AAP
April 20, 2009
A witness at Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court wept on Monday as he testified that the former prison chief for the Khmer Rouge regime executed his uncle at a secret jungle camp.
Chan Veoun, 56, said he saw the jailer, known as Duch, shoot dead his uncle while he himself worked collecting food at the prison camp, M-13, in the early 1970s.
"He was my uncle. He was shot by Duch. He killed him in front of my eyes," Chan Veoun said, weeping. He did not give a reason for the slaying.
Duch - whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav - charged in response that the testimony was fabricated.
Last month Duch apologised at the start of his trial, accepting blame for overseeing the extermination of 15,000 people who passed through the regime's notorious main prison, Tuol Sleng, also known as S-21.
He has maintained however that he never personally executed anyone and has only admitted to abusing two people.
Chan Veoun told the court Duch regularly beat prisoners and once stripped a woman to her waist to burn her breasts with a torch soaked in gasoline.
"I saw him tie the female and take off her shirt and burn the chest of that lady," he said.
Once, he added, prisoners kept shackled in pits were left to drown in monsoon season floods.
He went on to describe how staff at the camp would gauge Duch's mood.
"When he spoke to the guards with a straight face, things were okay. But if he had a smile on his face, there were problems," Chan Veoun said.
Duch denied his accounts, saying he recognised Chan Veoun but the witness had never worked under him.
"This is a complete fabrication - probably of what he heard and (he) added something on top," Duch told the court.
"About the crimes committed at (M-13) I cannot forget it. It is a serious matter that affects me psychologically."
The court has been hearing evidence about M-13, which Duch ran during the 1971 to 1975 Khmer Rouge insurgency against the then US-backed government, to better understand Tuol Sleng's organising structure.
The Khmer Rouge were in power in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, when Duch is accused of supervising Tuol Sleng prison and sending thousands of people to their deaths in the so-called "Killing Fields."
The former mathematics teacher has denied assertions by prosecutors that he played a central role in the Khmer Rouge's iron-fisted rule.
Duch faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and premeditated murder for his role in the Khmer Rouge. He faces life in jail at the court, which does not have the power to impose the death penalty.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998, and many believe the UN-sponsored tribunal is the last chance to find justice for victims of the regime, which killed up to two million people.
The tribunal was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the United Nations and Cambodian government, and is scheduled to try four other senior Khmer Rouge leaders.
However the court is now jeopardised by allegations of political interference and corruption in the wake of claims that Cambodian staff were forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.
Talks between the United Nations and senior Cambodian officials to stop corruption at the court ended earlier this month with no agreement on how to create anti-corruption measures.
April 20, 2009
A witness at Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court wept on Monday as he testified that the former prison chief for the Khmer Rouge regime executed his uncle at a secret jungle camp.
Chan Veoun, 56, said he saw the jailer, known as Duch, shoot dead his uncle while he himself worked collecting food at the prison camp, M-13, in the early 1970s.
"He was my uncle. He was shot by Duch. He killed him in front of my eyes," Chan Veoun said, weeping. He did not give a reason for the slaying.
Duch - whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav - charged in response that the testimony was fabricated.
Last month Duch apologised at the start of his trial, accepting blame for overseeing the extermination of 15,000 people who passed through the regime's notorious main prison, Tuol Sleng, also known as S-21.
He has maintained however that he never personally executed anyone and has only admitted to abusing two people.
Chan Veoun told the court Duch regularly beat prisoners and once stripped a woman to her waist to burn her breasts with a torch soaked in gasoline.
"I saw him tie the female and take off her shirt and burn the chest of that lady," he said.
Once, he added, prisoners kept shackled in pits were left to drown in monsoon season floods.
He went on to describe how staff at the camp would gauge Duch's mood.
"When he spoke to the guards with a straight face, things were okay. But if he had a smile on his face, there were problems," Chan Veoun said.
Duch denied his accounts, saying he recognised Chan Veoun but the witness had never worked under him.
"This is a complete fabrication - probably of what he heard and (he) added something on top," Duch told the court.
"About the crimes committed at (M-13) I cannot forget it. It is a serious matter that affects me psychologically."
The court has been hearing evidence about M-13, which Duch ran during the 1971 to 1975 Khmer Rouge insurgency against the then US-backed government, to better understand Tuol Sleng's organising structure.
The Khmer Rouge were in power in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, when Duch is accused of supervising Tuol Sleng prison and sending thousands of people to their deaths in the so-called "Killing Fields."
The former mathematics teacher has denied assertions by prosecutors that he played a central role in the Khmer Rouge's iron-fisted rule.
Duch faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and premeditated murder for his role in the Khmer Rouge. He faces life in jail at the court, which does not have the power to impose the death penalty.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998, and many believe the UN-sponsored tribunal is the last chance to find justice for victims of the regime, which killed up to two million people.
The tribunal was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the United Nations and Cambodian government, and is scheduled to try four other senior Khmer Rouge leaders.
However the court is now jeopardised by allegations of political interference and corruption in the wake of claims that Cambodian staff were forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.
Talks between the United Nations and senior Cambodian officials to stop corruption at the court ended earlier this month with no agreement on how to create anti-corruption measures.
7 comments:
Excellent blog you have here.. It's hard to find high-quality writing like yours these days. I honestly appreciate people like you! Take care!!
Also visit my web site petersen
I'm gone to convey my little brother, that he should also go to see this website on regular basis to obtain updated from hottest gossip.
My web site :: weissman
Excellent site you have here but I was curious about if you knew of any user
discussion forums that cover the same topics talked about here?
I'd really love to be a part of online community where I can get suggestions from other experienced people that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Many thanks!
my homepage; organelles
I do not leave a lot of remarks, but i did some searching and wound up here "KRouge chief executed my uncle: witness".
And I do have 2 questions for you if you don't mind. Is it only me or does it appear like a few of the remarks look as if they are left by brain dead individuals? :-P And, if you are posting on additional online sites, I would like to follow everything fresh you have to post. Would you list of the complete urls of your public pages like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?
My web site sacramentos
I absolutely love your blog and find many of your post's to be exactly what I'm looking for.
Do you offer guest writers to write content in your case?
I wouldn't mind producing a post or elaborating on a lot of the subjects you write regarding here. Again, awesome weblog!
my page ... napier
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I do think that you ought to publish more on this topic, it might not be a
taboo subject but usually people do not discuss these issues.
To the next! Best wishes!!
My web blog: springtown
Appreciate this post. Let me try it out.
My web site; balexert
Post a Comment