Two Experts Testify; One Barely Speaks

by Laura MacDonald, Member of the New York Bar and Consultant to the Center for International Human Rights, Northwestern University School of Law
— 26 May, 2009

Armed Conflict Between Vietnam and Cambodia

The public gallery was quite crowded with Cambodian college students and villagers this morning as expert Nayan Chanda, former correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review and author of Brother Enemy: The War After the War, finished his testimony regarding the armed conflict between Vietnam and Cambodia.

Chanda described his experiences at refugee camps on the Vietnamese side of the border. After willingly escaping from Cambodia along with Vietnamese soldiers, Chanda reported, Cambodian refugees lived in total fear, but also remained hopeful that they would return home once Cambodia was “liberated” by the Vietnamese. Chanda described local arrangements resulting in the forced repatriation of Cambodian refugees who were traded for livestock on a one-to-one basis. Acknowledging he lacked direct knowledge, Chanda opined that Vietnamese forces who sent refugees back to Cambodia must have suspected that those refugees would be executed upon their return.

Cambodian defense counsel Kar Savuth posed only one question after stating that the armed conflict was between states and had essentially nothing to do with The Accused Person, Kaing Guek Eav (Duch). International defense counsel Francois Roux then requested that Duch be given an opportunity to respond to Chanda’s testimony. In a lengthy speech, Duch seemed to directly address Chanda while Chanda stared intently in a different direction. Duch praised Chanda’s achievements in detailing important events and in bringing to light “major concepts” about Vietnam, which Duch then outlined. Specifically, Duch said that Vietnam wanted the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) to follow its way and if Vietnam could not succeed, it planned to allow the Khmer people to topple Pol Pot. If that failed, then Vietnam planned to attack from the outside. He acknowledged that the “long and protracted” conflict between Cambodia and Vietnam caused great bloodshed among civilians. He said Pol Pot was not a “great patriot,” but rather the murderer of more than one million people. Within that large number, Duch said his hands were stained with the blood of 12,380 people from Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21…

Read more: ctm_blog_5-26-2009

Cambodia Tribunal Monitor’s Trial Observer posts are written according to the personal observations and opinions of the writer and do not constitute a transcript of ECCC proceedings or the views of Cambodia Tribunal Monitor and/or its partners. Official court transcripts for the ECCC’s hearings may be accessed at the ECCC website.