Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- A former Khmer Rouge prison chief accused of overseeing the torture and killing of thousands of Cambodians in the 1970s must stay in detention while he awaits trial, a United Nations-backed genocide court ruled.
A panel of judges in the capital, Phnom Penh, unanimously rejected Kang Kek Ieu's request for bail, tribunal spokesman Peter Foster said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday.
The ruling may influence whether four other regime leaders, aged between 75 and 82 and complaining of ill health, will remain in custody as they await trial on charges of war crimes or crimes against humanity.
The trials, which are due to begin next year, are central to the process of reconciliation in the Southeast Asian nation, where one in five people died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. The movement, which forced the population out of cities to work on collective farms as it tried to establish an agrarian state, is blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million people through starvation, disease or execution.
Kang Kek Ieu, also known as Duch, 65, allegedly ran the Khmer Rouge's S-21 jail and was charged in July with crimes against humanity.
Prosecutors at the UN-backed tribunal, known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, allege that ``countless abuses'' were carried out against prisoners under Duch's authority. Inmates were allegedly kept in pits that filled with rain water until they drowned, were ``suspended from ropes and stabbed,'' and had their fingernails pulled out, according to a court document published last month.
Government Custody
Duch's lawyers argued at the two-day appeal hearing last month that he should be released on bail because he has already spent eight years in government custody in breach of international standards of justice. They said the former teacher wasn't a senior regime member and was among more than 2,000 people who ran jails for the Khmer Rouge.
The judges ruled yesterday that Duch may try to flee Cambodia, or intimidate witnesses, if he is released, Agence France-Presse reported from Phnom Penh.
``The Cambodian people have been waiting for 30 years to have justice, to see an end to impunity, and to see the evidence of what happened during this tragic period of their history,'' AFP cited Judge Prak Kimsan as saying.
Duch was the first Khmer Rouge official to be charged by the court, which comprises international and Cambodian judges, and the first to apply for bail.
Pol Pot
Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge's prime minister, died in his jungle hideout in 1998, 19 years after the movement was ousted by Vietnamese forces. Ta Mok, the group's military chief, died in custody in July 2006.
Nuon Chea, 81, Pol Pot's second-in-command, is awaiting trial following his arrest in September.
His lawyers appealed against his detention order last month, saying he wasn't properly represented at the initial court hearing and that his health is ``fragile,'' according to tribunal documents. Nuon Chea told the court in October that ``he does not intend to tarnish the honor of his country by fleeing'' if he is released on bail.
Former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, 82, his wife, Ieng Thirith, 75, who was social affairs minister, and head of state, Khieu Samphan, 76, were also detained and charged last month. They all deny the allegations and may appeal their detention.
Vietnamese forces captured Phnom Penh in January 1979, ending the rule of the Khmer Rouge. Fighters resisted in the west of the country until the final units surrendered to the Cambodian army 20 years later.
The tribunal process is costing $56.3 million, with the UN providing $43 million and Cambodia's government $13.3 million.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at
ejohnson28@bloomberg.net
A panel of judges in the capital, Phnom Penh, unanimously rejected Kang Kek Ieu's request for bail, tribunal spokesman Peter Foster said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday.
The ruling may influence whether four other regime leaders, aged between 75 and 82 and complaining of ill health, will remain in custody as they await trial on charges of war crimes or crimes against humanity.
The trials, which are due to begin next year, are central to the process of reconciliation in the Southeast Asian nation, where one in five people died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. The movement, which forced the population out of cities to work on collective farms as it tried to establish an agrarian state, is blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million people through starvation, disease or execution.
Kang Kek Ieu, also known as Duch, 65, allegedly ran the Khmer Rouge's S-21 jail and was charged in July with crimes against humanity.
Prosecutors at the UN-backed tribunal, known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, allege that ``countless abuses'' were carried out against prisoners under Duch's authority. Inmates were allegedly kept in pits that filled with rain water until they drowned, were ``suspended from ropes and stabbed,'' and had their fingernails pulled out, according to a court document published last month.
Government Custody
Duch's lawyers argued at the two-day appeal hearing last month that he should be released on bail because he has already spent eight years in government custody in breach of international standards of justice. They said the former teacher wasn't a senior regime member and was among more than 2,000 people who ran jails for the Khmer Rouge.
The judges ruled yesterday that Duch may try to flee Cambodia, or intimidate witnesses, if he is released, Agence France-Presse reported from Phnom Penh.
``The Cambodian people have been waiting for 30 years to have justice, to see an end to impunity, and to see the evidence of what happened during this tragic period of their history,'' AFP cited Judge Prak Kimsan as saying.
Duch was the first Khmer Rouge official to be charged by the court, which comprises international and Cambodian judges, and the first to apply for bail.
Pol Pot
Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge's prime minister, died in his jungle hideout in 1998, 19 years after the movement was ousted by Vietnamese forces. Ta Mok, the group's military chief, died in custody in July 2006.
Nuon Chea, 81, Pol Pot's second-in-command, is awaiting trial following his arrest in September.
His lawyers appealed against his detention order last month, saying he wasn't properly represented at the initial court hearing and that his health is ``fragile,'' according to tribunal documents. Nuon Chea told the court in October that ``he does not intend to tarnish the honor of his country by fleeing'' if he is released on bail.
Former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, 82, his wife, Ieng Thirith, 75, who was social affairs minister, and head of state, Khieu Samphan, 76, were also detained and charged last month. They all deny the allegations and may appeal their detention.
Vietnamese forces captured Phnom Penh in January 1979, ending the rule of the Khmer Rouge. Fighters resisted in the west of the country until the final units surrendered to the Cambodian army 20 years later.
The tribunal process is costing $56.3 million, with the UN providing $43 million and Cambodia's government $13.3 million.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at
ejohnson28@bloomberg.net
3 comments:
This monster should, of course, remain in custody for life due to the crime that he is committed during 1975-79: he was a real sadist (where reality surpasses the human imagination).
When this guy learned "human right"? For his security, he needs to thanks the court for keeping him there for life.
Well, the human right is if you work, you get to eat. No one has the right to take your hard earned food to feed rebels, traitors, and spies.
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