Cambodia has gradually recovered from the Khmer Rouge regime, although the psychological scars remain for survivors and their families. Cambodia now has a very young population and by 2005 75% of Cambodians were too young to have experienced the genocide.
After discovery by the invading Vietnamese troops in 1979, the prison of S-21 was left as it was when the Khmer Rouge fled. Today it is a museum, bearing the mainly anonymous photographs taken of the prisoners during interrogation. Instruments of torture remain.
The Government of Cambodia insisted that the trial of those who carried out the genocide must be held in Cambodia using Cambodian staff and judges together with foreign personnel. Cambodia invited International participation due the weaknesses in the existing legal system and the International nature of the crimes. An agreement with the UN was ultimately reached in June 2003 detailing how the International community would assist and participate in the Extraordinary Chambers. This new court was created by the Government and the UN but it is independent of them. The trials of Khmer Rouge leaders continue.
The commander of S-21, Kaing Guek Eav went into hiding in 1979 but was located by journalists in 1999. On 31 July 2007, he was charged with Crimes Against Humanity. He claims that he was simply obeying higher orders when he supervised the prison and that he would have been killed had he disobeyed.
30 years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, 13 years after the tribunal was first proposed and nearly three years after the court was inaugurated, Kaing Guek Eav’s trial began on 17 February 2009. On 26 July 2010, Guek Eav was found guilty of Crimes Against Humanity and sentenced to 35 years in prison. He is likely to serve only 19 years of this sentence. In January 2011, three of the most senior Khmer Rouge officials – Nuon Chea, Ieng Thirith and Khieu Samphan attended a hearing for a tribunal for pre-trial release from detention. Their trials are due to start in mid-2011 and are estimated to run for three years. They have been held in detention since 2007.
After discovery by the invading Vietnamese troops in 1979, the prison of S-21 was left as it was when the Khmer Rouge fled. Today it is a museum, bearing the mainly anonymous photographs taken of the prisoners during interrogation. Instruments of torture remain.
The Government of Cambodia insisted that the trial of those who carried out the genocide must be held in Cambodia using Cambodian staff and judges together with foreign personnel. Cambodia invited International participation due the weaknesses in the existing legal system and the International nature of the crimes. An agreement with the UN was ultimately reached in June 2003 detailing how the International community would assist and participate in the Extraordinary Chambers. This new court was created by the Government and the UN but it is independent of them. The trials of Khmer Rouge leaders continue.
The commander of S-21, Kaing Guek Eav went into hiding in 1979 but was located by journalists in 1999. On 31 July 2007, he was charged with Crimes Against Humanity. He claims that he was simply obeying higher orders when he supervised the prison and that he would have been killed had he disobeyed.
30 years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, 13 years after the tribunal was first proposed and nearly three years after the court was inaugurated, Kaing Guek Eav’s trial began on 17 February 2009. On 26 July 2010, Guek Eav was found guilty of Crimes Against Humanity and sentenced to 35 years in prison. He is likely to serve only 19 years of this sentence. In January 2011, three of the most senior Khmer Rouge officials – Nuon Chea, Ieng Thirith and Khieu Samphan attended a hearing for a tribunal for pre-trial release from detention. Their trials are due to start in mid-2011 and are estimated to run for three years. They have been held in detention since 2007.