Posted : Tue, 15 Jan 2008
Author : DPA
Phnom Penh - About 150 former Khmer Rouge attended meetings with the prosecuting judges of the impending Khmer Rouge tribunal Tuesday, although many of their leaders did not, officials said. The visit by the prosecuting judges and officials of the joint UN-Cambodia 56-million-dollar tribunal followed concerns the rank and file members of the movement from former stronghold Pailin would not cooperate with the tribunal.
Court media officer Reach Sambath said the ice was broken and the two-day visit, which ends Wednesday, was a success. Some local officials in the remote municipality on the north-western border with Thailand, around 500 kilometres from the capital, expressed doubt.
"We feel it was a success. Many people asked questions, and we answered," Sambath said from Pailin by telephone.
However local officials said many of the majority former Khmer Rouge residents remained unconvinced that trying their aging former leaders, five of whom are currently in custody and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, was necessary and remained scared they may yet be targeted.
Officials said Pailin governor and former Khmer Rouge commander Y Chhien was not there. The area's parliamentary representative Ieng Vuth, whose mother Khieu Thirith and father Ieng Sary are both in jail awaiting trial at the hearings, was also not present.
"Many people asked why jail them when they are so old and why only focus on the 1975-79 period," local deputy director of religion, Sam Savouen, said.
Other officials, most of whom are former Khmer Rouge and many of whom still credit former deputy prime minister of the regime, Ieng Sary, with brokering a deal with the government in 1996 which ended the fighting while leaving the Khmer Rouge in charge of the resource-rich area, declined comment and did not attend.
Sambath said the court would visit a pagoda and speak with more people Wednesday before ending the visit, hopefully winning more hearts and minds along the way with honesty and detailed answers.
"We want their trust and we need their participation," he said.
Up to 2 million people died during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 ultra-Maoist Democratic Kampuchea regime which sought to abolish social classes, markets, religion and even money in a drive to create an agrarian utopia.
Author : DPA
Phnom Penh - About 150 former Khmer Rouge attended meetings with the prosecuting judges of the impending Khmer Rouge tribunal Tuesday, although many of their leaders did not, officials said. The visit by the prosecuting judges and officials of the joint UN-Cambodia 56-million-dollar tribunal followed concerns the rank and file members of the movement from former stronghold Pailin would not cooperate with the tribunal.
Court media officer Reach Sambath said the ice was broken and the two-day visit, which ends Wednesday, was a success. Some local officials in the remote municipality on the north-western border with Thailand, around 500 kilometres from the capital, expressed doubt.
"We feel it was a success. Many people asked questions, and we answered," Sambath said from Pailin by telephone.
However local officials said many of the majority former Khmer Rouge residents remained unconvinced that trying their aging former leaders, five of whom are currently in custody and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, was necessary and remained scared they may yet be targeted.
Officials said Pailin governor and former Khmer Rouge commander Y Chhien was not there. The area's parliamentary representative Ieng Vuth, whose mother Khieu Thirith and father Ieng Sary are both in jail awaiting trial at the hearings, was also not present.
"Many people asked why jail them when they are so old and why only focus on the 1975-79 period," local deputy director of religion, Sam Savouen, said.
Other officials, most of whom are former Khmer Rouge and many of whom still credit former deputy prime minister of the regime, Ieng Sary, with brokering a deal with the government in 1996 which ended the fighting while leaving the Khmer Rouge in charge of the resource-rich area, declined comment and did not attend.
Sambath said the court would visit a pagoda and speak with more people Wednesday before ending the visit, hopefully winning more hearts and minds along the way with honesty and detailed answers.
"We want their trust and we need their participation," he said.
Up to 2 million people died during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 ultra-Maoist Democratic Kampuchea regime which sought to abolish social classes, markets, religion and even money in a drive to create an agrarian utopia.
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