Prominent authors, experts, and professors meet with Khmer Rouge victims Thursday in a public forum to understand Cambodia’s killing fields, that lasted from 1975 to 1979.
While many are familiar with Cambodia’s most traffic past, there are still questions that have been left unanswered after three decades have already passed since the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia.
The two-day Khmer Rouge forum is design to raise awareness and to seek national reconciliation for the millions of victims and survivors.
People participating in the two-day forum include top government officials, European Union (EU), United States and the Canadian embassy.
Professor Philip Short, who attended the discussion, says that former Khmer Rouge leaders were threatened by Vietnam and wanted to compete with Cambodia’s larger neighbor. According to the professor, Pol Pot claimed to have said, “...when the Vietnamese walk, the Cambodians must run.”
The Khmer Rouge Tribunal is expected to last 3 years and will likely cost more than $56 million. The Khmer Rouge tribunal is scheduled for June 2007.