The man known as the chief torturer for the Khmer Rouge has described the ideological fervour that impelled his crimes.
06 Apr 2009
By Thomas Bell in Phnom Penh
The Telegraph (UK)
Kaing Guek Eav, known as Comrade Duch, joined the communist party as a young school teacher and was keen to impress his leaders.
On the first day of testimony at a landmark genocide tribunal in Cambodia, Comrade Duch, 66, related his journey from youthful idealist into one of history's most notorious sadists.
"I sacrificed everything for the revolution sincerely and absolutely," he said. "At the time I believed the path I had chosen was right." he said.
Asked why he was chosen for the role he answered: "They knew me as a sincere person who dare not hide anything."
"In my entire life if I do something, I do it properly," he explained.
The session concentrated on the period before 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took full control of the country.
Comrade Duch was a political prisoner before the group came to power, though he was not abused.
After he was released from jail, Duch's superiors in the Khmer Rouge selected him to run an interrogation centre. His duties were to "detain, interrogate and smash" people.
"I thought I will not be able to escape this duty," he said. "The torture, the beatings and interrogation - I tried my best to do it."
"I hated the police work and I hated the killing I hated the excrement but I had to walk in it," he said.
He admitted he knew what he was doing was criminal and that the prisoners were innocent. "I only believed in small part these people were spies. They were poor people who could not escape,"
But the roots of future career could be traced back to his schooldays. His nom de guerre came from a textbook story about "Duch" a model pupil who always had his hand raised.
"I liked the name Duch because I wanted to be the well disciplined boy who respected teachers, who wanted to do good deeds."
06 Apr 2009
By Thomas Bell in Phnom Penh
The Telegraph (UK)
Kaing Guek Eav, known as Comrade Duch, joined the communist party as a young school teacher and was keen to impress his leaders.
On the first day of testimony at a landmark genocide tribunal in Cambodia, Comrade Duch, 66, related his journey from youthful idealist into one of history's most notorious sadists.
"I sacrificed everything for the revolution sincerely and absolutely," he said. "At the time I believed the path I had chosen was right." he said.
Asked why he was chosen for the role he answered: "They knew me as a sincere person who dare not hide anything."
"In my entire life if I do something, I do it properly," he explained.
The session concentrated on the period before 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took full control of the country.
Comrade Duch was a political prisoner before the group came to power, though he was not abused.
After he was released from jail, Duch's superiors in the Khmer Rouge selected him to run an interrogation centre. His duties were to "detain, interrogate and smash" people.
"I thought I will not be able to escape this duty," he said. "The torture, the beatings and interrogation - I tried my best to do it."
"I hated the police work and I hated the killing I hated the excrement but I had to walk in it," he said.
He admitted he knew what he was doing was criminal and that the prisoners were innocent. "I only believed in small part these people were spies. They were poor people who could not escape,"
But the roots of future career could be traced back to his schooldays. His nom de guerre came from a textbook story about "Duch" a model pupil who always had his hand raised.
"I liked the name Duch because I wanted to be the well disciplined boy who respected teachers, who wanted to do good deeds."
3 comments:
Motherfucker was a math professor and thought he was a kid??????
Just let him talk the path he was throuhg
Sacrificed Mê Ah Kduch & Sihanouk!
Khmer lived with Buddha Centuries ago.Communism=Destroyer
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