Cambodia observes anniversary of fall of Khmer Rouge

Hun Sen, Chea Sim and Heng Samrin celebrates the anniversary of the 7th January, 1979.

Phnom Penh - Cambodia remembered the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime Monday with a celebration at the headquarters of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP). "Despite passing a period of 29 years, we all still remember the horrors caused during the period of three years, eight months and 20 days by Pol Pot's Democratic Kampuchea regime after it took power on April 17, 1975," CPP and Senate President Chea Sim said in a speech to about 5,000 CPP loyalists.
"They reduced the country's social infrastucture to complete ruin while depriving individuals of rights and freedoms and reducing them to slaves living inhumane lives," he added in a speech to mark the 1979 anniversary when Vietnamese-backed troops retook Phnom Penh.
For the second year in a row, Chea Sim reaffirmed the CPP's commitment to a UN-Cambodia tribunal established to try former Khmer Rouge leaders despite allegations by some groups that the CPP had tried to stall the hearings.
Five former Khmer Rouge leaders are in custody awaiting trial on charges of human rights abuses and war crimes. Hearings are hoped to get under way early this year, but those close to the court have already expressed concerns that the tribunal's 56-million-dollar budget would not be enough.
Many prominent CPP members are former Khmer Rouge who became disillusioned with the movement's ultra-Maoist policies, under which up to 2 million Cambodians perished.
Key CPP cadre, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, defected to Vietnam and returned with Vietnamese backing to oust the Khmer Rouge from power.
Other parties have accused the CPP of hijacking the anniversary, but CPP officials maintained many opposition leaders fled the civil war and were not in Cambodia at the time and so do not understand history accurately.