Monday, March 30, 2009
ABC Radio Australia
Thirty years after the fall of Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime, the first testimony begins today in the nation's controversial genocide tribunal.
The former commandent of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, the man known as Brother Duch, will take the stand.
His lawyer says he has conceded responsibility for the torture and execution of more than 12,000 men, women and children.
Today's hearing is a milestone for the joint UN-Cambodian tribunal, which has long been delayed by years of political wrangling and corruption scandals.
But it comes as proceedings against the regime's political leaders - Ieng Sary, Noun Chea, and Khieu Samphan - have been put off for yet another year.
That move has observers fearing the ageing leaders will never be held accountable.
The former commandent of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, the man known as Brother Duch, will take the stand.
His lawyer says he has conceded responsibility for the torture and execution of more than 12,000 men, women and children.
Today's hearing is a milestone for the joint UN-Cambodian tribunal, which has long been delayed by years of political wrangling and corruption scandals.
But it comes as proceedings against the regime's political leaders - Ieng Sary, Noun Chea, and Khieu Samphan - have been put off for yet another year.
That move has observers fearing the ageing leaders will never be held accountable.
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