Cambodian Trial, Though Grim, Broke New Ground

Kaing Guek Eav, left, sat in the courtroom at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, during the closing statements in Phnom Penh on Friday. (Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, via European Pressphoto Agency)

November 29, 2009
By SETH MYDANS
The New York Times

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — The first trial to showcase the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge three decades ago concluded with the regime’s chief torturer still seemingly unable to grasp the magnitude of his actions. Yet despite that surprising end, the trial may have helped Cambodia begin to move beyond the horrors of its past.

The defendant, Kaing Guek Eav, 67, known as Duch, was the first leading Khmer Rouge figure to be tried in connection with the deaths of 1.7 million people when the brutal Communist regime ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. Throughout the trial, he described in detail his role as the commandant of Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21, where at least 14,000 people were tortured and sent to their deaths.

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