Last Thursday, a United Nations backed war tribunal court in Cambodia formally indicted four senior surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge on charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and murder. They have been in custody since late 2007 under charges involving the deaths of 1.7 million people by execution, starvation, overwork and disease during their Khmer Rouge reign between 1975 and 1979. [1] With the upsetting earlier case of Duch (real name Kaing Guek Eay), who’s sentence was shortened from 35 to 19, this second case is being heavily scrutinized worldwide and judged on whether it meets international standards of justice. The court has been accused of corruption under the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who had opposed indictment of additional suspects and was himself a middle-ranking officer in the Khmer Rouge, albeit not accused of taking part in the atrocities.
In the first case, 67-years old former Khmer Rouge prison chief had admitted to overseeing the execution of thousands of men, women and children at the Tuol Sleng prison. The prosecutors had asked the judges for a 40-year sentence, but in the end, the 35 years sentence was shortened to 19 due to illegal confinement and the 11 years he had already served in prison. Many Cambodians cried for a tougher verdict. Duch insisted in his testimony that he had only been following order from his superiors and had pled for forgiveness, fostering accusations that the Cambodian government is using him as a scapegoat. [2]
In the second trial, the suspects all deny the charges against them. The next trial is expected to begin by the middle of next year. It has already taken many years to form the joint international-Cambodian tribunal and the first case finally finished in July. Despite this first step to bringing justice against the Khmer Rouge, with the four defendants all already in their late 70s and 80s, people fear that they will not all live to hear a verdict and get the punishment they deserve. [3] Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, had already died due to a claimed heart attack in 1998 right before being turned over to an international tribunal. His body was cremated before an autopsy could be made. [4]
The tribunal is also showing the limitations of an international system for trying perpetrators of genocide. The Khmer Rouge had targeted Vietnamese people and ethnic Cham Muslims, who have been waiting a long time for this trial. It was under intense international pressure that the Cambodian government finally requested United Nations help in 1997 to establish a tribunal to prosecute the senior Khmer Rouge leaders but had also demanded to exclude the thousands of henchmen. The Human Right Watch says that the tribunal’s mandate is being interfered with by the Cambodian government which is led by former Khmer Rouge officials, who are under suspect of shielding serious criminals from prosecution. “The government is refusing to hold more than five people to account,” says Sara Colm, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. [5]
With so much questions of political interference, the tribunal itself is being tried in Cambodia to see if it can bring about the justice the people there have been waiting for over 30 years.
[1] Mydans, Seth. “Khmer Rouge Leaders Indicted.” 16 September 2010. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/world/asia/16cambodia.html?_r=1&ref=cambodia
[2] “Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch found guilty.” 26 July 2010. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10757320
[3] Carmichael, Robert. “Cambodia War Crimes Court Indicts Former Khmer Rouge Leaders.” 16 September 2010. VoaNews.com. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Cambodia-War-Crimes-Court-Indicts-Former-Khmer-Rouge-Leaders--103036374.html
[4] Mydans, Seth. “At Cremation of Pol Pot, No Tears Shed.” 19 April, 1998. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/19/world/at-cremation-of-pol-pot-no-tears-shed.html
[5] MacLeod, Calum. “History cannot be hidden’ as Khmer rouge leaders tried”. 15 September, 2010. USATODAY. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-09-15-1Acambodia08_CV_N.htm
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