Former Khmer Rouge prison chief, Kaing Guek Eav (right), talks with his defence lawyer, Francois Roux Photo: AFP/ GETTY IMAGESTelegraph.co.uk
By Thomas Bell in Phnom Penh
15 Feb 2009
The first member of the Khmer Rouge to stand trial for crimes against humanity is to appear in the dock this week.
But Cambodia's 30-year wait for justice is far from over.
The first defendant, on Tuesday, is Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Comrade Duch, 66, a quietly spoken maths teacher turned chief executioner of the ultra-Maoist regime that ruled Cambodia between 1975-79.
Around 1.7 million people, or a fifth of the population, died in a little over three years of Khmer Rouge rule, executed, tortured, starved or worked to death. Justice has been slow to arrive and the court has been blighted by scandal. Many in Phnom Penh fear that Duch – who was relatively low in the political pecking order- will be the only perpetrator to face justice.
Duch, pronounced "Doik", was the commandant of the S-21 prison, where supposed enemies of the regime were tortured in a former Phnom Penh high school before being driven to the killing fields and clubbed to death.
The prison's surviving records show that 12,380 people were tortured and killed although the true number may be higher. The black and white photographs of the victims exhibited at the site, now a museum, show that many of them were children. Most of them confessed to elaborate fantasies involving the CIA and the KGB before they were slaughtered.
Legal experts consider the case a simple one. Now a born again Christian, Duch has confessed to his role and asked forgiveness. His handwriting is also found throughout the prison's archive, issuing orders to "smash" prisoners.
Only around 12 prisoners are known to have survived S-21. In a unique experiment victims of the Khmer Rouge will be represented in court by lawyers, with the right to ask questions and influence proceedings.
"I want to ask him why he killed his own people, and why did his men torture me?" said Chum Manh, an S-21 survivor. "What motivated them to commit such heinous crimes?"
But even as the first trial gets underway the court's credibility is widely questioned. The tribunal, jointly run by the United Nations and the Cambodian government, was established in 2006 after a decade of strained negotiations.
A confidential United Nations report last August detailed reports of corruption in hiring Cambodian staff which have still not been addressed. The UN has since frozen funding to the Cambodian side of the court.
An even more profound issue is how many people to prosecute. The court's mandate is to prosecute only top leaders and those "most responsible" for atrocities, but that definition could easily include dozens of individuals.
Four more suspects – all members of the top political leadership of the Khmer Rouge – are in custody but their trial has been delayed until 2010. Many court watchers believe the Cambodian government wants to stall procedings until the already frail defendants die rather than rake over sensitive history in court.
The prime minister, Hun Sen, and several members of the government, are former Khmer Rouge cadres. Hun Sen has said that Cambodia "should dig a whole and bury the past". He has consistently opposed conducting more than "four or five" trials.
The international prosecutor, Robert Petit, has prepared indictments against six more suspects. Foreigners involved in the process say more trials are essential to the credibility of the process. But the move has been opposed by Cambodian court officials, prompting renewed accusations of political interference.
By Thomas Bell in Phnom Penh
15 Feb 2009
The first member of the Khmer Rouge to stand trial for crimes against humanity is to appear in the dock this week.
But Cambodia's 30-year wait for justice is far from over.
The first defendant, on Tuesday, is Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Comrade Duch, 66, a quietly spoken maths teacher turned chief executioner of the ultra-Maoist regime that ruled Cambodia between 1975-79.
Around 1.7 million people, or a fifth of the population, died in a little over three years of Khmer Rouge rule, executed, tortured, starved or worked to death. Justice has been slow to arrive and the court has been blighted by scandal. Many in Phnom Penh fear that Duch – who was relatively low in the political pecking order- will be the only perpetrator to face justice.
Duch, pronounced "Doik", was the commandant of the S-21 prison, where supposed enemies of the regime were tortured in a former Phnom Penh high school before being driven to the killing fields and clubbed to death.
The prison's surviving records show that 12,380 people were tortured and killed although the true number may be higher. The black and white photographs of the victims exhibited at the site, now a museum, show that many of them were children. Most of them confessed to elaborate fantasies involving the CIA and the KGB before they were slaughtered.
Legal experts consider the case a simple one. Now a born again Christian, Duch has confessed to his role and asked forgiveness. His handwriting is also found throughout the prison's archive, issuing orders to "smash" prisoners.
Only around 12 prisoners are known to have survived S-21. In a unique experiment victims of the Khmer Rouge will be represented in court by lawyers, with the right to ask questions and influence proceedings.
"I want to ask him why he killed his own people, and why did his men torture me?" said Chum Manh, an S-21 survivor. "What motivated them to commit such heinous crimes?"
But even as the first trial gets underway the court's credibility is widely questioned. The tribunal, jointly run by the United Nations and the Cambodian government, was established in 2006 after a decade of strained negotiations.
A confidential United Nations report last August detailed reports of corruption in hiring Cambodian staff which have still not been addressed. The UN has since frozen funding to the Cambodian side of the court.
An even more profound issue is how many people to prosecute. The court's mandate is to prosecute only top leaders and those "most responsible" for atrocities, but that definition could easily include dozens of individuals.
Four more suspects – all members of the top political leadership of the Khmer Rouge – are in custody but their trial has been delayed until 2010. Many court watchers believe the Cambodian government wants to stall procedings until the already frail defendants die rather than rake over sensitive history in court.
The prime minister, Hun Sen, and several members of the government, are former Khmer Rouge cadres. Hun Sen has said that Cambodia "should dig a whole and bury the past". He has consistently opposed conducting more than "four or five" trials.
The international prosecutor, Robert Petit, has prepared indictments against six more suspects. Foreigners involved in the process say more trials are essential to the credibility of the process. But the move has been opposed by Cambodian court officials, prompting renewed accusations of political interference.
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