WEBVTT

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In early January 1979

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a blitz raid by the Vietnamese Army
broke through Cambodian borders.

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The international community then discovered
a tragedy beyond anyone\'s greatest fears.

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[sil.]

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[music]

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From April 17th, 1975 to January 9th, 1979,

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the three-year, eight-month,
twenty-day Khmer Rouge regime

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saw the annihilation of one-third
of the Cambodian population,

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with close to two million victims.

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[sil.]

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[music]

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Over the course of that three-year
eight-month twenty-day Khmer Rouge regime,

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Pol Pot imposed an ultra radical
revolutionary ideal on the country.

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The state was rechristened Democratic
Kampuchea. A restricted group of leaders

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established absolute power under cover of the
mysterious designation of the organization

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or Angkar in Cambodian. The
Angkar made a clean sweep of

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all elements of Cambodian society,
family, religion, property, currency,

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all individual rights were abolished,
cities vacated, their inhabitants deported

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to the countryside, the population
was subjected to arbitrary purges

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and massive executions.

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[sil.]

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Today the scenes of repression

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have been transformed into museums and
everything seems to have been said or written

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about the history of Cambodia. The country remains
split between the determination to remember

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and the temptation to devote all
its energy to economic expansion.

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Two out of three Cambodians were born
after the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

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They are unaware of most of what happened
because families don\'t talk about it

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and even recent textbooks
still make no allusion to it.

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[music]

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After years of equivocation, a special tribunal
composed of Cambodian and international judges

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was sent up in Phnom Penh in
2006 to try those responsible

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for this tragedy.

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The United Nations entrusted
the core direction of

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the investigation to French
investigating judge, Marcel Lemmonde.

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His mission was to establish the crimes,

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to look for evidence, and to identify
those who primarily gave the orders.

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It was up to him to determine if the
charges assembled during the investigation

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was substantial enough to
open the Khmer Rouge trial.

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As their first decisive act,

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the judges ordered the arrest of the
Democratic Kampuchea leaders still living.

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Khieu Samphan, alias Hem,
former head of state

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and Nuon Chea alias brother number
2, who was living a secluded life

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in Northern Cambodia near the Thai border.

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Two more arrests took place
in the center of Phnom Penh.

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Ieng Sary, alias Van, former
Minister of Foreign Affairs,

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and his wife, Leng Thirith, alias Phea,
former Minister of Social Affairs.

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The couple had been quietly living in retirement
in the capital\'s residential quarter.

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The four former leaders were the
center of a joint investigation.

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Kaing Guek Eav,

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alias Duch, head of the primary
Khmer Rouge prison camp

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had been arrested by Cambodian authorities eight years
earlier. He was the focus of a separate inquiry

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as he was considered an
official of lower rank.

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The five defendants were imprisoned
in a special detention center

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adjoining the court.

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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The former Toisling High School, more commonly
known by its Khmer Rouge code name, S21,

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is a genocide museum today.

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The building has become a symbol of the
regime\'s brutality. Over 12,000 people,

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considered enemies of the
revolution, were secretly arrested,

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detained, and interrogated here before systematically
being \'crushed\' to use Khmer Rouge terminology.

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A young officer with zeal

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and organizational skills
impressed his superiors,

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Dukran S21 for practically the
entire duration of the regime.

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In early 1979, the Vietnamese
army invaded Cambodian territory.

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The Democratic Kampuchea state collapsed.

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On January 1979, fleeing
Vietnamese attacked,

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the Khmer Rouge deserted Phnom Penh.

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In their panic, the last
prisoners were finished off,

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their bodies left behind. Caught
off-guard, Duch did not obey

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his final orders to destroy
all proof of the repression.

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When trying mass crimes, it\'s
rare to find written records of

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how the repressive apparatus functioned.

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[sil.]

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Here the signature of the prisoner
and this is his fingerprint

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and here are the signatures of
interrogator at S21, his name…

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This is the date of uh…
produced confessions

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and that those reported
confession to his superiors.

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The S-21 archives that were found on site

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comprised an exceptional collection of
documents for court analysts to make use of.

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Some prisoners have been
asked for many time…

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interrogated for many times, that\'s what I…
Uh… It have a lot of pages of confessions.

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All right route one is,
contain about 1,000 pages.

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And the red colors, it
is annotation of Duch

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and he also is pointing out some names of

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persons who would be… something like that

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and here he explains something,
because that usually report

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this confession to the operation, so
he\'s just summarized a little bit

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on the main point of confession. The
victim, the prisoner tried to write

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1000 names, 100 names, so that the more,

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the more is the better… the
more they wanted in it.

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So the prisoner tries to list out every
name that they know, even they just, lives,

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neighbor or something like that,
they just write down all the names.

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Because it\'s the policy of the… the
S-21, the most important for S-21

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to find out from the witness, from…
from the prisoner is that, the

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(inaudible)names, to find
out people who betrayed

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Angkar something like that.

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The investigation was
divided into two cases.

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The investigation of the Duch case advanced quickly, thanks
to the suspect\'s willingness to cooperate with investigators.

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[sil.]

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A former math teacher,

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Duch has been described by his students as a sincere
young teacher, always willing to help the poor.

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He joined the Khmer Rouge
guerilla in the late \'60s.

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[sil.]

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Seated beside Judge Marcell
Lemmonde, You Bunleng,

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the Cambodian investigating judge was appointed by the
government. The president of the Phnom Penh Appeals Court,

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he is one of the highest
magistrates in the country.

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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[non-English narration]

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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[music]

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[non-English narration]

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In the office of the investigating judges,

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Cambodian and international teams
were mobilized on the Duch case.

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They organized the reconstruction that promised
to be a major step in the investigation.

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[sil.]

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Their objective was to
bring Duch back to S-21.

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This I call S-21 (inaudible)and
used for the confrontation

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early this week at S-21.

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Statement made by Duch\'s, nine statements
here but we don\'t have all the number…

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all the number at the S-21
but we have at least…

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Sure, you can see number one here\'s, what,

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where Duch is talking about and now he also talking
about building B, he is also talking about

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Building E ectectra.

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[music]

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The second case is focused on the
four historic leaders of the regime.

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From the very start of the proceedings,

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they adopted a line of defense radically different
from that of Duch, their former subordinate.

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To them, cooperating was
out of the question.

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As the suspects denied any involvement
in the crimes, each court appearance

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became a confrontation between their
attorneys and the investigating judges,

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even being moved from their cells for routine
interrogations on the conditions of their detention.

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[music]

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[sil.]

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An historic figure of the Khmer Rouge
revolution and Pol Pot\'s brother-in-law,

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Leng Sary was an early activist
against French colonization.

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He discovered communism while a
student in Paris in the 50s.

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That\'s where he first met his fellow
founders of the Khmer Rouge movement.

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[sil.]

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[non-English narration]

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I would like to supplement the record.

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I would like to supplement the record.

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Mr. Leng Sary does not intend
to uh… to be subjected to

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an interrogation by the investigative
judges. I stated it today.

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I noted that it\'s not part of the record. I would
like it part of the record of your summary record

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that I\'ve indicated that he does
not intend to provide a statement.

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He is exercising his right to remain silent
based on the advice of the Counsel. Thank you.

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[sil.]

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When Leng Sary was minister, the country was
officially led by the Communist Party of Kampuchea.

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Decisions were made by a standing
committee of seven members,

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including Pol Pot and the closest of his faithful.
Together they ruled in an atmosphere of secrecy,

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obsession with interior
enemies and incessant purges.

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Their decisions were handed down through
the ranks and to the population

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as issued from the Angkar.

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Pol Pot escaped judgment. He died eight
years before the tribunal was formed.

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The ages of the senior leaders

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by then, almost all octogenarians,
presented a major risk

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to the Judge\'s work. An initial medical
examination ordered by the defense

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even concluded that they were
incapable of appearing in court.

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Prof La Fong, (ph) an international
expert invalidated that first diagnosis

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and began to monitor them medically.
If their health worsened,

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the entire judicial
process would be at risk.

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[sil.]

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The reconstruction marked a major
step in the investigation.

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The entire Toisling neighborhood
was closed off by the army.

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The former interrogation center was off-limits to the
public. The international court managed to accomplish

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what no one, victim, researcher,
or historian, had ever imagined.

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30 years after the fall of
the Khmer Rouge Regime,

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Duch made his first return visit to S-21.

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[sil.]

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In a room on the first floor of building A,

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Duch was confronted with one of his
former subordinates. That was where

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important prisoners were held, notably a few westerners
accused of espionage simply due to their origins.

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[sil.]

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[non-English narration]

00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:15.000
[non-English narration]

00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:35.000
[non-English narration]

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:05.000
[non-English narration]

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[sil.]

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Seven S-21 survivors were identified at
the fall of the regime. One of them,

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Bou Meng became a plaintiff at
the opening of the proceedings.

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His wife, who was arrested at the
same time he was, died at S-21.

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[sil.]

00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:50.000
[non-English narration]

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[sil.]

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Another survivor, Chum Mey
also became a plaintiff.

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He had been brought to S-21 with
his wife and newborn child.

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He never saw them again.

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[non-English narration]

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[non-English narration]

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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Choeung Ek is another memorial
to the Cambodian tragedy.

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There, a dozen kilometers from Phnom Penh,

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S-21 prisoners were transferred during
the night to be clubbed to death

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and thrown into mass graves. Duch was
confronted with his former executioners.

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Considering their subordinate roles, they
were not prosecuted by the tribunal.

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[sil.]

00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:05.000
[non-English narration]

00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:15.000
[sil.]

00:37:55.000 --> 00:38:00.000
[non-English narration]

00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:13.000
[non-English narration]

00:38:55.000 --> 00:39:03.000
[sil.]

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[sil.]

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Another case, another tone. Jacques Verges
is the attorney for accused Khieu Samphan,

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former Democratic Kampuchea head of state.
He\'s even more personally involved

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in his client\'s defense, as he\'s an
old pal of the Khmer Rouge leaders,

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whom he hung out with during their
student days in Paris in the 50s.

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Khieu Samphan\'s attorneys filed an appeal
on the grounds that the entire case file

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hadn\'t been translated into French,
disrespecting the rights of the defense.

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Their request was rejected after a 4-hour
hearing. According to the chamber,

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the essential contents of the file
had certainly been either translated

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or summarized in English and in French. Jacque
Verges was threatened with disciplinary measures

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if he continued to behave in what the court
considered to be an obstructive attitude.

00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
[non-English narration]

00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:28.000
[sil.]

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For the first time in the
history of international law,

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victims could become plaintiffs in these cases
and claim symbolic and collective damages.

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The tribunal victims unit set up
shop in the center of Phnom Penh

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and was responsible for filing
the complaints. Little by little

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thousands of ordinary citizens
became parties in the proceedings.

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[sil.]

00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:15.000
[sil.]

00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:55.000
[non-English narration]

00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:10.000
[non-English narration]

00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:25.000
[non-English narration]

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While they don\'t deny the suffering the
population endured when they were in power,

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the four former rulers refused to
take any responsibility for it.

00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
Who gave the orders?

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Who was responsible for the
hundreds and thousands of victims?

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If the population was unaware of the names
of its rulers, footage at that time flaunts

00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
images of the suspects at the
forefront of the movement.

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The Khmer Rouge intended to implement a revolution
that they wanted to be even more radical

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than the French, Russian,
and Chinese revolutions.

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From 1975 to 1979, Cambodia
lived in isolation,

00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
cut off from the rest of the world. Rate
delegations from friendly countries

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were invited to make
tightly controlled visits.

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After the fall of their regime, the Khmer Rouge
withdrew to their historic jungle stronghold

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near the Thai border. In 1998, Pol
Pot died there of natural causes.

00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
Hun Sen, the all-powerful prime minister,

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in power since the fall of the Khmer
Rouge, saw that incident as an opportunity

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to reassert his authority through
a national reconciliation.

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Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, leng Sary, and leng Tirith,
were invited to the prime minister\'s home for tea,

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despite the fact that he had requested
the assistance of the United Nations

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to judge the Khmer Rouge dignitaries the
previous year. Hun Sen had strongly supported

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the creation of an international tribunal
independent of political pressures.

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He monitored the investigation very,
very closely. The Khmer Rouge period is

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still a particularly sensitive subject in Cambodia today,
as some of the country\'s current political leaders

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were part of the regime\'s hierarchy
in their youth. Unlike the Duch case

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which used the S-21 archives, there
were few documents from the time

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illustrating the roles each of the suspects
actually played. Among other leads,

00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
the investigating judges team analyzed Khmer
Rouge propaganda. What evidence was there of

00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
where and when those leaders we\'re in the field? What did
they see? What did they know about the hell their country

00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:09.999
was going through when they were in power?
The investigators made it their priority

00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:14.999
to determine whether or not any
links existed between the crimes

00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.999
and the four suspects. About
20 sites were chosen.

00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
Work camps, detention centers, execution sites, mass
graves, and infrastructure built by forced labor.

00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:29.999
The investigation spread
across the entire country.

00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
The situation we have here is

00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
we\'re investigating the deaths of

00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:44.999
1.7 million is the estimate, you
know, through killing, starvation,

00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
disease, etc and at full strength

00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
we have 12 investigators. Well, you could… you
could probably say that everybody in this country

00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:59.999
over the age of, what, 50
is potentially a witness to

00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.999
umm… crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge.

00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:09.999
Well, it\'s impossible for us to…
to interview all of those people.

00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:14.999
So we have to make choices exactly.

00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:19.999
Officers who had held intermediary posts in the
Khmer Rouge system, were the first to be targeted.

00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:24.999
The Judges combed the provinces,
particularly the areas that long remained

00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:29.999
under Khmer Rouge influence. They repeated
the same message wherever they went.

00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:34.999
Only senior leaders and those primarily
responsible for the crimes could be indicted.

00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:39.999
Their subordinates we\'re in
no danger of prosecution.

00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:44.999
They were solicited to become insiders,

00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:49.999
inside witnesses, who would feed the
investigation and who could testify anonymously.

00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:54.999
One of the main difficulties
in the investigators work

00:53:55.000 --> 00:53:59.999
had to do with the geography of the
country. Reaching certain regions

00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:04.999
required long hours on the road.
We are on the road

00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:09.999
and I\'m traveling uh… I\'m traveling
in in Battambang Province.

00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:14.999
From Battambang town, I\'m
going to a location called

00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:19.999
(inaudible), it\'s a village
right on the Thai border.

00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:24.999
Maps were inaccurate

00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:29.999
and information incomplete. No
civil status, no precise addresses

00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:34.999
and towns were spread across dozens of
kilometers. To track down some witnesses,

00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:39.999
all they had was a revolutionary nickname.
We have to go back.

00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:44.999
One part of the investigation

00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:49.999
concerned the deportation of urban
populations to the country.

00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:54.999
Was that operation planned ahead
of time or improvised in chaos?

00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:59.999
In Battambang, the capital of the northwestern
province, investigators found one key witness,

00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:05.000
the former station master who
saw the convoys pass by.

00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:24.999
Uh… okay. This was just a…

00:55:25.000 --> 00:55:29.999
just a stop over. Okay.

00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:34.999
[non-English narration]

00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:39.999
They were like soldiers guarding. They did
not allow people to get out of the train.

00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:44.999
[sil.]

00:55:45.000 --> 00:55:49.999
Did you notice whether
the people in the train

00:55:50.000 --> 00:55:54.999
had drinks, food, could you observe that?

00:55:55.000 --> 00:55:59.999
I never saw they have.

00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:05.000
[sil.]

00:56:10.000 --> 00:56:14.999
Even like babies.

00:56:15.000 --> 00:56:19.999
At the station here, do you know
who was the person who coordinated

00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:24.999
the transit of the trains? From interrogation to
interrogation, the investigators attempted to

00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:29.999
reconstruct how orders were transmitted
within the Khmer Rouge hierarchy.

00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:34.999
The order over there, where the further process
was coordinated by the district level,

00:56:35.000 --> 00:56:39.999
which implies good
planning and coordination

00:56:40.000 --> 00:56:44.999
between different levels,
central and district.

00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:49.999
Obviously we don\'t have the
linkage because we don\'t have

00:56:50.000 --> 00:56:54.999
an insider weakness to prove that.
We have names of people

00:56:55.000 --> 00:56:59.999
who were possibly purged. Actually
for sure some of them had been

00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:04.999
because they mentioned in PB\'s, you know,
the Khmer Rouge cadres have been purged.

00:57:05.000 --> 00:57:09.999
Another important uh… Once important
witnesses had been identified,

00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:14.999
the difficulties had often only just begun.
We have a new one from Paolo last mission,

00:57:15.000 --> 00:57:19.999
his name is (inaudible).
He is deputy chief of

00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:24.999
military police in Battambang currently.
He say, I\'m willing to testify

00:57:25.000 --> 00:57:29.999
but you have like all the others,
you\'ve to go through my ministry.

00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:34.999
Mr. (inaudible) he was the head of the Tram Kok
district during the regime. Yeah, exactly.

00:57:35.000 --> 00:57:39.999
So that, has each didn\'t want to be
interviewed? He wants, he wants but he said

00:57:40.000 --> 00:57:44.999
due to my position as the military
police, you have to ask my superior.

00:57:45.000 --> 00:57:49.999
That\'s the usual response?
Yeah, they all say the same.

00:57:50.000 --> 00:57:54.999
[sil.]

00:57:55.000 --> 00:57:59.999
Criminal law is based on the fundamental
rule of individual responsibility.

00:58:00.000 --> 00:58:04.999
Yet in mass crimes, it\'s often impossible
to establish who gave the orders.

00:58:05.000 --> 00:58:09.999
Confronted with this problem, the International
Court came up with the specific notion,

00:58:10.000 --> 00:58:14.999
The Joint Criminal Enterprise.
To substantiate that approach,

00:58:15.000 --> 00:58:19.999
the judges had one witness at their disposal who knew
the Khmer Rouge hierarchy from the inside, Duch.

00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:25.000
[sil.]

00:59:00.000 --> 00:59:05.000
[sil.]

01:00:20.000 --> 01:00:25.000
[sil.]

01:01:00.000 --> 01:01:08.000
[sil.]

01:01:10.000 --> 01:01:14.999
Had there been genocide in
Cambodia, according to the law,

01:01:15.000 --> 01:01:19.999
the definition of genocide is limited to crimes
committed with the intent of eliminating

01:01:20.000 --> 01:01:24.999
a national, ethnic, or religious group of
people. The question of genocide arose

01:01:25.000 --> 01:01:29.999
in particularly in the region for the east,
where a substantial Muslim community resides,

01:01:30.000 --> 01:01:34.999
the Chum people. The
investigators identified

01:01:35.000 --> 01:01:39.999
a former Khmer Rouge militia chief who still
lived in the village where he had served

01:01:40.000 --> 01:01:44.999
30 years earlier. As the former prisoner of

01:01:45.000 --> 01:01:49.999
(inaudible)

01:01:50.000 --> 01:01:54.999
and from those victims they told me about

01:01:55.000 --> 01:01:59.999
the identity of this guy.

01:02:00.000 --> 01:02:04.999
Are you a Sunni Muslims or Shia Muslims?
Uh, umm… Sunni.

01:02:05.000 --> 01:02:09.999
Are the Chum\'s here, are they viewed by…

01:02:10.000 --> 01:02:14.999
viewed with some suspicion by
Khmer people around or is it…

01:02:15.000 --> 01:02:19.999
No… No problem. Everyone\'s
happy together? Yes. Okay.

01:02:20.000 --> 01:02:24.999
The investigation had to determine if the Chum
people had been suppressed as a religious community

01:02:25.000 --> 01:02:29.999
or if they had been subjected to the same
persecutions as the entire population

01:02:30.000 --> 01:02:38.000
no more or no less.

01:02:50.000 --> 01:02:54.999
And did you have any other names
an alias or a revolutionary name?

01:02:55.000 --> 01:02:59.999
[non-English narration]

01:03:00.000 --> 01:03:04.999
No, no alias.

01:03:05.000 --> 01:03:09.999
And as a village militia,

01:03:10.000 --> 01:03:15.000
what did comrade Sang(ph) tell you your duties
were? What did you actually have to do?

01:03:20.000 --> 01:03:24.999
[non-English narration]

01:03:25.000 --> 01:03:29.999
I didn\'t know what the reason but all
the Chum were arrested at that time.

01:03:30.000 --> 01:03:34.999
[non-English narration]

01:03:35.000 --> 01:03:39.999
So what happened to them after
they had been arrested?

01:03:40.000 --> 01:03:44.999
They took them all into the Pagoda.

01:03:45.000 --> 01:03:49.999
And what next?

01:03:50.000 --> 01:03:54.999
They clubbed them to death
in front of the Pagoda.

01:03:55.000 --> 01:03:59.999
Are you ready? Yes. Okay.

01:04:00.000 --> 01:04:04.999
[sil.]

01:04:05.000 --> 01:04:09.999
We went to the same village
that we were in yesterday

01:04:10.000 --> 01:04:14.999
and the security people would come… come there or even when
they were all working in the rice fields, they would come there

01:04:15.000 --> 01:04:19.999
and they would identify the Chum.
He said… he said that

01:04:20.000 --> 01:04:24.999
they could identify the Chum
because, from their accent.

01:04:25.000 --> 01:04:29.999
You know, normally from the accent,
because normally they don\'t speak Khmer,

01:04:30.000 --> 01:04:38.000
they have their own language.

01:06:15.000 --> 01:06:19.999
Beginning with S-21 then spreading
across all of Cambodia,

01:06:20.000 --> 01:06:24.999
the investigation became international.

01:06:25.000 --> 01:06:29.999
Correspondents from that time between Paris

01:06:30.000 --> 01:06:34.999
and its embassies in the far-east, until
recently classified as top secret,

01:06:35.000 --> 01:06:40.000
revealed that some direct witnesses had already indicated
precise links between the crimes and the suspects.

01:08:05.000 --> 01:08:13.000
[music]

01:08:15.000 --> 01:08:19.999
And the crimes did occur. Certainly,

01:08:20.000 --> 01:08:24.999
uh… your father who was minister of
foreign affairs, was not involved

01:08:25.000 --> 01:08:29.999
uh… in… in any enter…
joint criminal enterprise

01:08:30.000 --> 01:08:34.999
and certainly was not involved in
issuing any orders or participating in

01:08:35.000 --> 01:08:39.999
any criminal activity. What
they have to establish is that…

01:08:40.000 --> 01:08:44.999
that your father\'s

01:08:45.000 --> 01:08:49.999
uh… would have been aware…

01:08:50.000 --> 01:08:54.999
Your father would have been aware, they had
people beneath him that he had control,

01:08:55.000 --> 01:08:59.999
effective control and command
uh… committing crimes.

01:09:00.000 --> 01:09:04.999
And he failed to prevent them or
failed to punish them afterwards,

01:09:05.000 --> 01:09:09.999
that this tribunal,

01:09:10.000 --> 01:09:14.999
uh… which is in a special chamber within
the Cambodian court is like a charade.

01:09:15.000 --> 01:09:19.999
The judges are not really that qualified,
whether they are Cambodian or international,

01:09:20.000 --> 01:09:24.999
their decisions are not that

01:09:25.000 --> 01:09:29.999
uh… legally sound. As the end
of the investigation approach

01:09:30.000 --> 01:09:34.999
(inaudible) were focused on the French
judge. He had called former king Sihanouk

01:09:35.000 --> 01:09:39.999
as a witness. An historic figure in
Cambodia, he had for a time alight himself

01:09:40.000 --> 01:09:44.999
for the Khmer Rouge. The former king declined to
be interviewed. This time the judge intended to

01:09:45.000 --> 01:09:49.999
interview current National Assembly and senate presidents,
as well as two vice prime ministers of the government

01:09:50.000 --> 01:09:54.999
who had held intermediary offices
at the time of the Khmer Rouge

01:09:55.000 --> 01:09:59.999
and who could cast essential
light on the investigation.

01:10:00.000 --> 01:10:05.000
The prime minister himself sent a
warning to the International Court.

01:11:25.000 --> 01:11:33.000
[sil.]

01:11:35.000 --> 01:11:39.999
Despite all the obstacles, the proceedings
took a decisive turn in the spring of 2009.

01:11:40.000 --> 01:11:44.999
Once investigation of the Duch case was
completed, the first trial could open.

01:11:45.000 --> 01:11:49.999
It was a historic moment for the Cambodian
people. All crimes are committed by

01:11:50.000 --> 01:11:54.999
the CPK(ph) and myself.

01:11:55.000 --> 01:11:59.999
As the member of the party I
acknowledge and apologize.

01:12:00.000 --> 01:12:04.999
As the member of the party.
So I would like to

01:12:05.000 --> 01:12:09.999
seek for apologies

01:12:10.000 --> 01:12:14.999
before my people and my nation.

01:12:15.000 --> 01:12:19.999
[sil.]

01:12:20.000 --> 01:12:24.999
Just as he did privately before the
judges during the investigation,

01:12:25.000 --> 01:12:29.999
Duch talked, this time publicly.
He spoke to the entire nation.

01:12:30.000 --> 01:12:38.000
[sil.]

01:12:45.000 --> 01:12:49.999
For the dignitaries, the investigation was winding
up. Based and the results of their investigation,

01:12:50.000 --> 01:12:54.999
the judges actually augmented the
charges against the suspects.

01:12:55.000 --> 01:13:03.000
[sil.]

01:13:45.000 --> 01:13:50.000
[sil.]

01:14:00.000 --> 01:14:05.000
[sil.]

01:14:15.000 --> 01:14:20.000
[non-English narration]

01:15:15.000 --> 01:15:20.000
[sil.]

01:15:50.000 --> 01:15:55.000
[sil.]

01:16:00.000 --> 01:16:08.000
[sil.]

01:16:15.000 --> 01:16:20.000
[sil.]

01:16:30.000 --> 01:16:35.000
[sil.]

01:16:50.000 --> 01:16:54.999
Khieu Samphan and the three other
rulers stuck to their positions.

01:16:55.000 --> 01:16:59.999
They even refuted the
legitimacy of the judges.

01:17:00.000 --> 01:17:04.999
[sil.]

01:17:05.000 --> 01:17:09.999
Before their arrest, they had
told journalists and historians

01:17:10.000 --> 01:17:14.999
that they had only learned of the extent of the
tragedy long after the fall of their regime.

01:17:15.000 --> 01:17:19.999
[sil.]

01:17:20.000 --> 01:17:24.999
On September 16, 2010,

01:17:25.000 --> 01:17:29.999
the judges announced that they had terminated their
investigation. The evidence they had gathered

01:17:30.000 --> 01:17:34.999
over the course of the three-year
investigation made up a case file of

01:17:35.000 --> 01:17:39.999
350,000 pages of documents,
experts reports,

01:17:40.000 --> 01:17:44.999
statements, and testimony.

01:17:45.000 --> 01:17:49.999
The evidence was sufficiently serious

01:17:50.000 --> 01:17:54.999
and corroborating to open what promised
to be the trial of the regime.

01:17:55.000 --> 01:17:59.999
Even 30 years after the events,
international law in Cambodia

01:18:00.000 --> 01:18:04.999
carries on the momentum born in
Nuremberg and continued in Rwanda

01:18:05.000 --> 01:18:09.999
and the former Yugoslavia.
Even if it fails to shed light

01:18:10.000 --> 01:18:14.999
on everything, it reminds
us all that some crimes

01:18:15.000 --> 01:18:20.000
will never be forgotten.