Monday, March 30, 2009

Buddhist Genocide: Khmer Rouge


Western tourist visits Toul Sleng Genocide Museum 3/30/09, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The former commander of the torture prison, Kaing Guek Eav, a.k.a. "Duch," is the first of five former Khmer Rouge leaders being tried for crimes against humanity. With no death penalty in Cambodia, the maximum sentence will be life imprisonment (AP/David Longstreath).

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Khmer Rouge executioners threw victims to their deaths, bludgeoned them and then slit their bellies, or had medics draw so much blood that their lives drained away, prosecutors alleged Monday at the opening trial of Cambodia's genocide tribunal.


Tourists visit the Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre built on the site of Cambodia's infamous "Killing Fields." The Khmer Rouge regime's prison chief has finally stood trial for atrocities. The newly born again Christian is accused of overseeing the torture and execution of 15,000 Buddhists three decades ago (AFP/file/Voishmel).

The grisly accounts were part of the indictment read into the record for the regime's chief torturer and prison warden, Kaing Guek Eav, or Duch, the first suspect to face justice a full three decades after the Khmer Rouge 1975-79 reign of terror.

Disabled survivors of the regime joined earnest young law students and other spectators in a modern custom-built courtroom on the outskirts of the Phnom Penh to watch the long-delayed proceedings get under way. More>>

No comments: