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30 Years in Jail Too Short for Khmer Rouge Leader - Victims
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The Khmer Rouge tribunal delivered its first verdict Monday and sentenced a key leader of the genocidal regime, Comrade Duch, to 30 years behind bars, but many victims were left complaining over this sentence outside the emotional courtroom.
Human skulls of victims of the Khmer Rouge regime are displayed at the Choeung Ek Killing Fields memorial park on the outskirts of Phnom Penh July 26, 2010. A U.N.-backed tribunal sentenced senior Khmer Rouge commander Kaing Guek Eav, also known as "Duch", to 35 years in prison on Monday in its first verdict on the "Killing Fields" revolution blamed for 1.7 million deaths in Cambodia three decades ago. (REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea) Comrade Duch, whose real name is Kaing Khek Eav, was
chief of the notorious S-21 detention and torture facility
here in the Cambodian capital, where at least 12,380 people
were killed during the Khmer Rouge's rule from 1975 to 1979.
Because the 67-year-old Duch has been in detention since May 1999, or more than 11 years ago, his sentence could in the end be reduced to about 18 more years from now. "The verdict is too light," complained Bou Meng, one of just 12 people to walk out of Duch's torture facility at Tuol Sleng prison.
Although the prosecution had asked for the maximum 40- year sentence, judges at the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal said Duch's compliance with the court and "limited remorse" meant that a total sentence of 35 years was sufficient.
"This court has tried and punished a perpetrator of Democratic Kampuchea, one of the most macabre regimes of the modern era," Co-prosecutor Chea Leang said following the hour-long verdict, which found the defendant guilty of crimes against humanity and crimes against the Geneva Conventions of 1949 that limit the barbarity of war.
A further five years was removed from the sentence due to what was already deemed to be illegal detainment by a military court following Duch's original arrest in May 1999 up to July 2007, when he was handed over to the United Nations-hybrid court itself. With this taken into consideration, Duch will likely be imprisoned until 2029, subject to appeal.
"Anything under 30 (years) is not acceptable because it's inconceivable that he could even have one minute on the street," said Theary Seng, president of Cambodia's Board for Justice and Reconciliation.
"Now if the international community isn't providing us justice, it leaves us with hopelessness," she added.
Close to 1.7 million people, or nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population at the time, were executed or died during the Khmer Rouge's rule due to forced labour or from starvation, as the leader of the extremist Maoist group, Pol Pot, tried to create an agrarian utopia in the country.
It was not just the Duch verdict that caused disquiet, particularly among the civil parties, in what was the first time that victims and their families have been considered part of an international hybrid court process.
In a surprise move, President of the Trial Chamber Nil Nonn told the packed courtroom that only 66 of the civil parties would be recognised in relation to the groundbreaking verdict, meaning that some 21 who had formed part of the process - mostly relatives of those killed under Duch's command - were not eligible for this recognition.
"I am not happy," said Hong Savath, whose uncle died in S-21. "The judge should have told me from the beginning that I am not a civil party."
She would appeal, she added, although lawyers representing the civil parties throughout the process lamented that reparations were little more than symbolic anyway. This is because the Khmer Rouge tribunal had not set up the likes of a trust fund to compensate victims, as is the case with the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Along with a compiled list of Duch's confessions of guilt and remorse, the names of those deemed victimised as a result of his actions are to be compiled on the official tribunal website.
But as some civil party lawyers noted, many of the relatives of the Khmer Rouge victims are unlikely to ever witness this gesture anyway, because Cambodia is among the least Internet-connected countries in the region.
"It seems ... what has been ordered is the most minimal, most conservative and - perhaps it's fair to say - rather unimaginative reparations," said Karim Khan, a legal representative of some of the victims.
While lawyers, court monitors, spokespeople, judges, journalists and humanitarian workers announced and debated the verdict and its many intricacies, the most quiet person in the whole process on Jul. 26 was Duch himself.
Asked to stand for the final verdict, he gave little indication of emotion. The five judges did not give the former revolutionary a chance to respond to the deliverance of justice that he denied his own detainees at S-21.
After firing his previous lawyer before the verdict, Duch is expected to lodge an appeal, especially given his surprising request for acquittal during the final hearings at the end of 2009.
The question many have asked throughout this lengthy process is: has Duch changed?
Despite his metamorphosis from mass murderer to Christian aid worker after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, S-21 survivor Chum Mey says he had seen little in the way of remorse and humility in the regime's chief torturer. "Until now, he is the same man. I still see the violence in him and I still see the arrogance."
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Show AllThe murderous atrocities carried out by the Khmer Rouge MUST BE remembered along with the arrogance and utter stupidity of two other entities that had a direct role in the tragedy: the USA and China.
The stupidity of the USA is easy to see - just from the fact that it was the Vietnamese forces that finally overthrew this murderous regime that called itself "communist". The very forces that the USA was fighting, so as to arrest the spread of communism!
What is less talked about (for obvious reasons of ideological affinity and the obvious desire to gloss over certain dirty and shameful aspects of history) is the role of China in not only propping up the Khmer Rough, but standing by it till the **very end**. This is why I say that blind allegiance to an ideology (which quickly morphs into a "belief", not different from a religious belief) results in a callousness that tolerates or carries out atrocities. Think of the evangelical Christians' support for the actions of Zionist Israel.
People who know a little bit about the Khmer Rouge, but do not know about the extensive support it received from China **till the very end** should do a bit of research. And then see if you can recognize a certain callousness based on ideological affinity when some people try to gloss over the suffering of the Tibetan people, or to legitimize the occupation. The same callousness that blinds them to the situation in Burma (and the Burmese junta is not even communist - it just gets some cover from China). This is a dangerous way of thinking - that is, to condone atrocities carried out in the name of their pet ideology, and to view every situation through an ideological prism.
Although this story is about a tragedy and murders and external interference, I would like to say, hats off to the Vietnamese people and their fighters for taking on two military giants AND winning. And then not hold too much of a grudge despite all that happened in the past. Amazing spirit!
If you want to talk about a country supporting the KR till the very end, look up the US's role in supporting the Khmer Rouge post 1979 as they performed guerilla warfare from exile on the Viet Cong from the jungles of Cambodia. Also it is important to realize that the US's attempt to exterminate the Cambodian population with the secret 1969 "Operation Breakfast" which killed upwards of 500,000 Cambodian peasants was done with Kissinger's explicit aim in destabilizing the country's Viet Cong supporters making it possible for the KR to take power.
I already mentioned the role of the USA. And no one here is insane enough to defend or justify or even explain away what the USA did in that region. And I mentioned China. I CHALLENGE YOU to deny the shameful role of China in propping up the Khmer Rouge regime, supplying weapons even when all the killings were going on, refusing to recognize the government that replaced the Khmer Rouge (of course, with Vietnamese help), invading northern Vietnam - yes, in 1979 - after the Khmer Rouge was overthrown by the Vietnamese, and so on. You are right - that the US continued its fighting against the Vietnamese and they had no qualms about using the Khmer Rouge when it suited them. But again, during this stage, China, USA, Britain and Thailand were supporting them too (not sure about the French. But the Soviets were ready to recognize the new government in Cambodia). Funny that China should find itself on the same side as the USA and Britain when it came to supporting a murderous group - but that's the power of ideology for you.
And guess who Pol Pot's role model was and where his "inspiration" for his "agrarian utopia" came from, in the first place? And guess where "Comrade Duch" fled to when the Vietnamese forces entered Cambodia? He not only found a safe haven in China, he even worked for Radio China International in Beijing - in the 1980's.
These are only the shameful acts of support to the Khmer Rouge AFTER the group's activities became known. We are not even talking about China's role **from the beginning** when they were funneling weapons into North Vietnam when they had a somewhat friendly relationship with Norodom Sihanouk, while at the same time undermining him and training the Khmer Rouge.
Why would I deny China's role? I only pointed out the US's explicit support of the Khmer Rough "till the very end" in addition to our role in empowering the regime in the first place, both of which you omitted for some reason.
No, I didn't omit it for "some reason" - because the USA's role is well known, and often talked about. What is not talked about is the role of China, and I thought I was filling in the gaps, sort of. Because I don't like the hypocrisy of the far-left. It is almost like a religious zeal that glosses over some parts of history, while demanding continued repentance from others - such as Japan. There are people within Cambodia who feel that China should apologize to the Cambodian people for their long support to the Khmer Rouge. As for "empowering the regime in the first place", the US might have created the conditions, but China's role was more direct, and more active - from training to logistics. And it was part of a larger pattern of training and arming such groups in various parts of Asia. In the case of the Khmer Rouge, the support continued even after its murderous activities became known.
I agree China should do more than apologize to the Cambodian people for their support of the Khmer Rouge just as I believe the US should be held accountable for the carpet bombing of a civilian population in this same country which according to historian Ben Kiernan had genocidal intent. And again, our support of the KR came well after its murderous activities had become known.
As usual, the US criminals that caused it all are left out.
Take note Duch was convicted of the war crime, among others, of mock drowning (waterboarding).
30 years in a Cambodian prison seems like a slow death sentence.
I think one would prefer being hung.
Before allegations of complicity have any relevance the role of Western powers in the history of the region has to be read and understood.
One this is done it is obvious that the West is the guilty party.
Before anyone argues they must do the reading, all the reading. Western Monotheist cultural ambitions have ploughed and seeded their putrid way through this world very obviously for more than 500yrs and for far longer if we bother to analyse its origins. It has consistently chosen the path of the 'dashing' buccaneer; the barbarian. What we see in Cambodia is just one of a multitude of the fruits.
What is astonishing is the persistence of the undeniable and virulent tendency amongst Westerners to blame the victim, not only in Cambodia but everywhere the Westerner has left his stain.
But the moment of truth is approaching. The great Western God is presently exposed as a construct of self worship. It has evolved into the form of a toxic, stinking, plastic idol, the 'Free World', spewing innumerable words laced with rank, infectious spittle and decayed gangrenous meaning while pointing fingers of blame everywhere but at itself.
And oh yes! Some Westerners, even many (the old I told you so who always pop up after the disastrous show) will agree, to some carefully expressed degree, and believe this exonerates them, which of course is presumed to make them the future leaders.
Wrong. Mao and the Khmer Rouge had a point. Put them on the land and make them work. Kill them if they object. They are the spawn of the Zombie.
What are you doing here, posting? Why are YOU not in the farm? Or did you just get back from the farm? And did you grow your computer in the farm too?
It's amazing how outsiders are still holding on to Mao even long after China itself dumped him in all but name (because even the commies need their "God" to legitimize their rule, having banished their earlier deities; otherwise why do you think they are preserving the mummies of Lenin and Mao?). At least Mao came up with the insanity of "cultural revolution" originally. But Pol Pot? A copy cat that exceeded the original in terms of brutality.
Thanks for exposing your level of ideological conditioning, even though it's sad to see there are still people who don't give a damn about what the affected people think of your "heroes". People who don't give a damn for all the starvation and killing.
Of course I believe that people need to work for a living and that no one should be allowed to corner a disproportionately large share, leaving others to starve. But I don't believe forcing people is going to work. There is a fundamental problem with that approach: I refuse to accept that someone can decide what is good for everyone just because he says he knows. That person needs to earn my respect and trust. These characters you mention, and others like them, do not have my respect nor my trust. They like control, and absolute control. Over every aspect of people's lives.
And what exactly do you mean by this:
>>>"What is astonishing is the persistence of the undeniable and virulent tendency amongst Westerners to blame the victim, not only in Cambodia but everywhere the Westerner has left his stain." ??
Who's the victim you're talking of?
It's interesting that before the US would allow the Cambodian war crime trials to be held the US insisted through the United Nations on certain ground rules. One of these rules being that no charges could be made against US citizens or the US government.
If you wonder why that is, I suggest taking a flight from PHNOM PENH to Ankor Wat. Those tens of thousands of uniform size lakes you see down below are not natural. They are actually craters of bombs dropped by US B-52 bombers during the US's Southeast Asian War
By the time the US installed puppet government fell the US policy of exterminating the Cambodian rural population had largely succeeded. Carpet and precision bombing aimed at villages and the homes of Cambodia's farmers and families had permanently removed this population as possible allies and supporters to the Kilmer Rouge and along with the extermination of a large percentage of the country's farmers Cambodia lost its ability to feed itself.
To cover-up the decimation the US bombs were causing in the countryside and to Cambodia's food supply the US was flying something like two million tons of US grown rice into Phnom Penh daily.
When the US installed government collapsed the rice shipments ceased and the Cambodian people began to starve.
And you ask, why did the US go to such great trouble to make sure that the US government and its citizens were exempt from the current war crime trials?
Lyndon Johnson's place in the history of Viet Nam is not exactly squeaky clean, nor by extension is yours and mine.
LBJ didn't have us go into Cambodia, though. I was on the Cambodian border during LBJ's last year in office and it was strictly verboten to cross over into Cambodia.
It was our man Henry K that had his boss RMN overthrow Cambodia's government (I have a very good friend who was on the flotilla of riverboats that led the American invasion into Phenm Phen. He said as they went further up the Mekon from VN the river started smelling like dead animals. They at first thought it was dead pigs and then they picked one out of the water. Humans. Then another, and another. After a while there were hundreds then thousands of bodies coming down that large river. These were the bodies, he said, of the Royalist government officials our newly installed and payed for puppet military government were disposing of by throwing them into the river that flows through the capital.
As the US navy came in on the river the army went across on land and the USAF started its deadly bombing of the countryside that didn't stop until there wasn't a rural thatched hut standing or a rice paddy still being farmed.
Yes Pol Pots'gang should be made to account for their ruthless treatment of the people of Cambodia's cities. However, who is going to try the American War criminals that butchered the rural peasants (and remember, at this time, Cambodia was largely a rural, peasant society) with their weapons of mass destruction, and a wing of B-52's loaded down with bombs larger that VW's is nothing if not a wmd. I remember the ground shaking so hard that children would fall when b-52 bombs were being dropped over 70 miles away in the Vietnam countryside, I can only imagine the mind destoying horror of the endless carpet bombings over in Cambodia during the reign of Kissinger and Nixon.