Tuesday, 17 February 2009

Khmer Rouge tribunal opens its first trial on Tuesday 17 February 2009

A visitor photographs in the hallways of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, also known as the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21), in the centre of Phnom Penh February 16, 2009. From 1975-1979 an estimated 17,000 people were imprisoned, tortured and killed in S-21, once a high school turned into an interrogation centre, during the Khmer Rouge regime. The U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal opens its first trial on Tuesday when 66-year-old Duch, also known as Kaing Guek Eav, faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and homicide while he ran the S-21 torture centre.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

A visitor sits on bench after visiting torture rooms of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, also known as the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21), in the centre of Phnom Penh February 16, 2009. From 1975-1979 an estimated 17,000 people were imprisoned, tortured and killed in S-21, once a high school turned into an interrogation centre, during the Khmer Rouge regime. The U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal opens its first trial on Tuesday when 66-year-old Duch, also known as Kaing Guek Eav, faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and homicide while he ran the S-21 torture centre.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

Tourists visit a mass grave site of 450 Khmer Rouge victims at the Choeung Ek site of the "Killing Fields" located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh February 16, 2009. Thirty years after the fall of Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist regime, blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people, the first trial of his top cadres begins on February 17.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

A flower seller watches for customers near a popular temple along the Mekong river Phnom Penh, Cambodia, early Monday, Feb. 16, 2009. While attention in Cambodia is focused on the upcoming trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders, daily life in the Cambodian capital remains much the same as before.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

Visitors read an information billboard while standing in the hallways of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, also known as the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21), in the centre of Phnom Penh February 16, 2009. From 1975-1979, an estimated 17,000 people were imprisoned, tortured and killed in S-21, once a high school turned into an interrogation centre, during the Khmer Rouge regime. The U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal opens its first trial on Tuesday when 66-year-old Duch, also known as Kaing Guek Eav, faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and homicide while he ran the S-21 torture centre.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

A worker makes final preparations in front of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia building in Phnom Penh February 16, 2009, where Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal will try the first of five Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people in the 1970s. The tribunal opens its first trial on Tuesday when 66-year-old Duch, also known as Kaing Guek Eav, faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and homicide while he ran the S-21 torture centre.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

A tourist looks at human skulls Monday, Feb. 16, 2009, at Choeung Ek, one of the main Killing fields of the Khmer Rouge regime in the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A U.N.-backed genocide tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav, the commander of Toul Sleng under the Khmer rouge, also known as 'Duch,' will be the first leader to be tried.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A tourist takes picture of human skulls Monday, Feb. 16, 2009, at Choeung Ek, one of the main Killing fields of the Khmer Rouge regime in the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A U.N.-backed genocide tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav, the commander of Toul Sleng under the Khmer rouge, also known as 'Duch' will be the first leader to be tried.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Western tourists walk in front of a stupa that contains hundreds of human skulls Monday, Feb. 16, 2009, at Choeung Ek, one of the main Killing fields of the Khmer Rouge regime in the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A U.N.-backed genocide tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav, the commander of Toul Sleng under the Khmer Rouge, also known as 'Duch,' will be the first leader to be tried.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

An older Cambodian woman looks on during the funeral of a Khmer Rouge leader in Anlong Veng, Cambodia, Saturday, July 22, 2006. She would be among many with great interest as a U.N.-backed tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, of five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity. According to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Kaing Guek Eav, the commander of Toul Sleng under the Khmer Rouge, also known as 'Duch,' will be the first leader to be tried. At least 1.5 million people died of disease, executions or were worked to death during the Khmer Rouge's reign from 1975 to 1979. With no death penalty in Cambodia, the maximum sentence 'Duch' could face would be life imprisonment.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

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