By SETH MYDANS
BANGKOK — Closing arguments began Monday in Cambodia in the trial of the
former Khmer Rouge prison chief who is accused of crimes against humanity in
the deaths of more than 14,000 people in the Tuol Sleng prison and torture
house.
The case against Kaing Guek Eav, commonly known as Duch, is the first in a
United Nations-backed tribunal that addresses the crimes of the Khmer Rouge
regime, which caused the deaths of 1.7 million people from 1975 to 1979.
The closing sessions began Monday with a statement by one of the lawyers,
Karim Khan, who said that despite what he called “crocodile tears” of
contrition, Duch had “sought to evade or minimize his role” during nine
months of hearings. Mr. Khan is representing victims who have been allowed
to participate in the case as civil parties.
Duch, 67, is also charged with war crimes, murder and torture and faces a
maximum penalty of life in prison. There is no death penalty in Cambodia,
and the government is jointly administering the international tribunal in
the capital Phnom Penh.
The trial began in February.
The final sessions are scheduled to last through the week and are expected
to conclude with a statement from Duch, who has admitted to directing the
torture and killings. He has said he would beg forgiveness from a
still-traumatized nation.
A verdict is expected early next year.
After that, four senior Khmer Rouge leaders now in custody are expected to
face similar charges in a second phase of the tribunal. Pol Pot, the top
leader of the Khmer Rouge, died in 1998.
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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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