PHNOM PENH // "I would like you to please leave an open window for me to seek forgiveness."
With those words, the man facing charges for one of the 20th century's worst mass murders admitted his role in the Khmer Rouge regime, which killed at least 1.7 million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979.
Kaing Guek Eav, better known as "Duch", said he felt "regretfulness and heartfelt sorrow" for atrocities committed at S21, a prison he ran. As many as 17,000 people were tortured and executed at his command.
Yesterday's statement at a UN-backed war crimes tribunal was the first time Duch has publicly addressed the families of his victims. He vowed to co-operate fully with the court.
"This is the only remedy that can help me relieve all the sorrow and the crimes I committed," he said, first reading from a statement and then putting down his papers to continue speaking.
During a break from court proceedings, Bou Meng, one of the few survivors of S21, told reporters he was still angry at Duch, especially when he thought about his wife, who died in the prison.
"I cannot forgive Duch because of my wife's life," he said. "I want to beat him to death, but I respect the law and now is the time to use it."
Dy Roathana, whose husband and father were executed by the regime, said Duch's words brought only confusion.
"In the past he joined hands with very bad people, but now he confesses. For me now, according to what he said, he could be a good man," she said. "But Duch did very horrible things in S21, and we still don't understand why all those people were killed."
While admitting that he was "responsible for the crimes committed at S21", Duch said he first tried to turn down the job as security chief at the prison, asking for a different assignment. But the request was denied.
"Although I knew my orders were criminal I never dared to challenge the top authorities," he said.
Panhavuth Long of the Cambodian Justice Initiative, which is backed by the Open Society Institute of the US billionaire George Soros, said Duch and his lawyers could be using the confession as a strategy to win sympathy from the judges and shift responsibility towards other former Khmer Rouge officials.
"This is very big step forward that Duch publicly said, 'I am responsible.' This is very powerful to me," Mr Long said. "But the problem is whether this is really genuine acknowledgement or whether it is only because he wants to use this as a way to get sentence reduction."
Duch, a former maths teacher, went into hiding after Vietnamese troops drove the Khmer Rouge from power. He had become a born-again Christian and was living under an assumed name while working for a western aid organisation near the Thai border when he was discovered in 1999 by Nic Dunlop, a British photojournalist.
Dunlop, who attended yesterday's hearing, said Duch's confession was "entirely consistent" with what he said a decade ago when the two sat face to face and Duch revealed his true identity.
"I think he's saying that 'I was in an impossible position'. And I think it's up to the court to decide whether he was in an impossible position," Dunlop said. "But he appears to be sincere in his desire to tell the truth."
Kar Savuth, a defence lawyer, argued that Duch was being used as a "scapegoat". Mr Savuth said there were almost 200 similar prisons throughout Cambodia, but that Duch is the only prison chief facing trial.
Prosecutors have said Duch was a high-ranking official in the Khmer Rouge security apparatus, and that S21 played a central role as headquarters of the security network. But nobody has suggested Duch was in the inner circle of Khmer Rouge leaders who orchestrated the regime's disastrous policies, which included sending most of the population to work camps, where they starved to death or were executed en masse.
Four of the regime's most senior leaders are awaiting trial, but the Canadian co-prosecutor, Robert Petit, wants to charge at least five more people. His Cambodian counterpart, Chea Leang, disagreed partly on the basis that it could disrupt national security, an argument also made by government officials.
After being driven from power, the Khmer Rouge waged a guerrilla war until the mid-1990s when political parties persuaded them to join the government. Khmer Rouge soldiers were incorporated into the armed forces, and many former Khmer Rouge leaders now hold official positions.
Speaking to reporters in the seaside town of Sihanoukville yesterday, Hun Sen, the prime minister, said pursuing other former Khmer Rouge leaders and forcing them to stand trial could plunge the country back into civil war.
"I would like to say that I prefer for this court to fail," he said. "I won't allow war to reoccur in Cambodia."
Critics dismiss the threat and argue that the court should be free to pursue those who, in the parlance of international law, "bear the most responsibility" for crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge.
"We can see there is political interference into the prosecution," Mr Long said. He and other observers have urged the court to charge more senior Khmer Rouge leaders for their role in the regime that killed one-quarter of Cambodia's population.
jferrie@thenational.ae
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The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X
Price, as tested: Dh84,000
Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: Six-speed auto
Power: 142hp at 4,900rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 1,850rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L / 100km
How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
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Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Funchal via Lisbon, with a connecting flight with Air Portugal. Economy class returns cost from Dh3,845 return including taxes.
The trip
The WalkMe app can be downloaded from the usual sources. If you don’t fancy doing the trip yourself, then Explore offers an eight-day levada trails tour from Dh3,050, not including flights.
The hotel
There isn’t another hotel anywhere in Madeira that matches the history and luxury of the Belmond Reid's Palace in Funchal. Doubles from Dh1,400 per night including taxes.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday
Saint-Etienne v Montpellier (10.45pm)
Saturday
Monaco v Caen (7pm)
Amiens v Bordeaux (10pm)
Angers v Toulouse (10pm)
Metz v Dijon (10pm)
Nantes v Guingamp (10pm)
Rennes v Lille (10pm)
Sunday
Nice v Strasbourg (5pm)
Troyes v Lyon (7pm)
Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (11pm)
The five pillars of Islam
