Posted by Socheata on March 30th, 2010
By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Siem Reap
Prosecutors are speeding up their work in the second case of the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal, a court official said Sunday.
The court was working quickly and efficiently, UN prosecutor Andrew Carley told a group of teachers in Siem Reap, where he spoke during training of a new history book for schools.
The prosecution is moving toward the 2011 trial of at least four detained leaders, Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith, following the conclusion of the trial of Kaing Kek Iev, or Duch.
Carley said work was going well with his Cambodian counterpart, Chea Leang.
"I am accelerating, along with my colleague, the work as much as we can," he said.
Tribunal observers have voiced concerns that aging Khmer Rouge leaders might die before they see a day in court. Carley said Sunday he shared those concerns, but added the trials would continue even if some of the defendants die.
"This trial will come to a conclusion," he said. "But the best way to do this work is not quickly but efficiently."
Carley was addressing nearly 200 teachers from across the country who came to Siem Reap to learn to introduce a history book from the Documentation Center of Cambodia into their courses.
The book, "A History of Democratic Kampuchea," is part of a collaborative effort between the Documentation Center and the government to introduce Khmer Rouge histories into classrooms.
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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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