The Importance of Case 002
Last week, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) tasked with prosecuting crimes committed during the period of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979), concluded Case 001. The case investigated Duch (Kaing Guek Eav) who was the the prison chief of S-21 where approximately 14,000 people were forced to confess under torture and ultimately executed. As the Khmer Rouge regime's highest level security center, S-21 imprisoned mostly Khmer Rouge cadres and party officials. Throughout the length of the case, it was evident that Duch was unremorseful despite his public apology at the onset of the trial in February. Indeed, some victims viewed his apology with skepticism and expert observes saw it as a strategy for a lesser sentence. His concluding remarks last week affirm this and his attempt to use the Court as his last battle to defend his belief in the Khmer Rouge revolution. His words and thoughts remain strikingly inhumane in the eyes of survivors; he has not changed in the least.
The Court's next case, Case 002, is the most political and historically important one because it involves the four highest-ranking Khmer Rouge leaders who are still alive today: Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith, and Khieu Samphan. Many questions concerning Democratic Kampuchea's three year, eight month, and twenty day rule have not been answered. These leaders have not admitted any responsibility for the crimes during this period and instead have blamed lower cadres and others. Abundant information exist however that demonstrate their culpability, including numerous documents detailing their actions and witnesses who can testify to the formation and implementation of these actions. Therefore, this trial offers an important chance to uncover and analyze how Khmer Rouge leaders made decisions that caused the deaths of nearly two million Cambodians. Case 002 could provide long-awaited answers to questions that many Cambodians have had regarding Democratic Kampuchea. Additionally, this case has the potential to offer some justice and relief from the immense pain and suffering bore by victims through the punishment of those responsible.
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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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