JULY 27, 2010
JOHN A. HALL
The Wall Street Journal
Duch's case was easy. The next round of prosecutions could raise challenges to the court's legitimacy
The Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Cambodia, which began operations in 2006, has finally rendered its first verdict. Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, was found guilty Monday of crimes against humanity and other serious offenses; his lawyer says he will appeal. Duch was commandant of the infamous Tuol Sleng torture facility in Phnom Penh in the late 1970s, where over 12,000 victims of the Khmer Rouge were imprisoned, tortured and executed.
This first verdict is of considerable historic and symbolic importance. Cambodians have waited over 30 years for an honest public accounting, a sense of justice served, and some measure of closure. But it is important to keep the Duch verdict in perspective. There is a reason his was the first case to be prosecuted: It was the most straightforward factually and legally, with a defendant who was willing to admit his responsibility and presented little in the way of a defense. He testified extensively and frequently apologized to the victims and their families. Only in the final days of the trial did he change tactics and request to be freed.
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