Khmer Rouge prison chief admits crimes
Khmer Rouge prison chief admits crimes
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Tuesday, 31, Mar 2009 10:50
A former Cambodian prison chief has admitted responsibility for crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge regime.
Speaking at his UN-backed tribunal, accused of war crimes, Kaing Guek Eav, or Comrade Duch, "expressed sorrow" for his actions and asked for forgiveness.
Speaking during proceedings he asked for the families of the regime's victims to forgive him and claimed he had not been in senior position during the 1975-1979, during which around two million Cambodians are thought to have died.
"May I be permitted to apologise to the survivors of the regime and also the loved ones of those who died brutally during the regime," he said on Tuesday.
"My current plea is that I would like you to please leave me an open window to seek forgiveness."
Duch is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and murder for his role in the deaths of 17,000 men, women and children at one of the Khmer Rouge's most notorious prisons.
He is thought to have run Security Office 21 or Tuol Sleng prison for three years during the 1970s.
Today the 66-year-old told the tribunal he wished to acknowledge he was responsible for the crimes committed at S21, "especially the torture and execution of people there".
However, while expressing regret for being involved in the running of the detention centre, he maintained he in fact played only a minor role and was "just a scapegoat".
Duch has been in custody since 1999 when he was found working in the jungle as a born-again Christian, and was formally arrested in 2007.
The Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975 and is estimated to have slaughtered 1.7 million Cambodians. Although the regime was toppled in 1979, they continued fighting a civil war until 1998. Their leader Pol Pot died in the same year.
Four other Khmer Rouge leaders will also face trial for war crimes later this year.