After years of planning, and amid endless (and under addressed) allegations of corruption, political pandering and the like, the Khmer Rouge genocide trials begin in earnest today. The first of five* defendants is Duch, chief torturer at Tuol Sleng. I’m not going to write much about it now because I’m not a fraction as informed as this guy or this or these. But I am planning to attend the trials tomorrow, and I’ll let you know what it’s like. I can’t quite get a hang on the mood writ large. The trials aren’t the omnipresent thing you might expect - they’re not all that anyone’s talking about and they’re not clouding everyone’s thoughts. But the relationship most Cambodians have to that past is far more matter-of-fact than angry, and, from what I’ve heard, kids are shockingly wholly ignorant of what happened. It’s obviously complex and I wouldn’t venture to unwrap it after such a short time here, but maybe tomorrow will illuminate at least a corner or two.
*unless the EEEC caves into mounting pressure
