The start of a U.N.-backed war crimes trial for the four surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge may finally set the stage for Cambodia to bring real closure to the graphic horrors it suffered during the latter half of the 20th century.
"The trial is highly important in terms of Cambodian culture," says Luke Hunt, a World Politics Review contributor and freelance journalist who has covered Cambodia and greater Asia for the past three decades.
"I've spoken to many Khmers who believe in the total cathartic experience of seeing their tormentors put in the dock and their personalities laid bare along with their actions," Hunt told Trend Lines in an email interview this morning.