Category: Cambodia & Laos

The U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal ruled that former Khmer Rouge torture chief Kang Guk Eav was detained “unlawfully” by the military and would be compensated for time served. The ruling means that Kang, better know as Comrade Duch, can no longer be sentenced to life in prison.

Duch is currently on trial for crimes against humanity in his role as the head of the notorius S-21 detention center in Phnom Penh from 1975 to 1979.

Trials began today for the first member of the former Khmer Rouge regime to face a mixed Cambodian and international criminal court on charges of genocide. Kaing Guek Eav, the former warden of S-21in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, has been indicted on charges that include crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva conventions. At least 1.7 million Cambodians died between 1975-1979 at the hands of the Khmer Rouge from execution, disease, starvation and overwork.

The news of the trial’s start made headlines in the country, and people were feeling “very numb,” Youk Chhang, head of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, where about 20 members of the public had gathered to watch the televised proceedings, told CNN.

In memory of those who were lost:

As a child trying to understand the Khmer Rouge regime, I had many questions about the strange world that had overtaken my homeland. At twelve years of age, during the Khmer Rouge regime, I asked my older sister, Chea, a question in the hope of understanding our pain and the loss of those I loved. He answer became the seed of my survival, planted by a sister who I idolized.

“Chea, how come good doesn’t win over evil? Why did the Khmer Rouge win if they are bad people?”

Chea answered: “jchan baan chea preah chnae baan chea mea,” which means “Loss will be God’s, victory will be the devil’s.” When good appears to lose, it is an opportunity for one to be patient and become like God. “But not very long, p’yoon srey,” she explained, and referred to the Cambodian proverb about what happens when good and evil are thrown together into the river of life. Good is symbolized by klok, a type of squash, and evil by armbaeg, shards of broken glass. “The good will win over evil. Now, klok sinks, and broken glass floats. But armbaeg will not float long. Soon klok will float instead, and then the good will prevail.”

From “When Broken Glass Floats” by Chanrithy Him

With its pillar textiles industry suffering from lack of sales abroad, and reduced tourism numbers projected for 2009, Cambodia faces dire challenges from the global financial crisis.

An annual IMF review said the crisis will potentially affect economic activity, capital inflows and the banking system in the southeast Asian country. The impact on the garment industry is already being felt. As was recently reporting by NPR, two-thirds of Cambodia’s export earnings come from the garment industry, which employs about 360,000 people — almost all of them women.

With demand for garments dropping, these workers are losing what was once thought of as a steady, good-paying job. NPR sites Whitex Garments in Phnom Penh; Six months ago, the factory had more than 500 workers in the packing department alone, manager David Teo says. Now, there are fewer than 300.