Khmer Rouge

Comparative Reflections on the Fall of Kabul

by Ben Kiernan

In their rush to compare the fall of Kabul to the 1975 victory of the Vietnamese communists, observers neglect the more relevant comparison between the Taliban and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. 

Cambodian Court Convicts Former Khmer Rouge Leaders of Genocide in Historic Ruling

An international criminal tribunal convicted two former Khmer Rouge leaders of atrocities including genocide in a historic ruling.

Khmer Rouge Trial, Perhaps the Last, Nears End in Cambodia

The genocide trial of two senior Khmer Rouge leaders concluded its hearings on Friday with an angry scolding by the lawyer for one defendant and a humble bow to the victims by the other.

11 Years, $300 Million and 3 Convictions. Was the Khmer Rouge Tribunal Worth It?

It appears now that they could be the only people to answer in court for the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians from 1975 to 1979 in one of the worst episodes of mass killing in the last century.

Cambodia grandmother accused of war crimes lives a quiet life

But Im Chaem, the woman enjoying this apparently idyllic retirement, is accused of overseeing the killing of tens of thousands of people as a Khmer Rouge official in northwestern Cambodia in 1977 and 1978.

Married Off by the Khmer Rouge, and ‘Nobody Could Help Me’

In a vast courtroom on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, a middle-aged Cambodian woman soberly described a night nearly four decades ago that she said she had never talked about before.

French Historian Accuses Khmer Rouge Defense Lawyers of "Cold Torture"

Henri Locard, retired academic from the Université Lumière - Lyon, is testifying about the brutality of the regime at a trial in Phnom Penh.

Decades After Khmer Rouge’s Rule, 2 Senior Leaders Are Convicted in Cambodia

More than 1.7 million people died under Khmer Rouge rule between 1975 and 1979.

The Perpetrators of the Cambodian Genocide Are *Still* Eluding Justice

by Khatharya Um

Why is Cambodia awash in violence thirty years after the genocide? Simple: because Khmer Rouge officials are still in power today.

Khmer Rouge tribunal to hear closing arguments

The current trial is just one of several planned.

Amy Kaslow: Will Khmer Rouge Officials Ever Face Justice?

Amy Kaslow is a longtime journalist covering international economics and postwar reconstruction....Despite years of prodding from Cambodian survivors and international pressure, the tribunal only began hearing testimony in 2007. By that time, Pol Pot—Khmer Rouge architect and lead executioner—had been dead for nearly a decade. A royal pardon allowed his brother-in-law, Ieng Sary—co-founder of the Khmer Rouge and mastermind of torture and mass murder—to travel on a diplomatic passport and enjoy both a homestead in Pailin, the former bastion of Khmer Rouge leaders, and his lavish villa in Phnom Penh. Sary, the man Pol Pot called Brother No. 3, was apprehended in 2007 and died this past March while standing trial in Case 002 for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.

Philip Short describes Vietnam’s relationship to Khmer Rouge at UN tribunal

PHNOM PENH — British historian Philip Short took the stand for the second day at the U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal Tuesday, as he continued to describe the relationship between Vietnamese communists and their Cambodian counterpart. Short, the 68-year-old author of “Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare,” told the court Tuesday that the Vietnamese had an “undeniable” interest in the Khmer Rouge, providing support and training for the communist insurgency in its early days. Short is testifying in the atrocity crimes trial of Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan. Much of his testimony on Tuesday was centered around the relationship between the regime and Vietnam, which would eventually become its enemy....

Khmer Rouge co-founder dies

Ieng Sary, who co-founded Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge movement in 1970s, was its public face abroad and decades later became one of its few leaders to be put on trial for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people, died Thursday morning. He was 87.His death, however, came before any verdict was reached in his case, dashing hopes among survivors and court prosecutors that he would ever be punished for his alleged war crimes stemming from the darkest chapter in the country's history.