Chief Khmer Rouge inquisitor Kaing Kek Ieu, better known as Duch, is seen in Phnom Penh in this handout picture released on July 30, 2007. Duch appeared before Cambodia's "Killing Fields" tribunal on July 31, 2007, the first of Pol Pot's henchmen to be questioned over the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people. Duch has confessed to committing multiple atrocities during this time as head of Phnom Penh's notorious Tuol Sleng, or S-21, interrogation centre. REUTERS/Sun Heng Police/HandoutFirst Khmer Rouge suspect quizzed
Tuesday, 31 July 2007
BBC News
Judges at a UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal in Cambodia have called in their first suspect for questioning.
Kang Kek Ieu, also known as Duch, was in charge of a notorious prison in the country's capital, Phnom Penh.
He ran a facility known as S21, where thousands of people were tortured and then executed.
He is one of five suspects prosecutors have asked judges to investigate over deaths under the Khmer Rouge government in the late 1970s, a spokesman said.
As many as two million people are thought to have died during the four years of Khmer Rouge rule.
Killing fields
Duch was not among the top level of Khmer Rouge leaders but he has become one of its most notorious members, says the BBC's Guy Delauney in Phnom Penh.
There are only seven known survivors of the S21 prison. A museum at the site illustrates in graphic detail what happened to the rest of the inmates.
Many of them were executed at the so-called Killing Fields outside the city.
Judges will question Duch, who has been held in a military prison since 1999, about his role in the events at S21.
"They (the judges) need to do an initial interview with him, but he has not been formally charged yet," said tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath.
The UN-backed tribunal has taken years to get off the ground.
But by questioning Duch, the judges are sending out a clear message that the special courts are now operational and moving more quickly than many people expected, our correspondent says.
Bringing in the other four suspects could, however, be more difficult.
None of them have been named officially but all of the surviving former leaders of the Khmer Rouge have been living freely in Cambodia, our correspondent adds.
Kang Kek Ieu, also known as Duch, was in charge of a notorious prison in the country's capital, Phnom Penh.
He ran a facility known as S21, where thousands of people were tortured and then executed.
He is one of five suspects prosecutors have asked judges to investigate over deaths under the Khmer Rouge government in the late 1970s, a spokesman said.
As many as two million people are thought to have died during the four years of Khmer Rouge rule.
Killing fields
Duch was not among the top level of Khmer Rouge leaders but he has become one of its most notorious members, says the BBC's Guy Delauney in Phnom Penh.
There are only seven known survivors of the S21 prison. A museum at the site illustrates in graphic detail what happened to the rest of the inmates.
Many of them were executed at the so-called Killing Fields outside the city.
Judges will question Duch, who has been held in a military prison since 1999, about his role in the events at S21.
"They (the judges) need to do an initial interview with him, but he has not been formally charged yet," said tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath.
The UN-backed tribunal has taken years to get off the ground.
But by questioning Duch, the judges are sending out a clear message that the special courts are now operational and moving more quickly than many people expected, our correspondent says.
Bringing in the other four suspects could, however, be more difficult.
None of them have been named officially but all of the surviving former leaders of the Khmer Rouge have been living freely in Cambodia, our correspondent adds.
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