For immediate release
Cambodia: Khmer Rouge Tribunal’s First Step in Search for Justice
UN, Donors Should Demand End to Political Interference in Future Trials
(Phnom Penh, July 26, 2010) - Today’s guilty verdict by Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge tribunal in the trial of the chief of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison is an important step in the search for justice for the victims of the Khmer Rouge, Human Rights Watch said today.
Kaing Gech Eav, 67, known as Duch, is the first of five former Khmer Rouge leaders currently facing trial before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). During his eight-month trial he admitted responsibility for many of the horrific crimes committed while he presided over Tuol Sleng prison, where more than 14,000 people were tortured and sent to their deaths during Khmer Rouge rule from 1975 to 1979.
Duch, who was arrested in 1999 prior to establishment of the UN-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for crimes against humanity and war crimes. The court ruled that five years are to be deducted from his sentence for his “illegal detention” by Cambodia’s military court before his transfer to the ECCC in 2007. Accounting for time already served, Duch now faces 19 more years in prison.
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Kaing Gech Eav, 67, known as Duch, is the first of five former Khmer Rouge leaders currently facing trial before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). During his eight-month trial he admitted responsibility for many of the horrific crimes committed while he presided over Tuol Sleng prison, where more than 14,000 people were tortured and sent to their deaths during Khmer Rouge rule from 1975 to 1979.
Duch, who was arrested in 1999 prior to establishment of the UN-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for crimes against humanity and war crimes. The court ruled that five years are to be deducted from his sentence for his “illegal detention” by Cambodia’s military court before his transfer to the ECCC in 2007. Accounting for time already served, Duch now faces 19 more years in prison.
Please click here to read more...
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