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Cambodians mark `Anger Day' with calls for Khmer Rouge trials to start

Cambodian students of the Fine Arts School perform during the ``Anger Day'' ceremony at the Choeung Ek killing fields memorial, 15km southwest of Phnom Penh, yesterday. More than 1,000 people gathered for the ceremony to commemorate the 2 million people who died from starvation, overwork or execution during the 1975-1979 rule of the Khmer Rouge. PHOTO: AFP

More than 1,000 Cambodians gathered at the Khmer Rouge's notorious Choeung Ek killing fields yesterday and called for the swift trial of the regime's surviving leaders.

Buddhist monks chanted prayers for victims of the brutal regime, as somber crowds gathered at the execution site to mark "Memorial Day," when the kingdom remembers those killed.

"I want the tribunal to start as soon as possible -- I want to get justice before I die," said 76-year-old Koun Thol, who lost four children under the Khmer Rouge.

The start of a joint UN-Cambodian tribunal has been pushed back to early next year after years of delays and wrangling.

But many Cambodians fear it will not be soon enough, and are concerned that ageing Khmer Rouge leaders will die before being brought to justice.

"I am so angry -- will I never forget this brutal regime?" said 68-year-old Thong Thon, who lost 14 relatives during the regime.

"The delay should be ended and the trial should begin as soon as possible," Thong said.

Cambodian judges and international jurists will meet from May 31 to June 13 in the hope of resolving a long-running dispute over rules that has delayed the start of genocide trials.

Up to 2 million people died of overwork and starvation or were executed under the 1975-1979 rule of the Khmer Rouge, which abolished religion, property rights, currency and schools.

Only one possible defendant is currently in custody, while several live freely in Cambodia.

The only other person to have been arrested for crimes committed under the regime, military commander Ta Mok, died in prison last July. Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998.

The first trials had initially been expected this year after nearly a decade of negotiations and setbacks.

"We call for a tribunal to start on time because we have been waiting so long," Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuk Tema told reporters at Choeung Ek.

Choeung Ek, 15km from Phnom Penh, was the main execution site for prisoners of the regime's Tuol Sleng prison where 16,000 men, women and children were tortured before being killed.
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