Cambodian tribunal indicts Khmer Rouge jailer

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's genocide tribunal formally indicted a former prison chief of the country's notorious Khmer Rouge on Tuesday, paving the way for a historic trial.

The U.N.-assisted tribunal said in a statement Tuesday that its investigating judges issued the indictment upon ending their investigation of Kaing Guek Eav — also known as Duch — whose Phnom Penh prison was used as a torture center.

Duch, charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, is the first suspect to be indicted by the tribunal. He and four other former senior members of the Khmer Rouge, who held power in the late 1970s, were taken into custody last year.

The radical policies of the communist group are considered responsible for the deaths of some 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution. No senior member of the group has ever stood trial for the atrocities.



Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hEKp0XY_sPnBc_kOhL9FxJXRC4TwD92GMTU81

---

Good news.

As I've posted before: I visited S-21 earlier this year and it was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. I'll be following this trial closely.

[onager]

1. Have you seen the documentary?

S-21, la machine de mort Khmère rouge (2003)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368954/

Well-done, but as some of the IMDB posters note, it assumes the viewer already knows something about the Khmer Rouge and S-21. Sounds like you do, so you might...well, "enjoy" sure isn't the right word. Worth your time, I'll say.

I looked up the movie after I read Philip Short's biography, Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare. Also well worth reading.

Since I am one of those annoying Fundamentalist Atheists, it was amazing to learn how big a part religion played in the insanity of the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot was a Thedavara Buddhist, and even spent some time as a monk in his youth. So were many of his cronies in the KR top leadership.

Westerners were puzzled when the KR emptied out Pnomh Penh, but Short pointed out that this was exactly in line with Pol Pot's early religious training. That branch of Buddhism uses "country" and "city" as symbols of good and evil.

[Coventina]

2. Thanks for the info on the documentary

I'll look into it.

I have to confess that I know nothing of Pol Pot's religious background. I just assumed that "Communism" was his belief (after his experiences in France which resulted in his name change). I know a bit about Theravada Buddhism. I won't claim scholar status, but I'm fairly well-read on both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. I have to say that if Pol Pot used his Theravada Buddhist beliefs to justify his actions that is was a gross misuse of the Buddha's teachings.

Theravada Buddhism, in its original form, is actually an aetheistic religion in that it does not depend on, or even assume the existence of God(s). It is up to the individual to do the right thing (the 8-fold path). I can't see that Pol Pot was even attempting to follow the 8-fold path. Or perhaps he was trying to force people into "right livelihood." Ugh.

Well, I suppose if Christians can "use" the teachings of Jesus to justify mass-killings, I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that a Buddhist could do the same with the Buddha's teachings.

:-(