Khmer Rouge court's identity crisis By Stephen Kurczy
PHNOM PENH - Slung over Nic Dunlop's shoulder on Tuesday was the same vintage
Leica he used a decade ago to photograph the Khmer Rouge's former chief of
secret police and publicize his whereabouts.
Dunlop was standing outside the Khmer Rouge tribunal where Kaing Guek Eav,
better known as Duch, is on trial for overseeing the notorious S-21 prison
during the regime's rule in the late 1970s.
During the court's recess, Dunlop recalled his surprising discovery of Duch
after a year spent showing Cambodians the solitary black-and-white photograph
of him that he carried in his wallet. In 1999, the photojournalist found Duch,
living under a pseudonym
and working for a refugee committee near the Thai border.
"Duch picked [my camera] up and said, 'Oh, very nice, you like expensive
cameras,'" Dunlop said, his Leica still slung from his shoulder. While Dunlop
said he stumbled upon Duch by chance, and others say his photographer's eye
helped him spot Duch, the accused has said it was God's work.
A Christian convert, Duch told the court on April 22 that Jesus Christ guided
Dunlop to Samlot town. "I told Nic Dunlop, 'Christ brought you to meet me'."
The remarks echoed Dunlop's account in his book The Lost Executioner,
where he quotes Duch saying: "It is God's will that you are here. Now my future
is in God's hands."
Soon after their meeting, Cambodian security forces arrested Duch and he has
been jailed since, but Dunlop has attempted to maintain contact. He tried to
send him the books On God by Norman Mailer and The Inner Life by
the theologian Thomas a Kempis, along with letters and e-mails through third
parties. All efforts failed and Duch never responded.
"I'm told that he's angry with me still," said Dunlop.
Dunlop remains a central figure in the quest to understand and reconcile what
happened under the Khmer Rouge. He is expected to testify at Duch's trial.
Along with answering questions, Dunlop is still asking them as he shifts the
focus of his Leica from Duch to the legacy of the court.
A movie house in Phnom Penh on Tuesday screened a documentary Dunlop produced
for al-Jazeera's People & Power television series in February. The
film highlights what Dunlop considers the court's lackluster outreach efforts
and its subsequent failure to become relevant to ordinary Cambodians. In it, he
visits M-99, a former prison in Kompong Speu province. Duch allegedly sent
prisoners to M-99 while chief of the Khmer Rouge secret police and warden of
S-21, where he is thought to have overseen the torture and death of possibly
20,000 men, women and children.
In the film, Dunlop finds an old woman living near M-99 who spent three years
imprisoned there, waking every morning to bury prisoners who had died in the
night. She said she has never heard of the Khmer Rouge tribunal or Duch.
"Her house is less than three hours from [the courthouse] and not one official
from the court had gone to investigate" the site or inform the villagers of the
tribunal, Dunlop said.
The documentary was shown on the eve of Cambodia's Day of Anger, held each year
on May 20 to commemorate the day in 1976 when the Khmer Rouge announced its
plan to turn Cambodia into an agrarian collectivization, a decision that
contributed to the deaths of some 2 million citizens from overwork and
starvation.
This year's Day of Anger also coincided with distribution of the first Khmer
Rouge textbook. US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Clint Williamson and
Education Ministry Secretary of State Chemteav Tum Sa Im presided over
Wednesday's official presentation of 175,000 copies of A History of Democratic
Kampuchea (1975-1979) to 1,321 high schools and junior high schools in
all the kingdom's 24 provinces.
Despite the new textbook and three decades of Days of Anger, lack of awareness
of the long-awaited Khmer Rouge tribunal remains widespread. The documentary
cited a University of California study in 2008 that found 85% of Cambodians had
little or no knowledge of the court. Traveling around Cambodia, Dunlop said he
has found resounding support for the idea of a tribunal, but little knowledge
of it. He blames international donors for failing to adequately fund outreach
projects.
"I think a large burden of the responsibility to explain this process to
ordinary Cambodians lies with the donors," Dunlop said Tuesday. "Only $50,000
[of the trial's $143 million budget] has been allocated to this. It doesn't add
up. It should be paramount."
Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said by telephone that the court has heard
this criticism before and is taking it into consideration, but he added that
court proceedings are broadcast daily on state television to keep Cambodians
informed without public affairs staff needing to visit every Cambodians' home.
"Sometimes you don't need to go from house to house, because TV goes there
already," he said.
German Ambassador Frank Mann, who attended Tuesday's screening, declined to
comment on Dunlop's criticisms. He did note that Germany had provided $11
million to the tribunal process, with one-third allocated to tribunal outreach
conducted by various non-profit organizations, such as the Center for Social
Development (CSD).
It was the CSD that was responsible for the shuttling in by bus of most of the
Cambodians attending the court on Tuesday. The busload of villagers from Prey
Veng province said they could not have otherwise afforded the overnight trip to
Phnom Penh.
One of the villagers, Sy Siem, 66, said 12 of his family members died under the
Khmer Rouge. He said he gets his news from the radio, but he found it difficult
to hear the court proceedings daily.
"Not many people have the chance to visit the court and they are only familiar
with the name of the tribunal, but ask where it is located and they don't
know," said Nou Lon, 61. Asked to name the five suspects in detention, Nou Lon
could only name three and then added that everyone knew Pol Pot - the Khmer
Rouge's "Brother Number 1" who died in 1998 - was the guilty man anyway.
"When I return home I will tell people about what I saw and experienced and I
will encourage people to attend the hearing," Nou Lon said. "For those who
really suffered, I believe they can save money and attend the court one time."
Sy Siem and Nou Lon both walked out of the court Tuesday with free t-shirts,
free transportation, and a free night's lodging at a Phnom Penh hotel courtesy
of CSD. Both said they believed the tribunal is leaving a positive legacy,
though Dunlop still questions the effectiveness of a court that the majority of
Cambodians will never attend. Lack of awareness in the countryside, along with
unresolved allegations of political interference and corruption in the court,
all threaten to turn the proceedings into a sideshow.
"I'm still undecided if this is worth something or worth nothing," Dunlop said
after Tuesday night's film screening. "So much is said to be done for the
people of Cambodia and so little actually is. Very little actually trickles
down."
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