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Chapter 12. The Understanding
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12. The Understanding Sambath couldn’t focus. His mind wandered. He couldn’t shake the feeling of melancholy. He kept thinking about him, how he was doing, if he was taking his medicine, whether he was getting enough to eat. Three months had passed since Nuon Chea’s arrest and imprisonment to await trial for crimes against humanity. Sambath held Brother Number Two responsible for what had happened during the Khmer Rouge regime, which killed his father and brother and caused his mother’s death. But he had spent countless hours with Nuon Chea, and they knew each other better than they knew their family members. “It is the first time in my life I have felt this kind of sadness,” Sambath said. “I have talked to him more than I talked to my brothers or sisters. We are very close to each other. Nuon Chea respects me very much because he sees I am neutral and unbiased. I only care about learning the truth. When he went to prison, I felt sad for months and could not work well during this time.” Sambath knew his colleagues would be shocked to learn his sentiments toward the top surviving Khmer Rouge leader. Other Cambodian journalists had told Sambath that if they had the chance to interview Nuon Chea, they would take that opportunity to stab him. The ones who said they would not physically harm him said they at least hoped Nuon Chea would die soon. But Sambath wanted only to know what happened during the Khmer Rouge regime. Why had so many of his fellow Cambodians died? Why had his family been ruined? The questions had haunted him for decades, and Nuon Chea was the only one who had all the answers. It took time for Nuon Chea to trust Sambath enough to give him the answers he sought. In the first year of interviews, Nuon Chea gave predictable responses. He said he did not know anything, that everything was up to Pol Pot, a response offered by other Khmer Rouge leaders. But Nuon Chea began to see that Sambath was being true to his word. The visits were kept secret and nothing was published because Nuon Chea wanted it saved for the book. Sambath napped in Nuon Chea’s home, they ate meals together, and he sometimes stayed overnight as a guest. As they became friends, Nuon Chea began asking Sambath about his thoughts on a Khmer Rouge tribunal. The Understanding 153 “Should I go to the court for the trial?” Nuon Chea asked him. “Yes, you should go because many Cambodians were killed and died during that time,” Sambath replied. “You have to go say everything and tell the truth so people can learn from it.” Nuon Chea was reluctant initially to go to court, convinced he would not get a fair hearing. But Sambath told him several times that people wanted to hear from him what really happened. Finally Nuon Chea agreed, even if it meant facing prison, though he did have other options. Periodically, military officers in other foreign countries, which Nuon Chea would not name, offered him refuge so he could avoid being taken into custody, as Duch and Ta Mok had been. But Nuon Chea always declined. Sambath told him to stay in Cambodia and continue his struggle in court. “If you leave the country and live in hiding, it is bad for you and the Democratic Kampuchea regime,” Sambath told him. “You would be blamed by the people. Whether people see it as bad or good when you talk about the truth, it is better than saying nothing.” Nuon Chea agreed. “I would rather stay in prison than be in hiding,” he told Sambath. “I would not leave my country and escape to somewhere else. This is a battle between me and the court. It is cowardly to stay in hiding. I have to stand up.” In addition to gaining insight into what had happened to his country under the Khmer Rouge regime, Sambath increasingly came to respect Nuon Chea. He admired Brother Number Two for not blaming Pol Pot as the others did. He took responsibility for the mistakes made during his time as a leader. Sambath also saw Nuon Chea as brave enough to talk about the killings, including the purges he had deemed necessary, while others pleaded ignorance or said the past should be left in the past. “He dared to say everything,” Sambath said. “His stance is clear and...