By SOPHENG CHEANG (AP)
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — The chief of the Khmer Rouge's main torture center, being tried by a U.N.-backed tribunal on genocide charges, asked the Cambodian people Wednesday to give him "the harshest punishment."
The statement from Kaing Guek Eav, who headed the notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, came as a widow wept before the court, demanding justice for the death of her husband and four children during the Khmer Rouge reign of terror.
"I accept the regret, the sorrow and the suffering of the million Cambodian people who lost their husbands and wives," the defendant told the tribunal. "I would like the Cambodian people to condemn me to the harshest punishment."
Kaing Guek Eav — better known as Duch — is being tried by the genocide tribunal for crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. Up to 16,000 people were tortured under Duch's command and later killed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule. Only a handful survived.
Duch (pronounced DOIK) became an evangelical Christian and worked for international aid organizations after the ouster of the Khmer Rouge.
He is the first of five senior Khmer Rouge figures scheduled to face long-delayed trials and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. His trial, which started in March, is expected to finish by the end of the year.
During Wednesday's court session, Bou Thon, 64, said her husband was a driver at the Khmer Rouge's Industry Ministry when he was accused of being a traitor and sent to S-21. She was assigned as a cook.
Her husband and four children vanished, and Bou Thon said she believed all were killed at Choeung Ek, better known as the Killing Fields, outside Phnom Penh where S-21 prisoners were dispatched for execution.
With tears in her eyes, Bou Thon said she tried to forgive and forget but could not.
Duch, asked by the judge to speak about the Khmer Rouge killings, said they were "like the death of an elephant which no one can hide with only two tamarind tree leaves."
The statement from Kaing Guek Eav, who headed the notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, came as a widow wept before the court, demanding justice for the death of her husband and four children during the Khmer Rouge reign of terror.
"I accept the regret, the sorrow and the suffering of the million Cambodian people who lost their husbands and wives," the defendant told the tribunal. "I would like the Cambodian people to condemn me to the harshest punishment."
Kaing Guek Eav — better known as Duch — is being tried by the genocide tribunal for crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. Up to 16,000 people were tortured under Duch's command and later killed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule. Only a handful survived.
Duch (pronounced DOIK) became an evangelical Christian and worked for international aid organizations after the ouster of the Khmer Rouge.
He is the first of five senior Khmer Rouge figures scheduled to face long-delayed trials and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. His trial, which started in March, is expected to finish by the end of the year.
During Wednesday's court session, Bou Thon, 64, said her husband was a driver at the Khmer Rouge's Industry Ministry when he was accused of being a traitor and sent to S-21. She was assigned as a cook.
Her husband and four children vanished, and Bou Thon said she believed all were killed at Choeung Ek, better known as the Killing Fields, outside Phnom Penh where S-21 prisoners were dispatched for execution.
With tears in her eyes, Bou Thon said she tried to forgive and forget but could not.
Duch, asked by the judge to speak about the Khmer Rouge killings, said they were "like the death of an elephant which no one can hide with only two tamarind tree leaves."
3 comments:
Duch is one of the most cruel men on earth. However, it is remarkable that he finally accepted and acknowledged his guilty and inhuman acts.
Albeit its too little too late, it is refreshing to see a Khmer prominent leader acknowledge his mistakes in a profound ways.
Dear Sir,
Duch Killed 12380 prisoners multiply by 20 years equals to 247600 years in jail of ECCC.
We want to do what he likes. To put him in jail for 247600 years or stoning him in front of the general public.
My jail in Battambang province, Moung District, Russei Kraing commune, Chahuoy Villge called Monty S-32, there were more than 20000 innocent people were killed by the Jail Chief Mith Meth or a one-eye man. There are about 70 survivors who live up to now. I am the one who survives the killing fields. I was one year and three months there by disidentifying myself as a bike repairer in Phnom Penh in the years 1970's. Though I was an English teacher in a high school.
Please feel free to contact me at (855)11840220 (for international line) and 011840220 (for local) if You are a former Monty S-32 in Phoum Chahuoy, Khum Russei Kraing, Srok Moung Russei, Khet Battambang, Cambodia. We are very very lucky by the Vietnamese liberation (or invasion characterised by some crocodile persons) in May 1979. If there was no invasion my skull and yours were displayed in the killing field of Russei Kraing.
Thank you,
Ly
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