Vancouver lawyer who sued Khmer Rouge leaders welcomes genocide verdict

OTTAWA – A Vancouver lawyer who helped prosecute two of the highest surviving Khmer Rouge leaders is breathing a little easier after a court this week ruled the two Cambodian men guilty of genocide and other crimes. crimes.

Dale Lysak said he's been waiting for more than a year for the UN-Cambodian joint court ruling against Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, and that the verdict guarantees responsibility for one of the worst atrocities in the world. recent history.

"I am very satisfied," said Lysak in an interview. "I was waiting more than a year to get the judgment of this lawsuit and it feels good."

It is estimated that two million Cambodians were killed during a bloody four-year period after the communist-inspired movement known as the Khmer Rouge took control of the poor southeastern country. Asian in 1975.

Lysak was one of many prosecutors during court hearings that lasted nearly ten years. He told Canadian Press that he felt the weight of responsibility for all those affected by the murderous regime during his eight years in the service of the court.

Among other things, he acted when he led the cross-examination of the prosecution on Nuon Chea, assisted by Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, who died in 1998. Survivors recalled each day when the survivors were sitting in the audience room to listen to the trial.

"What has done a lot of work for a very long time, is to understand that it was a unique chance to get justice for one of the worst incidents of atrocities. mass of modern history, "Lysak said in an interview.

The court has been criticized for its cost and duration, estimated at $ 300 million. As a result, only three Khmer Rouge leaders have been convicted, but Lysak believes the alternative is unimaginable.

"The alternative is that we accept that no one will face justice or a courtroom for some of the worst atrocities of all time," he said. "And I do not see that as an acceptable argument."

Lysak's participation in the court was almost an accident. After practicing commercial law in San Francisco for several years, he traveled and traveled to Cambodia in 2008, just as the court was starting.

At the time, Justice Canada lawyer Robert Petit was the main international prosecutor of the court. When Lysak asked his Canadian compatriot where he could volunteer for a few months, Petit jumped on this offer.

While Petit would eventually resign in 2009, citing family reasons as well as frustration over the court, which had long suffered allegations of political interference from the Cambodian government, Lysak suspended his debates over the year. last.

And then, after he returned to Canada, he and everyone else waited until this week to hear the court's verdict.

92-year-old Nuon Chea and 87-year-old Khieu Sampath were found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2014 for the forced displacement of millions of people and mass disappearances committed at the beginning of the brutal reign of the Khmer Rouge. recent verdict on murders, torture and other atrocities in the years that followed. The finding of genocide is, however, particularly remarkable, as experts have been discussing for decades whether such a crime has been committed.

The court judges ruled that a genocide had occurred because the Khmer Rouge had targeted Cambodians of Vietnamese descent as well as the country's Muslim population.

Some wondered whether the court was worth it, given the high cost of money and time to convict a small number of Khmer Rouge leaders; apart from Nuon Chea and Khieu Sampath, only one other person was tried and sentenced.

In 2010, the court sentenced Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, head of the Khmer Rouge prison system, to run the infamous Tuol Sleng torture center in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.

Others have said that the court, which will probably spawn more former leaders, should have been able to do more.

While acknowledging these criticisms, Mr. Lysak said that international criminal cases will always be expensive because of their nature, while the Khmer Rouge tribunal is necessarily complicated by the passage of time.

The court's mandate was also limited to prosecuting the most senior leaders, while Lysak and his colleagues had to prove that the regime's leaders were responsible for the actions of their subordinates.

"These international tribunals are expensive by nature, so there will always be this kind of criticism," he said.

"But I think when we talk about murders of this magnitude, look at the amount of money spent on each person who died, and that is $ 100 per victim." Does that sound like a lot of money for you? to ask for justice? No, of course not. "

With the verdicts against Nuon Chea and Khieu Sampath, many Cambodians could finally be able to find a way to close the darkest chapter of their country's history.

Yet, Cambodia still faces new tensions and conflicts, nearly 30 years after the arrival of Canada and other members of the international community as part of the UN peacekeeping mission aimed at to put the country on the path of democracy and peace.

The current government, led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, has almost abandoned the traps of democracy and targeted opposition parties, labor groups, human rights defenders and the media for the purpose. to eliminate dissent.

Lysak, who met his future wife while he was working in Cambodia, said it was "disheartening" to see what was happening in the country, while hoping that the court would inspire the next generation of immigrants. Lawyers and other people of the country.