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Sebastian Strangio is a journalist and author focusing on Southeast Asia. Since 2008, his reporting from across the region has appeared in more than 30 leading publications in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

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Posts tagged "ECCC"
Khmer Rouge's 'first lady,' charged with genocide, dies at 83

Khmer Rouge’s ‘first lady,’ charged with genocide, dies at 83

Ieng Thirith, the highest-ranking woman in the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, has died in Cambodia after a long illness, according to a United Nations-backed tribunal that is trying former regime leaders in Phnom Penh.
How a Brutal Khmer Rouge Leader Died 'Not Guilty'

How a Brutal Khmer Rouge Leader Died ‘Not Guilty’

A verdict was never reached in Ieng Sary’s human rights abuses case. His story reveals the limitations of international tribunals.
Notorious Khmer Rouge jailer gets life sentence

Notorious Khmer Rouge jailer gets life sentence

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, and NEW DELHI – A court in Cambodia on Friday rejected an appeal by a notorious Khmer Rouge jailer and extended his prison sentence to life in a decision welcomed by many in the war-torn country. Kang Kek Ieu, known as Kaing Guek Eav in tribunal filings but more often referred to...
Khmer Rouge No. 2 gives insight to his role in Cambodia's 'killing fields'

Khmer Rouge No. 2 gives insight to his role in Cambodia’s ‘killing fields’

Nuon Chea, the deputy leader of the Khmer Rouge regime blamed for 1.7 million deaths in Cambodia’s ‘killing fields’ told the tribunal today that he carried out its policies to protect the country.
Khmer Rouge trial opens in Cambodia amid claims of interference

Khmer Rouge trial opens in Cambodia amid claims of interference

Critics say political interference and judicial misconduct are tarnishing the UN-backed Khmer Rouge trial, seen as key to justice more than 30 years after the brutal regime was ousted.
Ghosts of the killing fields

Ghosts of the killing fields

An apparent unwillingness to try two Khmer Rouge commanders for war crimes reflects a growing mood to bury Cambodia’s bloody past
Cambodia: When genocide trials turn personal

Cambodia: When genocide trials turn personal

Many former Khmer Rouge fighters say they are worried that the U.N.-backed tribunal will start to cast a wider net.
Slow justice in Cambodia's war crimes tribunal

Slow justice in Cambodia’s war crimes tribunal

Senior Khmer Rouge officials go to trial later this month but there are increasing concerns that the government is meddling in the judicial process, writes Sebastian Strangio from Phnom Penh
Limited liability for Khmer Rouge tribunal

Limited liability for Khmer Rouge tribunal

PHNOM PENH – Sometime later this year, Cambodia’s war crimes court will convene its second trial at which four ailing Khmer Rouge leaders will face a raft of charges including crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. The four accused – Khmer Rouge “Brother No 2” Nuon Chea, former foreign minister Ieng Sary, head of...

KRT judges divided on next cases

THE Khmer Rouge tribunal has released letters documenting a disagreement concerning the timing of investigations into five additional regime suspects, continuing a long-standing pattern of disputes between Cambodian and international officials over the issue. Documents made public Wednesday showed that Cambodian co-investigating judge You Bunleng reversed an earlier agreement with his international counterpart Marcel Lemonde...

Corruption may undermine Khmer Rouge justice

ON 17 February, a gaunt former school teacher walked into a packed courtroom in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, flanked by lawyers and lit by the flashes of the international press corps. Amid the procedural banalities of the ensuing hearing, an observer could be forgiven for mistaking the momentous nature of the event: more...

Time running out for Khmer Rouge justice

THE crimes of the Khmer Rouge are well known. Between 1975 and 1979, Pol Pot’s regime of ‘Democratic Kampuchea’ turned Cambodia into a ‘land of blood and tears’ — a vast agrarian social experiment that enslaved the population and led to the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians. After nearly three decades of legal...