Friday, July 17, 2009

Cambodia: Trial gives killing fields survivors a chance of justice

A tourist walks past pictures of those who died at security prison 21, now the Tuol Sleng genocide museum. The Khmer Rouge killed almost two million Cambodians. Photograph: Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images
Thursday 16 July 2009
By Tom Fawthrop in Phnom Penh
guardian.co.uk

• Ex-inmates testify against former prison chief Duch
• Fears grow that others may die before facing tribunal

Chum Mey has waited for 30 years to tell his story to the world: the story of a prisoner, one of the very few, who survived incarceration in Pol Pot's most notorious and murderous prison.
Standing behind bulletproof glass in a courtroom in Phnom Penh, the former engineer, now a frail 79-year-old, recalled the agony of jail S21. "I was tortured for 12 days and nights. Every day they beat me with a stick. They used pliers to pull out my toenails," he said, breaking down in tears. "They used electric shocks. Twice I lost consciousness."

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