Khmer Rouge Figure Appears in Court

11/21/07

Another Hitler act? No! It's a cruel massive torturing of 1.7 million people and one defendant of Khmer Rouge went into a Cambodia courtroom to answer his doing. The defendant, Kaing Guek Eav also known as Duch is being charge with numerous crimes against this torture house he controlled. His case was being delayed due to interruption of war, politics and legal disputes,
For four years, from 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge forced millions of people into labor gangs, and huge numbers died of starvation, exhaustion and disease. There were also those who were sent to killing fields.

He wanted to appeal his case because it took so long to begin in the first place. It has been nearly 8 years, 6 months & 10 days. The Cambodian spectators was not taking it and just took it as a simple joke. About 14,000 were tortured under Duch's order in his prison and only a handful of people have survived this horrible act. Tortures that were perform were, stabbing, beating, suspension from ropes, removing fingernails and other disturbing incidents. Duch came to realize and converted back to Christianity and wanted to confess his sins. Also being charged is Khmer Rouge president, Khieu Samphan who was taken away from his hospital bed after recovering from a stroke.

This cruel torture reminded me of when Hitler was still around with his concentration camps. It's disturbing to read about innocent people being tortured. This article was very detailed about who was being charged and it's about time the law in their country prosecuted them. I still don't understand why it took nearly 8 years to begin this case. Even with the interruptions, a criminal must be tried and be sent away. This was a shocking article to read and when I look or hear about Cambodia, the first thing that comes to my mind is poverty and beliefs.