PHNOM PENH, April 9, 2009 (AFP) - A French researcher who survived detention by the Khmer Rouge told Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court Thursday that "terror was everywhere" at a camp run by the regime's prison chief.
Francois Bizot, who wrote the best-selling book "The Gate" about his experiences, was the first witness to appear at prison chief Duch's trial for crimes against humanity.
"I can't recall M-13 without recalling the terrifying atmosphere of fear and death, or how much this atmosphere was embodied in Duch. Terror was everywhere," Bizot said of the camp where he was held.
"When Duch came back from meetings with his superiors, it was impossible not to see his despondency... You have to understand that it was always about deciding when the executions would take place," he told the court.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, last week apologised at his trial, accepting blame for the later extermination of 15,000 people who passed through the Khmer Rouge regime's main prison, Tuol Sleng.
The court this week is hearing about M-13, which Duch ran during the 1971 to 1975 Khmer Rouge insurgency against the then US-backed government, to better understand Tuol Sleng's organising structure.
In his second day of testimony, Bizot said Duch 38 years ago interrogated him at M-13 in a "very meticulous and thorough fashion" after he was arrested by Khmer Rouge revolutionaries on suspicion of espionage.
Bizot, an anthropologist, said the young guards were "in awe" of Duch.
He testified Wednesday that Duch was not a monster, but a revolutionary on a "mission" whose job appeared to be to write up reports on the people sent to him for execution purposes.
The 69-year-old has said he was the best treated of 50 prisoners at M-13, where inmates were shackled to a bar and wracked with malaria.
Bizot said he was never beaten and Duch spoke to him politely, making him write several statements of innocence.
When he was released after a few months of detention, becoming one of 10who survived the jungle prison camp, Duch was extremely fearful it would get them killed, Bizot said.
"Duch was worried and he was fearing an ambush from his superior, Ta Mok, who of course was not in favour of my release," Bizot said.
The Khmer Rouge were in power from 1975 to 1979. Duch is accused of supervising Tuol Sleng prison and sending thousands of people to their deaths in the so-called "Killing Fields" during that period.
The former maths teacher has denied assertions by prosecutors that he played a central role in the Khmer Rouge's iron-fisted rule.
Duch faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and premeditated murder for his role in the Khmer Rouge. He faces life in jail at the court, which does not have the power to impose the death penalty.
Pol Pot died in 1998, and many believe the UN-sponsored tribunal is the last chance to find justice for victims of the regime, which killed up to two million people.
The tribunal was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the United Nations and Cambodian government, and is scheduled to try four other senior Khmer Rouge leaders.
However the court is now jeopardised by allegations of political interference and corruption in the wake of claims that Cambodian staff were forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.
Talks between the United Nations and senior Cambodian officials to stop corruption at the court ended this week with no agreement on how to create anti-corruption measures.
Francois Bizot, who wrote the best-selling book "The Gate" about his experiences, was the first witness to appear at prison chief Duch's trial for crimes against humanity.
"I can't recall M-13 without recalling the terrifying atmosphere of fear and death, or how much this atmosphere was embodied in Duch. Terror was everywhere," Bizot said of the camp where he was held.
"When Duch came back from meetings with his superiors, it was impossible not to see his despondency... You have to understand that it was always about deciding when the executions would take place," he told the court.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, last week apologised at his trial, accepting blame for the later extermination of 15,000 people who passed through the Khmer Rouge regime's main prison, Tuol Sleng.
The court this week is hearing about M-13, which Duch ran during the 1971 to 1975 Khmer Rouge insurgency against the then US-backed government, to better understand Tuol Sleng's organising structure.
In his second day of testimony, Bizot said Duch 38 years ago interrogated him at M-13 in a "very meticulous and thorough fashion" after he was arrested by Khmer Rouge revolutionaries on suspicion of espionage.
Bizot, an anthropologist, said the young guards were "in awe" of Duch.
He testified Wednesday that Duch was not a monster, but a revolutionary on a "mission" whose job appeared to be to write up reports on the people sent to him for execution purposes.
The 69-year-old has said he was the best treated of 50 prisoners at M-13, where inmates were shackled to a bar and wracked with malaria.
Bizot said he was never beaten and Duch spoke to him politely, making him write several statements of innocence.
When he was released after a few months of detention, becoming one of 10who survived the jungle prison camp, Duch was extremely fearful it would get them killed, Bizot said.
"Duch was worried and he was fearing an ambush from his superior, Ta Mok, who of course was not in favour of my release," Bizot said.
The Khmer Rouge were in power from 1975 to 1979. Duch is accused of supervising Tuol Sleng prison and sending thousands of people to their deaths in the so-called "Killing Fields" during that period.
The former maths teacher has denied assertions by prosecutors that he played a central role in the Khmer Rouge's iron-fisted rule.
Duch faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and premeditated murder for his role in the Khmer Rouge. He faces life in jail at the court, which does not have the power to impose the death penalty.
Pol Pot died in 1998, and many believe the UN-sponsored tribunal is the last chance to find justice for victims of the regime, which killed up to two million people.
The tribunal was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the United Nations and Cambodian government, and is scheduled to try four other senior Khmer Rouge leaders.
However the court is now jeopardised by allegations of political interference and corruption in the wake of claims that Cambodian staff were forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.
Talks between the United Nations and senior Cambodian officials to stop corruption at the court ended this week with no agreement on how to create anti-corruption measures.
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