Saturday, 23 February 2008

Khmer Rouge torturer to revisit prison

upi.com
Feb. 22, 2008

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- The accused war criminal who served as chief interrogator for the Khmer Rouge is to guide his judges around a torture center and execution site.

Kaing Guek Eav, who used the name Duch, will be accompanied by a few of the survivors of torture at Tuol Sleng, a school outside Phnom Penh that was converted to a prison, The Guardian reported. Only seven Tuol Sleng inmates are known to have survived the "Killing Fields" of the late 1970s.

On Tuesday Duch and the two judges, Marcel Lemonde of France and You Bun Leng of Cambodia are to visit Choeung Ek, where Tuol Sleng inmates were killed and buried.

On Wednesday, they are to go to the prison, The Guardian said.Duch, a former math teacher who converted to Christianity after his years as a Khmer Rouge torture chief, has said that he was following orders from Pol Pot when he presided over the torture and execution of thousands of people.

He and four other former Khmer Rouge leaders are to be tried for crimes against humanity.

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