brother #3

tuol sleng: the most infamous of the khmer rouge interrogation centers

 this is building 3, i think - the only that hasn't been updated since 1980, 

when it became the genocide museum

 outside the prison walls

 the ghosts of tuol sleng. inspired by these shots.

the memorial at choeung ek

ieng sary, known as brother # 3 in the khmer rouge circle, died on march 14, taking with him any hopes of justice for his crimes. despite some clever political maneuvering, a small fortune, and a pardon in the late 90s from king norodom sihanouk (himself essentially a prisoner of the khmer rouge), ieng sary had been on trial with the extraordinary chambers in the courts of cambodia for 2 years at the time of his death. he'd been under arrest since 2007.

during the khmer rouge, ieng sary was the foreign affairs minster, and is said to have been responsible for luring hundreds of exiled intellectuals back to cambodia in the 70s, where they were then packed ff to re-education camps or executed.

ieng sary refused to participate in his own trial, claiming innocence in, and ignorance of, the cambodian genocide. of the four top leaders who've actually been put on trial - over 30 years later - only one has been convicted.

it's no wonder the cambodians themselves have little investment in this tribunal. it's no wonder they will tell you justice is an empty word.