Khmer Rouge Defendant Weeps during Return to Killing Fields

Photo at BBC
By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – During an investigative reenactment, Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, was brought to tears as he lead tribunal judges and co-investigators through the Tuol Sleng Torture Center he once oversaw during the Khmer Rouge regime.

During the 3 ½ hour tour, Kaing Guek Eav explained what took place at the torture center and nearby killing fields. Reach Sambath, a tribunal spokesmen, told reporters, “We noticed that he was feeling pity, tears were rolling down his face two or three times.” Kaing Guek Eav was also especially moved when he stood before a tree that described how executioners killed child victims by bashing their heads against the tree’s trunk.  

At the end of the reenactment, Kaing Guek Eav began to pray and cried in front of a glass-fronted stupa that displayed 8,985 skulls bearing signs of death by hammers, bamboo sticks, and bullets.

The reenactment took place last Tuesday and was closed to the public and media. About 80 tribunal participants took part. The group included judges, prosecutors, lawyers, representatives of victims, and witnesses.  During the tour, Kaing Guek Eav appeared frail and walked through the fields with the assistance of a guard. 

Kaing Guek Eav was commander of the Khmer Rouge’s torture center, Tuol Sleng. Nearly 16,000 men, women, and children were tortured at the Tuol Sleng and then executed at the nearby killing fields. Only 16 persons are believed to have survived their time there.

For more information, please see: 

AP – Khmer Rouge Defendant Visits Grave Site – 26 February 2008

Earthtimes – Former Khmer Rouge Jailer Returns to Cambodian “Killing Fields” – 26 February 2008

The Press Association – Khmer Rouge Accused at Death Sites – 26 February 2008