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Showing posts from July, 2010
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Reading the news of the first verdict at the UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh brought back memories of a recent visit to Cambodia. Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, was sentenced today for crimes committed 30 years ago during the Khmer Rouge. Two years, during a GBGM gathering, we had toured the Tuol Sleng Museum. There we saw how innocent people, caught in the witch hunt of the Khmer Rouge, were herded into the old school grounds, boxed up in tiny brick cells and tortured on bed frames. Duch ran the notorious S21 prison, overseeing the death of up to 17,000 women, men and children, accused of being "enemies" of the state. That was only a fraction of Cambodians slaughtered during the period from 1975 to 1979, when over 1 million were executed or died of starvation and mistreatment. Cambodia has captured my interest for a number of years. In 1980, as an undergraduate at Fresno Pacific College, I had a Cambodian room mate. I think his name was Tom. He wa