Two Khmer Rouge leaders were jailed for life yesterday after being found guilty of crimes against humanity, the first sentences against top figures of a regime responsible for the deaths of around two million Cambodians.
The United States has termed the verdict “a historic, if long delayed, step along the path for Cambodia" and pledged to keep supporting work by the UN-backed tribunal that tried them.
Neither "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, 88, nor former head of state Khieu Samphan, 83, betrayed any hint of emotion as the sentences were handed down by the Cambodian tribunal.
But outside the court on the outskirts of capital Phnom Penh, regime survivors burst into applause with many in tears after a 35-year wait for justice.
Judge Nil Nonn said the defendants, who are the most senior surviving Khmer Rouge leaders, were "guilty of the crimes against humanity of extermination ... political persecution, and other inhumane acts".
Their lawyers swiftly announced their intention to appeal the conviction, but the court earlier ruled the pair would remain in detention until a final judgment due to "the gravity of the crimes".
Prosecutors had sought the maximum life terms for the men, who played key roles in a regime that left around a quarter of the country's population dead during the "Killing Fields" era from 1975-1979.
Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998 without ever facing justice, the Khmer Rouge dismantled modern society in their quest for an agrarian utopia.
Regime atrocities affected virtually every family in Cambodia as Pol Pot's peasant army — infamous for their red chequered scarves and dark clothing - slaughtered perceived enemies of the revolution and emptied towns and cities at gunpoint to work in the fields.
The plan spectacularly backfired, leading to the collapse of the economy and mass starvation.
Nuon Chea, wearing his trademark sunglasses, sat in a wheelchair in the dock as the verdict was read, while Khieu Samphan stood impassive next to him.
Late in their two-year trial both men expressed remorse for the suffering the Khmer Rouge inflicted on Cambodia, but remained staunch in denying knowledge of its crimes at the time.
JUSTICE AT LAST
The ruling is likely to bring a level of relief to those who survived the Khmer Rouge years, which saw Cambodians wiped out by starvation, overwork, torture or execution by ruthless cadres.
"This is the justice that I have been waiting for these last 35 years," said Khieu Pheatarak, one of around 900 Cambodians present at the court to hear the verdict.
Pheatarak was among hundreds of thousands who were forced from
their homes in the capital in 1975 by gun-toting cadres.
"I will never forget the suffering but this is a great relief for me. It is a victory and an historic day for all Cambodians," said the 70-year-old who lost 20 family members, including her husband and five siblings under the regime.
The complex case against Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan was split into a series of smaller trials in 2011 for reasons including their advanced age and the large number of accusations.
Social justice campaigners welcomed the verdict as a clear sign to ordinary Cambodians that all are equal before the law.
It shows "that even people in very high positions of power are subject to the rule of law ... even if it takes a very long time,” said Heather Ryan, a trial monitor at the Open Society Justice Initiative.
Considered one of the regime's chief architects, Nuon Chea "planned, ordered, instigated, aided and abetted" extermination and forced evacuations according to the trial judge.
Khieu Samphan was found guilty of the same with the exception of ordering the crimes.
Last week a second trial of the pair began at the court on charges including genocide of Vietnamese people and ethnic Muslims, forced marriages and rape.
US HAILS VERDICT
US Secretary of State John Kerry said, “Cambodians have received a small measure of justice and a reminder that justice may not be swift, but justice is resolute."
Kerry said that the US would maintain support to the UN-backed special tribunal, which is financed by foreign governments — with Japan by far the largest donor.
"We must now help Cambodia's people see the job through as they usher in a new era of justice, accountability and reconciliation," Kerry said in a statement following the verdict.
Kerry, who served in the Vietnam War, said he was personally committed to supporting accountability over the "Killing Fields" era.
While contributing aid, the United States has been critical on human rights grounds of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for nearly three decades.