Times Online (UK)
Masters of Cambodia's killing fields face justice at last
The trial of a notorious torture centre boss has begun before Cambodia's genocide tribunal, the first trial over the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime more than three decades ago.
Kaing Guek Eav, also known as "Duch" and the ex-commandant of the notorious S-21 prison, sat impassively in court as a judge made opening statements in a bland courtroom on the outskirts of Phnom Penh on Tuesday morning.
The chief Khmer Rouge torturer is charged with crimes against humanity, and is this first of five defendants scheduled for long-delayed trials by the UN-assisted tribunal.
Duch, a thin, elderly former schoolmaster, intently followed the proceedings in the courtroom, which was packed with some 500 people, after he was driven there in a bullet-proof car from a nearby detention centre.
Duch, 66, is accused of committing or abetting a range of crimes including murder, torture and rape at S-21 prison — formerly a school — where up to 16,000 men, women and children were held and tortured, before being put to death.
Duch has been variously described by those who knew him as “very gentle and kind” and a “monster”.
He has made no formal confession. However, unlike the other four defendants, Duch “admitted or acknowledged” that many of the crimes occurred at his prison, according to the indictment from court judges. Duch, who converted to Christianity, has also asked for forgiveness from his victims.
His lawyers said Duch had been regretful on the eve of his trial by the "Killing Fields" court set up to prosecute "those most responsible" for the 1975-79 reign of terror, one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century.
"He said to the victims, I ask your forgiveness, I ask your forgiveness," French lawyer Francois Roux told Reuters Television after visiting his client for two hours at a detention centre near the specially built court outside the Cambodian capital.
Hundreds of victims of Khmer Rouge atrocities had lined up since the early hours to get into court, but the hearings would be mostly procedural, with the main trial due to start in March and a verdict expected by September.
"I came here to see the trial with my own eyes, so I could tell villagers who could not be here," Mahd Musa, 54, who lost 7 family members in the Khmer Rouge era, told Reuters.
"It is a very important day for me. I cannot miss it."
The hearing marks a turning point for the strife-torn country where nearly every family lost someone during the Khmer Rouge era. The trial also ends a decade of delays at the Cambodian-UN tribunal due to wrangling over jurisdiction and cash.
Advocates hope the tribunal - formerly known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) - will serve as a model of professionalism for the country's erratic and politicised judiciary.
Critics say the tribunal's integrity is threatened by allegations of corruption and political interference, particularly on the issue of pursuing other Khmer Rouge suspects.
Duch is expected to be a key witness in the future trials of "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, the regime's ex-president Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary, its foreign minister, and his wife.
The four others have denied knowledge of any atrocities by the Khmer Rouge during its rule, which began by driving everyone out of the cities with whatever they could carry.
If convicted, the five could face life in prison.
Most victims were tortured and forced to confess to a variety of crimes - mainly being CIA spies - before being bludgeoned to death in a field on the outskirts of the city.
Women and children were also killed. Only a few survived.
"Duch's hands are full of blood. It's time for Duch to pay for his actions," said 39-year-old Norng Chan Phal, a child survivor whose mother was killed at S-21 months before Vietnamese soldiers toppled Pol Pot's regime in 1979.
Pol Pot's death in 1998 was followed by a formal Khmer Rouge surrender which helped to usher in a decade of peace and stability, threatened now by the global economic downturn.
The trial of a notorious torture centre boss has begun before Cambodia's genocide tribunal, the first trial over the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime more than three decades ago.
Kaing Guek Eav, also known as "Duch" and the ex-commandant of the notorious S-21 prison, sat impassively in court as a judge made opening statements in a bland courtroom on the outskirts of Phnom Penh on Tuesday morning.
The chief Khmer Rouge torturer is charged with crimes against humanity, and is this first of five defendants scheduled for long-delayed trials by the UN-assisted tribunal.
Duch, a thin, elderly former schoolmaster, intently followed the proceedings in the courtroom, which was packed with some 500 people, after he was driven there in a bullet-proof car from a nearby detention centre.
Duch, 66, is accused of committing or abetting a range of crimes including murder, torture and rape at S-21 prison — formerly a school — where up to 16,000 men, women and children were held and tortured, before being put to death.
Duch has been variously described by those who knew him as “very gentle and kind” and a “monster”.
He has made no formal confession. However, unlike the other four defendants, Duch “admitted or acknowledged” that many of the crimes occurred at his prison, according to the indictment from court judges. Duch, who converted to Christianity, has also asked for forgiveness from his victims.
His lawyers said Duch had been regretful on the eve of his trial by the "Killing Fields" court set up to prosecute "those most responsible" for the 1975-79 reign of terror, one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century.
"He said to the victims, I ask your forgiveness, I ask your forgiveness," French lawyer Francois Roux told Reuters Television after visiting his client for two hours at a detention centre near the specially built court outside the Cambodian capital.
Hundreds of victims of Khmer Rouge atrocities had lined up since the early hours to get into court, but the hearings would be mostly procedural, with the main trial due to start in March and a verdict expected by September.
"I came here to see the trial with my own eyes, so I could tell villagers who could not be here," Mahd Musa, 54, who lost 7 family members in the Khmer Rouge era, told Reuters.
"It is a very important day for me. I cannot miss it."
The hearing marks a turning point for the strife-torn country where nearly every family lost someone during the Khmer Rouge era. The trial also ends a decade of delays at the Cambodian-UN tribunal due to wrangling over jurisdiction and cash.
Advocates hope the tribunal - formerly known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) - will serve as a model of professionalism for the country's erratic and politicised judiciary.
Critics say the tribunal's integrity is threatened by allegations of corruption and political interference, particularly on the issue of pursuing other Khmer Rouge suspects.
Duch is expected to be a key witness in the future trials of "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, the regime's ex-president Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary, its foreign minister, and his wife.
The four others have denied knowledge of any atrocities by the Khmer Rouge during its rule, which began by driving everyone out of the cities with whatever they could carry.
If convicted, the five could face life in prison.
Most victims were tortured and forced to confess to a variety of crimes - mainly being CIA spies - before being bludgeoned to death in a field on the outskirts of the city.
Women and children were also killed. Only a few survived.
"Duch's hands are full of blood. It's time for Duch to pay for his actions," said 39-year-old Norng Chan Phal, a child survivor whose mother was killed at S-21 months before Vietnamese soldiers toppled Pol Pot's regime in 1979.
Pol Pot's death in 1998 was followed by a formal Khmer Rouge surrender which helped to usher in a decade of peace and stability, threatened now by the global economic downturn.
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