Irish Independent
Friday February 27 2009
The fact that the first trial of a Khmer Rouge official is taking place 30 years after they committed their initial crimes is a damning indictment of the international community's ability to bring tyrants to justice.
Comrade Duch was by no means alone in his actions, yet so far he is the only member of this disgraceful horde to see the inside of a courtroom.
In 1998 Pol Pot, the architect of the atrocities was allowed to die comfortably in his bed, escaping the punishment he so richly deserved.
While there are a number of other trials planned for the surviving members of the regime, the fact is that most of the principal actors in the Cambodian tragedy have already passed away, leaving survivors without the closure they deserve.
In 1979, shortly after the liberation of Cambodia by Vietnamese troops, GOAL was one of the first relief agencies to enter the beleaguered country.
The situation we found was devastating -- thousands lay dying in the hastily assembled refugee camps, not because of any natural disaster but because of the regime's complete disregard for the suffering of its own people.
Naively, I believed that it would only be a matter of weeks before the international community forced these monsters to face the consequences of their actions.
Instead, the start of the judicial process has taken over three decades to materialise.
Having responded to almost every major man-made disaster since the Cambodian genocide, GOAL has witnessed tyrant after tyrant escape justice.
Idi Amin of Uganda died in a private villa in Saudi Arabia; Mobuto Sese Seko spent 32 years pillaging the DRC before dying in exile in Morocco; while Ethiopia's Mengistu Haile Mariam remains to this day in Zimbabwe, ignoring an Ethiopian court ruling that he should spend the rest of his days in prison.
Again and again, the international community has let despots off the hook for the destruction of their countries and exploitation of their people.
This is nothing short of farce, for which the international community should hang its head in shame.
John O'Shea
GOAL
PO Box 19, Dun Laoghaire
Friday February 27 2009
The fact that the first trial of a Khmer Rouge official is taking place 30 years after they committed their initial crimes is a damning indictment of the international community's ability to bring tyrants to justice.
Comrade Duch was by no means alone in his actions, yet so far he is the only member of this disgraceful horde to see the inside of a courtroom.
In 1998 Pol Pot, the architect of the atrocities was allowed to die comfortably in his bed, escaping the punishment he so richly deserved.
While there are a number of other trials planned for the surviving members of the regime, the fact is that most of the principal actors in the Cambodian tragedy have already passed away, leaving survivors without the closure they deserve.
In 1979, shortly after the liberation of Cambodia by Vietnamese troops, GOAL was one of the first relief agencies to enter the beleaguered country.
The situation we found was devastating -- thousands lay dying in the hastily assembled refugee camps, not because of any natural disaster but because of the regime's complete disregard for the suffering of its own people.
Naively, I believed that it would only be a matter of weeks before the international community forced these monsters to face the consequences of their actions.
Instead, the start of the judicial process has taken over three decades to materialise.
Having responded to almost every major man-made disaster since the Cambodian genocide, GOAL has witnessed tyrant after tyrant escape justice.
Idi Amin of Uganda died in a private villa in Saudi Arabia; Mobuto Sese Seko spent 32 years pillaging the DRC before dying in exile in Morocco; while Ethiopia's Mengistu Haile Mariam remains to this day in Zimbabwe, ignoring an Ethiopian court ruling that he should spend the rest of his days in prison.
Again and again, the international community has let despots off the hook for the destruction of their countries and exploitation of their people.
This is nothing short of farce, for which the international community should hang its head in shame.
John O'Shea
GOAL
PO Box 19, Dun Laoghaire
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