Tribunal Recounts Regime's Vietnam War
The massacre of ethnic Vietnamese in the years when the Khmer Rouge were in power could be the key to an actual genocide charge for lea
The executions of ethnic Vietnamese by the Khmer Rouge couldbe the key to genocide charges for jailed leaders of the regime, butprosecutors documents also recount a conflict between the Khmerguerrillas and their Vietnamese neighbors that began almost immediately afterthe Khmer Rouge came to power. The Vietnamgovernment does not fund the Khmer Rouge tribunal, but more Vietnamese nationalswere killed by the regime than any other foreign group. The regime also killedThai, Lao, French, NewZealand and US nationals. "Regarding this issue, several powerful countries, richcountries, have assisted in funding the Khmer Rouge tribunal already," VietnameseEmbassy spokesman Trinh Bac Cam said Wednesday. Closing orders in the case of Kaing Kek Iev, also calledDuch, issued by tribunal judges claim at least 400 Vietnamese civilians andsoldiers were killed at Tuol Sleng prison alone. Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center ofCambodia, said at least 600 Vietnamese were killed by the Khmer Rouge at TuolSleng and another detention center in Prey Veng province. In highlighting the conflict, which led to the eventualinvasion of Cambodiaby Vietnamese forces and the ouster of the Khmer Rouge, tribunal documents arefulfilling a quieter role of the tribunal: a recounting of history that hasbeen lost on Cambodians in subsequent years. According to indictment documents posted by tribunal prosecutorsrecently, the Khmer Rouge maintained a conflict with Vietnam over border disputes between April 1975 and December 1978. The conflict took place in border areas includingRatanakkiri, Mondolkiri, Takeo, Svay Rieng, Kampong Cham and Prey Veng provinces,and on the island formerly known as Koh Tral, better known now by its Vietnamese name, Phu Quoc. An invasion force of 150,000 Vietnamese troops began anoffensive in December 1978, driving the Khmer Rouge out of the capital on Jan.7, 1979. The conflict, and suspicions of Vietnamese agents withing the ranks of the Khmer Rouge, led to the killing of many Vietnamese. "If there will be a trial, justice is for allvictims," Trinh Bac Cam said. Tribunal observers said recently prosecutors could seekgenocide charges against the five jailed Khmer Rogue leaders for the killingof the Vietnamese. "A part of justice will be shared with Vietnamesecitizens who have their relatives, military and civilian, killed duringDemocratic Kampuchea," Youk Chhang said.