First ‘Killing Fields’ suspect stands trial in joint UN-Cambodian court

Hearings at a United Nation-backed genocide tribunal have begun in the first trial of a suspect accused of crimes committed during the killing spree ordered by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia in the late 1970s.

Yesterday, Kaing Guek Eav, whose alias is “Duch,” was charged by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) in Phnom Penh with crimes including torture and premeditated murder while he was in charge of the notorious S-21 detention camp.

Alleged atrocities thought to have been committed against thousands of Cambodians at the camp, also known as Toul Sleng, include unlawful detention, forced labour under inhumane conditions, torture and execution.

The ECCC will hold a full trial, even if Duch enters a guilty plea.

Estimates vary, but as many as two million are thought to have died during the rule of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979, which was then followed by a protracted period of civil war in the impoverished South-East Asian country.