Submitted by Albert J.Repicci
and Kelly Repicci
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 31, 2009.
On this the second day of the trial in Cambodia of the accused, Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, for crimes against humanity, the courtroom was mesmerized by the gripping description of Duch’s alleged crimes as they were presented by the Canadian international prosecutor Robert Petit. Mr Petit elaborated on the extend of the horrors for which Duch is being held responsible specifically the death by starvation, overwork, torture and execution of over 14,000 men women and children. Mr Petit’s presentation evoked the deepest emotional response from the court room when he showed film clips taken at the prison, where Duch was commandant, on the day of its liberation showing bodies of the inmates shackled in the the torture chambers. ‘Several Cambodians witnessing these graphic and evocative scenes broke into tears while others, emotionally overwhelmed, left the courtroom. Petit regarded any claim that proposed that Duch was just following orders as being implausible and unbelievable given the nature of the annotations Duch had inscribed on documents describing torture and execution techniques.
The defense, led by French international attorney, Francois, Roux, was quick to object to the video footage, an objection that was denied by the judges because the material had been accepted as part of the pre-trial evidence. Mr. Petit continued with a a litany of charges as seen by witnesses all of whom where given code names for their protection. It was ironic to learn from his description that the Khmer Rouge regime had become so paranoid that it eventually had 190 staff members in the S-21 prison that Duch ran, executed and tortured as part of a cleansing of enemies of the regime. The tribunal than called for a recess at which time Duch, who sat alone in the dock with his back to the courtroom, turned and looked out at the assemblage of Cambodians holding him responsible for the atrocities they had just been described.
When the court went back into session, to the shock of all in attendance, Duch had asked to take the stand and confess his guilt for the atrocities he was accused of and to offer his apologies to the people of Cambodia. The courtroom remained fixed on his every word as he detailed his greater concern for his own life and that of his family over the lives of the many Cambodians he sent to their death. He said he realized that he too was likely to become a victim of his superior’s paranoia and eventually suffer the same fate as his victims.
Mr. Petit than put the confession into a different perspective. He pointed out that, although the prison had been over run and evacuated in 1979, Duch remained a loyal member of the Khmer Rouge for another 15 years. Further that Duch had ultimate power in the prison and the atrocities were shaped by his own design. Finally, Mr Petit, seized upon on the most unique aspects of the trial , that being that witnesses and victims were to be granted the opportunity to question the accused themselves before the court. Unless that privilege was fulfilled, he said, there would be no closure and no reconciliation for the nation or for the families of those Duch had sent to their death.