Apology Offered at Khmer Rouge Trial

Phnom Penh, Cambodia — Today Kaing Guek Eav (aka Duch), commander of Tuol Sleng, one of the infamous Khmer Rouge torture houses, testified before the tribunal, stating that he had feared for his own life during that time and that he was being made a scapegoat for others. The former Khmer Rouge member then made a surprising announcement, he apologized for the atrocities he oversaw.

“I would like to express my regret and heartfelt sorrow,” he said. His apology may be nothing more than political posturing, but it is the very nature of what this tribunal is seeking to extract from those on trial. With the lionshare of the Khmer Rouge already dead, including Pol Pot, the most heinous offender, there will be no long prison sentences for those who killed and slaughtered nearly 1.7 million of their fellow countrymen. Though the tribunal is being viewed as a serious matter, it is hard to see it as anything more than a purely symbolic gesture — a means to give some sense of closure to the Cambodians who lost so many of their family members in the genocide.

From the New York Times:
At a news conference after the court session, a lawyer representing civil parties in the case, said Duch’s apology addressed a deep need among victims, whose traumas have not been publicly acknowledged for three decades.

“The most important thing is that he spoke today and expressed regret, remorse, and sought forgiveness, which was something the civil parties have been waiting for for a long time,” said the lawyer, Martine Jacquin.

Photo caption: Kaing Guek Eav, the commandant of a torture house, read a statement during his trial in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Tuesday. (Associated Press)