Blog entries tagged General

Armenia and the ongoing genocide debate

Elena Lesley — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:47:43 +0100

Those interested in the ongoing debate surrounding the Armenian Genocide (as well as its implications for modern relations between Armenia and Turkey) would benefit from an event being held at Rutgers Thursday evening. The Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights will launch its Armenian Genocide Project with a lecture from John Evans, former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia.

Armenia has been back in international headlines recently with the recommendation from the U.S. House Foreig...

New Granta piece on the tribunal

Elena Lesley — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:10:50 +0100

My second piece for Granta.com about the tribunal was recently posted online. You can read it here. It discusses the scope of culpability for Khmer Rouge atrocities and includes an interview I conducted with former S-21 guard Him Huy (pictured at left) before I left Cambodia.

The recent lecture at Rutgers was a great experience and the students had a number of interesting...

Upcoming Rutgers lecture

Elena Lesley — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:25:04 +0100

For those of you in the New Jersey area, I will be giving a lecture at Rutgers University, Newark on Thursday about the Khmer Rouge tribunal. The event is part of a speaker series hosted by the university's Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. You can find information about the talk here.

I believe most of the students who will be attending are enrolled in a seminar that examines the role of perpetrators in genocidal violence. Part of their course involves studying Comrad...

A forum for healing in Portland, Ore.

Elena Lesley — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:22:58 +0100

I have been on the road for awhile, so this post is late in coming, but I wanted to make note of a wonderful event that was held last month in Portland, Ore.: a "Collective Sharing and Healing Forum" sponsored by the Cambodian-American Community of Oregon. It is the second event of its kind in Portland and happened to coincide with a trip to my hometown.

I have to admit, before I...

Blog changes

Elena Lesley — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:40:00 +0100

After nearly a year and a half in Cambodia, the time has come for me to return to the U.S. While I certainly plan to come back to Cambodia in the future, it most likely won't be before the trial of Comrade Duch has wrapped up. Luckily, a talented journalist at the Post has offered to help me maintain the blog.

Robbie Corey-Boulet received an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University and wrote for publications in India and Seattle before coming to the Phnom Penh Post. A strange coinci...

Technical difficulties

Elena Lesley — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:00:00 +0100

I'm having some trouble with the paper's website right now, but as soon as the problem is resolved, I will post about Thursday's proceedings. Scholar Craig Etcheson was finally allowed to resume his testimony in the afternoon.

In the meantime, check out this piece in the Post about the court's latest warning to controversial defense lawyer Jacques Verges.

A few more of history's "Monsters"

Elena Lesley — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:00:00 +0100

A great article appeared recently in the LA Times about the capture and trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, who I have mentioned several times in relation to "Comrade Duch." Read it here.

A commenter suggested a few days ago that Duch might also have some traits in common with Franz Stangl, commandant of the Treblinka extermination camp. I do not know much about him, but will definitely read Gitta Sereny's Into that Darkness, in which she probes Stangl's influences an...

KRT in brief

Elena Lesley — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:47:00 +0100

* Judges at the tribunal's Pre-Trial Chamber have decided that Khieu Samphan's request for release from provisional detention is inadmissible.

* Sources close to the court have said six more potential defendants have been identified at the tribunal. But some court observers worry government interference may prevent the additional prosecutions from moving forward.

* Tribunal officials have finally finished drafting detention rules at the ECCC. è½è½

Electoral digression

Elena Lesley — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The court has received the amicus briefs on Joint Criminal Enterprise judges had requested, but I haven't had a chance to read all of them because I was working on this piece about the upcoming U.S. election. However, I will finish going through them soon and post my thoughts.

Dispatch from Anlong Veng

Elena Lesley — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:00:00 +0100

A piece I wrote about the tribunal and my trip to Anlong Veng was just published on Granta.com.

Art of Survival

Elena Lesley — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:00:00 +0100

There are some incredibly striking works on display as part of Meta House's "Art of Survival" exhibition. I can hardly believe that I've been to the gallery several times for screenings recently and haven't stopped to look at the works on display. An article in the current issue of Newsweek examines the ong...

Kampuchea: Death and Rebirth

Elena Lesley — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:00:00 +0100

The first film shot in Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge were driven from power is showing this evening at Meta House in Phnom Penh. "Kampuchea: Death and Rebirth" was created by East German filmmakers Walter Heynowski and Gerard Scheumann and includes vintage interviews with Ieng Thirith.

I've always wanted to see this film and will report back any items of interest. For those who want to see the film for themselves, the screening starts at 7pm.

...

Court rocked by new corruption allegations

Elena Lesley — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:00:00 +0100

UN officials in New York are reviewing new allegations of corruption made by Cambodian staff at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, according to Knut Rosandhaug, the court's deputy director of administration. The nature of the allegations has not been made public.

The Office of Internal Oversight Services is responsible for reviewing the allegations, which were brought forward after court Director of Administration Sean Visoth penned a memo to all staff June 25. At that time, Visoth wrote th...

Terrorists as war criminals

Elena Lesley — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 12:00:00 +0100

The New York Times ran an opinion piece this weekend about the military tribunals underway at Guantanamo Bay. It raises some interesting points about the prospect of trying terrorists as war criminals and the contested legitimacy of the trials themselves.

The author also notes that, seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the trials...

Election aftermath

Elena Lesley — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:00:00 +0100

I took a break from writing about the KRT to put together some thoughts about the recent election. My piece is available on the Huffington Post website.

* Pictured: Members of Kem Sokha's Human Rights Party before Sunday's election. As I mention in my Huffpo Piece, I followed the recently-formed ...

Charges against Sudanese president a milestone for International Criminal Court

Elena Lesley — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:00:00 +0100

The prosecutor at the ICC has requested an arrest warrant for Omar Hassan al-Bashir, accusing the Sudanese president of genocide and crimes against humanity. If the warrant is granted, this will be the first time the ICC has brought charges against an active head of state.

I'll be very interested to see how this unfolds. Unlike the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, which is investigating crimes decades after they occurred, these charges come amid ongoing conflict and human rights abuses. Will ...

Rainsy says he has proof official guilty of KR-era crimes

Elena Lesley — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:00:00 +0100

According to an article in the most recent edition of the Post, Sam Rainsy has given evidence to the courts he claims implicates Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in Khmer Rouge atrocities. This is the latest development in a legal battle launched by Namhong after Rainsy publicly alleged that the official oversaw activities at Boeung Trabek prison.

Whatever happens with this particular dispute, its existence is illustrative of a larger truth about the tribunal: The court will never come clos...

New "Reflections" at Tuol Sleng

Elena Lesley — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:00:00 +0100

From vintage Khmer Rouge magazine covers to descriptions of medical care under Democratic Kampuchea, the new exhibit at Tuol Sleng provides an excellent overview of Pol Pot's regime and daily life from 1975-79.

I finally had a chance to see Reflections: Democratic Kampuchea and Beyond this week. Although, like most who live in Phno...

Reflections on Democratic Kampuchea

Elena Lesley — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:01:00 +0100

It is widely accepted that education about the Khmer Rouge regime is sorely lacking in Cambodia. Though progress is being made to rectify this situation in the nation's schools, such efforts are in their early stages.

In the meantime, a new exhibit at Tuol Sleng aims to provide a "pseudo-visual textbook" for the Cambodian popu...

What do you think?

Elena Lesley — Wed, 21 May 2008 12:00:00 +0100

Let me know! Comments have been enabled and I'd love to hear your views, reactions and ideas. Just try to keep it civil. I won't approve comments that fall outside the boundaries of reasonable discourse.