7/28/2009
Agence France-Presse
The former Khmer Rouge prison chief told Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes trial Tuesday that he was the "top criminal" with sole responsibility for atrocities at his notorious detention centre.
Duch was responding to witness testimony at his trial for overseeing the torture and execution of about 15,000 people in the late 1970s at the feared Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21, under the hardline communist regime.
"I am the top criminal responsible for all the acts committed at S-21, responsible all the lives lost at S-21," Duch said.
"I am responsible emotionally and legally, so do not want any middle cadres or any subordinates to suffer in my place," he added.
He went on to praise testimony heard earlier in the day from former prison staff member Sous Thy, who told the court that inmates suffered from torture and starvation.
"I really appreciate the spirit of comrade Thy who believed in the fair judgement of the chamber by speaking the truth," Duch said.
"His belief is that (the Khmer Rouge war crimes court) is only the mechanism to seek out justice for the Cambodian people as a whole, as well as to find justice for the victims who died at S-21."
Sous Thy, 58, testified that he feared Duch while he carried out his job registering prisoners' movements in and out of Tuol Sleng.
"I pity those people who were arrested and killed and am really regretful of the fact that I also worked in that office," Sous Thy told the court.
"Regarding my work, I did not like it even a bit. But...I had to do it since I was ordered to do it," he said, adding that he constantly feared for his life after seeing that other Tuol Sleng staff were arrested and killed.
The witness told the court that each prisoner was detained up to two months before being killed. He said overcrowding was never a problem because of the constant killings at the prison, which had previously been a high school.
Sous Thy went on to tell the court that all who worked at Tuol Sleng disliked the ruthless Khmer Rouge regime but they were terrified of Duch, who made all decisions at the prison.
"Everything had to be done through Duch and with his authorisation," Sous Thy said, adding that all detainees had been executed under the prison chief's orders by the time Vietnamese troops ousted the Khmer Rouge in April, 1979.
The 66-year-old Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, has previously accepted responsibility for his role governing the jail and begged forgiveness for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
But he has consistently rejected claims by prosecutors that he held a central leadership role in the Khmer Rouge, and says he never personally killed anyone.
Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia. Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork and torture or were executed during the 1975-1979 regime.
The tribunal was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the UN and the Cambodian government. The court aims to complete Duch's trial by October, said a spokesman on Wednesday.
Four more former Khmer Rouge leaders currently in detention are expected to face trial next year at the court, and judges are expected to rule soon on whether investigators should pursue six more regime cadres for prosecution.
However, the troubled tribunal faces accusations of Cambodian government interference and claims that local staff were forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.
Duch was responding to witness testimony at his trial for overseeing the torture and execution of about 15,000 people in the late 1970s at the feared Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21, under the hardline communist regime.
"I am the top criminal responsible for all the acts committed at S-21, responsible all the lives lost at S-21," Duch said.
"I am responsible emotionally and legally, so do not want any middle cadres or any subordinates to suffer in my place," he added.
He went on to praise testimony heard earlier in the day from former prison staff member Sous Thy, who told the court that inmates suffered from torture and starvation.
"I really appreciate the spirit of comrade Thy who believed in the fair judgement of the chamber by speaking the truth," Duch said.
"His belief is that (the Khmer Rouge war crimes court) is only the mechanism to seek out justice for the Cambodian people as a whole, as well as to find justice for the victims who died at S-21."
Sous Thy, 58, testified that he feared Duch while he carried out his job registering prisoners' movements in and out of Tuol Sleng.
"I pity those people who were arrested and killed and am really regretful of the fact that I also worked in that office," Sous Thy told the court.
"Regarding my work, I did not like it even a bit. But...I had to do it since I was ordered to do it," he said, adding that he constantly feared for his life after seeing that other Tuol Sleng staff were arrested and killed.
The witness told the court that each prisoner was detained up to two months before being killed. He said overcrowding was never a problem because of the constant killings at the prison, which had previously been a high school.
Sous Thy went on to tell the court that all who worked at Tuol Sleng disliked the ruthless Khmer Rouge regime but they were terrified of Duch, who made all decisions at the prison.
"Everything had to be done through Duch and with his authorisation," Sous Thy said, adding that all detainees had been executed under the prison chief's orders by the time Vietnamese troops ousted the Khmer Rouge in April, 1979.
The 66-year-old Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, has previously accepted responsibility for his role governing the jail and begged forgiveness for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
But he has consistently rejected claims by prosecutors that he held a central leadership role in the Khmer Rouge, and says he never personally killed anyone.
Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia. Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork and torture or were executed during the 1975-1979 regime.
The tribunal was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the UN and the Cambodian government. The court aims to complete Duch's trial by October, said a spokesman on Wednesday.
Four more former Khmer Rouge leaders currently in detention are expected to face trial next year at the court, and judges are expected to rule soon on whether investigators should pursue six more regime cadres for prosecution.
However, the troubled tribunal faces accusations of Cambodian government interference and claims that local staff were forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.
2 comments:
From my observation, Duch was not only a prison chef of S-21. He is a smart person with his intellectual capacity, therefore he was asked by Khmer Rouge leaders to set up a model s-21 to torture all the victims. He was a mastermind of how to torture vctims in all over Cambodia. Khmer Rouge Leaders have no time to explain to him in more details for how to kill and how to torture his victims. Areak Prey
Where is the head of KR revolution Norodom Sihanouk in this court process?
Is this a joke or just an international court to insult Cambodian people?
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