The torturer-in-chief for Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime finally faced trial yesterday in the first case heard by a UN-backed genocide tribunal into the horrors of the “Killing Fields” 30 years ago.
Kaing Guek Eav, better known by the alias “Duch,” faces charges of crimes against humanity over his iron-fisted rule at Tuol Sleng prison, where he is accused of presiding over the deaths of 15,000 men, women and children.
He sat solemnly in the dock as hundreds of people turned up to watch the start of proceedings against a key figure in the ultra-communist regime, which killed around 2 million people in one of the 20th century’s worst atrocities.
“I prayed for dawn as soon as possible so that I could see this trial start,” said artist Vann Nath, one of only about a dozen survivors from the prison, who was put to work painting pro-regime pictures.
Under Duch, a former maths teacher now aged 66, Tuol Sleng was used to extract false confessions from alleged traitors that they were agents of foreign powers including the CIA.
Most inmates were taken from the prison, a former high school, for execution at nearby Choeung Ek, an orchard now known as the “Killing Fields.” Adults were beaten to death with hoes while children’s heads were smashed against trees.
Yesterday, Duch wore a blue shirt and listened through earphones as the court opened the trial behind a huge bullet-proof screen to prevent revenge attacks by his victims. He did not speak publicly.
Officials transported him to court in an armored Land Cruiser. He is being held in a nearby villa along with four top Khmer Rouge leaders, who all face trial later this year.
Duch is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and premeditated murder, and faces a life sentence. The tribunal cannot impose the death penalty.
“This first hearing represents the realization of significant efforts in establishing a fair and independent tribunal to try those in senior leadership positions,” chief judge Nil Nonn said at the opening of the trial yesterday.
For Cambodians the controversial tribunal, established in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between Cambodia and the UN, is seen as the last chance to bring the Khmer Rouge’s surviving leaders to book.
Court spokeswoman Helen Jarvis said yesterday’s initial hearing was “very, very significant” for the conflict-scarred nation, even though it is expected to last less than three days, focusing on procedural matters.
With full testimony not due to start until next month, defense lawyer Francois Roux complained to the court that it was “unacceptable” that Duch had been held without trial for more than nine years.
The hearing adjourned after seven hours of legal arguments, mainly about the admissibility of witnesses.
Roux told reporters afterwards that Duch acknowledged the charges against him and wished to use proceedings to publicly ask forgiveness from his victims as well as all other Cambodian people.
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