NPR: Genocide Verdict for Khmer Rouge Leaders

Between 1975 and 1979, the Khmer Rouge regime terrorized Cambodians and killed about 2 million people and displaced millions more in an attempt to restore an agrarian society, as explained by the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor. Scott Neuman, writing for NPR, explains how the Khmer Rouge came to power after the Vietnam War and ended only after a 1979 invasion by Vietnam. An international tribunal – the UN-backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia – has issued verdicts of genocide and war crimes against two surviving leaders of that regime, Nuon Chea, 92, the chief lieutenant of leader Pol Pot, and Khieu Samphan, 87, the former head of state. The verdict specifically established genocide against Vietnamese and Cham minorities living in Cambodia at the time. Cambodians disagree about whether investigations should continue with more charges filed. In 2013, the country of 16 million people approved a bill outlawing denial of the Khmer Rouge atrocities. – YaleGlobal

NPR: Genocide Verdict for Khmer Rouge Leaders

Cambodia still wrestles with the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge genocide; tribunal verdict finds two former leaders, now elderly, guilty of genocide and warm crimes
Scott Neuman
Friday, November 16, 2018

Read the article from NPR about a verdict against two former Khmer Rouge leaders.

Scott Neuman works as a Digital News writer and editor, handling breaking news and feature stories for NPR.org. Occasionally he can be heard on-air reporting on stories for Newscasts and has done several radio features since he joined NPR in April 2007, as an editor on the Continuous News Desk. Neuman brings to NPR years of experience as an editor and reporter at a variety of news organizations and based all over the world. For three years in Bangkok, Thailand, he served as an Associated Press Asia-Pacific desk editor.

Read more about Khmer Rouge history from the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor: “They wanted to transform Cambodia into a rural, classless society in which there were no rich people, no poor people, and no exploitation. To accomplish this, they abolished money, free markets, normal schooling, private property, foreign clothing styles, religious practices, and traditional Khmer culture. Public schools, pagodas, mosques, churches, universities, shops and government buildings were shut or turned into prisons, stables, reeducation camps and granaries. There was no public or private transportation, no private property, and no non-revolutionary entertainment.” 

NPR
Related Links: 

At Last, Justice Comes to Cambodia

Burying China's Complicity in the Killing Fields

UN Credibility on Trial in Cambodia

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