சிவப்பு கம்போடியா என்ற பெயரில் கெமர் ரூஜ் புரட்சி செய்த கம்யூனிஸ்டுகள் கொன்ற கம்போடிய மக்களின் எண்ணிக்கை 1.7 மில்லியன்.
இவ்வளவு கொலைகளை செய்த கம்போடிய கம்யூனிஸ்டுகள் தண்டனைக்கு தப்பி காட்டுக்குள் ஓடிவிட்டார்கள். அதில் பலர் இறந்து போனார்கள்.
ஆனாலும் இங்கு குற்றங்களை விசாரிக்க அமைக்கப்பட்ட ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் விசாரணை கமிஷன் முதலாவது குற்றவாளியாக ஒரு கம்யூனிஸ ஜெயில் அதிகாரியை குற்றம் சாட்டியிருக்கிறது
கம்யூனிஸ்டுகள் எப்படி சித்ரவதைகள் செய்தார்கள் என்பதை கம்போடியர்கள் ஆவணப்படுத்தியிருக்கிறார்கள்.
புரட்சிகளின் விளைவை காண இதனை பாருங்கள்
First Khmer Rouge leader charged
Duch is the first of five suspects to be investigated
An ex-Khmer Rouge prison chief has been charged with crimes against humanity by a UN-backed tribunal in Cambodia.
Kang Kek Ieu, also known as Duch, was in charge of the notorious S21 jail in the country's capital, Phnom Penh.
Duch is the first of five suspects whom prosecutors have asked the tribunal to investigate over their role in the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.
More than a million people are thought to have died during the four years of Khmer Rouge rule between 1975-79.
Judges spent several hours interviewing Duch on Tuesday before formally filing charges against him.
"The co-investigating judges of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia have charged Kang Kek Ieu, alias Duch, for crimes against humanity and have placed him in provisional detention," tribunal judges said in a statement.
Key figures in the Khmer Rouge
Duch was not among the top level of Khmer Rouge leaders but he has become one of its most notorious members, according to the BBC's Guy De Launey in Phnom Penh.
He ran S21, a notorious jail where about 1,400 men, women and children were kept, and many of them brutally tortured.
A museum at the site illustrates in graphic detail what happened to the inmates, many of whom were executed at the so-called Killing Fields outside Phnom Penh.
Duch was also the Khmer Rouge cadre who took charge of French anthropologist Francois Bizot, who recorded his 90 days captivity in a best-selling book, The Gate.
Long process
The UN-backed tribunal has taken years to get off the ground.
But by charging Duch, the judges are sending out a clear message that the special courts are now operational and moving more quickly than many people expected, our correspondent says.
Survivors have welcomed the charges, but they have also expressed doubts about whether other, more senior Khmer Rouge leaders will ever be brought to justice.
Duch had been in military custody for eight years and it was a simple matter to transfer him to the special courts. But other Khmer Rouge figures have been living freely in Cambodia - and may prove more difficult to track down.
Among those thought to be on the tribunal's list of suspects are "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, former president Khieu Samphan and Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary.
But the two most senior Khmer Rouge leaders will never be brought to trial.
"Brother Number One" Pol Pot, the founder and leader of the regime, died in a camp along the border with Thailand in 1998, and Ta Mok, the regime's military commander and one of Pol Pot's most ruthless henchmen, died last year.
Key figures in the Khmer Rouge
Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea live next door to each other
A United Nations-backed genocide tribunal has been set up in Cambodia, to seek justice for the Khmer Rouge's hundreds of thousands of victims.
It could see surviving leaders of the brutal regime brought to the dock, but the man most wanted for crimes against humanity in Cambodia will never be brought to justice.
Pol Pot, the founder and leader of the Khmer Rouge, died in a camp along the border with Thailand in 1998.
Other key figures have also died. Ta Mok - the regime's military commander and one of Pol Pot's most ruthless henchmen - died in July 2006.
As time goes on, some people are beginning to question whether it is too late to achieve a proper sense of justice for the Cambodian people.
But there are several surviving figures who have been implicated in the genocide that took place during the Khmer Rouge's four-year regime.
Judges at the tribunal started questioning their first suspect - Kang Kek Ieu, more commonly known as Duch - on 31 July, to decide whether he should stand trial.
Duch was the boss of Phnom Penh's notorious Tuol Sleng prison, where thousands of people were killed during the Khmer Rouge regime.
Now aged 65, he is the youngest surviving member of the movement's leadership.
Duch, who has since become a born-again Christian, has been in custody since 1999. He is said to be eager for his chance to go to trial to tell his version of events.
Escaping justice
Other senior Khmer Rouge leaders are still at liberty.
Two of the top names, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, live in Pailin, once the movement's jungle headquarters.
Pol Pot's regime is thought to have led to the deaths of 1.7m people
Both men deny being involved in the atrocities that went on during the Khmer Rouge regime, but critics suggest that at the very least they were fully informed of what was happening.
Nuon Chea was Pol Pot's second in command, and often referred to as "brother number two".
He defected from the Khmer Rouge in 1998 and was granted a pardon by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
In December 2002 he was called to testify on behalf of the former Khmer Rouge general Sam Bith, who was sentenced to life in prison for ordering the kidnap and murder of three Western backpackers in 1994.
Khieu Samphan, as the official head of state, was the public face of the Khmer Rouge.
After defecting at the same time as Nuon Chea, the 73-year-old is now said to spend most of his time reading, listening to music or gardening in his Pailin home.
Another former leader, Ieng Sary, may yet escape trial.
Known as "Brother Number Three", Ieng Sary is Pol Pot's brother-in-law and served as minister of foreign affairs during the Khmer Rouge regime.
He became the first senior leader to defect in 1996 - and as a result was granted a royal pardon.
The United Nations says such a pardon cannot protect someone from prosecution, but Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has previously warned that going after Ieng Sary could re-ignite civil unrest in Cambodia.
Ieng Sary now lives in a luxury villa in Phnom Penh, as well as maintaining a home in Pailin.
The 76-year-old is said to be ill with a heart condition, and travels to Bangkok regularly for treatment.
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