Lately, one of the tribunal trials of a Khmer Rouge official, decades after the murderous Khmer Rouge was forced from power. In 1999, one of the chief executioners of the murderous regime, Kaing Guek Eav, also spelled Kang Kek Iew, or “Comrade Duch” was found and put on trial. The trial of the man who presided over more than 17,000 executions has concluded. Credited for time served, the man who presided over 17,000 executions at his prison will serve only 19 years in jail. Survivors of the Khmer Rouge and the bereaved of the executed are outraged at the comparatively light sentence.
Warden for the Khmer Rouge murdered thousands
In 1975, the Khmer Rouge seized power in Cambodia. The goal of leader Pol Pot and also the Khmer Rouge was to liquidate the upper and middle class, and found a collectivist farming utopia. The regime right away set about executing anybody they considered opponents, including educators, intellectuals, and perhaps individuals that wore glasses. Kaing Guek Eav was the head of security for the state police, the Santebal, and ran the notorious Tuol Sleng Prison, also called S-21. Over 17,000 inmates were sent to Toul Sleng to be tortured and executed. From that 17,000 that were sent, 12 lived to talk about it.
Capture and the trial
When the Khmer Rouge were toppled in 1979, their personnel scattered. Pol Pot went into hiding, eventually being discovered and put under house arrest until his death in 1998. Other officials of the Khmer Rouge went on trial, and some nevertheless are. Kaing Guek Eav surrendered to authorities in 1999, having been found near the Thai-Cambodian border living under an assumed name. A long trial process began with the Khmer Rouge tribunals. He was convicted of crimes against humanity, and on July 26 2010, he was credited for 11 years of time served and five years of pretrial detention against a 35-year sentence. He will serve 19 years in prison, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
What you need, my son
The sentence has not gone over well with survivors and families of the victims of the Khmer Rouge. Millions perished under the Khmer Rouge, and he may live long enough to be released. Chum Mey, one of the 3 nevertheless living survivors of Tuol Sleng was present at the trial. His wife and children were tortured and murdered by the Khmer Rouge. He said that “millions of individuals died, lots of money has been spent on the court – and also the perpetrator is free (in 19 years)? I am not happy with that.”
Additional reading
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge
csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/0726/Khmer-Rouge-executioner-found-guilty-but-Cambodians-say-sentence-too-light
bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10763409
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