Thai Floods Cost Farmers

Published on Nov 27, 2011 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — La-iad Sawatsoradej has been living on a few sheets of plywood perched about 80cm below her single-storey house’s roof, just above the level of the floodwaters. The floods have kept this active woman contained in an area of four or five square metres; she can only sit and look at the water surrounding her. Read more in Spectrum. .

Courting the Killing Fields

Published on Nov 27, 2011 by Luke Hunt

ASIAWATCH — After almost 18 months of controversy and behind the scenes legal manoeuvring, the Khmer Rouge tribunal has swung back to life with a second trial and fresh revelations surrounding alleged atrocities committed by the ultra-Maoists. Luke Hunt reports. In the dock were party ideologue Nuon Chea, 85, known as Brother Number Two; former head of state Khieu Samphan, 80; and ex-foreign minister Ieng Sary, 86. The three are the last survivors of the Khmer Rouge Standing Committee that wrote and deployed government policy between April, 1975, and January, 1979, and has been the target of tribunal investigators. In the packed public gallery of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), people wept and some walked out....

No Penance from KR

Published on Nov 26, 2011 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — The first three days of Case 002 of the Khmer Rouge trial have seen both a total lack of penance, and a dogged determination to deflect blame for the death of millions of Cambodians from defendants “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea, former foreign minister Ieng Sary, and former Head of State Khieu Samran. Instead of looking to themselves and their own choices, the three former Khmer Rouge leaders have thus far preferred blame US carpet bombings, Vietnamese incursions into Cambodia, poor conditions created by French imperialists and previous Cambodian governments, and other outside forces for the miserable conditions their people suffered.Read more from Faine Greenwood and the UN Dispatch. .

Khmer Rouge Horrors Laid Out

Published on Nov 23, 2011 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — The Khmer Rouge Tribunal resumed yesterday, with three surviving leaders of Pol Pot’s regime confronting the UN-endorsed court for crimes against humanity. The start of Case 002 was low key compared with the first trial, which resulted in the conviction of death camp chief Kaing Guek Eav,  also known as “Duch”. However, opening arguments presented before the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts in Cambodia (ECCC) were startling, with prosecutors focusing on the immediate forced evacuation of Phnom Penh and urban centers around the country after the Khmer Rouge seized control in April 1975. Read more in The Diplomat. .

Killing Fields Trial Ready

Published on Nov 20, 2011 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Almost 33 years after Pol Pot was driven from power by invading Vietnamese, his surviving lieutenants are about to see their day in court. Prosecutor Andrew Cayley is confident enough evidence exists to secure a conviction, while the defense teams have signaled that each of the accused are likely to adopt their own strategy in fending off charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. “This is the trial the Cambodian people have been waiting for, where those alleged to be the senior leadership of the Khmer Ruge will stand trial accused of having made decisions and devised policies that led to crimes throughout Cambodia,” says tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen. Read more in The Diplomat. .