Posted: 22 November 2009 1358 hrs
Former Khmer Rouge prison commander Duch, real name Kaing
Guek Eav, has recounted his grisly past at a war crimes court. (file pic)
PHNOM PENH: Cambodia's war crimes court this week hears final
arguments in the trial of the Khmer Rouge prison chief, with Duch expected
to apologise for the regime's horrors in a bid to lessen his sentence.
Duch, 67, has repeatedly used the UN-backed court since hearings
started in February to publicly ask forgiveness for overseeing the murders
of around 15,000 people at the Tuol Sleng torture centre three decades ago.
The former maths teacher is one of five leaders of the brutal
communist movement who have been detained by the court but is the only one
to have admitted any guilt on charges of crimes against humanity and war
crimes.
A verdict in the trial, the first by the tribunal, is not
expected until early 2010. Duch - whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav - faces
a life sentence in prison because the court cannot impose the death penalty.
"This will be a very meaningful and significant week for the
people of Cambodia and the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime who lost their
loved ones," tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath told AFP.
"They have waited for so long. Finally peace will be coming
close to them."
The Khmer Rouge, led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, emptied
Cambodia's cities during its 1975-1979 rule, exiling millions to vast
collective farms in a bid to take society back to "Year Zero" and forge a
Marxist utopia.
Up to two million people were executed in the notorious "Killing
Fields" or died from starvation and overwork before a Vietnamese-backed
force toppled the regime. Pol Pot died in 1998.
The Khmer Rouge court was established in 2006 after nearly a
decade of negotiations between the government and UN, and many more years of
civil war in Cambodia following the fall of the regime.
Arguments this week are expected to be shown live on television
across Cambodia, and the court said that thousands of people have inquired
about coming to the tribunal to watch from behind bullet-proof glass.
Prosecutors have tried to portray Duch, who was captured in
1999, as a meticulous executioner who built up a huge archive of photos,
confessions and other evidence documenting inmates' final terrible months.
But the trial's format has allowed Duch to comment on all
testimony and repeatedly give his own version, portraying himself as a
terrified bureaucrat who performed his duty out of fear leaders would kill
him and his family.
"I tried to survive on a daily basis, and that's what happened.
And yes, you can say I am a cowardly person," Duch told the court in
September.
Duch, a born-again Christian, has rejected several allegations
he personally tortured and executed prisoners, and also denied prosecution
assertions he played a key role in the Khmer Rouge leadership.
"The civil law system gave Duch far more time speaking out loud
in the court than any other player. That gave him a huge advantage over any
of the other parties," said Heather Ryan, who monitors the court for the
Open Society Justice Initiative.
His defence has indicated it hopes his contrite testimony will
earn him a reduced sentence, pointing to a similar defence used by Hitler's
main architect, Albert Speer, at the Nuremberg trials after World War II.
The tribunal itself has meanwhile faced continued controversy
during the trial.
There have been claims that Cambodian staff paid kickbacks for
their jobs, while Prime Minister Hun Sen has opposed pursuing more suspects
on the grounds that it could destabilise the country.
The court has also been hit by the early departure of prosecutor
Robert Petit, who cited family reasons for resigning in July, and claims
investigating judge Marcel Lemonde prefers evidence biased against accused
leaders.
The other Khmer Rouge members awaiting trial are "Brother Number
Two" Nuon Chea, former head of state Khieu Samphan, ex-foreign minister Ieng
Sary and his wife Ieng Thirith, who was the minister of social affairs.
Most Cambodians have welcomed the idea that Duch at least
partially confessed in the court, which is seen as the last hope to deal
with Khmer Rouge crimes - but few are ready to forgive his past.
"Duch is like a piece of white paper - when it is stained with
black ink, it cannot be totally cleaned," said Bou Meng, who is one of the
handful who survived Tuol Sleng because his artistic skill was deemed useful
to the regime.
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About Me
- Duong Dara
- Dara Duong was born in 1971 in Battambang province, Cambodia. His life changed forever at age four, when the Khmer Rouge took over the country in 1975. During the regime that controlled Cambodia from 1975-1979, Dara’s father, grandparents, uncle and aunt were executed, along with almost 3 million other Cambodians. Dara’s mother managed to keep him and his brothers and sisters together and survive the years of the Khmer Rouge regime. However, when the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia, she did not want to live under Communist rule. She fled with her family to a refugee camp on the Cambodian-Thai border, where they lived for more than ten years. Since arriving in the United States, Dara’s goal has been to educate people about the rich Cambodian culture that the Khmer Rouge tried to destroy and about the genocide, so that the world will not stand by and allow such atrocities to occur again. Toward that end, he has created the Cambodian Cultural Museum and Killing Fields Memorial, which began in his garage and is now in White Center, Washington. Dara’s story is one of survival against enormous odds, one of perseverance, one of courage and hope.
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