The long wait for justice for millions of victims of Cambodia's Pol Pot regime is almost over. Prosecutors will soon begin compiling evidence against surviving regime leaders, and court cases are scheduled to start next year.
As many as 2 million Cambodians perished under Khmer Rouge rule between 1975 and 1979. A generation after the regime's collapse, surviving victims have been revisiting the scenes of Pol Pot's atrocities. Peter Lloyd reports from Phnom Penh.
Peter Lloyd: They are older now. They move more slowly. But for the victims of Pol Pot's most notorious torture chamber, painful memories remain as fresh as ever. Music
Boo Meng witnessed the murder of his wife and two children.
Boo Meng: When I saw this picture I imagined that this is the body of my wife and I cried. I not only pity my wife, but I pity all of the Cambodian people who were killed.
Peter Lloyd: This tour of Tuol Sleng prison was arranged to help Cambodians prepare for the moment they finally face the nightmare that was the Khmer Rouge. After so many false dawns, this impoverished nation is about to bring to justice a handful of surviving top commanders who ordered Asia's holocaust.
Michelle Lee: We are finally here to assist, a process will start soon. Truth hopefully will be established through the process. Then a certain measure of justice will be done. It will not be a perfect justice.
Peter Lloyd: The hopes of millions of Cambodians rest with the two people charged with making sure the Khmer Rouge trials run smoothly. Michelle Lee represents the United Nations and Sean Visoth, the government of Cambodia.
Sean Visoth,: This trial will be open to the public, not only inside Cambodia but to the public worldwide. So it won't be easy to distort the facts.
Peter Lloyd: From the ashes of 'Year Zero' has risen the war crimes building that will be the venue for Asia's Nuremberg.
For survivors, whose graphic testimony may see them becoming witnesses for the prosecution, a first look inside. The seats may still be covered, but the crowd is raring to go.
Boo Meng demanded to know if his dead wife and children would get justice. ‘I'm ready to be a witness’ said Sorm Pov, whose husband was butchered. ‘I remember it like it was yesterday.’ Choo May demanded to know why the Khmer Rouge was allowed a seat in the UN. Meeting all of the expectations boiling away in this room will be no easy task. Cambodians have no faith in their country's corrupt legal system. The UN thinks it will overcome that concern by ensuring cases are heard by a five-member panel consisting of three Cambodian and two international judges. Verdicts must be unanimous or a supermajority of Cambodian and at least one international judge.
Sean Visoth: We are well aware of the weaknesses of our legal and judicial system. That's why we seek international participation to meet international standards, and in this case it's the assistance from the United Nations.
Peter Lloyd: The perpetrators of this horror will receive more justice than they gave their victims. The maximum penalty will be life in prison. The standard of proof will be high. The names of those expected to face trial remain unclear. Pol Pot escaped punishment when he died mysteriously in the jungle in 1998. The surviving henchmen must be getting nervous. They include Nuon Chea, deputy regime leader or 'Brother Number Two', head of state, Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary. This once militant atheist who saw the extermination of Buddhists recently made a telling compromise with his beliefs. He built a funeral stupa for himself and his family at his local temple. Already entombed are the ashes of his sister, Pol Pot’s first wife.
A generation ago, these men had killed anybody who spoke a foreign language. Now, they've retained foreign lawyers.
Youk Chhang: It's very ironic, you know, they don't trust their own people to defend themselves. It shows that they are in a panic state. And finally, they don't trust anybody.
Peter Lloyd: Youk Chhang has been gathering evidence against the Khmer Rouge leadership for years at the Documentation Centre of Cambodia. This huge paper trail plus eyewitness testimony from survivors will form the prosecution case.
Youk Chhang: They are going to be a big help to the tribunal. They are out there, ready to speak to the prosecutors to share their stories and to lead the investigation team to a mass grave site and so forth.
Peter Lloyd: As they prepare to give evidence, groups of survivors have been touring the scene of Khmer Rouge atrocities. This mass gravesite on the outskirts of Phnom Penh held the remains of 17,000 men, women and children butchered in cold blood.
Buddhist Nun: I have nothing. No mother. No father. No brothers. I am alone. My husband died. My sister died. I am alone. Now I am a Buddhist nun.
Peter Lloyd: It was not just a tour for victims. Perpetrators of violence also came along. Him Hoy was a prison guard forced to make a horrific show of loyalty to the regime.
Him Hoy: My boss asked me, "Are you completely loyal to me?" I said I was, so he told me to beat a prisoner and then kill four more people.
Peter Lloyd: For years, Cambodia's government dragged its heels on setting up a war crimes tribunal, fearing it would reopen old wounds in a fragile society. But the victims of Pol Pot refuse to remain silent. Now it seems their demand for justice will finally be heard.
As many as 2 million Cambodians perished under Khmer Rouge rule between 1975 and 1979. A generation after the regime's collapse, surviving victims have been revisiting the scenes of Pol Pot's atrocities. Peter Lloyd reports from Phnom Penh.
Peter Lloyd: They are older now. They move more slowly. But for the victims of Pol Pot's most notorious torture chamber, painful memories remain as fresh as ever. Music
Boo Meng witnessed the murder of his wife and two children.
Boo Meng: When I saw this picture I imagined that this is the body of my wife and I cried. I not only pity my wife, but I pity all of the Cambodian people who were killed.
Peter Lloyd: This tour of Tuol Sleng prison was arranged to help Cambodians prepare for the moment they finally face the nightmare that was the Khmer Rouge. After so many false dawns, this impoverished nation is about to bring to justice a handful of surviving top commanders who ordered Asia's holocaust.
Michelle Lee: We are finally here to assist, a process will start soon. Truth hopefully will be established through the process. Then a certain measure of justice will be done. It will not be a perfect justice.
Peter Lloyd: The hopes of millions of Cambodians rest with the two people charged with making sure the Khmer Rouge trials run smoothly. Michelle Lee represents the United Nations and Sean Visoth, the government of Cambodia.
Sean Visoth,: This trial will be open to the public, not only inside Cambodia but to the public worldwide. So it won't be easy to distort the facts.
Peter Lloyd: From the ashes of 'Year Zero' has risen the war crimes building that will be the venue for Asia's Nuremberg.
For survivors, whose graphic testimony may see them becoming witnesses for the prosecution, a first look inside. The seats may still be covered, but the crowd is raring to go.
Boo Meng demanded to know if his dead wife and children would get justice. ‘I'm ready to be a witness’ said Sorm Pov, whose husband was butchered. ‘I remember it like it was yesterday.’ Choo May demanded to know why the Khmer Rouge was allowed a seat in the UN. Meeting all of the expectations boiling away in this room will be no easy task. Cambodians have no faith in their country's corrupt legal system. The UN thinks it will overcome that concern by ensuring cases are heard by a five-member panel consisting of three Cambodian and two international judges. Verdicts must be unanimous or a supermajority of Cambodian and at least one international judge.
Sean Visoth: We are well aware of the weaknesses of our legal and judicial system. That's why we seek international participation to meet international standards, and in this case it's the assistance from the United Nations.
Peter Lloyd: The perpetrators of this horror will receive more justice than they gave their victims. The maximum penalty will be life in prison. The standard of proof will be high. The names of those expected to face trial remain unclear. Pol Pot escaped punishment when he died mysteriously in the jungle in 1998. The surviving henchmen must be getting nervous. They include Nuon Chea, deputy regime leader or 'Brother Number Two', head of state, Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary. This once militant atheist who saw the extermination of Buddhists recently made a telling compromise with his beliefs. He built a funeral stupa for himself and his family at his local temple. Already entombed are the ashes of his sister, Pol Pot’s first wife.
A generation ago, these men had killed anybody who spoke a foreign language. Now, they've retained foreign lawyers.
Youk Chhang: It's very ironic, you know, they don't trust their own people to defend themselves. It shows that they are in a panic state. And finally, they don't trust anybody.
Peter Lloyd: Youk Chhang has been gathering evidence against the Khmer Rouge leadership for years at the Documentation Centre of Cambodia. This huge paper trail plus eyewitness testimony from survivors will form the prosecution case.
Youk Chhang: They are going to be a big help to the tribunal. They are out there, ready to speak to the prosecutors to share their stories and to lead the investigation team to a mass grave site and so forth.
Peter Lloyd: As they prepare to give evidence, groups of survivors have been touring the scene of Khmer Rouge atrocities. This mass gravesite on the outskirts of Phnom Penh held the remains of 17,000 men, women and children butchered in cold blood.
Buddhist Nun: I have nothing. No mother. No father. No brothers. I am alone. My husband died. My sister died. I am alone. Now I am a Buddhist nun.
Peter Lloyd: It was not just a tour for victims. Perpetrators of violence also came along. Him Hoy was a prison guard forced to make a horrific show of loyalty to the regime.
Him Hoy: My boss asked me, "Are you completely loyal to me?" I said I was, so he told me to beat a prisoner and then kill four more people.
Peter Lloyd: For years, Cambodia's government dragged its heels on setting up a war crimes tribunal, fearing it would reopen old wounds in a fragile society. But the victims of Pol Pot refuse to remain silent. Now it seems their demand for justice will finally be heard.