Khmer Rouge surivivors welcome court's decision to uphold life sentences for former leaders
Record ID:
77706
Khmer Rouge surivivors welcome court's decision to uphold life sentences for former leaders
- Title: Khmer Rouge surivivors welcome court's decision to uphold life sentences for former leaders
- Date: 23rd November 2016
- Summary: PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (NOVEMBER 23, 2016) (REUTERS) SURVIVOR SPEAKING TO THE MEDIA MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Khmer) 85 YEAR-OLD SURVIVOR, CHUM MEY, SAYING: "I was worried for years that trial 002 may never be finished because of their old age, like former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Mr Leng Sary who died. Now I am very happy that they completed the proceedings." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE, MONKS WALKING OUT OF THE COURT ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Khmer) 59 YEAR-OLD SURVIVOR AND CIVIL PARTY MEMBER, CHAN SOCHEAT, SAYING: "I can accept this verdict but if I compare it with what we have suffered, this verdict is little justice for me. Why? Because we were tortured, suffered mass force eviction, families were separated, forced labor, starvation these are such big thing for my family and all other Cambodian people." PEOPLE WALKING OUT OF COURT
- Embargoed: 8th December 2016 05:44
- Keywords: Cambodia Khmer Rouge appeal life sentence uphold reactions
- Location: PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA
- City: PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA
- Country: Cambodia
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA00159NZ8ED
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime on Wednesday (November 23) welcomed the decision by the UN-backed tribunal in Cambodia to uphold convictions against two former leaders.
On September 15th, 2010, Khieu Samphan the former Khmer Rouge President and Nuon Chea, the former Khmer Rouge National Assembly Chairman, also known as "Brother Number Two", were indicted on charges related to crimes against humanity, genocide and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 in what is referred to as Case 002.
They were handed life sentences by the lower court on August 8, 2014 for their part in the forced evacuations, murders and executions of Cambodians in the 1970s "Killing Fields" revolution.
Case 002/01 is the first of at least two trials against Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea.
The majority of Cambodians alive now were born after the bloody era and they embrace the capitalism the Khmer Rouge deplored. Their Cambodia has enjoyed unprecedented peace and development since the late 1990s, but judgment upon Pol Pot's henchmen is still significant for most people.
"I was worried for years that trial 002 may never be finished because of their old age, like former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Mr Leng Sary who died. Now I am very happy that they completed the proceedings," said 85-year-old survivor Chum Mey, speaking to journalists after the latest decision.
"I can accept this verdict but if I compare it with what we have suffered, this verdict is little justice for me. Why? Because we were tortured, suffered mass force eviction, families were separated, forced labor, starvation these are such big thing for my family and all other Cambodian people," said 59-year-old survivor and civil party member Chan Socheat.
Experts say high-profile figures in present day Cambodian politics fear they could be implicated in defendants' testimony.
The decade-old tribunal has delivered guilty verdicts to only three defendants, two of whom are Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea. Two other cases are strongly opposed by the Cambodian government, police and national investigating judge, who have been unwilling to cooperate with the tribunal.
Between 1.7 million and 2.2 million people are believed to have died under the Khmer Rouge.
Most of the victims died of starvation, torture, exhaustion or disease in labor camps or were bludgeoned to death during mass executions at "killing fields" across the country. Led by Pol Pot, the regime sought to turn Cambodia back to "year zero" in its quest for a peasant utopia.
Pol Pot, "Brother Number One", died in 1998. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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