The Associated Press
Published: January 15, 2008
PAILIN: Cambodia's genocide tribunal embarked on an unusual mission Tuesday to win the hearts and minds — or at least the grudging cooperation — of old Khmer Rouge loyalists as the panel forges ahead with prosecuting the group's leaders.
Tribunal officials hope to dispel fears that low-ranking former Khmer Rouge will become targets of the court and thus gain their valuable help in investigating the alleged crimes of their leaders.
The effort this week in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin is the first activity of its kind conducted by the tribunal in the former guerrilla heartland.
It follows last year's arrests of five senior figures of the Khmer Rouge, whose radical policies led to the deaths of some 1.7 million of their countrymen in the late 1970s.
Kaing Guek Eav, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Khieu Samphan are being held in the tribunal's custom-built jail on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Their trials are expected to start later this year.
"Without your cooperation, this court will not be able to succeed," a tribunal judge You Bunleng said in opening remarks at a meeting of some 150 police and mid-level officials of the Pailin municipality.
The judges will be holding a town meeting Wednesday in an attempt to persuade Pailin's residents to help with the trials — and allay their fears.
"The mandate of this court is to try only the most senior and most responsible Khmer Rouge leaders, so the ordinary former Khmer Rouge should not be worried," said tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath.
But some in Pailin were reluctant and indifferent when they were earlier approached by Cambodian and U.N.-appointed investigating judges, he said, so it is necessary to explain to them how the tribunal works.
The arrests of the five figures — a former head of the Khmer Rouge's S-21 torture center, its chief ideologist, foreign minister, social affairs minister and head of state — were the strongest sign yet that justice might be done for atrocities carried out when the Khmer Rouge held power three decades ago.
Their detention "has really shifted public opinion," which had long been skeptical that the tribunal could accomplish anything, said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, an independent center collecting evidence of Khmer Rouge crimes.
The arrests come under the category of "senior leaders" defined in the 2003 agreement between Cambodia and the U.N. that set up the joint hybrid court.
But the agreement also seeks to prosecute "those most responsible" for crimes committed during the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime. It is not clear how many defendants will be brought to stand trial.
The meaning of "those most responsible" has never been clearly defined and could be interpreted as including anybody in the lower rung of the Khmer Rouge, said Youk Chhang.
This has raised suspicion among former low-ranking Khmer Rouge that they may also be targeted for trial, he said.
"And because the leaders have been arrested, this has generated fears: 'Who will be next? Who will be the next level after the senior leaders?' " Youk Chhang added.
In negotiating the U.N. agreement, the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen — himself a former Khmer Rouge soldier — fought vigorously to limit the panel's scope for fear it could shake political stability by scaring the Khmer Rouge back into the jungle.
The group had carried on a guerrilla war for two decades after a 1979 Vietnamese invasion ousted it from power. Hun Sen allowed most of the guerrillas to surrender with no penalty, and absorbed some important commanders into the government and its military.
Many former Khmer Rouge members, including Ee Chhean, the Pailin governor, and his deputy, Ieng Vuth — who is Ieng Sary's son — are now serving in the government and members of Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party.
Neither man will attend the meetings with the tribunal's judges because they have other official affairs to attend to, Reach Sambath said.
The meetings drew little attention from ordinary residents of Pailin, located in northwestern Cambodia and buzzing with free-market activities once banned by the Khmer Rouge.
"The tribunal is a good thing for the new generation of people to know," said 49-year-old Meas Sothea, a former Khmer Rouge soldier. "But earning enough to feed my family is my biggest priority these days."
Published: January 15, 2008
PAILIN: Cambodia's genocide tribunal embarked on an unusual mission Tuesday to win the hearts and minds — or at least the grudging cooperation — of old Khmer Rouge loyalists as the panel forges ahead with prosecuting the group's leaders.
Tribunal officials hope to dispel fears that low-ranking former Khmer Rouge will become targets of the court and thus gain their valuable help in investigating the alleged crimes of their leaders.
The effort this week in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin is the first activity of its kind conducted by the tribunal in the former guerrilla heartland.
It follows last year's arrests of five senior figures of the Khmer Rouge, whose radical policies led to the deaths of some 1.7 million of their countrymen in the late 1970s.
Kaing Guek Eav, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Khieu Samphan are being held in the tribunal's custom-built jail on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Their trials are expected to start later this year.
"Without your cooperation, this court will not be able to succeed," a tribunal judge You Bunleng said in opening remarks at a meeting of some 150 police and mid-level officials of the Pailin municipality.
The judges will be holding a town meeting Wednesday in an attempt to persuade Pailin's residents to help with the trials — and allay their fears.
"The mandate of this court is to try only the most senior and most responsible Khmer Rouge leaders, so the ordinary former Khmer Rouge should not be worried," said tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath.
But some in Pailin were reluctant and indifferent when they were earlier approached by Cambodian and U.N.-appointed investigating judges, he said, so it is necessary to explain to them how the tribunal works.
The arrests of the five figures — a former head of the Khmer Rouge's S-21 torture center, its chief ideologist, foreign minister, social affairs minister and head of state — were the strongest sign yet that justice might be done for atrocities carried out when the Khmer Rouge held power three decades ago.
Their detention "has really shifted public opinion," which had long been skeptical that the tribunal could accomplish anything, said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, an independent center collecting evidence of Khmer Rouge crimes.
The arrests come under the category of "senior leaders" defined in the 2003 agreement between Cambodia and the U.N. that set up the joint hybrid court.
But the agreement also seeks to prosecute "those most responsible" for crimes committed during the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime. It is not clear how many defendants will be brought to stand trial.
The meaning of "those most responsible" has never been clearly defined and could be interpreted as including anybody in the lower rung of the Khmer Rouge, said Youk Chhang.
This has raised suspicion among former low-ranking Khmer Rouge that they may also be targeted for trial, he said.
"And because the leaders have been arrested, this has generated fears: 'Who will be next? Who will be the next level after the senior leaders?' " Youk Chhang added.
In negotiating the U.N. agreement, the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen — himself a former Khmer Rouge soldier — fought vigorously to limit the panel's scope for fear it could shake political stability by scaring the Khmer Rouge back into the jungle.
The group had carried on a guerrilla war for two decades after a 1979 Vietnamese invasion ousted it from power. Hun Sen allowed most of the guerrillas to surrender with no penalty, and absorbed some important commanders into the government and its military.
Many former Khmer Rouge members, including Ee Chhean, the Pailin governor, and his deputy, Ieng Vuth — who is Ieng Sary's son — are now serving in the government and members of Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party.
Neither man will attend the meetings with the tribunal's judges because they have other official affairs to attend to, Reach Sambath said.
The meetings drew little attention from ordinary residents of Pailin, located in northwestern Cambodia and buzzing with free-market activities once banned by the Khmer Rouge.
"The tribunal is a good thing for the new generation of people to know," said 49-year-old Meas Sothea, a former Khmer Rouge soldier. "But earning enough to feed my family is my biggest priority these days."
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