Sun Feb 15, 2009
Feb 15 (Reuters) - Thirty years after the fall of Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist regime, blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people, the first trial of his top cadres begins on Feb. 17.
A handful of ageing and infirm leaders from the movement are due to be tried at a joint Cambodian-United Nations tribunal three decades after the end of the Khmer Rouge's brutal attempt to create an agrarian utopia.
Below is an overview of the rise and fall of the Khmer Rouge:
1953 - King Norodom Sihanouk proclaims independence from France, but soon abdicates to go into politics.
March 1969 - Secret U.S. bombing of Vietnamese communist bases in Cambodia begins.
March 18, 1970 - U.S.-backed premier Lon Nol ousts Sihanouk as prime minister while the latter is on an overseas trip.
April 17, 1975 - Khmer Rouge seize Phnom Penh and immediately start emptying cities and towns in a bid to create a totally agrarian society. An estimated 1.7 million people die during their nearly four years in power.
Dec 25, 1978 - Vietnam starts invasion of Cambodia after a series of increasingly daring cross-border Khmer Rouge raids.
Jan 7, 1979 - Vietnamese troops occupy Phnom Penh, driving Pol Pot to the Thai border. The occupation is to last 10 years.
May 1993 - U.N.-run election produces shaky coalition between Sihanouk's son, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, and Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla installed as prime minister by Hanoi in the mid-1980s.
July 1997 - Pol Pot ousted as Khmer Rouge leader.
April 15, 1998 - Pol Pot dies in the jungle-clad mountain redoubt of Anlong Ven on Thai border.
Feb 9, 1999 - Last Khmer Rouge guerrillas surrender.
March 2003 - After years of negotiations, Cambodia and the U.N. sign deal to set up a joint "Killing Fields" court. Almost six years later, the court has detained five top cadres but no full trial has started.
Feb 17, 2009 - Khmer Rouge tribunal to begin first trial of Pol Pot cadre. Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, faces charges of crimes against humanity for his role as chief of the S-21 torture centre where 16,000 people were jailed and later killed.
Source: Reuters
(For a related story, Reuters 3000 Xtra subscribers may click on [ID:nBKK102894], or please refer to CAMBODIA-ROUGE/)
(Compiled by Gillian Murdoch; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Megan Goldin)
Feb 15 (Reuters) - Thirty years after the fall of Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist regime, blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people, the first trial of his top cadres begins on Feb. 17.
A handful of ageing and infirm leaders from the movement are due to be tried at a joint Cambodian-United Nations tribunal three decades after the end of the Khmer Rouge's brutal attempt to create an agrarian utopia.
Below is an overview of the rise and fall of the Khmer Rouge:
1953 - King Norodom Sihanouk proclaims independence from France, but soon abdicates to go into politics.
March 1969 - Secret U.S. bombing of Vietnamese communist bases in Cambodia begins.
March 18, 1970 - U.S.-backed premier Lon Nol ousts Sihanouk as prime minister while the latter is on an overseas trip.
April 17, 1975 - Khmer Rouge seize Phnom Penh and immediately start emptying cities and towns in a bid to create a totally agrarian society. An estimated 1.7 million people die during their nearly four years in power.
Dec 25, 1978 - Vietnam starts invasion of Cambodia after a series of increasingly daring cross-border Khmer Rouge raids.
Jan 7, 1979 - Vietnamese troops occupy Phnom Penh, driving Pol Pot to the Thai border. The occupation is to last 10 years.
May 1993 - U.N.-run election produces shaky coalition between Sihanouk's son, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, and Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla installed as prime minister by Hanoi in the mid-1980s.
July 1997 - Pol Pot ousted as Khmer Rouge leader.
April 15, 1998 - Pol Pot dies in the jungle-clad mountain redoubt of Anlong Ven on Thai border.
Feb 9, 1999 - Last Khmer Rouge guerrillas surrender.
March 2003 - After years of negotiations, Cambodia and the U.N. sign deal to set up a joint "Killing Fields" court. Almost six years later, the court has detained five top cadres but no full trial has started.
Feb 17, 2009 - Khmer Rouge tribunal to begin first trial of Pol Pot cadre. Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, faces charges of crimes against humanity for his role as chief of the S-21 torture centre where 16,000 people were jailed and later killed.
Source: Reuters
(For a related story, Reuters 3000 Xtra subscribers may click on [ID:nBKK102894], or please refer to CAMBODIA-ROUGE/)
(Compiled by Gillian Murdoch; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Megan Goldin)
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