Ieng Thirith

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Ieng Thirith (2011)

Ieng Thirith (born March 10, 1932 in Battambang Province , Cambodia , as Khieu Thirith ; † August 22, 2015 in Pailin , Cambodia), khm. អៀង ធី រិ ទ្ធ, was Deputy Minister for Education and Youth from 1970 to 1976 and then Minister of Social Affairs of the Democratic Kampuchea of the Khmer Rouge until 1979 , but was neither a permanent member of the Committee nor a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea .

From 1951 until his death in 2013 she was married to Ieng Sary , who was foreign minister during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. She was the younger sister of Khieu Ponnary , Pol Pot's first wife .

She was arrested on November 12, 2007 along with her husband Ieng Sary and charged and arrested by the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on suspicion of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, but for incapacity to stand trial for her Alzheimer's disease. Disease released.

Life

Khieu Thirith was born in the northwestern Cambodian province of Battambang into a relatively wealthy and privileged family. She was the second daughter of a Cambodian judge who left the family with a Cambodian princess during World War II and moved with her to Battambang .

Khieu Thirith graduated from the Lycée Sisowath in Phnom Penh and got engaged to Ieng Sary in 1949, who attended the same Lycée a year earlier . She went to Paris with him and her older sister Khieu Ponnary (1920–2003), where she studied English literature with Shakespeare as a major at the University of Paris . She was the first Cambodian woman to graduate in English literature. Khieu Thirith married Ieng Sary in the summer of 1951 in the town hall of the 15th arrondissement of Paris and took her husband's name. Her sister Khieu Ponnary later became Pol Pot's first wife (until 1985). Together, the two sisters and their husbands later came to be known as "Cambodia's Gang of Four," an allusion to the radical group of Jiang Qing , Mao Tse-tung's widow .

In 1956 she participated in the establishment of the Union of Khmer Students. In 1957 she returned to Cambodia and worked as a teacher at Sisowath High School before founding the Khmer English Higher Institute Boung Trabek in 1960 and becoming its director. In 1965 she went into hiding and joined her husband, her brother-in-law Pol Pot and Son Sen in the northeast of the country, where she became responsible for the health service. After Lon Nol's coup on March 18, 1970 against Norodom Sihanouk , she became Deputy Minister for Education and Youth of the government in exile founded by Sihanouk. She was also responsible for the radio of the Front d'Union Nationale du Kampuchéa in Hanoi .

In 1971 she was one of the signatories of the “Appeal of 91 intellectuals”, which declared the Vietnamese communists to be Cambodia's most dangerous enemies. After the takeover of the Khmer Rouge on April 17, 1975, Ieng Thirith became head of the Red Cross of the Democratic Kampuchea , as the new name of the state was. She was thus responsible for the administration of hospitals and the distribution of medicines across the country. As Ieng Sary's wife, she also attended receptions for foreign delegations. On October 9, 1975, she became Minister of Social Affairs. Her successor as Deputy Minister of Education and Youth was Yun Yat , wife of Son Sen .

During a visit to the North-Eastern Zone, she was shocked by the living conditions of the residents and blamed agents who had infiltrated the party. Upon their return to Phnom Penh, purges were carried out in the zone, which even hit Ros Nhim, the zone's secretary. The hunt for this alleged fifth column then spread across the country.

After the fall of the regime in 1979, she held her post until at least May 1982. In September 1982 she became Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry of the Khmer Rouge Movement, which had been pushed back into the jungle on the Thai border but remained Cambodia's only representative to the United Nations . Ieng Thirit held this title until August 1985.

In the 1980s she was the official interlocutor of the NGOs and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which were responsible for the humanitarian aid of the Khmer resistance along the Thai-Cambodian border after the invasion of Cambodia by Vietnam. In 1985 she became Vice President of the Women's Association and in 1986 President of the Red Cross of the Democratic Kampuchea in Exile, a self-proclaimed society not recognized by the International Movement of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent.

Ieng Thirith lived with her husband Ieng Sary alternately in Pailin near the Thai border and in a luxurious villa on 21 Street in southern Phnom Penh. Until her arrest, she was rarely seen in public.

Ieng Thirith died at the age of 83 of complications from her Alzheimer's disease .

Legal proceedings

Ieng Thirith on trial in 2011

In 2006, after the ECCC made progress in preparing the tribunal and selecting judges, Ieng Thirith and her husband received a foreign lawyer to assist in their defense. She has been charged by the ECCC on suspicion of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity: "planning, directing, coordinating and ordering widespread purges [...] and the unlawful killing or murder of employees of the Ministry of Social Affairs".

On November 12, 2007, despite a pardon previously given by the king, she was arrested with the sick Ieng Sary at their home in Phnom Penh. On November 17, 2011, she was declared demented and unable to stand trial because of her severe Alzheimer's disease , which prosecutors appealed. On December 13, 2011, the appeals court overturned her release and ordered new medical examinations to determine her ability to stand trial. On September 12, 2012, her incapacity was confirmed and she was released from prison. In the "foreseeable future" the accused will no longer be able to follow the trial. The charges were not dropped.

Web links

Commons : Ieng Thirith  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nash Jenkins: Ieng Thirith, 'First Lady' of the Khmer Rouge, Dies at 83. In: Time . August 24, 2015.
  2. ↑ a b c Ker Munthit: Ieng Thirith: A pioneer among female leaders of the Khmer Rouge ( Memento of November 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). In: MSNBC . November 12, 2007.
  3. ^ A b David P. Chandler : A History of Cambodia. Westview Press, Allen & Unwin, Boulder, Sydney 1992, ISBN 1-57856-696-7 , p. 32.
  4. ^ Ieng Thirith: 'First Lady' of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge dies while facing charges of genocide, crimes against humanity. In: ABC News . 22nd August 2015.
  5. ↑ Kevin Doyle, Phann Ana: Old Age Finds Ieng Sary Fully Divested of his Once Revolutionary Disdain of Wealth. In: Cambodia Daily . October 5, 2002.
  6. ↑ Kevin Doyle, Van Roeun: Elite's Children Find Love in a Hot Political Climate. In: Cambodia Daily Weekend Edition Saturday. 17./18. January 2004.
  7. ↑ a b Marcel Lemonde, Jean Reynaud: Un juge face aux khmers rouges. Seuil, Paris 2013, ISBN 978-2-02-105574-0 , p. 79.
  8. ^ Henri Locard: Pourquoi les Khmers rouges. L'Angkar (= Révolutions ). Vendémiaire, Paris 2013, ISBN 978-2-36358-052-8 , p. 115.
  9. ↑ a b Michael Sheridan: Pol Pot's in-laws face trial. In: The Times. February 19, 2006.
  10. ↑ The "First Lady" of the Khmer Rouge is dead. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 22nd August 2015.
  11. ^ Ex-official of Khmer Rouge and wife arrested for crimes against humanity. In: New York Times . November 12, 2007.
  12. ^ Ieng Thirith ( Memento from February 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: ECCC website.
  13. ↑ Marco Kauffmann: Pol Pot's confidante has died. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . 15 March 2013.
  14. ^ Ian MacKinnon: Leading Khmer Rouge figures arrested. In: The Guardian . November 12, 2007.
  15. ↑ ECCC detains Ieng Sary, wife for questioning ( Memento of March 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). In: Xinhua . November 12, 2007.
  16. ↑ Ieng Thirith declared demented. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. August 30, 2011.
  17. ↑ Kong Sothanarith: Tribunal Finds Ieng Thirith Unfit for Upcoming Trial. In: Voice of America . November 17, 2011.
  18. ↑ 'Unfit' Khmer Rouge defendant to stay detained until new exam determines mental fitness for trial. In: Associated Press . December 13, 2011.
  19. ↑ Khmer Rouge Process: Former "First Lady" goes free. In: ORF News . September 13, 2012.
personal data
SURNAME Ieng, Thirith
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Khieu, Thirith (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cambodian minister during the Khmer Rouge
DATE OF BIRTH March 10, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Battambang Province
DATE OF DEATH 22nd August 2015
Place of death Pailin