August 8, 2010: Living into the Promise

From Fraser Macnaughton

To many of the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime, which ruled Cambodia in the 1970’s, any prospect of justice and recognition of their suffering must have seen impossible as the decades passed. And yet that hope for justice remained alive and now a generation later a UN-backed special war crimes court known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) handed down its verdict on Kaing Guek Eav.

Better known as Comrade Duch, he stood accused of the murders of 14,000 innocent fellow citizens between 1975 and 1979. Duch was in charge of the Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh where around 17,000 men, women and children were interrogated and tortured. They were then killed and their bodies thrown into mass graves in the infamous killing fields at Choeung Ek, outside the city.

According to French philanthropist Francois Bizot, who was captured by the Khmer Rouge in 1971 and underwent extreme interrogation at Duch’s hands, his tormentor was a difficult man to read, a “truth seeker… looking for the absolutes in life.” Bizot was later released from captivity because Duch thought him innocent and was able to give testimony to the ECCC trial.

When I met Duch, he was not predestined to be a killer,” Bizot said. “He did not know where the revolution would lead him. It’s like young Nazis in the 1930s who put on brown uniforms with swastikas. They didn’t know what the uniform would come to symbolise. I think the only answer is to look inside ourselves, not others. The Nazi, the Khmer Rouge, the Rwandan killer is a man who looks like us.”

Following the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime, Duch went into hiding in the north, along the border with Thailand, adopting a new name and the guise of a teacher. Duch was discovered in 1999 by an investigative journalist and as a result was arrested and imprisoned, awaiting trial. On July 26, 2010 Duch was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Although some find the sentencing too lenient, his conviction offers hope to those who have waited a long time for justice.

Explore… Hebrews 11:1–3, 8–16

  • At the time of the writing of the letter to the Hebrews the fledgling Christian community would be under great strain and fear. In the 1970’s the people of Cambodia lived in great fear of the Khmer Rouge regime. What are some situations in our world today in which people live under great strain and fear of oppression?
  • In what ways can the biblical image of God’s justice be applied with meaning and hope to any situation or event?
  • Are there other aspects of living and life in which you have faith which can be shared through an analogy or comparison with religious faith?

Prayer links…
We are called to shine the light of God’s love and justice in the world. By calling to mind the sufferings of the world and those who forbear great injustice we ignite faith and a hope that spreads across the globe like a rolling stream. Amen

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