Morning Star
4-7-09
PHNOM PENH (AFP)--The Khmer Rouge regime's prisons chief Tuesday recounted his grisly past, telling Cambodia's U.N.-backed war crimes court that confessions extracted under his torture orders were rarely true.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, last week apologized at trial for crimes against humanity, accepting blame for the extermination of 15,000 people who passed through the regime's notorious main prison, Tuol Sleng.
"I never believed the confessions I received told the truth. At most, they were about 40% true," Duch said Tuesday.
The grey-haired 66-year-old sat in the dock answering judges' questions about M-13 prison, a secret jungle center he ran from 1971 to 1975 during the Khmer Rouge insurgency against the then U.S.-backed government.
Duch told the court that he personally tortured two people, but regularly ordered his subordinates to beat prisoners who were destined to be "smashed" to death with a stick at the back of the neck.
"The burden is still on me - it's my responsibility. I would like to apologize to the souls of those who died," Duch said.
The Khmer Rouge were later in power from 1975 to 1979, the period when Duch is accused of supervising Tuol Sleng prison and sending thousands of people to their deaths in the so-called "Killing Fields".
The trial chamber is hearing evidence about M-13 to understand Tuol Sleng's organizing structure, the personality of Duch and the relevance of his role to the Khmer Rouge leadership.
"When I recruited people to assist me, I selected people from the peasant class to make sure the Party trusted me," Duch said Monday.
The former prison chief said Monday that he hated his role "detaining, interrogating and smashing" suspected spies at M-13 but he was afraid leaders would turn on him if he did not carry out orders.
Scholar Henri Locard said he doubted Duch was providing a full confession but that the former prison chief's exacting testimony was unique in a country where few accept responsibility for crimes.
"In Cambodian politics, I've never heard this," Locard said.
"It's fascinating. I've interviewed over 500 people (about Khmer Rouge prisons), and they've never given so many details," Locard said.
Duch said M-13 was surrounded by a bamboo fence and shackled prisoners were often held in two-meter deep pits, both to prevent escape and to protect them from U.S. warplanes carpetbombing the area.
The former maths teacher has denied assertions by prosecutors that he played a central role in the Khmer Rouge regime's iron-fisted rule.
Duch faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and premeditated murder for his role in the regime. He faces life in jail at the court, which does not have the power to impose the death penalty.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died under house arrest in 1998, and many believe the U.N.-sponsored tribunal is the last chance to find justice for the regime which killed up to two million people.
The tribunal was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the United Nations and Cambodian government, and is scheduled to try four other senior Khmer Rouge leaders after Duch's trial.
U.N. assistant secretary general for legal affairs Peter Taksoe-Jensen held talks with senior Cambodian officials Tuesday to implement anti-corruption measures after claims Cambodian staff were forced to pay kickbacks for jobs.
4-7-09
PHNOM PENH (AFP)--The Khmer Rouge regime's prisons chief Tuesday recounted his grisly past, telling Cambodia's U.N.-backed war crimes court that confessions extracted under his torture orders were rarely true.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, last week apologized at trial for crimes against humanity, accepting blame for the extermination of 15,000 people who passed through the regime's notorious main prison, Tuol Sleng.
"I never believed the confessions I received told the truth. At most, they were about 40% true," Duch said Tuesday.
The grey-haired 66-year-old sat in the dock answering judges' questions about M-13 prison, a secret jungle center he ran from 1971 to 1975 during the Khmer Rouge insurgency against the then U.S.-backed government.
Duch told the court that he personally tortured two people, but regularly ordered his subordinates to beat prisoners who were destined to be "smashed" to death with a stick at the back of the neck.
"The burden is still on me - it's my responsibility. I would like to apologize to the souls of those who died," Duch said.
The Khmer Rouge were later in power from 1975 to 1979, the period when Duch is accused of supervising Tuol Sleng prison and sending thousands of people to their deaths in the so-called "Killing Fields".
The trial chamber is hearing evidence about M-13 to understand Tuol Sleng's organizing structure, the personality of Duch and the relevance of his role to the Khmer Rouge leadership.
"When I recruited people to assist me, I selected people from the peasant class to make sure the Party trusted me," Duch said Monday.
The former prison chief said Monday that he hated his role "detaining, interrogating and smashing" suspected spies at M-13 but he was afraid leaders would turn on him if he did not carry out orders.
Scholar Henri Locard said he doubted Duch was providing a full confession but that the former prison chief's exacting testimony was unique in a country where few accept responsibility for crimes.
"In Cambodian politics, I've never heard this," Locard said.
"It's fascinating. I've interviewed over 500 people (about Khmer Rouge prisons), and they've never given so many details," Locard said.
Duch said M-13 was surrounded by a bamboo fence and shackled prisoners were often held in two-meter deep pits, both to prevent escape and to protect them from U.S. warplanes carpetbombing the area.
The former maths teacher has denied assertions by prosecutors that he played a central role in the Khmer Rouge regime's iron-fisted rule.
Duch faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and premeditated murder for his role in the regime. He faces life in jail at the court, which does not have the power to impose the death penalty.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died under house arrest in 1998, and many believe the U.N.-sponsored tribunal is the last chance to find justice for the regime which killed up to two million people.
The tribunal was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the United Nations and Cambodian government, and is scheduled to try four other senior Khmer Rouge leaders after Duch's trial.
U.N. assistant secretary general for legal affairs Peter Taksoe-Jensen held talks with senior Cambodian officials Tuesday to implement anti-corruption measures after claims Cambodian staff were forced to pay kickbacks for jobs.
No comments:
Post a Comment