Kaing Kek Iev, the Khmer Rouge torture chief, finally heard the final decision on his sentencing by tribunal judges last Friday (i know I am late on this post, this was a week ago, but as you can imagine it is very important for the recovery of Cambodian society and we need to know so I am sharing).
Comrade Duch, as he was known, now 69 years old, was appealing his 2010 conviction and 35-year sentence arguing that he was just following orders of senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime. The regime attempted to create an ideal communist society by forcing city residents to work as peasants in the countryside, and by purging intellectuals, middle class people and any supposed enemies of the state. At least 1.7 million people -- nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population -- died under the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime from execution, disease, starvation and overwork, according to the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
Duch was the head of the S-21 prison where about 14,000 people were tortured and sent to execution under his supervision. Few people taken to the prison made it out alive; only about a dozen were found by the Vietnamese, who invaded Cambodia in 1979.
Witnesses have been testifying about the barbaric treatment that took place inside the prison. They spoke about guards who ripped out fingermails and electrocuted those held captive. They also spoke about a day when 160 children were executed. "Being sent to S-21 meant death sentence", admitted Duch during the trial.
"The crimes committed by Kaing Guek Eav were undoubtedly among the worst in recorded human history. They deserve the highest penalty available to provide a fair and adequate response to the outrages these crimes invoked in victims, their families and relatives, and all human beings", said Judge Srim.
During the trial, a former colleague of Duch at S-21 who was outside the courtroom, recalled some memories nervously. "I still remeber so clearly one scene of terror when I was one interrogator. A Vietnamese couple with a seven month old baby, a cute girl, was brought to S-21. The husband was dragged into a room. The wife was brought to another. Suddenly, a cadre grabbed the baby girl and threw her out of the second-story window. She died at the scene, and I was ordered to take the body away to bury. Then, I was ordered to clean the ground" he says while his voice gets fainter and fainter. "He deserves life in prison", he adds.
The judges have felt the same and changed the initial sentence of 35 years to life imprisonment.
One of the survivors of Tuol SLeng", Chum Mey, felt "proud, so proud, with this Supreme Court Chamber". He was repeatredly tortured and beaten, his toenails were pulled out and his wife and four children died during the Khmer Rouge regime. "It is the absolute justice that I hoped for, for more than three decades", he says. "I am vey at easy now".
The three most senior surviving leaders of the regime were put on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity in November 2011. Their trial is ongoing. Duch's case is the first to be concluded.
Historic memory and justice is essential for a society to move on and accept its own past. This is an important phase for Cambodian society. I will keep you updated on this issue, even if it's hard to read about some facts and reality some times...
Love,
Bea
Comrade Duch, as he was known, now 69 years old, was appealing his 2010 conviction and 35-year sentence arguing that he was just following orders of senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime. The regime attempted to create an ideal communist society by forcing city residents to work as peasants in the countryside, and by purging intellectuals, middle class people and any supposed enemies of the state. At least 1.7 million people -- nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population -- died under the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime from execution, disease, starvation and overwork, according to the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
Duch was the head of the S-21 prison where about 14,000 people were tortured and sent to execution under his supervision. Few people taken to the prison made it out alive; only about a dozen were found by the Vietnamese, who invaded Cambodia in 1979.
Witnesses have been testifying about the barbaric treatment that took place inside the prison. They spoke about guards who ripped out fingermails and electrocuted those held captive. They also spoke about a day when 160 children were executed. "Being sent to S-21 meant death sentence", admitted Duch during the trial.
"The crimes committed by Kaing Guek Eav were undoubtedly among the worst in recorded human history. They deserve the highest penalty available to provide a fair and adequate response to the outrages these crimes invoked in victims, their families and relatives, and all human beings", said Judge Srim.
During the trial, a former colleague of Duch at S-21 who was outside the courtroom, recalled some memories nervously. "I still remeber so clearly one scene of terror when I was one interrogator. A Vietnamese couple with a seven month old baby, a cute girl, was brought to S-21. The husband was dragged into a room. The wife was brought to another. Suddenly, a cadre grabbed the baby girl and threw her out of the second-story window. She died at the scene, and I was ordered to take the body away to bury. Then, I was ordered to clean the ground" he says while his voice gets fainter and fainter. "He deserves life in prison", he adds.
The judges have felt the same and changed the initial sentence of 35 years to life imprisonment.
One of the survivors of Tuol SLeng", Chum Mey, felt "proud, so proud, with this Supreme Court Chamber". He was repeatredly tortured and beaten, his toenails were pulled out and his wife and four children died during the Khmer Rouge regime. "It is the absolute justice that I hoped for, for more than three decades", he says. "I am vey at easy now".
The three most senior surviving leaders of the regime were put on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity in November 2011. Their trial is ongoing. Duch's case is the first to be concluded.
Historic memory and justice is essential for a society to move on and accept its own past. This is an important phase for Cambodian society. I will keep you updated on this issue, even if it's hard to read about some facts and reality some times...
Love,
Bea
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