Khmer Rouge defendant says own staff also killed

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The man accused of running a torture center for the Khmer Rouge testified Monday that its own guards and interrogators were among those executed, sometimes for making minor mistakes.

Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch (pronounced Doik), commanded Phnom Penh's S-21 prison, where as many as 16,000 men, women and children were tortured before being sent to their deaths when the communist group held power in 1975-79.

Duch, 66, is being tried by a U.N.-assisted tribunal for crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. About 1.7 million Cambodians died from forced labor, starvation, medical neglect and executions under the ultra-communist regime.

He said Monday that more than 100 personnel from S-21 and the Prey Sar prison — a reeducation center on the outskirts of Phnom Penh — were arrested, tortured and executed, in some cases for simple irregularities and mishaps in carrying out their duties.

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Related story:

Court rules KRouge jail chief's rights violated

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jJ5yZpJR51mKR4HGbOPJAQUXSuRg

Source: AFP

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia's war crimes court ruled Monday that the Khmer Rouge prison chief's rights were violated when he was detained for a decade before trial, a decision that could reduce any eventual sentence.

Duch, who was arrested by the Cambodian military in 1999, had to wait in prison until earlier this year to face crimes against humanity charges for his role in the 1975-79 hardline communist regime.

The chief judge at the UN-backed tribunal, Nil Nonn, said it was "unlawful" that the 66-year-old former maths teacher had spent so long in detention before the case came to court.

"The accused, under international law and the law of the kingdom of Cambodia, is entitled to a remedy for the time spent in detention under the authority of the military court and the violation of his rights," Nil Nonn said.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIuntCU1mCsWYORH7ffwxpYipg1gD98R3TUG0

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Although I do not feel sorry for Duch, I agree with this ruling: no one should spend 10 years in jail before coming to trial. That sort of abuse is supposed to be what this sort of trial is against.

That being said, I think Duch's crimes require a life sentence, I hope he never has a free day again....