Horror case a life-changer for young [New Zealand] lawyer

Young Nelson lawyer a "different person"

JAMES GREENLAND Last updated 05:00 09/11/2013

JAMES GREENLAND/Fairfax NZ

EYES OPENED: Nelson woman Flossie Van Dyke has returned from a six-month legal internship with the Khmer Rouge Tribunal prosecutors in Cambodia.

Florence Van Dyke has returned home a changed person.

She said the way she looks at humanity has changed and that she's gained "new perspective" on what can be achieved with a law degree, after volunteering for six months in the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia where two key leaders of Pol Pot's communist regime have been on trial.

"I think I am a different person", Ms Van Dyke said.

"It's made me realise the importance of protecting the basic human rights of every global citizen.

Working with the prosecution, Ms Van Dyke's goal was to help convict two senior Khmer Rouge leaders; "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea; and Khieu Samphan, Head of State.

Both are alleged to be at least partly responsible for a series of heinous crimes against humanity committed during Cambodia's failed agrarian revolution (1975-79) Their charges include genocide (it is estimated more than two million Cambodians died during the Khmer Rouge's rule, from executions, disease, exhaustion and starvation), as well as murder, enslavement, imprisonment, torture and deportation.

"It makes me feel so lucky to have grown up in New Zealand."

Ms Van Dyke, who graduated from Nelson College for Girls in 2007 and from law school at the University of Otago in 2012, said she had always wanted "a break" from study before she started her career. Read the full article at The Stuff.