HE IS accused of overseeing the torture and execution of thousands of enemies of Cambodia's former Khmer Rouge rulers, and yesterday, Kaing Guek Eav, aka "Duch", faced scores of his victims as the first trial of one of the group's leaders opened.
Victims of the 1975-9 regime, some missing limbs, watched as the trial began of the man who ran the main prison where every inmate "was destined for execution," according to the indictment.
Duch, 66, showed no emotion as officials read the litany
of horrors that took several hours and was broadcast live nationwide.
"Several witnesses said that prisoners were killed using steel clubs, cart axles and water pipes to hit the base of their necks," the indictment said. "Prisoners were then kicked into the pits, where their handcuffs were removed. Finally, the guards either cut open their bellies or their throats. After the executions were complete, the guards covered the pits."
Despite the emotional weight of the moment, a polite calm prevailed among the 500 spectators and the robed judges and lawyers, who sat on a stage behind a glass wall. The United Nations-backed tribunal on the outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh, is seeking to establish responsibility for the reign of terror under Pol Pot, the group's leader who died in 1998. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died of starvation, medical neglect, slave-like working conditions and execution under the Khmer Rouge.
Duch is charged with committing crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as torture and homicide. He ran the group's main prison, the notorious S-21, or Tuol Sleng, in Phnom Penh. As many as 16,000 men, women and children were brutally tortured there before being sent to their deaths.
Duch holds the distinction of being not only the first member of the Khmer Rouge to face trial for the regime's atrocities, but also the only one of five set to be tried to express remorse or take responsibility for his actions.
Among those at the trial was Svay Simon, 64, a farmer whose leg was blown off by a Khmer Rouge bomb in 1975. He lost ten relatives, including his sister and brother, to the regime. "I never thought I would have a chance to see Duch and sit in on this trial," he said, walking with a cane as he entered the courtroom.
After the politics and procedural wrangling that delayed a trial for years, it was a dramatic moment when the five crimson-robed judges took their seats on the top tier of a podium to launch the proceedings.
No less dramatic was when Duch was asked to identify himself and gave his name as, "Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch" – his nom de guerre.
According to the indictment, Duch's job was to extract confessions of counter-revolutionary activity, but "every prisoner who arrived at S-21 was destined for execution".
It went on: "Interrogators used several forms of torture in order to extract confessions from prisoners. According to Duch, only four methods of torture were allowed: beating, electrocution, placing a plastic bag over the head and pouring water into the nose."
It said he also acknowledged he knew about the practice of puncturing or removing finger and toe nails, and that there was evidence that "at least one prisoner was force-fed excrement".
Execution inevitably followed torture and was equally gruesome. The indictment alleges "some prisoners were killed by having large quantities of blood withdrawn by medics", leaving them unconscious and gasping.
Francois Roux, Duch's French lawyer, said last month that his client wished "to ask forgiveness from the victims, but also from the Cambodian people. He will do so publicly. This is the very least he owes the victims".
Duch disappeared after the Khmer Rouge fell from power, living under two other names. He returned to teaching and converted to Christianity before he was discovered by chance by a British journalist in the Cambodian countryside in 1999.
'BIG FOUR' WAIT TO GO INTO DOCKDUCH is expected to be a key witness in the future trials of those also deemed "most responsible" for one of the 20th century's darkest chapters.
The other four – "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea; Khieu Samphan, the regime's former president; Ieng Sary, its foreign minister, and his wife – have denied knowledge of any atrocities.
Advocates hope the tribunal will serve as a model of professionalism for the country's erratic and politicised judiciary. But critics say its integrity is threatened by allegations of corruption and political interference, particularly on the issue of pursuing other Khmer Rouge suspects.
A bid to go after more suspects was brushed aside in January by the tribunal's Cambodian co-prosecutor, who said it would not help national reconciliation. The government has denied meddling in the court, but rights groups are concerned.
Amnesty International says it must investigate more cases before it is too late.
The full article contains 829 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
