By VOA Khmer, Washington
Video Editor: Manilene Ek
02 April 2009
The former commandant of Khmer Rouge's main torture facility on Tuesday told a UN-backed tribunal that he took responsibility for the crimes committed there, and agreed to accept all the 260 crimes charged against him.
Kaing Kek Iev, known as Duch, took the stand on Tuesday and said he wanted to "apologise to the survivors of the regime and also to the families of the victims who have loved ones died so brutally at S-21."
"I would like those people to please know I would like to apologise," Duch said.
66-year old Duch commanded the group's main S-21 prison, also known as Tuol Sleng, where as many as 16-thousand men women and children are believed to have been brutalized before being sent to their deaths. Duch said he took responsibility "for crimes committed at S-21."
He was called the stand to defend himself against accusations made by the prosecution, which delivered its opening arguments on Tuesday.
The tribunal is seeking to establish responsibility for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million from starvation, medical neglect, slave-like conditions and execution under the Khmer Rouge, whose top leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998.
He is charged with committing crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as torture and homicide, and could face a maximum penalty of life in prison. Cambodia has no death penalty.
As well as photographs and death lists from the prison, the court was shown a film shot when the facility was found by invading Vietnamese troops in January 1979, which showed the corpses of the last victims to be killed there.
Duch, unlike the four other former Khmer Rouge leaders awaiting trial, has admitted his guilt and has asked for forgiveness.
Duch's lawyer Francois Roux objected on legal grounds to showing some footage of Tuol Sleng after it was abandoned by the Khmer Rouge, but the judges rejected his argument.
The film clearly affected one of only three living survivors of S-21. Bou Meng's talent as a painter saved him from execution, which his jailers put to use producing portraits of leader Pol Pot. But his wife who was arrested with him was killed there. In a break in proceedings Bou Meng said seeing the film reminded him of his wife, and that it "horrified" him.
He said that Duch's apology was "unacceptable."
Another S-21 survivor, Chum Mey, said when he heard Duch speak he felt "relaxed," but that he was "very frustrated with his lawyer."
Duch has been in detention since he was discovered in 1999 by British journalist Nic Dunlop in the Cambodian countryside, where he had been living under an assumed name.
Dunlop, who attended Tuesday's hearing, said it was "interesting" to see Duch's reaction to evidence being played out in the trial. "As far as I can see there's been absolutely no reaction from him and that's probably been the most interesting aspect for me," Dunlop said.
Information for this report was provided by APTN.
Kaing Kek Iev, known as Duch, took the stand on Tuesday and said he wanted to "apologise to the survivors of the regime and also to the families of the victims who have loved ones died so brutally at S-21."
"I would like those people to please know I would like to apologise," Duch said.
66-year old Duch commanded the group's main S-21 prison, also known as Tuol Sleng, where as many as 16-thousand men women and children are believed to have been brutalized before being sent to their deaths. Duch said he took responsibility "for crimes committed at S-21."
He was called the stand to defend himself against accusations made by the prosecution, which delivered its opening arguments on Tuesday.
The tribunal is seeking to establish responsibility for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million from starvation, medical neglect, slave-like conditions and execution under the Khmer Rouge, whose top leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998.
He is charged with committing crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as torture and homicide, and could face a maximum penalty of life in prison. Cambodia has no death penalty.
As well as photographs and death lists from the prison, the court was shown a film shot when the facility was found by invading Vietnamese troops in January 1979, which showed the corpses of the last victims to be killed there.
Duch, unlike the four other former Khmer Rouge leaders awaiting trial, has admitted his guilt and has asked for forgiveness.
Duch's lawyer Francois Roux objected on legal grounds to showing some footage of Tuol Sleng after it was abandoned by the Khmer Rouge, but the judges rejected his argument.
The film clearly affected one of only three living survivors of S-21. Bou Meng's talent as a painter saved him from execution, which his jailers put to use producing portraits of leader Pol Pot. But his wife who was arrested with him was killed there. In a break in proceedings Bou Meng said seeing the film reminded him of his wife, and that it "horrified" him.
He said that Duch's apology was "unacceptable."
Another S-21 survivor, Chum Mey, said when he heard Duch speak he felt "relaxed," but that he was "very frustrated with his lawyer."
Duch has been in detention since he was discovered in 1999 by British journalist Nic Dunlop in the Cambodian countryside, where he had been living under an assumed name.
Dunlop, who attended Tuesday's hearing, said it was "interesting" to see Duch's reaction to evidence being played out in the trial. "As far as I can see there's been absolutely no reaction from him and that's probably been the most interesting aspect for me," Dunlop said.
Information for this report was provided by APTN.
5 comments:
This is the criminal case, if he
could say apologize to all victims
and families, its seem nothings -
happen to their life , so in next
generation any body else whom had
more power will do as Duch's ford
to the future .
Duch he must tell the true to the
public before he ask to apologize
to the victim and families , what
were going on .
. . .and if there's any "god" volunteers to save Duch the bastard from his sin, that god must be spelled backward as "dog".
Pity that this is the only man with the courage to face his responsibility as serious atrocity, however, other criminals despite the fact that everyone knows their fault they do not want to even accept his self-guilt...some reasonable and logical, the other liders in spite of his evil is not now seem to recognize courageous.
... Oh 6:52 AM You are so ignorant because you believe in stones piled full of rust and mold, which was filled with dust and grime ... Do these stones will help you to be more rational?
apology means nothing if the person is still committed the same heinious crime again and again! it's like robbing me and say you're sorry but still doing it many more times! what use is that for apology if continue to do again and again. i say lock him up and let him rot in prison! hopefully that will teach a lesson not to tolerate such crime again! god bless cambodia.
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