Long-delayed Khmer Rouge genocide trial opens

[David]

AP


PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – A former teacher accused of carrying out the murderous policies of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge went on trial Monday, as prosecutors opened their first case against the hard-core communists who turned the country into a killing field three decades ago.

The U.N.-assisted genocide tribunal's indictment against Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, delivered in an antiseptic modern courtroom, described medieval methods of torture and execution allegedly carried out by the defendant when he commanded the communist group's main prison when it held power in 1975-79. It adjourned before either prosecutors or the defense could deliver opening statements.

"Several witnesses said that prisoners were killed using steel clubs, cart axles, and water pipes to hit the base of their necks," it charged. "Prisoners were then kicked into the pits, where their handcuffs were removed. Finally the guards either cut open their bellies or their throats. After the executions were complete, the guards covered the pits."

The tribunal is seeking to establish responsibility for the reign of terror under Pol Pot, the group's leader who died in 1998. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died of starvation, medical neglect, slave-like working conditions and execution under the Khmer Rouge.

Duch, 66, is charged with committing crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as torture and homicide. He ran the group's main prison, the notorious torture center known as S-21, or Tuol Sleng, in Phnom Penh. As many as 16,000 men, women and children were brutally tortured there before being sent to their deaths.

Duch holds the distinction of being not only the first member of the Khmer Rouge to face trial for the regime's atrocities, but also the only one of five set to be tried to express remorse for his role.

He is alone among the five Khmer Rouge leader set to be trials in taking some responsibility for his actions and expressing remorse.

"Cambodians have been waiting 30 years for the Khmer Rouge to be tried for the violence and suffering they inflicted upon the population," said Prof. Alex Hinton, director of Rutgers University's Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. "That day has arrived."

After all the politics and procedural wrangling that delayed a trial for years, it was a dramatic moment when the five crimson-robed judges took their seats on the top tier of a podium to launch the proceedings.

No less dramatic was when Duch was asked to identify himself and gave his name as, "Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch," — his nom de guerre (pronounced "Gang Geck Ee-uu" and "Doik"), before reciting a brief curriculum vitae.

The formalities of the trial require that the indictment be presented in full, and junior court officials took turns in reading out the lengthy document over several hours. What started as a simple recitation of history turned into a litany of horror as it described exactly what duties Duch had and what fates arrested his victims.

Duch's job was to extract confessions of counterrevolutionary activity, but "Every prisoner who arrived at S-21 was destined for execution," said the indictment, which was issued last year when Duch was formally charged.

"Interrogators used several forms of torture in order to extract confessions from prisoners. According to Duch, only four methods of torture were allowed: beating, electrocution, placing a plastic bag over the head and pouring water into the nose." It says he also acknowledged that he knew about the practice of puncturing or removing finger and toenails, and that there was evidence that "at least one prisoner was force-fed excrement."

Execution inevitably followed torture, and was equally gruesome. The indictment alleges that "some prisoners were killed by having large quantities of blood withdrawn by medics," leaving them unconscious and gasping.

Scores of survivors traveled from around the country to witness the trial. Among them was Svay Simon, a one-legged, 64-year-old farmer whose limb was blown off by a Khmer Rouge bomb in 1975. He lost 10 relatives, including his sister and brother, to the regime.

"I never thought I would have a chance to see Duch and sit in on this trial," he said, walking with a cane as he entered the courtroom.

Five hundred seats are allotted for the public in the auditorium-like courtroom.

Duch's French lawyer, Francois Roux, said last month that his client wished "to ask forgiveness from the victims, but also from the Cambodian people. He will do so publicly. This is the very least he owes the victims."

Duch disappeared after the group fell from power, living under two other names. He returned to teaching and converted to Christianity before he was discovered by chance by a British journalist in the Cambodian countryside in 1999.

Since then he has been in detention awaiting trial. Only now, after years of political and procedural wrangling, is his case ready to be heard.

Human rights groups want the number of defendants increased beyond Duch and the four senior Khmer Rouge leaders being held for trial in the next year or so.

Critics of the tribunal also charge that Cambodia's government has sought to limit its scope because other suspects are now loyal to Prime Minister Hun Sen, and to arrest them could be politically awkward.

Cambodian state television and radio were broadcasting Monday's proceedings live, and 70 percent of the country's 14.3 million people were expected to tune in, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said. The verdict at the end of the trial is also expected to be broadcast live.

The trial resumes Tuesday.

[David]

AP


PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Khmer Rouge executioners threw victims to their deaths, bludgeoned them and then slit their bellies, or had medics draw so much blood that their lives drained away, prosecutors alleged Monday at the opening trial of Cambodia's genocide tribunal.

The grisly accounts were part of the indictment read into the record for the regime's chief torturer and prison warden, Kaing Guek Eav, or Duch, the first suspect to face justice a full three decades after the Khmer Rouge 1975-79 reign of terror.

Disabled survivors of the regime joined earnest young law students and other spectators in a modern custom-built courtroom on the outskirts of the Phnom Penh to watch the long-delayed proceedings get under way.

Duch, now 66, commanded the group's main S-21 prison, also known as Tuol Sleng, where as many as 16,000 men women and children are believed to have been brutalized before being sent to their deaths.

"I have mixed feelings. I am angry because the Khmer Rouge killed my wife," said 68-year-old Bou Meng, one of a handful of S-21 survivors. "I am happy because the Khmer Rouge leader was brought here today to be prosecuted.'

"I hope that the court will give me justice, and that justice will come soon," he said.

The tribunal alleges that Duch oversaw such atrocities as execution by bloodletting, and the hurling of children down three stories to their deaths. He is charged with committing crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as torture and homicide, and could face a maximum penalty of life in prison. Cambodia has no death penalty.

The U.N.-assisted tribunal is seeking to establish responsibility for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians from starvation, medical neglect, slave-like working conditions and execution under the Khmer Rouge, whose top leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998.

Duch's job was to extract confessions of counterrevolutionary activity, but "Every prisoner who arrived at S-21 was destined for execution," said the indictment against him.

No witnesses testified Monday, and Duch spoke briefly only to confirm his identity and background for the court.

But the reading of the 45-page indictment against Duch provided vivid snapshots of the "Killing Fields" years.

"According to Duch, only four methods of torture were allowed: beating, electrocution, placing a plastic bag over the head and pouring water into the nose," said the indictment.

Among the more lurid accusations was that children of prisoners were taken from their parents to be put to death by dropping them from the third floor of a prison building to break their necks.

"Several witnesses said that prisoners were killed using steel clubs, cart axles, and water pipes to hit the base of their necks," the indictment said. "Prisoners were then kicked into the pits, where their handcuffs were removed. Finally the guards either cut open their bellies or their throats."

The indictment also claims that some prisoners were killed by having large quantities of blood withdrawn by medics, leaving them "unconscious and gasping."

"They took the lifeblood of people. I think it really encapsulates the utter dehumanization," said Prof. Alex Hinton of Rutgers University's Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, who attended Monday's hearing.

"Today we had the historical record laid out in more detail that we ever had it before, said Hinton, author of a book on Cambodian genocide. "It's absolutely critical. So it was a very important day."

Despite the emotional weight of the allegations, a polite calm prevailed among the 500 spectators and the robed judges and lawyers, who conducted the proceedings on a stage behind a glass wall.

The defendant, neatly dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt tucked into his trousers, betrayed no emotion as he peered through glasses to read the accusations against them as court officials recited them aloud.

Duch's French lawyer, Francois Roux, said in February that his client wished "to ask forgiveness from the victims, but also from the Cambodian people. He will do so publicly. This is the very least he owes the victims."

Duch, a teacher before the Khmer Rouge years, disappeared after the group fell from power, living under assumed names. He returned to teaching and converted to Christianity before he was discovered by chance by a British journalist in the Cambodian countryside in 1999. Since then he has been in detention as political and procedural wrangling delayed the tribunal's work.

Human rights groups such as Amnesty International want the number of defendants increased beyond Duch and the four senior Khmer Rouge leaders being held for trial in the next year or so.

Critics of the tribunal charge that Cambodia's government has sought to limit its scope because other suspects are now loyal to Prime Minister Hun Sen, and to arrest them could be politically awkward.

The trial resumes Tuesday, when the prosecution and defense are supposed to present opening statements. The proceeding are expected to last for several weeks.

[David]

The Most Evil Men In History - Pol Pot

[David]

AP


PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – The man who ran the Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison in Cambodia accepted responsibility Tuesday for torturing and executing thousands of inmates and expressed "heartfelt sorrow" for his crimes.

Kaing Guek Eav (pronounced "Gang Geck Ee-uu"), better known as Duch ("Doik"), told the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal he wanted to apologize for his actions under the Khmer Rouge, whose radical policies while in power from 1975 to 1979 left an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians dead.

Duch, 66, who commanded the group's main S-21 prison, accepted responsibility for the crimes committed there, "especially the torture and execution of people." As many as 16,000 men, women and children are believed to have been brutalized and killed at S-21, also known as Tuol Sleng.

"I would like to express my deep regret and my heartfelt sorrow," Duch said.

He is charged with committing crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as torture and homicide, and could face a maximum penalty of life in prison. Cambodia has no death penalty.

While Duch's statements amount to a confession of guilt, tribunal defendants do not enter pleas. The tribunal says its primary goal is to determine the facts of the Khmer Rouge rule three decades ago and establish responsibility for the starvation, medical neglect, slave-like working conditions and executions under the regime, whose top leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998.

Duch is the least senior of only five surviving leaders of the regime scheduled to go before the court.

Critics allege that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has sought to limit the tribunal's scope because other potential defendants are now loyal to him, and that to arrest them could be politically awkward.

Hun Sen expressed disdain for the court Tuesday during a speech in Cambodia's southwest, saying that adding defendants could spark war and decrying Japan's offer to donate $200,000 to the tribunal to help pay its salaries.

Hun Sen, himself a former Khmer Rouge official, said he would rather see the court run out of money. "Don't talk to me about the budget shortfall," he said. "I wish the court would have a budget shortfall as soon as possible."

After the prosecution's opening arguments, which described Duch as a key cog in the Khmer Rouge killing machine, Duch asked permission to make a personal statement.

He began by reading from a prepared statement and then put his papers down, removed his eyeglasses and gazed directly at the 500-seat audience in the courtroom, filled with Khmer Rouge survivors and other members of the public.

Duch said he tried to avoid being made commander of S-21, but once in the job he feared for his life and his family's safety if he did not carry out his duty to extract confessions from supposed enemies of the regime.

Duch apologized to his victim's families but said he was not asking to be pardoned for such "serious crimes that cannot be tolerated."

"My current plea is that I would like you to please leave an open window for me to seek forgiveness," he said, vowing to cooperate fully with the tribunal as "this is only the remedy that can help me to relieve all the sorrow and crimes I have committed."

Duch's Cambodian lawyer, Kar Savuth, described his client as a scapegoat and a victim of selective justice while many others remain uncharged.

The long-awaited trial against Duch began Monday with a full reading of the 45-page indictment. Prisoners were beaten, electrocuted, smothered with plastic bags or had water poured into their noses; children were taken from their parents and dropped from third floor windows to their deaths, and some prisoners were bled to death, the indictment said.

On Tuesday morning, Cambodian co-prosecutor Chea Leang vowed to get justice for the regime's victims.

"For 30 years, one-and-a-half million victims of the Khmer Rouge have been demanding justice for their suffering," Chea Leang said.

Most of Cambodia's 14 million people were born after the 1979 fall of the Khmer Rouge, and many struggle daily to make a living in the poverty-stricken country.

Motorcycle taxi driver Vong Song, 52, said that he hears people talking about the tribunal, but he's too busy working to pay for his three children's education to worry about it.

"Let the court and the government do it. For me, the important thing is earning money to support my family," he said.