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CAMBODIA MUST NOT MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE TESTIMONY TO THE KHMER ROUGE TRIBUNAL

I am delighted to learn that lately the Khmer Rouge’s Tribunal (KRT) at the Extraordinary Chamber in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) has issued summons calling on 6 ranking members of the Cambodian government to provide testimonies as witnesses for the investigation of the Khmer Rouge’s crimes against Cambodian people in the late 1970s. What is so significant about these testimonies is that all of these 6 individuals namely: Cambodian National Assembly president, Mr. Heng Samrin, Senate president, Mr. Chea Sim, Senators Sim Ka and Ouk Bun Chhoeun, Finance Minister Keat Chhon, and Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong are both former members of the Khmer Rouge and victims of the Khmer Rouge regime. Together, these 6 individuals possess unique knowledge on how the Khmer Rouge perpetrated crimes against Cambodian people.

While some people expressed concerns that these 6 individuals’ past connection with the Khmer Rouge and their present involvement in formulating laws to bring those who committed crimes against Cambodian people during the Khmer Rouge’s era to trial would make them biased witnesses, I strongly believe that the appearance of these extraordinary and august individuals before the KRT gives Cambodia the greatest opportunity to tell the world the details of the Khmer Rouge crimes and how Cambodians were treated under their terrible, tyrannical regime.

Based on numerous publications and media reports, it is well known that Mr. Heng Samrin used to work as a military commander under the Khmer Rouge while Mr. Chea Sim, Sim Ka, and Ouk Bun Chhoeun worked as low level officials. As for Mr. Keat Chhon and Hor Nam Hong, they worked as cabinet member and diplomat, respectively. Besides working as Khmer Rouge officials, these 6 individuals were also victimized by the Khmer Rouge with either impending threats of death or outright persecuted with death warrant. For instance, Mr. Chea Sim and Heng Samrin were only able to save their lives by fleeing to Vietnam while Mr. Keat Chhon and Hor Nam Hong were living like death row inmates at Boeung Trobek Reeducation camp/prison.

Unlike most Cambodians who were forced to work as slave labors which, in effect, limited their experiences to that of a victim, these 6 witnesses have, I believe, better knowledge on the Khmer Rouge criminal enterprise than anyone else. As officials at different levels of the Khmer Rouge ruling apparatus, these witnesses, at least, knew, to varying degrees, how criminal policies were carried out. And as victims of the Khmer Rouge persecution, they also, certainly, knew how serious the Khmer Rouge crimes were. These two interconnected factors present the most balanced criteria for these 6 witnesses to be exceptionally credible.

Justice is about searching for the truth and exposing how particular events occurred. Based on their individual life’s experience, perhaps no one is more qualified or has a more balanced knowledge than these 6 witnesses. Hence, if we were to find most knowledgeable witnesses to tell the KRT about our ordeal, these 6 witnesses are the best because, through the twists and turns of their lives, they were able to see and experience both sides of the spectrum. As a Khmer Rouge victim, I wholeheartedly support their testimonies and hope that they will do their best to provide the KRT with credible and compelling accounts on our behalf so that justice is properly served in the context of holding criminals accountable for their crimes and bringing closure to the suffering their victims had endured during their ruthless rule.