December 21 2009
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Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court Monday charged the Khmer Rouge former social affairs minister with genocide over the regime's slaughter of Vietnamese people and ethnic Cham Muslims.
Ieng Thirith (pictured)- widely regarded as the most powerful woman in the brutal regime that murdered up to two million Cambodians in the late 1970s - has already been charged with crimes against humanity.
"Today Ieng Thirith has been brought before the court and co-investigating judges informed her that the charges against her have been extended to include genocide, war crimes and national crimes," said court spokesman Reach Sambath.
The national crimes include murder, torture and religious persecution. The tribunal issued genocide charges for the first time earlier this month against two leaders of the brutal regime - former Khmer Rouge number two Nuon Chea and foreign minister Ieng Sary, who is Ieng Thirith's husband.
The regime's former head of state Khieu Samphan was subsequently charged on the same count last week.
In November the court announced it was investigating incursions into Vietnam as well as executions of Cambodia's Cham Muslim minority, mainly in central provinces, committed by the 1975-1979 regime.
Estimates for the number of Chams who died under the Khmer Rouge range from 100 000 to 400 000, but it is not known how many Vietnamese were killed, according to Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia.
Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia, killing through starvation, overwork, torture and execution.
But as the perpetrators of that mass killing were also Cambodian, it cannot be classed as genocide.
Genocide is defined by the United Nations as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group".
Final arguments were heard last month in the trial of prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, known by the alias Duch, who was charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and premeditated murder in the court's first trial.
Ieng Thirith, 77, is in detention at the court awaiting trial along with Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary. - AFP
mobile at m.iol.co.za
Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court Monday charged the Khmer Rouge former social affairs minister with genocide over the regime's slaughter of Vietnamese people and ethnic Cham Muslims.
Ieng Thirith (pictured)- widely regarded as the most powerful woman in the brutal regime that murdered up to two million Cambodians in the late 1970s - has already been charged with crimes against humanity.
"Today Ieng Thirith has been brought before the court and co-investigating judges informed her that the charges against her have been extended to include genocide, war crimes and national crimes," said court spokesman Reach Sambath.
The national crimes include murder, torture and religious persecution. The tribunal issued genocide charges for the first time earlier this month against two leaders of the brutal regime - former Khmer Rouge number two Nuon Chea and foreign minister Ieng Sary, who is Ieng Thirith's husband.
The regime's former head of state Khieu Samphan was subsequently charged on the same count last week.
In November the court announced it was investigating incursions into Vietnam as well as executions of Cambodia's Cham Muslim minority, mainly in central provinces, committed by the 1975-1979 regime.
Estimates for the number of Chams who died under the Khmer Rouge range from 100 000 to 400 000, but it is not known how many Vietnamese were killed, according to Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia.
Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia, killing through starvation, overwork, torture and execution.
But as the perpetrators of that mass killing were also Cambodian, it cannot be classed as genocide.
Genocide is defined by the United Nations as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group".
Final arguments were heard last month in the trial of prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, known by the alias Duch, who was charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and premeditated murder in the court's first trial.
Ieng Thirith, 77, is in detention at the court awaiting trial along with Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary. - AFP
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