Chapter Two
On Life in Phnom Penh:
“Bon-sir-eye,” I repeat, looking up hopefully. My friend shakes her head emphatically. I have mispronounced the word again. She looks at me with confused eyes, silently asking me why I cannot understand her. I sigh, and try again.
Unfailingly, the highlight of my morning is a visit from the cleaning staff. The two women arrive at my office with smiles, ready to teach me a new phrase in Khmer. The taller of the two women has only ever spoken three words to me in English—hello, goodbye, and woman—while the shorter woman occasionally converses in phrases that are a mix of French and English. But, the language barrier has not stopped me from becoming fond of my two new friends. At the end of my second week, I learned that they taught me to say “hello, sister” when they enter the room. They brought me slices of mango one day in the late afternoon, and try the different hand lotions I keep on my desk. Hopefully, I can start to understand more of their conversations than just two words a week…
On a Case Tried by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal:
Four people were indicted in Case 002—Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, and Ieng Thirith. The first hearings for this case began in June 2011, and a portion of this case is still ongoing.
While the case was originally brought against four individuals, the trial now only concerns Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan. The case against Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith ended for medical reasons. The prosecution of Ieng Sary stopped when he died in 2013. Ieng Thirith was found unfit to stand trial because of her dementia. She was eventually freed from provisional detention, but placed under judicial supervision. She passed away in 2015.
One thing that is striking about the leaders of the Khmer Rouge is their levels of education. Ieng Sary, the Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs, was a student in Cambodia and France. In Cambodia he studied at the Collège Sisowath in Phnom Penh, and later received funding to study in Paris at the Lycée Condorcet and the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris. He eventually returned to teach history at his alma mater, the Collège Sisowath.
Similarly, Ieng Thirith studied in Cambodia and France. Ieng Thirith was the first Cambodian to ever be awarded a degree in English Literature. At the Sorbonne, she majored in Shakespeare studies. During the Khmer Rouge era, Ieng Thirith was the Minister of Social Affairs. She was also the sister of Khieu Ponnary—the Democratic Kampuchea’s First Lady. The sisters studied in Paris together, where Khieu Ponnary received a degree in linguistics. Prior to leaving for Paris, Khieu Ponnary was the first Cambodian woman to earn a baccalaureate degree.
Nuon Chea was the Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK)—the official name of the Khmer Rouge. Nuon Chea also acted as Prime Minister of the CPK when Pol Pot, the Prime Minister, took a year off. Instead of studying in France, Nuon Chea obtained a law degree in Thailand at the Thammasat University. Khieu Samphan, the Head of State, completed his doctorate while living in France. His dissertation, “Cambodia’s economy and industrial development” is quoted throughout the judgment of Case 002.
Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were charged with, and eventually convicted of, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, and genocide. Because of the complexity of the charges, and the ages of the defendants, the case was split in two—Case 002/01 and Case 002/02. Both halves of the case will be discussed in the coming weeks. For more, see https://www.eccc.gov.kh/en/case/topic/119.