Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Khmer Rouge trial hears harrowing tribunal testimony
Thu Jul 16, 2009 10:49am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A senior Khmer Rouge prison guard on Thursday told a war crimes tribunal he was forced to send thousands of detainees to an execution site, where they were brutally killed and their bodies thrown into mass graves.
Him Huy, 54, a guard at Phnom Penh's notorious S-21 prison, said he was ordered by Pol Pot's chief jailor to transport prisoners to a rice field where they were stripped naked and beaten with clubs as they bled to death.
"All prisoners were blindfolded so they did not know where they were taken and their hands were tied up to prevent them from contesting us," Huy told the joint United Nations-Cambodian tribunal.
"They were asked to sit on the edge of the pits and they were struck with stick on their necks," he said, his voice breaking as he gave his harrowing account of the Choeung Ek executions.
"Their throats were slashed before we removed their handcuffs and clothes, and they were thrown into the pits."
Huy was testifying against S-21 chief Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, the first of the five indicted former Khmer Rouge cadres to face trial.
WAR CRIMES
Duch faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder.
Huy said he saw the charred bodies of four Westerners on a pile of burning tires a few block away from S-21, where he said about 100 children were detained inside a compound with their mothers.
All were later executed.
"No one could dare to do anything without Duch's approval," Huy added, as Duch listened attentively.
Choeung Ek, 17km south of Phnom Penh, is now a memorial to the horrors of the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 "killing fields" reign of terror, when 1.7 million Cambodians were killed.
The burial site, one of 343 across the country, is covered with 129 graves, with the skulls of about 5,000 Cambodians on display in a stupa.
Duch, who has been detained since 1999, wept repeatedly as he prayed before the skulls of his victims during a visit to Choeung Ek in February last year.
The tribunal has also indicted second-in-command Nuon Chea, former President Khieu Samphan and ex-foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, both lifelong friends of Pol Pot.
Duch has admitted involvement in the killings of 14,000 people at the S-21 prison, but says he was only following orders. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Black boxes recovered from crashed Iranian plane
also on reuters
Blog: Twitter co-founder Biz Stone’s expected underwear
Slot makers may hit jackpot on states' gaming bet
Video
Video: House of holes goes "green"
More International News
Black boxes recovered from crashed Iranian plane
| Video
Chechnya activist's murder sparks international outrage
India, Pakistan agree more dialogue, to fight terror
UK's Brown calls on Afghan army to pull its weight
Iran opposition leader to attend Friday prayers
More International News...
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
CIT's shares, bonds plunge on bankruptcy fears | Video
Obama's Supreme Court pick treads careful line | Video
Australia's "worst case scenario" 6,000 H1N1 deaths
Man tries to fix airbed, blows up apartment
Foreclosures at record high in first half 2009 despite aid
Redford weds German girlfriend in private ceremony
UPDATE 1-Doctors probed by state in Michael Jackson's death
JPMorgan profit soars, but warns on loan losses
China cheers, but not too loudly, after bubbly Q2 GDP | Video
Capitol police say suspect killed near Capitol
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Casualties mount in Afghanistan
U.S. says Iran talks on the table
Endeavour blasts off
Sotomayor back in the hot seat
How to commemorate the moonwalk
Obama makes first pitch at All-Stars
Third night of violence in Belfast
Iran plane crash - all on board die
Honduras' interim leader's offer
Lost UK hiker found in Australia
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
We want to hear from you
Join the Reuters Consumer Insight Panel and help us get to know you better
Please take a moment to complete our survey
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.