Death Saves Ta Mok from Justice

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK (IPS) - The death of Ta Mok, 'The Butcher', from natural  causes, in late July was a disappointment to many Cambodians who  survived the unspeakable atrocities that he and other leaders of the  genocidal Khmer Rouge perpetrated, but never paid for.

There is now a fear that other ageing members of that brutal Maoist  regime may never face justice at the specially created war crimes  tribunal; dying peacefully and unrepentant, ahead of their day in court.

Ta Mok died Jul. 20 of poor health and respiratory complications. The  80-year-old's end became imminent after he was hospitalised last  month for a combination of ailments, including high blood pressure  and stomach pain, and then his slipping into a coma.

''I really wanted to see him go before the court and explain why they  killed so many people,'' Khieu Kola, a senior Cambodian journalist  who survived the Khmer Rouge reign of terror from 1975-79, said in a  telephone interview from Phnom Penh. ''It is disappointing that he  died before the trial. We fear this may happen to the others.''

Khieu was 14 years old when Khmer Rouge troops, dressed in their  trademark black uniforms, marched into the Cambodian capital in April  1975. He was forced to join the ranks of nearly two million people in  Phnom Penh who were driven out of the city to rural areas to be put  through years of hard labour, which included building roads in slave- like conditions.

''I witnessed many deaths there,'' said Khieu, who was separated from  his family. His younger brother was killed by the Khmer Rouge  ''because he stole a piece of potato to eat. He had been starving.''

The mind-numbing crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge for over five  years resulted in close to 1.7 million deaths, nearly a quarter of  the country's population at the time. Most Cambodian victims were  either executed or died due to forced labour or from starvation.

Pol Pot, the leader of this dictatorship who died in a rural part of  the country in 1998, wanted to turn this South-east Asian nation into  an agrarian paradise. His long list of enemies who were to be killed  included intellectuals and people from cities, who were labelled  ''parasites.'' The one-legged Ta Mok, who became the army chief in  1977, played a pivotal role in the Khmer Rouge policy of purging  cities of their inhabitants, like Khieu and his family.

The death of Ta Mok -- reportedly the first surviving Khmer Rouge  commander to go before the war crimes tribunal -- will now shift  attention to other ageing leaders, most of them in their 70s and 80s.  Heading that list is Kaing Khek Eav, also known as 'Duch,' who headed  the Toul Sleng interrogation centre in Phnom Penh, where 14,000  people accused of being traitors died and only 12 inmates survived.

A book about Khmer Rouge atrocities, 'Seven Candidates for  Prosecution', names other surviving leaders such as Nuon Chea, Ieng  Sary, Khieu Samphan, Sou Met and Meah Met of being linked to policies  that led to mass executions and torture. Nuon Chea, who was Pol Pot's  deputy, has been enjoying a life of freedom since receiving an  amnesty from the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen in December 1998.

Others on that list enjoying similar liberties are Khieu Samphan,  former head of state during the Khmer Rouge years, and Ieng Sary, the  former foreign minister. Hun Sen himself was a junior member of the  brutal regime before defecting to the Vietnamese troops that drove  Pol Pot from power in 1979.

It has taken 27 years for the Cambodian victims to finally believe  that justice was possible -- after the much delayed war crimes  tribunal came to life this month to look into the cases of crimes  against humanity. The hurdles that were placed in the way of this  trial, now backed by the U.N., were shaped by years of Cold War  politics, Cambodia's years of civil war and disagreements about the  composition of the tribunal between the Hun Sen government and the  world body.

The tribunal, known officially as the Extraordinary Chambers in the  Courts of Cambodia, began work on Jul. 3, when 13 international  jurists and 17 Cambodian judges were sworn in at a special ceremony  at the royal palace in Phnom Penh. On Jul. 10, the co-prosecutors  began their investigations to build cases against the accused, among  whom was Ta Mok.

Shortly afterwards, the independent Phnom Penh-based Documentation  Centre of Cambodia handed over boxes full of evidence of Khmer Rouge  atrocities it has gathered to help the tribunal in its  investigations. It included gruesome details from some 20,000 mass  graves, 189 prisons and 30,000 victim interviews.

Uncertainties about this tribunal include whether its court sessions  will reveal the involvement of governments such as the United States,  China and Thailand during a bloody phase of Cambodian history  spanning over two decades.

As part of its war with Vietnam in the late 1960s, Washington  launched a secret bombing campaign of Cambodia. And after Pol Pot was  driven out of power, his group was aided by the U.S., Chinese and  Thai governments, then at odds with the victorious Vietnamese army.

''Ta Mok's death serves a message to us. We need to push the tribunal  to accelerate its work,'' Thun Saray, president of the Phnom Penh- based Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (or ADHOC,  as it is known in Cambodia), told IPS. ''We have lost an important  witness and a main accused.''

''This tribunal is the only one that will provide justice and peace  for the people,'' he added. ''It is better to try some leaders than  have nothing at all.'' 
(END/IPS)