tagged w/ Cambodia
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Two Cambodian soldiers and one Thai troop have been killed in a gunfight on the disputed Thai border, officials have said.
Cambodian spokesman Khieu Kanharith confirmed the death of his country's soldiers, while Thai general Wiboonsak Neepan told of his troop's death.
"We are fighting with each other, it is serious gunfire. Two of our soldiers have been killed," Mr Kanharith said.
Second Army commander Neepan said the soldier died from a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Cambodian troops in an afternoon clash near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple.
Cambodian and Thai authorities confirmed heavy gunfire had broken out at 2:00 pm (6:00pm AEDT) after a brief exchange of shots earlier in the day.
Cambodian commander Bun Thean said that shots had been fired between troops in a number of spots near the ancient Preah Vihear temple on the border, which has never been fully demarcated.
Tensions had been raised since an exchange of shots early in the morning after Cambodian soldiers went to investigate the spot where a Thai soldier stepped on a landmine a day earlier and lost his leg.
Thai and Cambodian government officials both accused the other of violating its sovereignty and of triggering the gunfire, which left no reported injuries.
Tensions flared along the border in July last year after the 11th century temple there was granted United Nations world heritage status. Soldiers clashed in the area in October, leaving four troops dead.Two Cambodian soldiers and one Thai troop have been killed in a gunfight on the... more
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Duch Testifies and Asks for Forgiveness
In Phnom Penh today, the head of the notorious Khmer Rouge prison system took the stand today.
The prosecution kicked off the proceedings against Duch today in the capital of Cambodia.
Duch, the former chief of the notorious Khmer Rouge's S-21 prison took to the stand and testified.
The born-again Christian expressed remorse for the victims, and asked for forgiveness.
[Duch, Former Khmer Rouge Prison Chief]:
"I know for sure that my crimes committed against the people, in particular women and children, are serious crimes that cannot be tolerated. So I plea for you to leave an open window for me to seek forgiveness."
Duch, now 66-years-old, is charged with committing crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as torture and homicide.Duch Testifies and Asks for Forgiveness
In Phnom Penh today, the head of the... more
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Trial of Kaing Guek Eav (alias "Duch") before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia March 31, 2009 - Part 1 The Cambodia Tribunal Monitor www.CambodiaTribunal.orgTrial of Kaing Guek Eav (alias "Duch") before the Extraordinary Chambers in... more
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Khmer Rouge jail boss begs for forgiveness
Comrade Duch makes impassioned speech to genocide tribunal
By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
The man who was in charge of a notorious prison operated by the Khmer Rouge in which thousands were tortured and dispatched for execution has offered his "heartfelt sorrow" for his actions 30 years ago.
Appearing in front a genocide tribunal in Cambodia, Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Comrade Duch, said he did not expect the families of those who died to forgive him now but he hoped that at some point they would.
"My current plea is that I would like you to please leave an open window for me to seek forgiveness," he said. He would give his full co-operation to the UN-sponsored tribunal, he said, adding: "This is only the remedy that can help me to relieve all the sorrow and crimes I have committed."
Up to 1.8 million people died or were murdered by the Maoist Khmer Rouge regime, which ruled from 1975 to 1979. Duch, 66, was the head of the Tuol Sleng prison in the capital, Phnom Penh. Also known as S-21, the converted school was used to interrogate and torture so-called "internal enemies", namely regime members suspected or accused of dissent. Of the 14,000 prisoners sent to the jail, only a dozen survived. Just a handful are still alive today.
Duch is one of five senior Khmer Rouge leaders being tried for genocide. While his statements amounted to a confession of guilt, defendants are not required to enter pleas. A panel of judges will deliver a verdict.Khmer Rouge jail boss begs for forgiveness
Comrade Duch makes impassioned speech to... more
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Reporting from Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- The head of the Khmer Rouge's most notorious torture center accepted responsibility for the torture and death of thousands of Cambodians today, telling the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal that he was "full of shame and regret."
"I admit that I am responsible for the crimes, torture and execution at S-21," said Kaing Khev Iev, 66, better known as Duch, using the code name for Tuol Sleng prison, where more than 12,000 men, women and children were tortured before being executed in the nearby "killing fields" outside the capital.
"I apologize to the survivors of the regime and also the loved ones of those who died brutally during the regime. I don't ask that you forgive me now, but I hope you will later," Duch told the court.
He has been charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and premeditated murder. Duch is one of five detained senior Khmer Rouge leaders believed to be the architects of the ultra-Maoist regime's fanatical rule in the late 1970s, under which an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians perished from overwork or starvation or were executed.
Although Duch confessed, he said he was not a decision-maker and described himself as a victim of the regime, maintaining that he was following orders from his superiors and that he and his family would have been killed had he not obeyed.
"I did that because I received orders from Angkar," he said, referring the regime's hidden power center. "Although I knew the orders were criminal, I never dared to question them because it was a life-or-death situation for me and my family."
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more at the link
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another related story, "Torture evidence presented at Khmer Rouge trail"
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cambodia-genocide31-2009mar31,0,7663159.storyReporting from Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- The head of the Khmer Rouge's most... more
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The ancient medieval city of Angkor Wat has survived centuries of warfare, neglect, and pillage. Can it survive mass market tourism?The ancient medieval city of Angkor Wat has survived centuries of warfare, neglect,... more
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THE CONSCIENCE OF NHEM EN explores conscience and complicity in the story of a young soldier responsible for taking the ID photos of thousands of innocent people before they were tortured and killed by the Khmer Rouge.
Nhem En was 16 years old when he was the staff photographer at the notorious Tuol Sleng Prison, also know as Security-21 or S-21, where, from 1975 to 1979, 17,000 people were registered and photographed, then imprisoned and tortured, before they were killed.
The photographs of Tuol Sleng are an extraordinary document of madness and cruelty. In many cases, the prisoners were just opening their eyes, after a blindfold or hood was taken off, when the photographs were taken. Some appear oblivious to what is about to happen, reflexively smiling for the camera, but most seem very aware they are facing their death.THE CONSCIENCE OF NHEM EN explores conscience and complicity in the story of a young... more
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It has emerged that two British men died in a Cambodian hotel after snorting heroin accidentally.It has emerged that two British men died in a Cambodian hotel after snorting heroin... more
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ClareW
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3 years ago
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Thirty years after the Khmer Rouge committed genocide in Cambodia, Jonathan Head witnesses the first UN war crimes trial of a prison camp commander.
"The banality of evil."
That phrase, made famous by the political scientist Hannah Arendt in her study of Nazi war criminals, kept coming back to me as I watched the small, grey-haired man, blinking behind glasses, taking his seat in the newly built Phnom Penh courtroom.
His name is Kaing Guek Eav, a former maths teacher, but in Cambodia he is known everywhere simply by his revolutionary nom-de-guerre, Duch.
And he may in the end be the only person ever held to account for one of the greatest atrocities of modern times, the killing fields of Cambodia.Thirty years after the Khmer Rouge committed genocide in Cambodia, Jonathan Head... more
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1953 - King Norodom Sihanouk proclaims independence from France, but soon abdicates to go into politics.
March 1969 - Secret U.S. bombing of Vietnamese communist bases in Cambodia begins.
March 18, 1970 - U.S.-backed premier Lon Nol ousts Sihanouk as prime minister while the latter is on an overseas trip.
April 17, 1975 - Khmer Rouge seize Phnom Penh and immediately start emptying cities and towns in a bid to create a totally agrarian society. An estimated 1.7 million people die during their nearly four years in power.
Dec 25, 1978 - Vietnam starts invasion of Cambodia after a series of increasingly daring cross-border Khmer Rouge raids.
Jan 7, 1979 - Vietnamese troops occupy Phnom Penh, driving Pol Pot to the Thai border. The occupation is to last 10 years.
May 1993 - U.N.-run election produces shaky coalition between Sihanouk's son, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, and Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla installed as prime minister by Hanoi in the mid-1980s.
July 1997 - Pol Pot ousted as Khmer Rouge leader.
April 15, 1998 - Pol Pot dies in the jungle-clad mountain redoubt of Anlong Veng on Thai border.
Feb 9, 1999 - Last Khmer Rouge guerrillas surrender.
March 2003 - After years of negotiations, Cambodia and the U.N. agree on a draft agreement on the format for the "Killing Fields" tribunal. The draft agreement is sent to the U.N. General Assembly and the Cambodian National Assembly for approval before work can go ahead on establishing the court. April 29, 2005 - The U.N. says legal requirements are met and sufficient funding is in place for the Khmer Rouge trials.
June 2007 - Cambodian and international judges agree on the rules of the tribunal, allowing it to proceed in earnest.
Sept. 17, 2007 - "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, Pol Pot's top surviving cadre, is charged with crimes against humanity. Similar charges are filed in November against ex-Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, his wife, and former President Khieu Samphan. December 2007 - Chief Khmer Rouge jailer Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, loses bail request. The court rejects bail requests from other former Khmer Rouge leaders in 2008.
Feb 17, 2009 - Duch is first of Pol Pot's cadres to face trial, charged with crimes against humanity for his role as chief of the S-21 torture centre where at least 14,000 people were killed.1953 - King Norodom Sihanouk proclaims independence from France, but soon abdicates to... more
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THREE decades after he presided over a bloody reign of terror at the Khmer Rouge's notorious Tuol Sleng prison, Kaing Guek Eav, the math teacher-turned-prison chief, will take his place in the dock and answer questions about his alleged role in the systematic torture and extermination of up to 16,000 men, women and children.
As the first senior Khmer Rouge figure to be brought to justice for his role in the atrocities committed during the ultra-communist group's 1975-79 rule, the trial of Kaing Guek Eav, better known by his revolutionary name of Duch, will no doubt prompt an unprecedented flurry of international media attention. The issue now, observers say, is how the court will ensure the trial has meaning that resonates with those it has been set up to serve.THREE decades after he presided over a bloody reign of terror at the Khmer... more
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A notorious torture center boss went before Cambodia's genocide tribunal Tuesday for its first trial over the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime more than three decades ago.
Kaing Guek Eav — better known as Duch, who headed the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh — is charged with crimes against humanity and is the first of five defendants scheduled for long-delayed trials by the U.N.-assisted tribunal. The hearing Tuesday was procedural, and testimony was expected to begin only in late March.
Duch, driven to the hearing in a bulletproof car from a nearby detention center, intently followed the proceedings in a courtroom packed with some 500 people.
Duch, 66, is accused of committing or abetting a range of crimes including murder, torture and rape at S-21 prison — formerly a school — where up to 16,000 men, women and children were held and tortured, before being put to death.
A U.N.-backed genocide tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity. Duch, the commander of Toul Sleng under the Khmer rouge, will be the first leader to be tried.
Above: A tourist takes picture of human skulls Monday, Feb. 16, 2009, at Choeung Ek, one of the main Killing fields of the Khmer Rouge regime in the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.A notorious torture center boss went before Cambodia's genocide tribunal Tuesday... more
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In a remote Cambodian village where her family had lived for generations, political unrest resulting in genocide forced Chandy, her family and thousands of Cambodians to be relocated to Thai refugee camps hundreds of miles away.
There appeared to be no future, but while living in the camp Chandy was given options she never would have had in her village - to be educated and trained as a midwife.
Twenty years later Chandy travels dangerous, rough and muddy roads leading a midwives’ outreach program. The program gives isolated village women a previously impossible option, which prevents life threatening complications.
Maternal Health Care
This is a trailer for a short documentary
Trailer cut by Bruno ToreIn a remote Cambodian village where her family had lived for generations, political... more
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Curtain raises again on Jacques Verges
By Stephen Kurczy
PHNOM PENH - He requests French wine - which can cost up to US$162 a bottle at the Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh - but the legendary and controversial French attorney Jacques Verges has to settle for $8 glasses of house red when he stays at impoverished Cambodia's swankiest hotel.
He's a celebrity lawyer whose fame now equals that of some of his most notorious clients; and he gained it by defending the indefensible. His abysmal win rate might embarrass a lesser personality - before France abolished the death penalty in 1981, he had earned the nickname "Monsieur Guillotine" - but not Verges.
Verges claims he can't defend his client and fellow Sorbonne student, former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan, until all evidence against is translated into French. But Verges' membership in the Paris Bar states he is comfortable working in French and English. Critics have called this, and other legal maneuvers, blatant efforts to stall the court.
The 83-year-old denies that genocide occurred in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge's rule from 1975 to 1979, when approximately 1.7 million perished, arguing that most died of starvation and disease as a result of an American embargo. But Verges has refused to visit the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), an archive of the crimes committed by the ultra-Maoist regime in 200 prisons and 20,000 mass graves across Cambodia.
He has befriended terrorists and mass murderers across the globe, but so far has avoided victims of the Khmer Rouge.
"He's afraid of me," Youk Chhang, director of the DC-Cam, says of Verges. "He's afraid that my reaction would damage his argument."
Excluding Verges, every defense attorney at the ECCC has met with Chhang and utilized DC-Cam, the world's largest repository of documents on the Khmer Rouge with more than 650,000 papers and 6,000 photographs from the Khmer Rouge's rule between 1975 and 1979.
Chhang witnessed his sister's disembowelment after she was accused of stealing rice. He says Verges is reticent to face someone like himself, who has come to terms with his family members' murder and can calmly and convincingly discuss the regime's atrocities.Curtain raises again on Jacques Verges
By Stephen Kurczy
PHNOM PENH - He requests... more
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The area near Angkor Wat, the world’s largest religious structure and one of the most spectacular architectural wonders, was used as one of 300 “killing fields” by Cambodia’s genocidal dictator Pol Pot.
On January 7, monks chanted at Angkor Wat, other temples and “killing fields” throughout Cambodia to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of Pol Pot’s horrific regime – one of history’s worst.
Pol Pot's infamous Khmer Rouge regime killed an estimated 1.7 million people – more than one-fifth of Cambodia’s population -- in the late 1970’s. They were either murdered outright, or died from forced labor and starvation.
“Massacres occurred in the vicinity of Angkor Wat, many in its Siem Reap province,” Ben Kiernan, Founding Director of Yale University’s Cambodian Genocide Program told me. "The precise total number of 'killing fields' across Cambodia is unknown, but probably up to three hundred."The area near Angkor Wat, the world’s largest religious structure and one of the... more
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Thousands of Cambodian survivors of the Khmer Rouge "Killing Fields" marked 30 years on Wednesday since the fall of Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist regime, blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people. A handful of aging and infirm leaders from the movement are being tried at a joint Cambodian-United Nations tribunal three decades after their disastrous attempt to create an agrarian utopia ended.Thousands of Cambodian survivors of the Khmer Rouge "Killing Fields" marked... more
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Three decades to the day after the fall of Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime, the country finally got a possible start date for the trial of one of its key leaders.
International co-prosecutor Robert Petit said that Kaing Khek Iev, who was better known as Duch when he headed the Tuol Sleng torture center in Phnom Penh, will probably go on trial in March, but that four other defendants, all in their 80s, are unlikely to take the stand until 2010.
Human Rights Watch has long been critical of the court's inability to bring the perpetrators of Khmer Rouge brutality to justice.
"After 30 years, no one has been tried, convicted or sentenced for the crimes of one of the bloodiest regimes of the 20th century," said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch. "This is no accident. For more than a decade, China and the United States blocked efforts at accountability, and for the past decade, [Cambodian Prime Minister] Hun Sen has done his best to thwart justice."Three decades to the day after the fall of Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime,... more
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Tens of thousands of Cambodians have packed into a stadium in Phnom Penh to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the murderous Khmer Rouge.
Senate President Chea Sim lauded "those who sacrificed their lives to save us from genocide", when Vietnamese-led forces ousted the regime in 1979.
Up to two million people died over the four years of Khmer Rouge rule.
But none of its surviving leaders have yet faced justice, triggering criticism of foot-dragging by the government.
A UN-backed war crimes trial of five henchmen of late leader Pol Pot is expected to begin in the next few months.
"The spirits of my relatives will not be calm without prosecuting those killers," Thay Srey Khon - who lost eight relatives under the regime - told Reuters news agency.Tens of thousands of Cambodians have packed into a stadium in Phnom Penh to mark the... more
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Nicholas D. Kristof visits Cambodia and meets Long Pross, a young woman who was forced into sexual slavery.
NYT Video.Nicholas D. Kristof visits Cambodia and meets Long Pross, a young woman who was forced... more
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And I thought Buddhists were supposed to be easy-going! The pop-rock love story was found to be offensive by the monks for its depiction of Buddhism and of certain scenes containing a monk character. The government finally banned the musical after it aired on television.And I thought Buddhists were supposed to be easy-going! The pop-rock love story was... more
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