Prosecutors appeal KRouge prison chief's sentence

Kaing Guek Eav (Duch) was the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face an international tribunal

Skulls displayed at the Tuol Sleng genocide museum in Phnom Penh

Tuol Sleng was the centre of the Khmer Rouge security apparatus

via Khmer NZ

By Suy Se (AFP)

PHNOM PENH — Prosecutors are appealing against the 30-year jail sentence handed to a former Khmer Rouge prison chief, arguing it is too lenient, Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court announced Monday.

Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, was found guilty last month of war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing the mass murder of 15,000 men, women and children at Tuol Sleng prison.

But the tribunal said in a statement that the international and Cambodian co-prosecutors believe his sentence "gives insufficient weight to the gravity of Duch's crimes and his role and his willing participation in those crimes".

They also think that undue weight is placed on mitigating circumstances, it added.

The 67-year-old was the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face an international tribunal, and the ruling was hailed as a historic day for Cambodia.

But many survivors and relatives of victims of the 1975-1979 regime were dismayed by the sentence, which also took into account the years Duch has served since his arrest, meaning he could walk free in about 19 years.

"I applaud the prosecutors' decision. I am happy for the prosecutors' help in this case as we victims have no right to appeal," Chum Mey, one of a handful of inmates who survived Tuol Sleng, said Monday.

"The victims are not happy with the short sentence. We want Duch to be jailed for longer," he told AFP.

Duch was initially handed 35 years, but the court reduced the jail term on the grounds that he had been detained illegally for years before the UN-backed tribunal was established. His lawyer has said he also plans to appeal.

Prosecutors had sought a 40-year prison term from the tribunal, which did not have the power to impose the death penalty.

Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge was responsible for one of the worst horrors of the 20th century, wiping out nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population through starvation, overwork and executions.

Prosecutors also want enslavement, imprisonment, torture, rape, extermination and other inhumane acts to be added to Duch's list of convictions.

Cambodia's Foreign Minister Hor Namhong has also said the sentence was too lenient.

During his trial, Duch repeatedly apologised for overseeing the mass murder at the prison -- also known as S-21 -- but shocked the court in November by finally asking to be acquitted.

Tuol Sleng was the centre of the Khmer Rouge security apparatus and thousands of inmates were taken from there for execution in a nearby orchard that served as a "killing field".

But the court found there was insufficient evidence to prove Duch personally committed torture or other inhumane acts, the judge said.

The joint trial of four more senior Khmer Rouge leaders charged with genocide is expected to start in 2011.

The court is also investigating whether to open more cases against five other former Khmer Rouge cadres, after a dispute between the international and Cambodian co-prosecutors over whether to pursue more suspects.

The Khmer Rouge was ousted by Vietnamese-backed forces in 1979, but continued to fight a civil war until 1998. Pol Pot died that same year.

Duch has been detained since 1999, when he was found working as a Christian aid worker in the jungle. He was formally arrested by the tribunal in July 2007.