A UN-backed court held guilty Khmer Rouge chief executioner 'Duch' and awarded him a 30 years imprisonment for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Duch whose original name is Kaing Guek Eav ran the notorious Toul Sleng detention center for the worst "enemies" of the state during Pol Pot’s regime. As many as 17,000 people were killed in the notorious S-21 prison.
“Every individual detained within S-21 was destined for execution in accordance with the Communist Party of Kampuchea policy to 'smash' all enemies,” said the tribunal president while announcing the verdict. “At least 100 S-21 detainees died after being bled to death by the S-21 Medical Unit,” noted the judgement.
The Khmer Rouge regime is blamed for the deaths of around 2 million people. Pol Pot ruled the country from 1975-1979. Duch’s sentence was reduced to 19 years in lieu of time served since 1999, when he was detained by Cambodian forces.
Some Cambodians have expressed unhappiness over the verdict saying Duch should spend the rest of his life in prison. “Anything less than 30 years is just not acceptable, it’s just not acceptable. The judges would be making light of the crimes, the atrocities of that era, of what he committed,” says Theary Seng, whose family members were murdered by the regime. “He should be receiving many life sentences, even considering the mitigating factors, because of the lives that he took,” added Seng.
Judges however, justified the verdict saying that they took into account mitigating factors including Duch’s expressions of remorse, his admission of guilt, and his cooperation with the court, before reducing his jail term.
