Khmer tribunal

In the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, the victims are being given their say at the UN tribunal investigating the crimes of the notorious Khmer Rouge regime, which ruled the country from 1975 to 1979.

During the Khmer Rouge reign of terror, an estimated two million Cambodians were killed, out of a total population of little more than seven million.

Chea Pou was sitting at a small table in the shade within view of the Phnom Penh court building. Spread out in front of her are photos of a pagoda in which the Khmer Rouge had held her. The Khmer were ruthless and brutal with their victims. Torture was a frequent practice on the agenda. 73-year-old Chea Pou has repeatedly told her story since then.

"I was held for three years by the Khmer Rouge in this pagoda. I don't know why. I don't know how I survived," she explained.

Defendants deny responsibility

It is a big help for Chea Pou to talk about the past. Especially now that the trial has begun for Nuon Chea, the Number 2 of Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime and trusted deputy of Pol Pot. The other defendants are the 80-year-old former head-of-state, Khieu Sampan, and the 86-year-old ex-foreign minister, leng Sary.

The three men are the last living leaders of the Pol Pot regime. Chea Pou is very nervous and concerned they could pass away before justice is served.

In the courtroom, Nuon Chea is seated behind thick glass. The Khmer's chief propagandist gave a long-winded, defiant statement, denying any responsibility for all the crimes. The Khmer Rouge were not "bad boys," said the 85-year-old. For him, it's important, he said, that the younger Cambodian generation doesn't get the wrong picture.

Instead, he blamed neighboring Vietnam for the atrocities that occurred, reiterating claims by the Khmer Rouge that the mass graves discovered after the collapse of the regime were of people killed by the Vietnamese armed forces, who had marched into the country to end Pol Pot's rule.

Victim refutes Khmer claims

Chum Mai was one of only seven survivors of an estimated 15,000 to 30,000 prisoners of the Khmer Rouge torture chambers, known as "Security Prison 21."

Chum Mai listened closely to Nuon Chea's testimony. His claims come as no surprise.

"That is his version – his lies. Everybody in Cambodia knows that none of that is true. Always the story of blaming the Vietnamese. It is just a trick," he said.

All three defendants have denied any culpability - a bitter pill for the victims and their relatives, who are not expecting a conviction, but rather an apology, and a confession by the former leaders of the terror regime.

Marathon trial ahead

A Dutch lawyer, Michiel Pestmann, one of the attorneys representing Nuon Chea, said that the victims will have to wait.

"This is just the beginning of hearing the evidence. My client needs to use the opportunity to explain himself. This was the introduction. Something else will come, you just have to be patient," he said cryptically.

Patience will be needed at the tribunal. More than a thousand witnesses are registered to give testimony to prove that the defendants are responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It could take several months, if not years, before the first verdict is handed down, according to Lars Olsen, spokesman for the tribunal.

"It is quite clear that we are not talking about weeks and not even a few months. But it is impossible to say how long the trial will last."

In the next two weeks, the court will hear the defendants and at least eight witnesses. Time is of the essence. The defendants and the victims are old; some of them very old. A fourth defendant, Leng Thirith, has already been declared unfit to stand trial due to advanced dementia.

Author: Udo Schmidt /gb
Editor: Sarah Berning