#gall bladders

New Post has been published on http://www.therakyatpost.com/world/2015/01/21/khmer-rouge-soldiers-slit-prisoner-throats-ate-organs-court-told/

Khmer Rouge soldiers slit prisoner throats, ate organs, court told

PHNOM PENH, Jan 21, 2015:

A witness told Cambodia’s UN-backed court today that Khmer Rouge soldiers slit prisoners’ throats and ate their gall bladders during the 1970s, as the genocide trial of the two most senior surviving leaders resumed.

Nuon Chea, 88, known as “Brother Number Two”, and former head of state Khieu Samphan, 83, face charges over the killing of ethnic Vietnamese and Muslim minorities, forced marriage and rape during the 1975-1979 regime that left up to two million people dead.

In August, the pair were given life sentences for crimes against humanity — the first top Khmer Rouge figures to be jailed — after a two-year trial focused on the forced evacuation of Cambodians from Phnom Penh into rural labour camps and murders at one execution site.

The genocide trial, which began last July, has faced repeated delays due to boycotts by the defendants’ lawyers and most recently because of the brief hospitalisation of Khieu Samphan.

He attended the hearing today but shortly before court was adjourned received permission to follow proceedings from a holding cell, like Nuon Chea, with both men citing ill health.

The prosecution’s first witness, Meas Sokha, told the court that he saw Khmer Rouge soldiers kill hundreds of inmates at Kraing Ta Chan prison in Takeo province, around 80km south of here, where he was detained along with 11 other family members.

“While I was tending cows and buffaloes, I could see how prisoners were killed. Most of them had their throats slit,” said the 55-year-old.

“Two (Khmer Rouge guards) would hold a prisoner tight and another would slit the throat of the prisoner,” he said, adding that the Khmer Rouge played music through a loudspeaker “to hide the sounds of the killing”.

- Organs dried in sun – 

He told the court that at least 20 prisoners were killed per day after a week of starvation at the prison, where he was held for more than two years from 1976. His father and younger siblings also died at the jail.

The witness added that soldiers killed small children by throwing them against a tree before dropping their bodies into the mass grave at the prison.

He also told the court that Khmer Rouge cadres would eat the gall bladders of executed prisoners after drying them in the sun.

“Whenever there were killings, the guards would drink wine together with gall bladders,” said Meas Sokha.

“I knew these gall bladders were from humans. There were many gall bladders dried in the sun near the fence.”

Scenes of cannibalism committed by Khmer Rouge soldiers have previously been described by other witnesses at the tribunal during the leaders’ first trial, including of cadres eating the livers of murdered inmates.

The complex case against Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan was split into a series of smaller trials in 2011 to try to obtain a faster verdict against the pair given their advanced ages and frail health.

They deny all charges against them and are appealing their life convictions.

Somewhere between 100,000-500,000 ethnic Cham Muslims and 20,000 Vietnamese were believed to have been killed during the regime’s rule.

Led by “Brother Number One” Pol Pot, who died in 1998 without ever facing justice, the Khmer Rouge dismantled modern society in Cambodia in their quest for an agrarian Marxist utopia.

Before the surgery, I had suffered from several gall bladder attacks (extremely painful, by the way) and discovered that my gall bladder was diseased and only functioning at 26% (granted, which is better than some people who have a cholecystectomy). All my symptoms pointed to chronic cholecystitis, rather than acute cholecystitis (which is essentially when you have one awful horrible attack, go to the hospital and they rip it from you then and there). 

I had the choice to live with it, or to take it out. Being a teacher, and since I discovered this information during the summer, I elected to remove my gall bladder while it was still voluntary, and not emergency. That way I didn't have to worry about missing any work. 

The surgeon took my gall bladder out and told me it was extremely scarred and the duct was very small, so he could definitely tell the surgery was not uncalled for.

I was told that once the gall bladder is removed, the body has difficulty processing any kinds of fats, and thusly, in the following days/weeks I might lose a little weight.

It's been 11 days, and I've lost 7 pounds. I'm actually a little frightened at how fast it's been coming off. I realize that I have difficulty processing fat, and that those calories become "wasted", but it's still terrifying.

Before my surgery, I had been eating relatively healthy and I was training for a triathlon, and had lost 13 pounds in the process. I am still eating relatively healthy (but clearly I haven't been able to work out just yet because I haven't been cleared by my surgeon), but I just can't believe how much weight I'm losing. It's terrifying and it isn't really something that I wanted.

Hey you current and former gallbladder sufferers! I run this blog in the hopes that people out there will see that while they may be in a lot of pain, they aren’t alone. Misery really does love company, and it could really use yours!

Share your gallbladder stories here!

Having an attack? Tell us about it! We know just how bad an attack can be.

Have an especially bad trigger food? Tell us about it! You might save someone from getting triggered too!

Scheduled for surgery? Tell us about it! Some of us have been there before. We can help ease your fears!

Had your gallbladder removed? Tell us about it! Help give others an idea of what to expect!