Khang Khek Leu
Encyclopedia
Kang Kek Iew or Kaing Kek Iev, also romanized as Kaing Guek Eav , nom de guerre Comrade Duch or Deuch (មិត្តឌុច); or Hang Pin, (born 17 November 1942) is a former leader in the Khmer Rouge
communist
movement, which ruled Democratic Kampuchea
from 1975 to 1979. As the head of the government's internal security branch, he oversaw the Tuol Sleng
(S-21) prison camp where thousands were held for interrogation and torture. The first Khmer Rouge leader to be tried by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
for the crimes of the regime, he was convicted of crimes against humanity, murder
, and torture
for his role during the Khmer Rouge rule of Cambodia and sentenced to 35 years imprisonment.
Kang Kek Iew was born in Choyaot village, Kampong Chen subdistrict
, Kampong Thom Province, and is of Chinese
-Khmer
ancestry. A star pupil in his school, he passed his Brevet d'Etudes Secondaire de Première in 1961 at the age of nineteen. He finished the first half of his Baccalaureate in 1962 at the Lycée Suravarman II in the town of Siem Reap
. The same year he was offered a place in the prestigious Lycée Sisowath
in Phnom Penh
where he completed his Baccalaureate in mathematics
, scoring second in the entire country.
who was later to emerge as the Defence Minister of the Khmer Rouge and Duch's immediate superior.
On August 28, 1966, Kek Iew got his teaching certificate and was posted to a lycée in Skoun, a small town in Kampong Cham Province. He was a good teacher, remembered as earnest and committed by his pupils. He joined the Communist Party of Kampuchea
in 1967. Following the arrest of three of his students, he fled to the Khmer Rouge base in Chamkar Leu District
where he was accepted as a full member of the Communist Party of Kampuchea.
A few months later, he was arrested and tortured at the Prey Sar prison by Norodom Sihanouk
's police for engaging in communist activities. He was held without trial for the next two years. In 1970, when he was released following the amnesty granted to political prisoners by Lon Nol
, he joined the Khmer Rouge rebels in the Cardamom Mountains
bordering Thailand.
' when referring to their resistance movements in the jungles.
In the zone under the control of the Khmer Rouge, Kek Iew took on his nom de guerre Comrade Duch (IPA:[dojc]) and became a prison commandant. He was appointed the head of Special Security by his immediate superior Vorn Vet
. In the forests of Amleang, Thpong District
, Duch set up his first prison, code-named 'M-13'. Two years later, he also established a second prison 'M-99' in nearby Aoral District
.
Assisted by his two deputies, Comrade Chan and Comrade Pon, Duch began perfecting his interrogation techniques and the purging of perceived enemies from the Khmer Rouge ranks. Prisoners at these camps, mostly from the ranks of the Khmer Rouge, were routinely starved and tortured to extract real and made-up confessions. Few prisoners left the camps alive.
While in the maquis, Duch married Chhim Sophal, aka Rom, a dressmaker from a nearby village.
Duch ordered the execution of prisoners after their interrogation was completed. For example, on a list containing the names of 17 prisoners (eight teenagers and nine children), he wrote the order “Smash them to pieces.” On a longer list of detainees, his annotation reads “smash: 115; keep: 44 persons.” The text below this annotation reads “Comrade Duch proposed to Angkar; Angkar agreed.” On a list of 20 female detainees, Duch wrote annotations for each of them, ordering: “take away for execution,” “keep for interrogation” or “medical experiment". At least 100 detainees died after having their blood drawn for transfusions for wounded soldiers. Surgical operations were also performed on detainees in order to train medical staff.
Duch impressed his superiors with his work and was appointed the head of Democratic Kampuchea
's dreaded "special branch" – the Santebal
.
As the party purges increased towards the end of the Democratic Kampuchea period, more and more people were brought to Duch, including many former colleagues including his predecessor at Tuol Sleng, In Lon. Throughout this period Duch built up a large archive of prison records, mug shots and extracted "confessions".
On 7 January 1979, Duch was amongst the last Khmer Rouge cadres to flee Phnom Penh after it fell to the Vietnamese army. Though he was unable to destroy much of the prison's extensive documents, he saw to the execution of several surviving prisoners before he fled the city.
, for having failed to destroy the documents at Tuol Sleng. At the border, he learned to speak Thai and taught himself English. He later taught English and mathematics at a refugee camp in Borai just inside Thailand.
In June 1986, Duch was sent to China
to teach as a Khmer language
expert at Beijing
's Foreign Language Institute. He returned to the Thai-Cambodian border a year later and changed his name to Hang Pin. He worked as a senior bureaucrat just inside the Cambodian border at Pol Pot
's secretariat at Camp 505. Shortly after the Paris agreement in October 1991, he moved with his family to a small isolated village called Phkoam
close to the Thai border where he bought some land and began teaching in the local school. He was known as a good teacher, but one with a fiery temper.
In 1995, following an attack on his home that killed his wife, Duch sold all his possessions, secured a transfer to Svay Chek College, and moved there with his children. Shortly after his wife's murder, Duch began attending the prayer meetings of the Golden West Cambodian Christian Church held in Battambang
by Christopher LaPel, an evangelical Khmer-American. Duch was baptized by LaPel and eventually became a lay pastor. LaPel was later to observe that although he did not know Duch's real identify at the time, there were clues. For example, before his conversion, Duch had said to Lapel that he had done a lot of bad things in his life. Later, Duch was to say, "I don’t know if my brothers and sisters can forgive the sins I've committed against the people".
as Director of Education. When fighting broke out in 1996 following the split of the Khmer Rouge and the coup to oust Prince Rannaridh in 1997, he fled with his family to the Ban Ma Muang camp just inside Thailand. At the camp, he worked for the American Refugee Committee
as the Community Health Supervisor. In late 1998, he returned to Cambodia when fighting subsided. He settled in the village of Andao Hep in
Rattanak Mondul and worked closely with World Vision International
, the Christian relief agency.
The photojournalist Nic Dunlop
tracked down Duch to Samlaut. In 1999, Nate Thayer
, who had previously interviewed Pol Pot
and Ta Mok
, and Dunlop interviewed Duch for the Far Eastern Economic Review
. Duch surrendered to the authorities in Phnom Penh following the publication of his interview.
based on the more than eight years he spent without trial in Cambodian military detention. The appeal was unsuccessful and on 14 August 2008, the tribunal issued its indictment after completing their investigation of Duch.
In February 2008, as part of the judicial process, Duch was taken to the scene of his crimes. He reportedly collapsed in tears after stating, "I ask for your forgiveness – I know that you cannot forgive me, but I ask you to leave me the hope that you might."
On 16 February 2009, the UN
supervised trial of Duch began at a Phnom Penh
court. Duch was prosecuted by international co-prosecutors William Smith and Anees Ahmed
and was charged with "personally overseeing the systematic torture of more than 15,000 prisoners". The presiding judge of the case was Nil Nonn. Duch was tried by a panel of five judges — three Cambodian, one French and one New Zealander — according to a 2003 pact between Cambodia and the United Nations establishing the tribunal.
On 30 March 2009, Duch testified that US policies in the 1970s contributed to the brutal regime's rise to power. "I think the Khmer Rouge would already have been demolished," he said of their status by 1970. "But Mr Kissinger (then US secretary of state) and Richard Nixon
were quick [to back coup leader Gen Lon Nol], and then the Khmer Rouge noted the golden opportunity." "Because of this alliance, the Khmer Rouge were able to build up their power over the course of their 1970–75 war against the Lon Nol regime", Duch said.
On 31 March 2009, Duch, in a statement in front of the Cambodia tribunal, accepted responsibility for torturing and executing thousands of inmates, expressed "heartfelt sorrow" for his crimes and vowed to cooperate fully with the tribunal.
Duch surprised the tribunal on 27 November 2009 with a plea to be released. In his final statement before the tribunal he acknowledged his involvement in Khmer Rouge-era crimes, including the execution of more than 12,000 Tuol Sleng prisoners, but said they were committed by a "criminal party". Duch also noted that he had served more than 10 years in detention, and stressed that he had been fully cooperative with the tribunal. There were also conflicting closing arguments from Duch's defense team. His Cambodian lawyer, Kar Savuth demanded his client’s acquittal and release, while his international counterpart, François Roux pressed judges to hand down a lenient sentence.
At the conclusion of the trial, prosecutors asked that Duch be given 40 years in prison if convicted. On 26 July 2010, Duch was found guilty of crimes against humanity, torture, and murder; he was sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment, with a pre-trial detention credit of 11 years being applied to his sentence and an additional controversial five year deduction because his period of pre-trial detention exceeded the maximum allowed under Cambodian law. If he serves his entire sentence in prison, he will be released in 2029 at age 87.
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
movement, which ruled Democratic Kampuchea
Democratic Kampuchea
The Khmer Rouge period refers to the rule of Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, Khieu Samphan and the Khmer Rouge Communist party over Cambodia, which the Khmer Rouge renamed as Democratic Kampuchea....
from 1975 to 1979. As the head of the government's internal security branch, he oversaw the Tuol Sleng
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a museum in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The site is a former high school which was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 by the Khmer Rouge communist regime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979...
(S-21) prison camp where thousands were held for interrogation and torture. The first Khmer Rouge leader to be tried by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, commonly known as the "Khmer Rouge Tribunal", is a national court established pursuant to an agreement between the Royal Government of Cambodia and the United Nations to try senior members of the Khmer Rouge for serious violations of Cambodian...
for the crimes of the regime, he was convicted of crimes against humanity, murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, and torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
for his role during the Khmer Rouge rule of Cambodia and sentenced to 35 years imprisonment.
Early years
Kampong Cham (city)
Kampong Cham is the capital city of the Kampong Cham Province in eastern Cambodia. It is the third largest city in Cambodia with a population of 63,771 people and is located on the Mekong River. Kampong Cham is 124 kilometers northeast from Phnom Penh and can be reached by either boat or by...
, Kampong Thom Province, and is of Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
-Khmer
Khmer people
Khmer people are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million people in the country. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Mon–Khmer language family found throughout Southeast Asia...
ancestry. A star pupil in his school, he passed his Brevet d'Etudes Secondaire de Première in 1961 at the age of nineteen. He finished the first half of his Baccalaureate in 1962 at the Lycée Suravarman II in the town of Siem Reap
Siem Reap
Siem Reap is the capital city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia, and is the gateway to Angkor region.Siem Reap has colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old French Quarter, and around the Old Market...
. The same year he was offered a place in the prestigious Lycée Sisowath
Lycee Sisowath
Lycée Preah Sisowath is a secondary school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The school was founded in 1873 as a collège and became a lycée in 1933.-History:...
in Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
where he completed his Baccalaureate in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, scoring second in the entire country.
Induction into the Khmer Rouge
In 1964, Kek Iew began studying for his teaching certificate in Mathematics, a subject he loved, at the Institut de Pédagogie. The Institute was a cradle of activism under the directorship of Son SenSon Sen
Son Sen was a Cambodian Communist politician and soldier. A member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea/Party of Democratic Kampuchea, the Khmer Rouge, from 1974 to 1992, Sen oversaw the Party's security apparatus, including the Santebal secret police and the notorious...
who was later to emerge as the Defence Minister of the Khmer Rouge and Duch's immediate superior.
On August 28, 1966, Kek Iew got his teaching certificate and was posted to a lycée in Skoun, a small town in Kampong Cham Province. He was a good teacher, remembered as earnest and committed by his pupils. He joined the Communist Party of Kampuchea
Communist Party of Kampuchea
The Communist Party of Kampuchea, also known as Khmer Communist Party , was a communist party in Cambodia. Its followers were generally known as Khmer Rouge .-Foundation of the party; first divisions:...
in 1967. Following the arrest of three of his students, he fled to the Khmer Rouge base in Chamkar Leu District
Chamkar Leu District
Chamkar Leu District is a district of Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia. The district capital is Chamkar Leu town. The town is located at the junction of National Roads 71 and 222 around north east of the provincial capital at Kampong Cham city. The district is significant producer of rubber, both...
where he was accepted as a full member of the Communist Party of Kampuchea.
A few months later, he was arrested and tortured at the Prey Sar prison by Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk regular script was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until his semi-retirement and voluntary abdication on 7 October 2004 in favor of his son, the current King Norodom Sihamoni...
's police for engaging in communist activities. He was held without trial for the next two years. In 1970, when he was released following the amnesty granted to political prisoners by Lon Nol
Lon Nol
Lon Nol was a Cambodian politician and general who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice, as well as serving repeatedly as Defense Minister...
, he joined the Khmer Rouge rebels in the Cardamom Mountains
Cardamom Mountains
The Krâvanh Mountains, literally the "Cardamom Mountains" , is a mountain range in the south west of Cambodia, jutting into southeastern Thailand.-Location and description:...
bordering Thailand.
In the maquis
Communist groups in France's former colonies in Indochina borrowed the French World War II expression 'maquisMaquis (World War II)
The Maquis were the predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's Service du travail obligatoire to provide forced labour for Germany...
' when referring to their resistance movements in the jungles.
In the zone under the control of the Khmer Rouge, Kek Iew took on his nom de guerre Comrade Duch (IPA:[dojc]) and became a prison commandant. He was appointed the head of Special Security by his immediate superior Vorn Vet
Vorn Vet
Vorn Vet born Pen Thuok, was a deputy prime minister for the economy of Democratic Kampuchea...
. In the forests of Amleang, Thpong District
Thpong District
Thpong District is a district located in Kampong Speu Province in central Cambodia.-Geography:The district is located in central Cambodia. Neighbouring districts are Odongk, Samraong Tong and Aoral...
, Duch set up his first prison, code-named 'M-13'. Two years later, he also established a second prison 'M-99' in nearby Aoral District
Aoral District
Aoral District is a district located in Kampong Speu Province in central Cambodia. It includes Phnom Aural, the highest peak in Cambodia.-Administration:Aoral District is subdivided into 5 communes -References:...
.
Assisted by his two deputies, Comrade Chan and Comrade Pon, Duch began perfecting his interrogation techniques and the purging of perceived enemies from the Khmer Rouge ranks. Prisoners at these camps, mostly from the ranks of the Khmer Rouge, were routinely starved and tortured to extract real and made-up confessions. Few prisoners left the camps alive.
While in the maquis, Duch married Chhim Sophal, aka Rom, a dressmaker from a nearby village.
Leading the Santebal and Tuol Sleng
After the Khmer Rouge victory in April 1975 Duch and his men set up prisons throughout the capital including the infamous Tuol Sleng prison. Duch's request for a transfer in May 1975 to the Industrial Sector of government was denied. The Tuol Sleng prison camp was initially headed by In Lon aka Comrade Nath with Duch acting as deputy. Subsequently, In Lon was transferred and Duch promoted to be the Director. By May 1976 all the prisons in Phnom Penh were consolidated and relocated to Tuol Sleng. Prisons like Tuol Sleng were created to cleanse the ranks of the Khmer Rouge of suspected enemies of the revolution.Duch ordered the execution of prisoners after their interrogation was completed. For example, on a list containing the names of 17 prisoners (eight teenagers and nine children), he wrote the order “Smash them to pieces.” On a longer list of detainees, his annotation reads “smash: 115; keep: 44 persons.” The text below this annotation reads “Comrade Duch proposed to Angkar; Angkar agreed.” On a list of 20 female detainees, Duch wrote annotations for each of them, ordering: “take away for execution,” “keep for interrogation” or “medical experiment". At least 100 detainees died after having their blood drawn for transfusions for wounded soldiers. Surgical operations were also performed on detainees in order to train medical staff.
Duch impressed his superiors with his work and was appointed the head of Democratic Kampuchea
Democratic Kampuchea
The Khmer Rouge period refers to the rule of Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, Khieu Samphan and the Khmer Rouge Communist party over Cambodia, which the Khmer Rouge renamed as Democratic Kampuchea....
's dreaded "special branch" – the Santebal
Santebal
The Santebal, a Khmer term meaning "keeper of the peace", was the Special Branch of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.The Santebal was in charge of internal security and running prison camps like Tuol Sleng where thousands of people were imprisoned, tortured and killed...
.
As the party purges increased towards the end of the Democratic Kampuchea period, more and more people were brought to Duch, including many former colleagues including his predecessor at Tuol Sleng, In Lon. Throughout this period Duch built up a large archive of prison records, mug shots and extracted "confessions".
On 7 January 1979, Duch was amongst the last Khmer Rouge cadres to flee Phnom Penh after it fell to the Vietnamese army. Though he was unable to destroy much of the prison's extensive documents, he saw to the execution of several surviving prisoners before he fled the city.
After the fall
Duch reached the border with Thailand in May 1979. Details of his whereabouts at this time were sketchy. It is believed that he went to the forests of Samlaut where he was reunited with his family. Here Duch was demoted by Brother Number Two, Nuon CheaNuon Chea
Nuon Chea , also known as Long Bunruot , is a Cambodian former communist politician and former chief ideologist of Khmer Rouge. He was commonly known as "Brother Number Two" second in command to Pol Pot who was leader during the Cambodian Genocide 1975-1979...
, for having failed to destroy the documents at Tuol Sleng. At the border, he learned to speak Thai and taught himself English. He later taught English and mathematics at a refugee camp in Borai just inside Thailand.
In June 1986, Duch was sent to China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
to teach as a Khmer language
Khmer language
Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
expert at Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
's Foreign Language Institute. He returned to the Thai-Cambodian border a year later and changed his name to Hang Pin. He worked as a senior bureaucrat just inside the Cambodian border at Pol Pot
Pol Pot
Saloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
's secretariat at Camp 505. Shortly after the Paris agreement in October 1991, he moved with his family to a small isolated village called Phkoam
Phkoam
Phkoam is a khum of Svay Chek District in Banteay Meanchey Province in north-western Cambodia.-Villages:* Phkoam* Yeang Vien* Yeang* Ampil* Ou* Prasat Vien* Ta Duol* Svay Sa* Mau* Thma Koul* Ta Kul...
close to the Thai border where he bought some land and began teaching in the local school. He was known as a good teacher, but one with a fiery temper.
In 1995, following an attack on his home that killed his wife, Duch sold all his possessions, secured a transfer to Svay Chek College, and moved there with his children. Shortly after his wife's murder, Duch began attending the prayer meetings of the Golden West Cambodian Christian Church held in Battambang
Battambang
Battambang is the capital city of Battambang province in northwestern Cambodia.Battambang is the second-largest city in Cambodia with a population of over 250,000. Founded in the 11th century by the Khmer Empire, Battambang is well known for being the leading rice-producing province of the country...
by Christopher LaPel, an evangelical Khmer-American. Duch was baptized by LaPel and eventually became a lay pastor. LaPel was later to observe that although he did not know Duch's real identify at the time, there were clues. For example, before his conversion, Duch had said to Lapel that he had done a lot of bad things in his life. Later, Duch was to say, "I don’t know if my brothers and sisters can forgive the sins I've committed against the people".
Discovery
Close to his identity being discovered, Duch accepted a transfer to SamlautSamlaut Multiple Use Area
Samlaut is a protected area in northwestern Cambodia. It was declared a protected area in 1993 by King Norodom Sihanouk along with other forests and preserves. Samlaut is the last remaining tropical rainforest in northwestern Cambodia, covering 600 square kilometres...
as Director of Education. When fighting broke out in 1996 following the split of the Khmer Rouge and the coup to oust Prince Rannaridh in 1997, he fled with his family to the Ban Ma Muang camp just inside Thailand. At the camp, he worked for the American Refugee Committee
American Refugee Committee
The American Refugee Committee is an international nonprofit, nonsectarian organization that has provided humanitarian assistance and training to millions of beneficiaries over the last 30 years....
as the Community Health Supervisor. In late 1998, he returned to Cambodia when fighting subsided. He settled in the village of Andao Hep in
Rattanak Mondul and worked closely with World Vision International
World Vision International
World Vision International, founded in the USA in 1977, is an evangelical relief and development umbrella organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good...
, the Christian relief agency.
The photojournalist Nic Dunlop
Nic Dunlop
Nic Dunlop is a photographer and author of The Lost Executioner, a book about how he tracked down Khmer Rouge leader Comrade Duch.Dunlop was born in Ireland and is now based in Bangkok, Thailand...
tracked down Duch to Samlaut. In 1999, Nate Thayer
Nate Thayer
Nate Thayer is a journalist who interviewed Pol Pot. He was the Cambodia correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review, a respected investigative publication that published from 1946 to 2009...
, who had previously interviewed Pol Pot
Pol Pot
Saloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
and Ta Mok
Ta Mok
Ta Mok , which means "Grandfather Mok" in Khmer, was the nom de guerre of Chhit Choeun , a senior figure in the leadership of the Khmer Rouge...
, and Dunlop interviewed Duch for the Far Eastern Economic Review
Far Eastern Economic Review
The Far Eastern Economic Review was an English language Asian news magazine started in 1946. It printed its final issue in December 2009. The Hong Kong-based business magazine was originally published weekly...
. Duch surrendered to the authorities in Phnom Penh following the publication of his interview.
Trial
On 31 July 2007, Duch was formally charged with crimes against humanity and detained by Cambodia's United Nations-backed Cambodia Tribunal. Duch, represented by Cambodian lawyer Kar Savuth and French lawyer Francois Roux, appealed against his provisional detention by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of CambodiaExtraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, commonly known as the "Khmer Rouge Tribunal", is a national court established pursuant to an agreement between the Royal Government of Cambodia and the United Nations to try senior members of the Khmer Rouge for serious violations of Cambodian...
based on the more than eight years he spent without trial in Cambodian military detention. The appeal was unsuccessful and on 14 August 2008, the tribunal issued its indictment after completing their investigation of Duch.
In February 2008, as part of the judicial process, Duch was taken to the scene of his crimes. He reportedly collapsed in tears after stating, "I ask for your forgiveness – I know that you cannot forgive me, but I ask you to leave me the hope that you might."
On 16 February 2009, the UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
supervised trial of Duch began at a Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
court. Duch was prosecuted by international co-prosecutors William Smith and Anees Ahmed
Anees Ahmed
Anees Ahmed is the United Nations appointed Senior Assistant Prosecutor ofthe Khmer Rouge Tribunal based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He is part of...
and was charged with "personally overseeing the systematic torture of more than 15,000 prisoners". The presiding judge of the case was Nil Nonn. Duch was tried by a panel of five judges — three Cambodian, one French and one New Zealander — according to a 2003 pact between Cambodia and the United Nations establishing the tribunal.
On 30 March 2009, Duch testified that US policies in the 1970s contributed to the brutal regime's rise to power. "I think the Khmer Rouge would already have been demolished," he said of their status by 1970. "But Mr Kissinger (then US secretary of state) and Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
were quick [to back coup leader Gen Lon Nol], and then the Khmer Rouge noted the golden opportunity." "Because of this alliance, the Khmer Rouge were able to build up their power over the course of their 1970–75 war against the Lon Nol regime", Duch said.
On 31 March 2009, Duch, in a statement in front of the Cambodia tribunal, accepted responsibility for torturing and executing thousands of inmates, expressed "heartfelt sorrow" for his crimes and vowed to cooperate fully with the tribunal.
Duch surprised the tribunal on 27 November 2009 with a plea to be released. In his final statement before the tribunal he acknowledged his involvement in Khmer Rouge-era crimes, including the execution of more than 12,000 Tuol Sleng prisoners, but said they were committed by a "criminal party". Duch also noted that he had served more than 10 years in detention, and stressed that he had been fully cooperative with the tribunal. There were also conflicting closing arguments from Duch's defense team. His Cambodian lawyer, Kar Savuth demanded his client’s acquittal and release, while his international counterpart, François Roux pressed judges to hand down a lenient sentence.
At the conclusion of the trial, prosecutors asked that Duch be given 40 years in prison if convicted. On 26 July 2010, Duch was found guilty of crimes against humanity, torture, and murder; he was sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment, with a pre-trial detention credit of 11 years being applied to his sentence and an additional controversial five year deduction because his period of pre-trial detention exceeded the maximum allowed under Cambodian law. If he serves his entire sentence in prison, he will be released in 2029 at age 87.
See also
- Democratic KampucheaDemocratic KampucheaThe Khmer Rouge period refers to the rule of Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, Khieu Samphan and the Khmer Rouge Communist party over Cambodia, which the Khmer Rouge renamed as Democratic Kampuchea....
- The Killing FieldsThe Killing FieldsThe Killing Fields are a number of sites in Cambodia where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule of the country from 1975 to 1979, immediately after the end of the Cambodian Civil War ....
- Tuol Sleng
- Chum MeyChum MeyChum Mey is one of only twelve known survivors of the Khmer Rouge imprisonment in the S-21 Tuol Sleng camp, where more than 16,000 Cambodians were sent for execution. He survived two years of torture and fear in a Khmer Rouge death camp, sustained by thoughts of his pregnant wife and unborn child...
- Vann NathVann NathVann Nath was a Cambodian painter, artist, writer and human rights activist who was one of a diverse group of writers from 22 countries to receive the prestigious Lillian Hellman/Hammett Award which recognizes courage in the face of political persecution which he faced during the Khmer Rouge...
- Enemies of the People (film)Enemies of the People (film)Enemies of the People is a 2009 British / Cambodian documentary film written and directed by Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath. The film charts the ten year quest of co-director Sambath to find truth and closure in the Killing Fields of Cambodia...
External links
- Judgement of the Trial Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/opinion/17bizot.html"My Savior, Their Killer" New York Times Op-Ed by François BizotFrançois BizotFrançois Bizot , is the only Westerner to have survived imprisonment by the Khmer Rouge.Bizot arrived in Cambodia in 1965 to study Buddhism practiced in the countryside. He traveled extensively around Cambodia, researching the history and customs of its dominant religion...
– a (French) former prisoner of Duch's] - 1999 BBC article on Duch's capture
- A short review of Nic Dunlop's book about Duch – The Lost Executioner
- Case information at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
- IT Conversations: Nic Dunlop Podcast interview of Nic Dunlop, Photojournalist, discussing how he found Kang Kek Iew
- Experience: I tracked down a man who killed 14,000 people Nic Dunlop talks about tracking down Duch
- The Killer and the Pastor Time magazine article about Duch's conversion to Christianity