Phnom Penh Fell To The Khmer Rouge 44 Years Ago.

This photo was taken opposite the French Embassy after the shooting had stopped and is Neveu’s first image of the Khmer Rouge, unexpectedly smiling. Photo: Roland Neveu

Alan Parkhouse, Asia Times: The day the nightmare started

When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia, photographer Roland Neveu captured the start of what became a genocide.

Forty-four years ago – on April 17, 1975 – a nightmare started for Cambodia and its entire population. On that day, after a brief battle on the outskirts of the city, Khmer Rouge fighters marched into the capital Phnom Penh and took control of the country.

The radical communist movement led by Pol Pol controlled the Southeast Asian nation until 1979, but in that brief period, a quarter of the population perished, with estimates of the dead ranging between 1.7 million and 3 million.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: And the genocide began right-away.

Cambodia Marks 40 Years Since The Fall Of The Khmer Rouge

Photo: An estimated 2 million Cambodians died during the Khmer Rouge era. (ABC News: Claire Slatterly)

ABC News Online: Reconciliation remains elusive as Cambodia marks 40 years since fall of the Khmer Rouge

When you discuss the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, you will often hear people recite a very specific period of time: three years, eight months and 20 days.

Even 40 years after Pol Pot and his cadres were brought down, the length of their reign is seared into people's minds for the terror and brutality it evokes.

An estimated 2 million people died from overwork, starvation and mass killings during the Khmer Rouge era.

It's difficult to overstate the impact the regime has had on the approximately 6 million Cambodians who survived — and still has on their country today.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: It is going to take generations before Cambodia recovers from this genocidal period in its history.

Khmer Rouge Leaders Found Guilty Of Genocide

The Guardian: Khmer Rouge leaders found guilty of genocide in Cambodia’s ‘Nuremberg’ moment

Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea are the two most senior living leaders of regime that presided over deaths of nearly 2 million in Cambodia.

The two most senior Khmer Rouge leaders still alive today have been found guilty of genocide, almost 40 years since Pol Pot’s brutal communist regime fell in a verdict that nonetheless holds meaning for millions of Cambodians.

Nuon Chea, 92, who was second-in-command to Pol Pot, and Khieu Samphan, 87, who served as head of state, will both be sentenced for genocide carried out between 1977 and 1979, in what is a landmark moment for the Khmer Rouge tribunals.

The pair are already serving life sentences for crimes against humanity.

Read more ....

Update #1: Khmer Rouge’s Slaughter in Cambodia Is Ruled a Genocide (The New York Times)
Update #2: Khmer Rouge surviving leaders face genocide verdict (BBC)

WNU Editor:  No comment.

A Survivor Remembers The Killing Fields Of Cambodia And The Denial Of The Genocide From The Academic Left

Matthew Blackwell, Quillette: Devastation and Denial: Cambodia and the Academic Left

Looking out across the yellow-washed angular buildings that clutter the inner city of Phnom Penh in 2016, hindsight fills me with anxiety. Imagining myself here in 1975, I recall the jubilant and cheering crowds in the spring of that year who weren’t privy to that hindsight as they welcomed Khmer Rouge communists into Cambodia’s capital city after months of siege.

On the morning of 17 April, word had arrived that the Khmer Rouge had captured the government’s last beleaguered military stronghold on the outskirts of the city. Prime Minister Long Boret could hardly believe the news. He demanded to be driven to the riverside to see it with his own eyes. By the time he arrived, order had already collapsed in the streets and men wearing the black shirts of the Khmer Rouge surrounded his small entourage and demanded his guards put down their guns. Managing to slip away in the chaos, Boret reported back to his cabinet at the Defence Ministry that the enemy was already in the streets. The rush then began to evacuate senior government members from the country on any government helicopters still available amidst the anarchy. Had he taken action, Boret might have escaped with his wife and children on a helicopter reserved for him, but he delayed, trying to find a helicopter with enough space for his extended family.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: I always enjoy posting these articles to remind myself on how many in the West were complicit in either supporting the rise of the Khmer Rouge, or to excuse it and/or rationalize it when rumors of a genocide were taking place. You can read more on this from Wikipedia .... Cambodian genocide denial (Wikipedia). Matthew Blackwell is particularly brutal on Noam Chomsky. And while it is true that Mr. Chomsky does have his supporters .... The boring truth about Chomsky: he does not support Pol Pot (Michael Brull, ABC News Online), I cannot help but feel that on this issue he reminds me of the former New York Times reporter Walter Duranty and his reporting of the Stalin regime in the early 1930s .... trying to rationalize what cannot be rationalize.

Co-Founder Of Khmer Rouge Regime Dies Before End Of Genocide Trial

The Mass Killer Who Has Escaped Justice By DYING: Pol Pot's Brother-In-Law And Co-Founder Of Brutal Khmer Rouge Regime Dies Before End Of Genocide Trial -- Daily Mail

* Ieng Sary was on trial at international tribunal over his Khmer Rouge past
* Was Pol Pot's brother-in-law and third most powerful figure in regime
* Death raises fears that no members of regime will be punished for crimes

One of the leaders of Cambodia's brutal communist Khmer Rouge regime has died aged 87 before he could be brought to justice for his crimes against humanity.

Ieng Sary was on trial for causing the deaths of 1.7million people in association with his brother-in-law Pol Pot, one of the most bloodthirsty dictators of the 20th century.

His death has raised fears that the two remaining defendants in the special Khmer Rouge tribunal might not survive until a verdict is reached, meaning that no one will be prosecuted for the reign of terror which engulfed the south-east Asian country in the 1970s.

Read more ....

My Comment: No justice for the families .... none at all.

Khmer Rouge "First Lady" Escapes Genocide Charges After Being Ruled Unfit For Trial

Former Khmer Rouge minister, Ieng Thirith, at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia on April 30, 2010. CNN

Cambodia Genocide Suspect Ruled Unfit for Trial -- Voice of America

Cambodia's United Nation's-backed tribunal has ruled that a former senior Khmer Rouge leader was unfit to stand trial for genocide charges and should be released from prison.

Court appointed experts say Ieng Thirith, 79, suffers from memory loss and dementia and would be unable to meaningfully participate in her defense.

Ieng Thirith was the sister-in-law of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot and served as the minister of social affairs.

Read more ....

More News On The Khmer Rouge's "First Lady" Being Declared Unfit For Her Genocide Trial

Cambodia tribunal declares Khmer Rouge 'first lady' unfit to stand trial -- The Guardian
Khmer Rouge defendant Ieng Thirith ruled unfit for genocide trial due to Alzheimer’s disease -- Washington Post
Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Thirith 'unfit for trial' -- BBC
Khmer Rouge leader ruled unfit for trial -- CNN
Cambodia: Khmer Rouge genocide suspect Ieng Thirith unfit for trial -- Global Post
Cambodia's Khmer Rouge "first lady" declared unfit for trial -- Reuters
Sickly Defendant in Cambodia Genocide Trial May Be Freed -- New York Times

Update: Only female Khmer Rouge defendant freed -- The Telegraph

Khmer Rouge Commanders Face War Crimes Trial

Landmark UN Tribunal Opens in Cambodia -- Voice of America

A United Nations-backed court in Cambodia has started a landmark trial of four senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge, the communist extremists whose bloody 1970s revolution killed nearly a quarter of the population. While the long-awaited trial has been welcomed by victims, they are also criticizing the court for alleged political interference that could limit any further prosecutions.

Initial hearings opened Monday at the United Nations-backed trial of four surviving and highest ranking leaders of the Khmer Rouge.

Read more ....

More News On The Trial Of Former Khmer Rouge Commanders

Top surviving Khmer Rouge leaders go on trial -- Yahoo News/AP
Khmer Rouge commanders go on trial in Cambodia -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Cambodian tribunal tries Khmer Rouge leaders -- Yahoo News/AP
Cambodian court opens landmark K. Rouge trial -- Yahoo News/AFP
Cambodia's Khmer Rouge leaders begin war crimes trial - video -- The Guardian
Khmer Rouge trial analysis: the day of justice that many Cambodians thought they would never see -- The Telegraph
Cambodia's Khmer Rouge genocide trial battles political pressures -- Christian Science Monitor
The truth about the Khmer Rouge is too big for one court case -- Thet Sambath, The Guardian
Cambodia: Khmer Rouge tribunal 101 -- Christian Science Monitor
Profiles: Khmer Rouge leaders on trial -- Al Jazeera

War Crimes Conviction For Khmer Rouge Executioner

Khmer Rouge Executioner Found Guilty, But Cambodians Say Sentence Too Light -- Christian Science Monitor

Khmer Rouge chief executioner 'Duch' was found guilty today by a UN-backed court. He could be out of prison in 19 years, even when many Cambodians say he deserved life in prison for his role in the Pol Pot regime.

In the first verdict at the UN-backed war crimes tribunal, the Khmer Rouge’s chief executioner has been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Kaing Guek Eav, better known by his nom de guerre, “Duch,” ran the notorious S-21 prison where as many as 17,000 people were tortured before being killed.

Read more ....

More News On Today's Conviction Of A Khmer Rouge Executioner

Khmer Rouge Figure Is Found Guilty of War Crimes -- New York Times
Khmer Rouge Jailer Faces 19 Years for 16, 000 Dead -- New York Times/Reuters
Senior Khmer Rouge Cadre Jailed For Mass Murder, Torture -- New York Times/Reuters
Former Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Gets 35-Year Jail Term -- RTT News
Khmer Rouge torture chief jailed for mass killings -- The Age
Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch found guilty -- BBC
Video of First Khmer Rouge Trial -- New York Times
Mixed reactions to Khmer Rouge verdict -- Euronews
Genocide in Cambodia: Who were the Khmer Rouge? -- CNN
Duch trial: Khmer Rouge factfile -- The Telegraph
Who's on Trial at Cambodia's War Crimes Tribunal -- New York Times/AP

Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Awaits Verdict On Genocide Charges

Judgment Day For Khmer Rouge Executioner -- The Australian

THIRTY-ONE years ago the Khmer Rouge regime collapsed and its leaders fled Phnom Penh.

Invading Vietnamese troops came across an abandoned prison where the bodies of tortured prisoners were still shackled to beds and the floor was splattered with their blood.

This was Tuol Sleng, a school that Pol Pot's murderous regime had converted into its main extermination centre in Cambodia.

Read more ....

More News On Seeking Justice In Cambodia

Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Awaits Verdict -- New York Times/AP
Long haul for Cambodia's genocide court -- BBC
Cambodia confronts its past as Khmer Rouge killer awaits court's verdict -- The Independent
Comrade Duch, the Khmer Rouge executioner who killed thousands for Pol Pot, faces his day of justice -- The Guardian
Khmer Rouge victims pray at prison before historic verdict -- Montreal Gazette/AFP
Many victims of the Khmer Rouge regime may now get justice -- Herald Scotland
A timeline of the Khmer Rouge regime and its aftermath -- CNN

The True Face of Evil For All to See

Journalists take pictures from a live feed of Mam Nay, a former chief of interrogation of S-21 during the trial of the Khmer Rouge regime's chief torturer Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, July 13 , 2009. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Khmer Rouge Interrogator Says "No Regrets" About Deaths -- Reuters

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – A former interrogator at the Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison on Tuesday expressed no remorse for the deaths of thousands of Cambodians who he said had all committed crimes.

Appearing as a prosecution witness in the trial of Duch, Pol Pot's head jailor, Mam Nay, also known as Chan, denied any part in torture or killings of prisoners and blamed the United States and Vietnam for undermining his country.

Read more ....

My Comment: The title say sit all .... this is the true face of evil.