Border Clashes Between Vietnam and Cambodia; Procedural Clashes Between the Prosecution and the Defense

Vietnam versus Cambodia

The Trial Chamber took a break from resident expert Craig Etcheson’s testimony on the structure and policies of the Khmer Rouge to hear visiting expert Nayan Chanda’s testimony on the armed conflict that waged between Vietnam and Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. Among his many qualifications, Chanda covered Indochina for the Far Eastern Economic Review during the relevant time period and later wrote a book on his findings entitled, Brother Enemy: The War After the War. He is currently the Director of Publications and the Editor of YaleGlobal Online Magazine at the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization.

Under hours of questioning from Judge Silvia Cartwright, Chanda detailed armed conflict along the Vietnam-Cambodia border – which started in 1975, slowed in 1976, and then gradually intensified from mid-1977 until January 7, 1979 when Vietnamese forces captured Phnom Penh. Chanda described battles over several islands in the Gulf of Thailand, air raids on villages on both sides of the border, and the expulsion of Vietnamese nationals and sympathizers from Cambodia. Given that thirty-plus years have passed, Chanda’s recollection of some specifics in Brother Enemy was understandably lacking; however, at moments, he was able to describe events and interviews vividly. Chanda recalled a March 1978 visit to a Vietnamese border town about which he still has nightmares. He said the village looked like it had been “hit by a storm” and the bodies of civilian men, women, and children lined the streets. In a mud hut, he saw the words “this is our land” scribbled in Khmer…

Read more: ctm_blog_5-25-2009