By Patrick Falby
PHNOM PENH (AFP) — The former deputy head of the main Khmer Rouge prison on Tuesday denied he had tortured prisoners as he sought to play down his position in Cambodia's late 1970s hardline regime.
Mam Nai, 76, told the UN-backed war crimes trial of former jail chief Duch that his role had been only to question inmates at the notorious Tuol Sleng prison.
"I was just a plain and simple interrogating cadre," Mam Nai said, addressing the court as a witness, not a defendant.
"I only interrogated prisoners without applying torture. It is my understanding that applying torture brings untrue confessions."
His former boss Duch is accused of overseeing the torture and execution of around 15,000 people who passed through Tuol Sleng.
Although documents from the regime say Mam Nai was Duch's deputy and tortured prisoners into confessing espionage, he said he only interrogated "not important" inmates and used psychological tricks rather than abuse.
"When I asked the person about their biography and activities, it was not difficult at all (to get a confession)," Mam Nai said.
"If a prisoner refused to respond... I instructed guards to take prisoners back to their cell to think for a while, to reflect on their positive and negative activities," he added.
Mam Nai, whose Khmer Rouge nom de guerre was Chan, went on to tell the court that he was "unclear" on the organising structure of the notorious detention centre and knew nothing of mass killings there.
The witness, appearing in court wearing purple fingerless gloves and a traditional chequered Khmer scarf, batted away judges' questions throughout the day.
He said he had not known all prisoners at Tuol Sleng were presumed guilty and destined to be killed, and that he could not recall drafting prison documents shown to the court, which appeared to be signed by him.
When French judge Marc Laverne asked whether he suffered from memory problems, Mam Nai replied that he has trouble recalling the names of his children after a recent accident at his home.
"I fell onto the ground and fell unconscious for a while. Since then, I seem to forget a lot," Mam Nai said.
The 66-year-old Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, has accepted responsibility for his role governing the jail and begged forgiveness near the start of his trial 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 maintains 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, torture and execution during the 1975-79 regime.
Four other former Khmer Rouge leaders are currently in detention and are expected to face trial next year at the court, which was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the UN and the Cambodian government.
The tribunal is marred by a dispute between prosecutors over whether to pursue more suspects. It also faces accusations of government interference and claims that local staff were forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.
Mam Nai's testimony continues Wednesday.
Mam Nai, 76, told the UN-backed war crimes trial of former jail chief Duch that his role had been only to question inmates at the notorious Tuol Sleng prison.
"I was just a plain and simple interrogating cadre," Mam Nai said, addressing the court as a witness, not a defendant.
"I only interrogated prisoners without applying torture. It is my understanding that applying torture brings untrue confessions."
His former boss Duch is accused of overseeing the torture and execution of around 15,000 people who passed through Tuol Sleng.
Although documents from the regime say Mam Nai was Duch's deputy and tortured prisoners into confessing espionage, he said he only interrogated "not important" inmates and used psychological tricks rather than abuse.
"When I asked the person about their biography and activities, it was not difficult at all (to get a confession)," Mam Nai said.
"If a prisoner refused to respond... I instructed guards to take prisoners back to their cell to think for a while, to reflect on their positive and negative activities," he added.
Mam Nai, whose Khmer Rouge nom de guerre was Chan, went on to tell the court that he was "unclear" on the organising structure of the notorious detention centre and knew nothing of mass killings there.
The witness, appearing in court wearing purple fingerless gloves and a traditional chequered Khmer scarf, batted away judges' questions throughout the day.
He said he had not known all prisoners at Tuol Sleng were presumed guilty and destined to be killed, and that he could not recall drafting prison documents shown to the court, which appeared to be signed by him.
When French judge Marc Laverne asked whether he suffered from memory problems, Mam Nai replied that he has trouble recalling the names of his children after a recent accident at his home.
"I fell onto the ground and fell unconscious for a while. Since then, I seem to forget a lot," Mam Nai said.
The 66-year-old Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, has accepted responsibility for his role governing the jail and begged forgiveness near the start of his trial 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 maintains 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, torture and execution during the 1975-79 regime.
Four other former Khmer Rouge leaders are currently in detention and are expected to face trial next year at the court, which was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the UN and the Cambodian government.
The tribunal is marred by a dispute between prosecutors over whether to pursue more suspects. It also faces accusations of government interference and claims that local staff were forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.
Mam Nai's testimony continues Wednesday.
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