With so much going in Cambodia these days, and seeing as how it is my kids' birth country ... and because of the suspension on Cambodian adoptions that's been going on for almost five years there's very little info about the country here on Adoption.Com ... I feel an obligation to write about it, to pass on news, and to keep a dialog going that has Cambodia at least mentioned occasionally.

The topic may not be top of the pops for many ... it certainly isn't as hot a subject in adoption circles as Guatemala or China (or sleep and circumcision, for that matter) ... but I know of readers out there who hold Cambodia and its people near and dear, and who want to keep up on events, trends, and so on.

This is the only explanation I'll be posting for so many entries about Cambodia on a blog that's listed simply as "International Adoption". Keeping the blog interesting, helpful and entertaining is my job, but the Khmer people and their country is my passion, so you'll all have to bear with me.

Now ... that's out of the way and I can get to some news ...

In terms of the upcoming trial of Khmer Rouge villains I've been writing about, predictions about evasion of justice are coming true.

Not only are the defendants slinking off, the witnesses are also going underground.

Several Cambodians expected to be key witnesses in the Khmer Rouge tribunal have gone into hiding amid fears of inadequate protection and confusion over the prosecution's scope.

... two former prison guards have left their homes, while three others are reluctant to discuss their role at Tuol Sleng, the Khmer Rouge's main torture centre. With the tribunal now under way to prosecute senior Khmer Rouge leaders ... the guards, as well as many other former regime personnel, have become alarmed that they might also be put on trial.

Concerns have also been raised for the safety of victims testifying against former members of the Khmer Rouge now living among them.

Human Rights groups have warned lingering terror caused by the regime could discourage many from speaking out in court.

Along with former torturers putting their tails between their legs and heading for the hills, another who is being held in detention is taking another way out.

Ta Mok, one of Pol Pot's top lieutenants, is now eighty-two years old, and not at all well. (The only other detained Khmer Rouge leader is Kaing Khek Iev, also known as Dutch, who headed the Khmer Rouge S-21 torture center in Phnom Penh ... one of the most horrific places on the planet to this day, leaving much the same resonance in visitors, the sense of despair and disgust, as Auschwitz.)

Here's what his lawyer had to say this week:

"Since last night, his condition began to worsen. In fact, he was in a coma," he told a news conference. "He could die tonight, tomorrow or next week if the current state persists."

He said Ta Mok ... is suffering from high blood pressure, tuberculosis and respiratory complications.

And how do the people of Cambodia feel about all this?

I'll be taking about this in a future post …