By Jared Ferrie
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia's Khmer Rouge-era president, Khieu Samphan,
was charged with genocide on Friday, a step experts said could bog down a
U.N.-backed war crimes trial already criticized for taking too long.
Khieu Samphan, who is already charged with crimes against humanity, is the
most senior Khmer Rouge leader indicted in connection with the deaths of 1.7
million people during the 1975-79 "Killing Fields" reign of terror.
Similar charges of genocide were issued on Wednesday against "Brother Number
Two" Nuon Chea and former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary for their alleged role
in the slaughter of Cambodia's ethnic Vietnamese and Cham Muslim minorities.
The two have also been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity,
along with two other former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, who pursued a bloody
agrarian revolution from under the leadership of Pol Pot, who died in 1998.
The announcement came as the tribunal made a formal request on Friday for an
additional $93 million over the next two years to fund a trial widely
criticized for dragging on too long.
The tribunal said it anticipated increased activity in 2010 and needed
funding to meet costs of legal representation and "potential additional
cases."
The prospect of more indictments has been a contentious issue in Cambodia.
Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose government includes former Khmer Rouge cadres,
has warned that arresting more suspects could spark a civil war.
The first trial of a senior Khmer Rouge cadre, Kaing Guek Eav, better known
as Duch, ended three weeks ago. He was accused of overseeing the torture and
murder of more than 14,000 people.
A verdict in that case is expected by March.
Khieu Samphan, 78, a French-educated guerrilla leader, was arrested in 2007.
He has portrayed himself as a virtual prisoner of the regime and denied
knowledge of any atrocities.
POLITICISED TRIAL
David Chandler, an authority on the Khmer Rouge at Melbourne's Monash
University, said the genocide charges further complicated a case that is
already so complex and politicized it may never go to trial.
He said the new charges may inadvertently help the defense if they delay
proceedings. The four remaining suspects awaiting trial are elderly and in
poor health. There is concern they may die before facing their victims in
court.
"It's going to be very helpful for the defense to throw up a big
smokescreen," Chandler said in a telephone interview.
Philip Short, author of a book on Pol Pot, said the additional charge was
"misconceived and unhelpful."
"Why muddy the waters by bringing in doubtful charges which will only lead
the tribunal to bog down further?" he said.
"This is foolishness and muddled thinking of a kind which, alas, has
characterized this tribunal from the outset."
Some analysts argue genocide does not apply to the Khmer Rouge because they
committed atrocities against political enemies, mostly from their own
dominant Khmer ethnic group.
But advocates of the charges say the regime's enemies also included ethnic
Vietnamese and Cham who rose up and rebelled against the regime.
Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, said there
was evidence minority groups were targeted, pointing to massacres after the
Cham rebelled in 1975, including the eradication of an entire community on
the island of Koh Phal.
"You don't have to kill a million Vietnamese or a million Cham to call it
genocide," said Chhang, whose center collects evidence of Khmer Rouge
crimes.
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About Me
- Duong Dara
- Dara Duong was born in 1971 in Battambang province, Cambodia. His life changed forever at age four, when the Khmer Rouge took over the country in 1975. During the regime that controlled Cambodia from 1975-1979, Dara’s father, grandparents, uncle and aunt were executed, along with almost 3 million other Cambodians. Dara’s mother managed to keep him and his brothers and sisters together and survive the years of the Khmer Rouge regime. However, when the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia, she did not want to live under Communist rule. She fled with her family to a refugee camp on the Cambodian-Thai border, where they lived for more than ten years. Since arriving in the United States, Dara’s goal has been to educate people about the rich Cambodian culture that the Khmer Rouge tried to destroy and about the genocide, so that the world will not stand by and allow such atrocities to occur again. Toward that end, he has created the Cambodian Cultural Museum and Killing Fields Memorial, which began in his garage and is now in White Center, Washington. Dara’s story is one of survival against enormous odds, one of perseverance, one of courage and hope.
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