The Australian
November 28, 2006
A LONG-awaited trial of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge leaders for crimes against humanity is likely to shed new light on the fate of two Australian yachtsmen taken hostage in 1978, savagely tortured and then executed.
Australians Ronald Dean and David Scott were among 11 Westerners who were tortured and killed by the Khmer Rouge in the notorious Toul Sleng prison in Phnom Penh.
A joint Cambodian-UN tribunal is expected to begin hearing evidence early next year against Khmer Rouge leaders implicated in Pol Pot's so-called Killing Fields reign of terror in the 1970s.
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia is expected to put on trial up to 10 surviving Khmer Rouge leaders, including Khang Kheng Iev, better known as Comrade Duch, who ran the Tuol Sleng camp.
The terrifying ordeal of Dean and Scott and their American friends, Michael Deeds and Chris Delance, began in late 1978 when their yacht was seized by a Khmer Rouge navy patrol.
Records found by the Vietnamese army after their lightning 1978 Christmas invasion of Cambodia uncovered details of the harrowing last days of the yachtsmen held in Tuol Sleng on suspicion of being CIA spies.
What happened to the men when they were brought to Tuol Sleng could now be revealed for the first time.
"It certainly could come up. It is certainly within the jurisdiction of the court," tribunal spokeswoman Helen Jarvis told The Australian. "I think it should come up, especially if they're (the tribunal) focusing on Tuol Sleng itself as one situation where a number of crimes have been committed, and I think that's highly likely."
During a 1999 interview with US journalist Nate Thayer, Duch, who was arrested near the Thai border, admitted his role in the torture of the four men, whose bodies were burnt on the orders of Nuon Chea, the so-called Brother Number Two.
Chea is still living freely in Cambodia, although he is likely to be indicted.
Other Westerners tortured at Tuol Sleng and later executed included New Zealander Kerry Hamill and Briton John Dewhirst after their yacht was seized in August 1978. Their colleague Stuart Glass, a Canadian, was earlier shot off the Cambodian coast. US sailors James Clark and Lance McNamara were arrested in April 1978 and then executed.
Australians Ronald Dean and David Scott were among 11 Westerners who were tortured and killed by the Khmer Rouge in the notorious Toul Sleng prison in Phnom Penh.
A joint Cambodian-UN tribunal is expected to begin hearing evidence early next year against Khmer Rouge leaders implicated in Pol Pot's so-called Killing Fields reign of terror in the 1970s.
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia is expected to put on trial up to 10 surviving Khmer Rouge leaders, including Khang Kheng Iev, better known as Comrade Duch, who ran the Tuol Sleng camp.
The terrifying ordeal of Dean and Scott and their American friends, Michael Deeds and Chris Delance, began in late 1978 when their yacht was seized by a Khmer Rouge navy patrol.
Records found by the Vietnamese army after their lightning 1978 Christmas invasion of Cambodia uncovered details of the harrowing last days of the yachtsmen held in Tuol Sleng on suspicion of being CIA spies.
What happened to the men when they were brought to Tuol Sleng could now be revealed for the first time.
"It certainly could come up. It is certainly within the jurisdiction of the court," tribunal spokeswoman Helen Jarvis told The Australian. "I think it should come up, especially if they're (the tribunal) focusing on Tuol Sleng itself as one situation where a number of crimes have been committed, and I think that's highly likely."
During a 1999 interview with US journalist Nate Thayer, Duch, who was arrested near the Thai border, admitted his role in the torture of the four men, whose bodies were burnt on the orders of Nuon Chea, the so-called Brother Number Two.
Chea is still living freely in Cambodia, although he is likely to be indicted.
Other Westerners tortured at Tuol Sleng and later executed included New Zealander Kerry Hamill and Briton John Dewhirst after their yacht was seized in August 1978. Their colleague Stuart Glass, a Canadian, was earlier shot off the Cambodian coast. US sailors James Clark and Lance McNamara were arrested in April 1978 and then executed.
I'm very happy if inclding Sihanouk among those 10 Khmer Rouge leaders.
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