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Ex-Khmer Rouge leader 'Duch' apologizes for war crimes in Cambodia genocide court

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Former Khmer Rogue  leader Kaing Guek Eav, also known as "Duch," on Tuesday formally accepted responsibility and apologized for the torture and murder of an estimated 12,000 Cambodians at the prison he ran for the regime. Kaing made the admission during his trial before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) where he faces charges of crimes against humanity, torture, and murder for his actions as the overseer of the Tuol Sleng interrogation facility known as S21. Pretrial hearings against Kaing began last month, but the substantive case  against him began Monday. The trial will continue  with additional statements on Wednesday of this week, and additional proceedings every Monday through Thursday until early July. Kaing's trial is the first of eight that the ECCC hopes to hear against former members of the Khmer Rouge, which has been accused of murdering 1.7 million Cambodians during their nearly four year reign. The ECCC has long been plagued with accusations of corruption and inadequate funding, with greater problems in recent years. Earlier this month, the ECCC reported that it would be unable to pay its Cambodian employees for that month, one year after the court had requested $114 million dollars from the UN. In February, Human Rights Watch warned that the ECCC trials were in danger of being tainted for their failure to follow fair trial standards, and in January a Cambodian court agreed to hear a corruption case involving two ECCC judges.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 31, 2009 (boomark / email).