of the brief is available here: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA23/020/2009/en
The brief was submitted on 25 September 2009, as part of an application to intervene as "friends of the court" (amicus curiae) in the case of Ieng Thirith, where a dispute has arisen in respect of the potential admissibility of certain statements. In it, the organizations explain that the prohibition on the use of the content of statements obtained by torture by courts is absolute. It both reflects and supports the absolute prohibition on torture and is essential for preserving the integrity of the judicial process and the right to a fair trial. It is also impelled by the moral repugnance at the prospect of using the torturer's creation -- the "confession" -- to seek justice.
Admitting the content of a torture "confession" as evidence, bearing in mind that it was extracted out of a helpless detainee through the intentional infliction of pain and suffering, would irreparably taint any court proceedings.
Article 15 of the UN Convention against Torture, which binds the ECCC, excludes all statements obtained by torture from any court proceedings, with one exception only: torture statements may be used against the suspected torturers themselves, but then only "as evidence that the statement was made." In other words, such statements may be used as part of the proof that the act of torture took place, and not in any way for the truth of its contents or any other purpose. This limitation is clear from the language of the article, which uses the word "only" to prevent any misinterpretations. It is also clear from the history of its drafting in the UN, which the brief describes. During the drafting, proposals to allow the wider use of statements obtained by torture were considered but rejected.
The brief also explains that under international law, the use of statements obtained by torture to prove that they were made, is not limited to proceedings against the actual torturer, but also against commanders and political superiors accused of bearing responsibility for the torture.
The prohibition on the use of "confessions" does not extend automatically to all related material. For instance, other documents in the same file, including registration forms, need not be excluded automatically. However, the admissibility of any such material can nevertheless be challenged, on grounds that it did form part of the statement obtained by torture, that it was obtained by torture independently of the statement, or on other grounds set out in international and Cambodian law.
The organizations urge the ECCC to ensure that its proceedings adhere to international law and standards, which would contribute to the Court's credibility and ability to leave behind a positive and long-lasting legacy. A failure to do so would run counter to the international community's fundamental rejection of torture and refusal to provide it any legitimacy, and potentially undermine the integrity of the ECCC itself.
Regrettably, procedures in the Pre-Trial Chamber involving this brief have been rendered confidential.
The text of the brief is available here: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA23/020/2009/en
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Meeting "monsters"
Saturday, May 02, 2009
By Sim Chi Yin
The Straits Times (Singapore)
In Phnom Penh
By Sim Chi Yin
The Straits Times (Singapore)
In Phnom Penh
Sim Chi Yin describes what it was like to meet the murderers from the Khmer Rouge regime.
I GUESS it was silly to imagine I was going to meet monsters.
Like all journalists writing about the Khmer Rouge - some veterans for a good two to three decades now - I was in search of the reasons for the bloody insanity that convulsed Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.
On April 17, 34 years ago, the Khmer Rouge swept into Phnom Penh and unleashed a "pure" Communist revolution that over a short three years, eight months and 20 days claimed an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians through execution, overwork, disease or starvation.
Decades on, it’s still difficult to fully understand how this horror happened.
For the past month, the regime’s chief jailer Duch has been offering some clues - in the first trial by the United Nations-assisted Khmer Rouge Tribunal. The self-portrait he has sketched could well describe most members of the regime: devout revolutionaries blinded by a complete faith in the Angka ("Organisation").
But that merely excuses the man in the killing machine.
The tribunal seeks to lay down the personal culpability of each of the five senior regime leaders it now has in custody.
Ultimately, it was men (and women) like Duch and his underlings at his notorious S-21 prison who pulled out prisoners’ fingernails, fed them faeces, slit their throats or drained their bodies of blood and left them to die.
Yet, there was a strange disconnect watching Duch, a former maths teacher from Kampong Thom in central Cambodia, sit in his neat, collared shirt in a modern courtroom describing the monstrous medieval forms of torture.
Just as it was when I sought out the reputedly brutal former Khmer Rouge district chief Im Chaem in the movement’s one-time jungle holdout in Cambodia’s remote northwest and was a bit surprised to find a grinning – and not unlikeable – grandmotherly figure.
And when an avuncular, smiling man in a sarong slowly walked up from behind his cows at a village house, the translator had to shake me out of my puzzlement by telling me "That’s him".
It was the former S-21 top guard Him Huy who was described by ex-comrades as a "seasoned killer" who murdered "hundreds" in a book I had read. Over the next almost four hours, he answered every question calmly and in a somewhat practised manner, and admitted killing "five" people. While I had hardly thought I would get the full truth from any of these ex-cadres with lots to hide, he was of a rather more agreeable disposition than I had expected.
I suppose it’s a bit like how we picture murderers as mean and scar-faced.
But in the case of the Khmer Rouge, the disjuncture is perhaps all the more sinister, given the adamant denial of responsibility by former cadres and leaders – despite the long paper trail left by the regime itself and the reams of evidence that have been collected since its fall.
It may well be that atrocities like those committed by the Khmer Rouge will always feel almost beyond human understanding. Like those by the Nazis or in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, perhaps.
This, though, strikes closer to home. The Khmer Rouge terror unfolded in our own backyard, where men wear sarongs in their homes built on stilts and place names start with "kampong".
For Cambodians, the hope is that the tribunal and its trials over the next couple of years will finally help the regime’s victims and the younger post-Khmer Rouge generation of Cambodians come to grips with the whys and hows of the tragedy that has haunted their country for the past 30 years.
Many observers say the long-awaited tribunal – which has been repeatedly tripped up by allegations of corruption and political interference – needs to quickly deliver justice and even bring more former leaders to book. The country will only then at long last be able to move on, they say.
Others look at mushrooming of office blocks in Phnom Penh and the hardwon, steady 9.5 per cent average GDP growth Cambodia has chalked up over the past decade, and give their diagnosis: the country needs no more healing.
All that makes me think of China, where I’ve lived for almost two years. Even as Cambodia goes through the uncomfortable process of confronting its dark past, this country has not been able to talk about - or indeed allow much research into – its own deadly Cold War era political experiments, the Great Leap Forward (which claimed some 20 to 34 million lives) and the Cultural Revolution (which killed hundreds of thousands more) .
Old wounds and skeletons in the closet may not seem much of an impediment to the present, if China’s (up till recently) double-digit economic growth were the only indicator.
Over time, victims and memories do die out. But the ghosts of the past may still - eventually - need to be put to rest.
I GUESS it was silly to imagine I was going to meet monsters.
Like all journalists writing about the Khmer Rouge - some veterans for a good two to three decades now - I was in search of the reasons for the bloody insanity that convulsed Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.
On April 17, 34 years ago, the Khmer Rouge swept into Phnom Penh and unleashed a "pure" Communist revolution that over a short three years, eight months and 20 days claimed an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians through execution, overwork, disease or starvation.
Decades on, it’s still difficult to fully understand how this horror happened.
For the past month, the regime’s chief jailer Duch has been offering some clues - in the first trial by the United Nations-assisted Khmer Rouge Tribunal. The self-portrait he has sketched could well describe most members of the regime: devout revolutionaries blinded by a complete faith in the Angka ("Organisation").
But that merely excuses the man in the killing machine.
The tribunal seeks to lay down the personal culpability of each of the five senior regime leaders it now has in custody.
Ultimately, it was men (and women) like Duch and his underlings at his notorious S-21 prison who pulled out prisoners’ fingernails, fed them faeces, slit their throats or drained their bodies of blood and left them to die.
Yet, there was a strange disconnect watching Duch, a former maths teacher from Kampong Thom in central Cambodia, sit in his neat, collared shirt in a modern courtroom describing the monstrous medieval forms of torture.
Just as it was when I sought out the reputedly brutal former Khmer Rouge district chief Im Chaem in the movement’s one-time jungle holdout in Cambodia’s remote northwest and was a bit surprised to find a grinning – and not unlikeable – grandmotherly figure.
And when an avuncular, smiling man in a sarong slowly walked up from behind his cows at a village house, the translator had to shake me out of my puzzlement by telling me "That’s him".
It was the former S-21 top guard Him Huy who was described by ex-comrades as a "seasoned killer" who murdered "hundreds" in a book I had read. Over the next almost four hours, he answered every question calmly and in a somewhat practised manner, and admitted killing "five" people. While I had hardly thought I would get the full truth from any of these ex-cadres with lots to hide, he was of a rather more agreeable disposition than I had expected.
I suppose it’s a bit like how we picture murderers as mean and scar-faced.
But in the case of the Khmer Rouge, the disjuncture is perhaps all the more sinister, given the adamant denial of responsibility by former cadres and leaders – despite the long paper trail left by the regime itself and the reams of evidence that have been collected since its fall.
It may well be that atrocities like those committed by the Khmer Rouge will always feel almost beyond human understanding. Like those by the Nazis or in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, perhaps.
This, though, strikes closer to home. The Khmer Rouge terror unfolded in our own backyard, where men wear sarongs in their homes built on stilts and place names start with "kampong".
For Cambodians, the hope is that the tribunal and its trials over the next couple of years will finally help the regime’s victims and the younger post-Khmer Rouge generation of Cambodians come to grips with the whys and hows of the tragedy that has haunted their country for the past 30 years.
Many observers say the long-awaited tribunal – which has been repeatedly tripped up by allegations of corruption and political interference – needs to quickly deliver justice and even bring more former leaders to book. The country will only then at long last be able to move on, they say.
Others look at mushrooming of office blocks in Phnom Penh and the hardwon, steady 9.5 per cent average GDP growth Cambodia has chalked up over the past decade, and give their diagnosis: the country needs no more healing.
All that makes me think of China, where I’ve lived for almost two years. Even as Cambodia goes through the uncomfortable process of confronting its dark past, this country has not been able to talk about - or indeed allow much research into – its own deadly Cold War era political experiments, the Great Leap Forward (which claimed some 20 to 34 million lives) and the Cultural Revolution (which killed hundreds of thousands more) .
Old wounds and skeletons in the closet may not seem much of an impediment to the present, if China’s (up till recently) double-digit economic growth were the only indicator.
Over time, victims and memories do die out. But the ghosts of the past may still - eventually - need to be put to rest.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Victims seek answers
Trial nears for Khmer Rouge leaders, 30 years after reign of terror that still haunts Cambodia
February 4, 2008
By Annie Linskey
Baltimore Sun reporter (Maryland, USA)
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The fears and profound losses still grip Chum Mei even now, three decades after the brutal Khmer Rouge regime terrorized him and millions of other Cambodians.
One of only 10 people known to have survived Toul Sleng prison, where 14,000 died, Chum recalls how the Khmer Rouge arrived in this city in April 1975.
Intent on abolishing religion and education, private property and money, the Communist militants ordered everyone to march into the countryside. Chum's infant son died for lack of medical attention on the trek.
Later, the Khmer Rouge would shoot and kill his wife and another son - they were among 1.7 million who died during four years. The fate of his two daughters remains a mystery.
Today, at 79, Chum still lives in Phnom Penh but won't say where exactly, worried that what's left of the Khmer Rouge might yet come looking for him. Such is the perceived power held by the group's surviving leaders, now elderly themselves and finally about to stand trial.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998, but five former leaders of the regime are about to face an international tribunal that has been years in the planning by Cambodian officials and the United Nations. The most senior living leader, 82-year-old Nuon Chea, makes his first appearance in court today. Each defendant could be sentenced to life in prison.
Like many of the victims, Chum has tried unsuccessfully to forget the atrocities. It is answers, not revenge, he seeks from the trials.
"I just want the leaders to stand up and tell the truth," he said. "If they stand up and tell the truth, they can go free."
But as Cambodia begins a national dialogue about the Khmer Rouge, the truth is hard to find.
The regime did not simply disappear when it was swept from power by the Vietnamese army in 1979. Pol Pot and his men retreated to the jungle and fought unsuccessfully to regain power over the next 20 years.
Slowly, through defections and amnesty deals, the Cambodian government co-opted remaining Khmer Rouge forces, bringing many into the police and army. The arrangement encouraged an end to the conflict, but gave victims grounds for continued distrust of Cambodian authorities.
Over the years, most of the country chose an uneasy peace over eye-for-an-eye retribution. Talking about the crimes became taboo, and schools barely deal with the topic. Many Cambodians know only of their family experiences, with little understanding of the breadth of the atrocities or who was responsible.
"There is a lot of confusion, but we need to go through this murky, dark period before we are given clarity," said Theary C. Seng, the director of a human rights organization here and a victim of the Khmer Rouge. "We are in the midst of a conversation. That is part of the process."
Pailin, a small, dusty province near the Thai border that is home to four of the five now-imprisoned Khmer Rouge leaders, is filled with people who know the truth.
The Cambodian government granted the Khmer Rouge administrative control over the town and surrounding land as part of an amnesty deal in 1996, and hundreds of former members still live here.
"These people who live here know a lot, but they will not talk," said Kong Duong, an information minister who was once the voice of Khmer Rouge radio. Most, he says, are afraid that public comments could help prosecutors build their case. Though the court is limited in its jurisdiction to the most senior regime leaders, second- and third-tier leaders say they worry that the court's reach could expand.
Former Khmer Rouge leaders gather for breakfast every morning at the Hans Meas hotel, slurping noodle soup and lingering over iced coffee. They are eager to talk about the secret American bombing campaign in Cambodia in the early 1970s. The daily terror of those bombs caused thousands of rural peasants to support the Khmer Rouge, and faulty bombs from that time still kill and maim Cambodians today.
But, when asked about the years between 1975 and 1979, most quickly leave the table.
Those who do talk about the past are guarded.
Thong Thon was a videographer for the Khmer Rouge, traveling the country making propaganda films. He is now a deputy governor in Ota Vao, a hamlet near Pailin.
At his home, a traditional Khmer house on stilts, he squatted on a bamboo daybed in the shade and painted a rosy picture of Pol Pot's reign.
During a time when hundreds of thousands of Cambodians were starving to death, he insists that the people were well fed. He saw no one who was unhappy, and no forced labor, he says.
He admits that he did not look for the truth.
"If I was assigned to go to the left, I went to the left," he said. "If I refused, I would be punished severely." He was part of the Khmer Rouge's second group of videographers - Pol Pot executed the first group, he says.
"They were foreign-trained, so they were not trusted," he said.
The leaders who are still alive do not deny the deaths, but neither do they accept responsibility, often blaming foreign influences.
Over a plate of steamed rice and roasted beef at one of Pailin's outdoor eateries, Lath Lina, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla, explained his view of history - a perspective shared by many.
"The Khmer Rouge soldiers were uneducated," the 41-year-old Lina said. 'That made it very easy for outside people - the CIA and the KGB - to influence what happened." Later, he leaned close and in a conspiratorial voice said: "The Chinese know a lot."
The words are not supported by facts, but they demonstrate the delicate ground that the Khmer Rouge and their underlings occupy as the trials begin.
Cambodians' expectations of the tribunal vary. Some say they hope for financial reparations. (One man in Mondulkiri asked if the court could return the pair of elephants that the Khmer Rouge took from him.)
Others want the court to reach further and indict others from the regime. And some want foreign leaders who supplied the Khmer Rouge with guns to be held accountable.
According to an unscientific survey commissioned by the Documentation Center of Cambodia in 2002, 73 percent of the respondents said they wanted to learn the facts about the Khmer Rouge.
Chum Mei was working in Phnom Penh as a mechanic when the Khmer Rouge ordered the city to evacuate in 1975. Tears streak his face as he describes the forced march and the death of his infant son, who was suffering from diarrhea.
The regime targeted intellectuals - killing off the educated class that they believed had corrupted society.
Chum is not well educated and ended up back in the capital, recruited by soldiers to repair the sewing machines used to make uniforms.
In 1978, soldiers told him that he would be sent to Vietnam to repair sewing machines there. Instead, they took him to prison.
Toul Sleng was once a high school, and the compound includes four buildings where prisoners, including Chum, were tortured.
During a visit to the former prison, now preserved as a genocide museum, he described the 12 days of torture he endured there, pointing to various rooms.
In one, men administered electric shocks to his temples. He shows scars where a toenail was yanked out by an interrogator.
"The only question they asked was, 'Do you have any relationships with the CIA and KGB?'" he said. Succumbing to pain, Chum finally told the Khmer Rouge the lie they wanted to hear - that he was a spy.
"I put blame on other people," he said. "I didn't mean it. I just wanted the torture to stop."
He managed to slip away from his captors about the time the Vietnamese were liberating Phnom Penh. By then, his two daughters had disappeared - one taken into Pol Pot's army.
He briefly reunited with his wife and son after his escape, but as the family tried to find safety in the chaos of the crumbling regime, they were discovered by a group of roving Khmer Rouge soldiers. Chum heard the shots that killed his wife and son.
The regime was toppled before the Khmer Rouge could kill him.
Others claim to forget the horrors, but they are just trying to survive and move on, says Hisham Mousour, a human rights advocate who has recently organized hundreds of forums for victims around the country.
"If you lose a family member, it is not human to forget," he said. "But if you talk to a victim for an hour, he will start to cry.
"The victims may seem to forget, but they have not forgotten."
annie.linskey@baltsun.com
February 4, 2008
By Annie Linskey
Baltimore Sun reporter (Maryland, USA)
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The fears and profound losses still grip Chum Mei even now, three decades after the brutal Khmer Rouge regime terrorized him and millions of other Cambodians.
One of only 10 people known to have survived Toul Sleng prison, where 14,000 died, Chum recalls how the Khmer Rouge arrived in this city in April 1975.
Intent on abolishing religion and education, private property and money, the Communist militants ordered everyone to march into the countryside. Chum's infant son died for lack of medical attention on the trek.
Later, the Khmer Rouge would shoot and kill his wife and another son - they were among 1.7 million who died during four years. The fate of his two daughters remains a mystery.
Today, at 79, Chum still lives in Phnom Penh but won't say where exactly, worried that what's left of the Khmer Rouge might yet come looking for him. Such is the perceived power held by the group's surviving leaders, now elderly themselves and finally about to stand trial.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998, but five former leaders of the regime are about to face an international tribunal that has been years in the planning by Cambodian officials and the United Nations. The most senior living leader, 82-year-old Nuon Chea, makes his first appearance in court today. Each defendant could be sentenced to life in prison.
Like many of the victims, Chum has tried unsuccessfully to forget the atrocities. It is answers, not revenge, he seeks from the trials.
"I just want the leaders to stand up and tell the truth," he said. "If they stand up and tell the truth, they can go free."
But as Cambodia begins a national dialogue about the Khmer Rouge, the truth is hard to find.
The regime did not simply disappear when it was swept from power by the Vietnamese army in 1979. Pol Pot and his men retreated to the jungle and fought unsuccessfully to regain power over the next 20 years.
Slowly, through defections and amnesty deals, the Cambodian government co-opted remaining Khmer Rouge forces, bringing many into the police and army. The arrangement encouraged an end to the conflict, but gave victims grounds for continued distrust of Cambodian authorities.
Over the years, most of the country chose an uneasy peace over eye-for-an-eye retribution. Talking about the crimes became taboo, and schools barely deal with the topic. Many Cambodians know only of their family experiences, with little understanding of the breadth of the atrocities or who was responsible.
"There is a lot of confusion, but we need to go through this murky, dark period before we are given clarity," said Theary C. Seng, the director of a human rights organization here and a victim of the Khmer Rouge. "We are in the midst of a conversation. That is part of the process."
Pailin, a small, dusty province near the Thai border that is home to four of the five now-imprisoned Khmer Rouge leaders, is filled with people who know the truth.
The Cambodian government granted the Khmer Rouge administrative control over the town and surrounding land as part of an amnesty deal in 1996, and hundreds of former members still live here.
"These people who live here know a lot, but they will not talk," said Kong Duong, an information minister who was once the voice of Khmer Rouge radio. Most, he says, are afraid that public comments could help prosecutors build their case. Though the court is limited in its jurisdiction to the most senior regime leaders, second- and third-tier leaders say they worry that the court's reach could expand.
Former Khmer Rouge leaders gather for breakfast every morning at the Hans Meas hotel, slurping noodle soup and lingering over iced coffee. They are eager to talk about the secret American bombing campaign in Cambodia in the early 1970s. The daily terror of those bombs caused thousands of rural peasants to support the Khmer Rouge, and faulty bombs from that time still kill and maim Cambodians today.
But, when asked about the years between 1975 and 1979, most quickly leave the table.
Those who do talk about the past are guarded.
Thong Thon was a videographer for the Khmer Rouge, traveling the country making propaganda films. He is now a deputy governor in Ota Vao, a hamlet near Pailin.
At his home, a traditional Khmer house on stilts, he squatted on a bamboo daybed in the shade and painted a rosy picture of Pol Pot's reign.
During a time when hundreds of thousands of Cambodians were starving to death, he insists that the people were well fed. He saw no one who was unhappy, and no forced labor, he says.
He admits that he did not look for the truth.
"If I was assigned to go to the left, I went to the left," he said. "If I refused, I would be punished severely." He was part of the Khmer Rouge's second group of videographers - Pol Pot executed the first group, he says.
"They were foreign-trained, so they were not trusted," he said.
The leaders who are still alive do not deny the deaths, but neither do they accept responsibility, often blaming foreign influences.
Over a plate of steamed rice and roasted beef at one of Pailin's outdoor eateries, Lath Lina, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla, explained his view of history - a perspective shared by many.
"The Khmer Rouge soldiers were uneducated," the 41-year-old Lina said. 'That made it very easy for outside people - the CIA and the KGB - to influence what happened." Later, he leaned close and in a conspiratorial voice said: "The Chinese know a lot."
The words are not supported by facts, but they demonstrate the delicate ground that the Khmer Rouge and their underlings occupy as the trials begin.
Cambodians' expectations of the tribunal vary. Some say they hope for financial reparations. (One man in Mondulkiri asked if the court could return the pair of elephants that the Khmer Rouge took from him.)
Others want the court to reach further and indict others from the regime. And some want foreign leaders who supplied the Khmer Rouge with guns to be held accountable.
According to an unscientific survey commissioned by the Documentation Center of Cambodia in 2002, 73 percent of the respondents said they wanted to learn the facts about the Khmer Rouge.
Chum Mei was working in Phnom Penh as a mechanic when the Khmer Rouge ordered the city to evacuate in 1975. Tears streak his face as he describes the forced march and the death of his infant son, who was suffering from diarrhea.
The regime targeted intellectuals - killing off the educated class that they believed had corrupted society.
Chum is not well educated and ended up back in the capital, recruited by soldiers to repair the sewing machines used to make uniforms.
In 1978, soldiers told him that he would be sent to Vietnam to repair sewing machines there. Instead, they took him to prison.
Toul Sleng was once a high school, and the compound includes four buildings where prisoners, including Chum, were tortured.
During a visit to the former prison, now preserved as a genocide museum, he described the 12 days of torture he endured there, pointing to various rooms.
In one, men administered electric shocks to his temples. He shows scars where a toenail was yanked out by an interrogator.
"The only question they asked was, 'Do you have any relationships with the CIA and KGB?'" he said. Succumbing to pain, Chum finally told the Khmer Rouge the lie they wanted to hear - that he was a spy.
"I put blame on other people," he said. "I didn't mean it. I just wanted the torture to stop."
He managed to slip away from his captors about the time the Vietnamese were liberating Phnom Penh. By then, his two daughters had disappeared - one taken into Pol Pot's army.
He briefly reunited with his wife and son after his escape, but as the family tried to find safety in the chaos of the crumbling regime, they were discovered by a group of roving Khmer Rouge soldiers. Chum heard the shots that killed his wife and son.
The regime was toppled before the Khmer Rouge could kill him.
Others claim to forget the horrors, but they are just trying to survive and move on, says Hisham Mousour, a human rights advocate who has recently organized hundreds of forums for victims around the country.
"If you lose a family member, it is not human to forget," he said. "But if you talk to a victim for an hour, he will start to cry.
"The victims may seem to forget, but they have not forgotten."
annie.linskey@baltsun.com
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Exhibition reveals history
01-30-2008
CCTV.com
CCTV.com
As people in many parts of the world get ready to celebrate elsewhere it's time for remembrance.
A group of artists in Cambodia create a "Khmer Rouge exhibition." They are showing the world, through Art, the tragedy that took place in their homeland under Pol Pot's brutal rule nearly three decades ago.
Under the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot nearly three decades ago, an estimated 17,000 to 20,000 Cambodians were crammed into the notorious Tuol Sleng prison. Previously the building had served as a high school.
Van Nath was a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge. Today an exhibition at Phnom Penh's Meta House gallery allows him to portray his memories on canvas and tell his story to the world.
Trained as an artist during the Khmer Rouge regime,Nath was forced to work in the 1970s painting pictures of Pol Pot.
Van Nath, artist & Survivor from tuol sleng , said, "If I compare the prison where I was to Nuon Chea prison, it is very different. The prison at the Khmer Rouge court was very good. It had televisions, electricity, mattresses and enough food to eat. At the prison where I was, I was in handcuffs 24 hours a day with no food and no medicine. Now even with today's good prisons, prisoners can still ask to be released on bail.
They complain that they can not stay there. But what about me and the nearly 20,000 people imprisoned at Tuol Sleng?"
The gallery's owner says the exhibition is aimed at helping the country to speak openly about its past.
Nicolas Mesterharm, owner meta house, said, "The young generation we work with knows a little bit. So we try to educate them. We try to bring young and older artists together. Through art, we try to address genocide and the Khmer Rouge atrocities in a society that has not learnt to speak openly about what happened 25 years ago."
The exhibition comes at a time when a joint court established by the Cambodian government and the United Nations is bringing to trial senior members of the Khmer Rouge for crimes against humanity, including genocide.
A group of artists in Cambodia create a "Khmer Rouge exhibition." They are showing the world, through Art, the tragedy that took place in their homeland under Pol Pot's brutal rule nearly three decades ago.
Under the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot nearly three decades ago, an estimated 17,000 to 20,000 Cambodians were crammed into the notorious Tuol Sleng prison. Previously the building had served as a high school.
Van Nath was a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge. Today an exhibition at Phnom Penh's Meta House gallery allows him to portray his memories on canvas and tell his story to the world.
Trained as an artist during the Khmer Rouge regime,Nath was forced to work in the 1970s painting pictures of Pol Pot.
Van Nath, artist & Survivor from tuol sleng , said, "If I compare the prison where I was to Nuon Chea prison, it is very different. The prison at the Khmer Rouge court was very good. It had televisions, electricity, mattresses and enough food to eat. At the prison where I was, I was in handcuffs 24 hours a day with no food and no medicine. Now even with today's good prisons, prisoners can still ask to be released on bail.
They complain that they can not stay there. But what about me and the nearly 20,000 people imprisoned at Tuol Sleng?"
The gallery's owner says the exhibition is aimed at helping the country to speak openly about its past.
Nicolas Mesterharm, owner meta house, said, "The young generation we work with knows a little bit. So we try to educate them. We try to bring young and older artists together. Through art, we try to address genocide and the Khmer Rouge atrocities in a society that has not learnt to speak openly about what happened 25 years ago."
The exhibition comes at a time when a joint court established by the Cambodian government and the United Nations is bringing to trial senior members of the Khmer Rouge for crimes against humanity, including genocide.
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