Khmer Rogue Survivors In 13 Bittersweet Pictures As Leaders Are Sentenced To Life In Prison (Pics)
"Even If They Die Many Times Over, It Would Not Be Enough"
Louise Ridley— The Huffington Post UK
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These heartbreaking images capture the moment, through the eyes of the survivors when two former Khmer Rouge leaders were sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity.
A UN-backed war crimes tribunal in in Cambodia found Nuon Chea, known as 'Brother Number Two', and Khieu Samphan, who was the head of state for Cambodia, guilty of devising policies which led to mass executions, forced labour and torture under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.
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Survivors travelled from around the country to witness the verdict, and cried and embraced each other when the sentence was announced. They queued up outside the court room, watching with faces heavy with emotion, as the trial's result was live-streamed on screens.
The war crimes sentence comes nearly 40 years after the Khmer Rouge was overthrown in 1979. The group took power by force and killed nearly two million people through repression and massacres over four years.
Chea and Samphan, who are both in their 80s, were the last living members of the regime considered well enough to face trial. They must still face a second trial for the separate charge of genocide.
For many of the survivors, the verdict had come decades too late. Some called for a sentence of death, rather than imprisonment for the pair.
"My anger remains in my heart,'' said survivor Suon Mom, a 75-year-old whose husband and four children starved to death under the regime. She told the Associated Press: "I still remember the day I left Phnom Penh, walking along the road without having any food or water to drink."
"Even if they die many times over, it would not be enough," 54-year-old Chea Sophon told the Associated Press.
He spent years in labor camps building dams and working in rice fields. "The crimes are huge, and just sentencing them to life in jail is not fair," he added.
Khmer Rouge Verdict Delivered
(01 of13)
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A woman cries after hearing the guilty verdict for former Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan for crimes against humanity today in Phnom Penh. From 1975-1979 nearly two million people lost their lives, due to forced labor, starvation, torture and executions as a result of Khmer Rouge policies. (credit:Omar Havana via Getty Images)
(02 of13)
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A group of Cambodian survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime travel by bus to the courtroom to witness the verdict. (credit:Omar Havana via Getty Images)
(03 of13)
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A Cambodian survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime stands in the street before travelling to the courtroom. (credit:Omar Havana via Getty Images)
(04 of13)
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Cambodian former Khmer Rouge servitors, Soum Rithy, left, and Chum Mey, right, embrace each other after the verdicts were announced. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(05 of13)
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Rithy and Chum's embrace reveals the pain of the victims. (credit:TANG CHHIN SOTHY via Getty Images)
(06 of13)
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Cambodian villagers line up at the court before the final statement. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(07 of13)
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A young Cambodian woman stands by a wall of photographs of dead men killed during the Khmer Rouge regime in one of the rooms of Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21. (credit:Omar Havana via Getty Images)
(08 of13)
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Cambodian survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime wait in line for the news. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(09 of13)
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A group of survivors wait in line to get inside the courtroom for the pronouncement of the verdict. (credit:Omar Havana via Getty Images)
(10 of13)
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Survivors walk to the courtroom for the verdict. (credit:Omar Havana via Getty Images)
(11 of13)
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Cambodians watch the live-stream of the announcement of the guilty verdict for former Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan. (credit:Omar Havana via Getty Images)
(12 of13)
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A survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime clutches a magazine during the verdict. (credit:Omar Havana via Getty Images)
(13 of13)
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Bou Meng, a prominent survivor of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison speaks to the media after hearing the verdict. (credit:TANG CHHIN SOTHY via Getty Images)