Face of Buddhist "Killing Fields" on Trial

Graphic fact file on Tuol Sleng prison run by Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979. The prison chief is facing charges that he oversaw the execution of 15,000 people at a court in Cambodia. This is the first trial into the atrocities of the "Killing Fields" (AFP/Graphic/Martin Megino/Gal/JS).

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Cambodian Buddhist monk looks on as he and others wait in line outside the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the second day of a UN-backed tribunal, 3/31/09, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. On the first day of the trial prosecutors alleged the former Khmer Rouge commander oversaw grisly atrocities at the prison (AP/David Longstreath).

Genocidal torturer, born-again Christian Kaing Guek Eav ("Duch" pronounced D'oik), has confessed and asked victims for forgiveness (AFP).

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.

• Slideshow: "Killing Fields" Trial
• Video: Survivor on Cambodia prison horror (BBC)
• Video: Court hears Khmer Rouge testimony (BBC)

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>>