Global trial called for 'Duch'

By Dan Eaton

PHNOM PENH (AFP): The emergence from hiding of the Khmer Rouge's chief executioner will increase pressure on Cambodia to allow an international tribunal for the leaders of the brutal regime, analysts said Thursday.

Genocide researchers describe Kang Kek Ieu, alias "Duch," as a vital missing link which will help piece together the Khmer Rouge chain of command and prove violations of international law, including genocide.

"This will lead to increased pressure for an international tribunal, it will bring more international pressure," said Youk Chhang, director of the genocide Documentation Centre of Cambodia.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has rebuffed calls for an international tribunal for Khmer Rouge military chief Ta Mok, the only one of the ultra-Maoist regime's leaders currently in custody and awaiting trial.

Although he hints others are likely to face charges also, Hun Sen remains adamant Cambodia's legal system is able to impartially mete out justice, albeit with the aid of foreign judges and prosecutors.

In a move apparently unrelated to the discovery of Duch, officials Thursday released a letter Hun Sen sent to United Nations chief Kofi Annan reiterating that an international tribunal was out of the question.

"The ability to prosecute and sentence other Khmer Rouge leaders is fully in the competence of the (Cambodian) courts," Hun Sen said in a letter dated April 28, a copy of which was sent to AFP.

However, with the discovery of Duch, a new ingredient has been added to the mix, observers say.

"I think he will be the key to what kind of a trial should be established," said Youk Chhang.

"With his testimony it can be clear that they (the Khmer Rouge leaders) have committed international crimes like genocide, killed minorities," he said.

"He was so clearly involved, knows the chain of command and he is one of the key witnesses who can show the roles of the Khmer Rouge leadership."

Government officials could not be contacted for comment Thursday due to a Buddhist holiday festival.

The Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic Review magazine reported Thursday that it had tracked down Duch living freely in the west of the country, as a born-again Christian and aid worker.

Duch, who was director of Phnom Penh's feared Tuol Sleng detention centre where up to 16,000 people are thought to have been put to death in the 1970s "Killing Fields" regime, said he was ready to face trial.

In an interview with the magazine, Duch admitted his role in the murder and torture of those detained and directly implicated a number of top Khmer Rouge leaders, some of them living freely here.

He said he can identify their signatures and handwriting on key documents likely to be used as evidence in trials.

He outlines the Khmer Rouge chain of command and implicates former dictator Pol Pot's number two Nuon Chea and prime minister Khieu Samphan, as responsible for ordering executions and mass killings.

Ta Mok was captured earlier this year and is awaiting trial in a Cambodian court, while Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, who defected to the government earlier, are living freely in a former rebel stronghold near the Thai border.

Pol Pot died in the remote border jungles last year.

Larch Kalyan, 44, who works as a documentation archivist at Tuol Sleng which has been turned into a museum and is known also as S-21, also described Duch as the key to the riddle of Khmer Rouge leadership.

"Duch was a very strong man in this prison, I saw a lot of his signatures and orders in the documents," she said.

"He has to be brought to justice, and he has to tell the truth about the past of S-21 and let the world know what happened here. I really want to see him and ask him why he did what he did. He killed people like birds."

Officials said Thursday here that there were no current plans to charge the executioner following his exposure.

"I have no plan to summons him to Phnom Penh as a witness in Ta Mok's case. There are also no plans yet to charge him separately with crimes," said Ngin Sam An, investigating judge for Ta Mok's planned trial.

"I have not seen the full story yet, so there are no plans," he added.