Sentence reduced for former Khmer Rouge prison chief

The figure known as Duch, convicted of crimes against humanity, will serve
little more than half of his 35-year sentence. Victims and their families
are dismayed.

Hong Savath, 47, weeps after learning that the 35-year sentence was reduced.
(Heng Sinith, Associated Press / July 26, 2010)

By Brendan Brady, Los Angeles Times

July 26, 2010 | 2:43 p.m.
Reporting from Phnom Penh, Cambodia - A former Khmer Rouge prison chief
convicted of crimes against humanity will serve little more than half of his
35-year sentence, a penalty that many victims said Monday was unthinkably
lenient.

Kang Kek Ieu - known in tribunal filings as Kaing Guek Eav but best known by
his revolutionary name, Comrade Duch - had his sentence reduced to 19 years
by the U.N.-backed tribunal that convicted him, in part because he has
already been behind bars for 11 years.

Duch, 67, who presided over the grisly torture and execution of more than
14,000 Cambodians, could have received a life sentence. The math
teacher-turned-revolutionary betrayed little emotion as a judge read a
statement saying that the coercive climate in which he followed orders,
matched by his expression of remorse, albeit limited, and cooperation with
the tribunal, warranted a lesser sentence than life in prison.

The verdict was broadcast by every network in this country, ensuring that
millions of Cambodians watched the results of a trial that had begun in
relative obscurity a few years ago.

Tang Bun Chheoung, who watched in a dusty cantina on the outskirts of Phnom
Penh, the capital, was dismayed by the result. "This is the punishment you
would expect for killing just one person," said the 48-year-old, who lost
both her parents under the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge regime. "Today's
sentence makes it seem trivial."

Frustration with the sentence was bound to run high, said Youk Chhang,
director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which has amassed much of
the evidence used in the trial. "With whatever amount of years announced by
the court, there wasn't going to be satisfaction," he said. "You could
sentence him to more than 14,000 years, for each life, and even that
wouldn't make it fair. But, finally, there's official accountability."

Indeed, it was the first time a Khmer Rouge official has been held to
account by the tribunal for having a role in the revolution to forge an
agrarian utopia by forcing the population onto collective farms and
abolishing religion, money and schools. From 1975 to 1979, nearly a quarter
of the Cambodian population - an estimated 1.7 million people - died from
execution, starvation and exhaustion. The nightmare ended only after a
Vietnamese-supported dissident force toppled the Khmer Rouge.

During hearings last year, Duch admitted responsibility for the lives lost
at his prison and expressed "deep regret and heartfelt sorrow." But he also
insisted he carried out orders under threat of death.

His remorse was interrupted by glimmers of pride in having managed the
facility with such unerring efficiency. At one point, Duch even expressed
his indignation with now-deceased former regime leader Pol Pot's claim that
Duch's prison, S-21, didn't exist.

"He spoke gently in court to trick people," said former S-21 guard Him Huy,
who is not facing trial because the tribunal is aimed only at former senior
leaders and those deemed "most responsible." Testimony from former prison
staff and some of the few prisoners to have survived included details of
whippings, electrocutions, live blood-draining and babies smashed against
trees. It remains uncertain how many more former cadres will face trial.
Four higher-ranking leaders wait in custody but they are in their 70s and
80s and infirm.

Brady is a special correspondent.
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/world/asia/27cambodia.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

http://www.france24.com/en/20100726-cambodia-khmer-rouge-prison-chief-jailed-30-years

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/archive-23/?emc=eta1

http://www.headlinerwatch.com/9355/kaing-guek-eav-sentenced-35-years-imprisonment.htm

http://tmdcelebritynews.com/khmer-rouge-torturer-found-guilty-but-cambodians-say-punishment-is-too-light/01298

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cambodia-khmer-rouge-20100727,0,4747344.story

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cambodia-khmer-rouge-20100727,0,4747344.story
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