Duch releases feeling after confession

Trial of former Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, has proceeding for three months. Now defense lawyer Kar Savuth representing Duch told Rasmei Kampuchea about Duch’s condition and reason why his client admits crimes before Cambodia’s war crimes court.
Can you describe mental condition of your client? How does he feel after three months of trial?
He has released his feeling as admitting his guilt and he reported to the court on who were the most senior murderers in Democratic Kampuchea (DK) and who ordered him to the killing in which he put the order to his subordinates. So he released his feeling and made apology for all the victims’ family. Every seven-day, especially during the Holy Day, he dedicates to the deceased for apology and their spirits to live in peace.
At this point, your client told the court that he was writing a personal statement of apology and confession. When will the statement be disseminated?
Yes, when the trial comes to an end.
This week, Tuol Sleng prison surviving witnesses will appear in the court. Is Duch ready to be confronted with the witnesses?
Yes, he is ready. He had been confronted with witnesses since the phase of investigation. Now he is confronted with the witnesses again before presiding judges. So he is not feared of the truth. Except for exaggeration, he admits all crimes committed at S-21 security center led by him.
In the last hearing of the previous week, your client told that he had just changed stance from blaming Democratic Kampuchea for crimes to acknowledging his crimes instead after meeting with two defense lawyers. Can you explain why you urge your client to admit guilt?
In law of Democratic Kampuchea leaders’ trials, shortly speaking, only two types of persons are to face trials. First: former Democratic Kampuchea senior leaders; second: those most responsible for crimes and the grave breaches of the national and international law. The two types are composed of only 14 persons. Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, is not in the 14 persons. So, I urged him to admit all crimes occurring at S-21. Let him to do confession because his name is not in the types of persons.
If he admits crimes, is it meant he is being confronted with conviction?
If he admits guilt and found guilty of being most responsible for crimes and the grave breaches of the national and international law, he will not fear for the conviction. If not found guilt, the lawyers see that Duch is not in the 14 persons. The lawyers are not feared to urge Duch confess his crimes.
How about your client’s health condition?
His health condition is normal, but in a little problem. As you see how many judges, prosecutors, civil parties, and defense lawyers are in the hearing? All of them put questions to him in the morning and afternoon’s hearing. So he is difficult to think.
Unofficial Translation

Tuol Sleng prison survivor testifies first time

Phnom Penh: A Tuol Sleng prison or S-21 torture center survivor on 29 June 2009 testified for the first time before Cambodia’s war crimes court in trial of former Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Geuk Eav, alias Duch.
Vann Nath, 63, artist and former Tuol Sleng prisoner of Khmer Rouge regime, participated as witness and the first person amongst other Tuol Sleng survivors to appear in the court.
With short hair, white eyebrows, long sleeves, and tucking shirt in his black pants, Vann Nath was sitting and turning his face to judges in courtroom.
Vann Nath was summoned to be witness to recount inhumane activities and brutal torture he experienced with in Tuol Sleng prison. The torture caused the deaths of an estimated 16,000 people under supervision of Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch.
Vann Nath called Duch ‘East Brother’ as in the regime, Duch was called such a name.
Before court, Vann Nath described evacuation from his Battambang province’s house when Khmer Rouge took power on 17 April 1975. Until 30 December 1977, Vann Nath was arrested, being accused of enemy. Until 7 January 1978, Vann Nath was sent to Tuol Sleng prison. Recalling past as prisoner, Vann Nath wept, keeping his eyes to the floor and expressing his suffering.
In Tuol Sleng detention cell, he like others was leg-ironed regularly and was living with hellish condition which was worse than animals. In the cell, prisoners ate only two or three spoonful of water gruel. Every two or three-day, they were allowed to take bath, by shooting water into the cell.
Vann Nath outlined, as grasshoppers and crickets encircling lamps felt to the ground, the prisoners secretly took them for eating because of hunger.
Until over a month, Vann Nath was sent to art room. Vann Nath said drawings he painted then save his life.
Vann Nath claimed he saw torture with his own eyes. The prisoners were tied behind their backs then their heads were dipped into the water filled jar. For other torture, he just heard the prisoners screaming while he was working in the art room.
13 drawings by Vann Nath were included into Duch’s accusation case. Some black and white and color drawings were presented in the hearing. The drawings depict his life and Tuol Sleng’s friends who were blindfolded and tied with hummock ropes, being escorted to the prison and brutally tortured.
Vann Nath said he painted the 13 drawings as he saw the prisoners being tortured and screaming with pain and the victims told him.
Responding to French Judge Jean Marc Lavergne, Vann Nath outlined that at the Khmer Rouge’s Tuol Sleng prison, he worked harder to draw the pictures to survive. All the aspects cannot be erased from his feeling. They still haunt him.
Vann Nath said he participated as witness to tell the torture at Tuol Sleng to the next generation because he like other prisoners was arrested and accused of enemy without guilt.
Jean Marc Lavergne questioned Vann Nath, “What do you want from the hearing.”
Vann Nath responded he wanted justice to be rendered to himself and other victims and any form of justice is based on judge’s decision.
Duch was sitting and listening carefully with a pile of documents on the table on the side of the courtroom. Duch was not allowed to speak.
Before testimony of Vann Nath, trial chamber president Nil Nonn reduced some witnesses from the lists on with reasons that some witnesses have similar testimony.
General public attended Duch’s trial held on 29 June 2009 in the main courtroom, including international journalists.

UN official to seek meeting with Hun Sen to resolve Duch dispute

Christophe Peschoux has denied testimony that he told former Tuol Sleng prison chief Duch that he could serve a prison sentence in Belgium.
THE UN human rights representative for Cambodia said Sunday that he would request a meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen to resolve a misunderstanding about a meeting with former Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, that occurred 10 years ago.
Hun Sen said last week during the first visit of Surya Subedi, the UN's new rights envoy, that Christophe Peschoux, country representative for the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, attempted to help the former Khmer Rouge leader escape prosecution in Cambodia and instead serve a prison sentence in Europe shortly after his 1999 arrest.
Peschoux has said the account of their meeting was incorrect. He told the Post Sunday he would meet with Om Yienteng, the head of Cambodia's Human Rights Committee, to arrange a meeting with Hun Sen to "solve" the problem directly.
"The best thing is to have a direct conversation. We have old issues to resolve," Peschoux said Sunday.
"I don't want a verbal exchange through the media, so this is the next logical step to preserve our own long-term interests," he added.
Peschoux interviewed Duch in Battambang province in May 1999 and was part of a small group of people who advocated that the former Khmer Rouge leader should be tried legitimately outside the country.
Duch, who is currently being tried at the Khmer Rouge tribunal, has testified that the UN official told him during the interview that he could serve a prison setence in Belgium.
"Peschoux made an effort to find political exile for me, but it was not realised. They asked me to be in jail in Belgium on May 3, 1999," Duch told judges at the war crimes court in April.
PM to ‘investigate' caseThough Peschoux has denied this, Hun Sen said last week that he would "not allow" Peschoux to remain in Cambodia if Duch's version of events turned out to be true.
"I will investigate this issue, and I will send the documents to the UN human rights body in Geneva," he said during a speech at Chaktomuk Theatre.
"We will not allow you [Peschoux] to stay in Cambodia quietly, and it is not a funny issue," he added.

Michael Jackson leaves about 1.2 billion USD after his death

Although the cause of Michael Jackson's death was preliminarily recorded as cardiac arrest, widespread speculation from the outside world has since thrown this into doubt. On June 27 his family hired an independent pathologist to conduct a second postmortem to clarify the cause of death. The looming dispute over the enormous inheritance Jackson left and who will get custody of his children remains unsettled.The Los Angeles County coroner's office conducted its first autopsy the day after Jackson's death on June 25. The office announced that there was no indication of any external trauma or murder, but the final autopsy results could take weeks. The late pop singer's family has ordered a second independent autopsy however, either because they do not trust the official autopsy results or they wish to compare the results of the two autopsies for peace of mind.Having led an extravagant life, Jackson fell into financial crisis over the last 10 years, and accumulated debts of around 500 million USD. Nevertheless, he left a huge inheritance of about 1.2 billion USD or more, which may further increase by another 100 million USD with fans rushing to buy his albums and souvenirs. It is said that Jackson made at least two wills before his death, planning to leave his estate to his three children and his mother. According to sources, he left his three children 200 unpublished songs, possibly valued at 100 million USD, to guarantee they will be able to live comfortably in the future. This is a decision Jackson made several months before his death; no debtor has the right to use these songs to offset debts.

Cambodia, Bahrain to sign joint agreement of diplomatic establishment

The Kingdom of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Bahrain will sign a joint communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations to expand the cooperation between a country in South East Asia and a country in the Middle East, a Cambodian official said on Monday. Hor Nam Hong, Cambodia's deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, and his Bahraini counterpart will sign the joint communiqué of creating the official diplomatic ties, said Koy Khong, under secretary of state and spokesman for Cambodia's Foreign Ministry. "It is the first time for the two countries to mend the diplomatic ties," he said, adding that in future the two countries will expand cooperation on tourism, investment, trade, and economy. According to a press release from the Cambodian Foreign Ministry, Hor is to join the first ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council Ministerial Meeting, to be held from June 29 to 30, in Manama, Bahrain. At the meeting, "we will talk about the cooperation on the global economic and financial crisis, combating terrorism, poverty reduction, sustainable development and economy," Koy Khong said. The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Gulf group includes Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
Source: Xinhua

HDMB TARGETS TO OPERATE BANK IN CAMBODIA BY JULY 31

KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 (Bernama) -- Hwang-DBS (Malaysia) Bhd (HDMB) is a step closer towards operating a commercial bank in Cambodia.
HDMB said Cambodia's Minister of Commerce had on June 26 issued a certificate of incorporation of HwangDBS Commercial Bank Plc (HDCB) which is effective from June 19, 2009.
As required by the National Bank of Cambodia, HDCB targets to start operations in Cambodia by July 31, subject to a final licence to be issued by the National Bank, HDMB said in announcement on Bursa Malaysia.
HDCB is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the HDMB and will operate as a commercial bank in Cambodia.
Currently, HDCB has an issued and paid-up capital of US$2 comprising two ordinary shares of par value US$1 each.
The issued and paid-up capital of HDCB will be increased to US$20 million, comprising 20 million ordinary shares of par value US$1 each, all to be issued to HDMB before the start of business operations. -- BERNAMA

Lightning kills 5 in a day

LIGHTNING strikes killed five people in Cambodia in a single day, a newpaper reported on Sunday.
Two people were killed in Kampot province, in Cambodia's south, while three were killed in the central provinces of Kampong Chhnang and Kampong Speu, according to the newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea Daily.
It said four of the victims, all killed on Friday, were farmers working in the fields - a group especially at risk when they continue to work during rainstorms.
Around 50 Cambodians were killed by lightning in the first four months of 2009, while the official toll for last year was 95 deaths.
Experts say the tropical South-east Asian country, with its many rivers and lakes, is particularly prone to cloud formations which generate intense lightning storms.
These formations can lie just 50 metres (164 feet) above the earth, and anyone underneath is vulnerable to lightning strikes.
Cambodia's government is trying to raise awareness in the provinces of measures to protect against such natural disasters, according to Long Saravuth, weather expert at the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology.
'We hope there will be fewer deaths as more and more people become well-informed about safety during lightning storms,' he said on Sunday.

Defence Minister: Situation along Thai-Cambodian Border Remains under Control

The defence minister revealed that the situation remains normal along the Thai-Cambodia border near Preah Vihear after peace negotiations between the two countries. General Prawit Wongsuwan, Thailand's Defence Minister revealed that the situation along Thai-Cambodia border remains in peace after Thailand has negotiated with Cambodia leader. The defence minister has accompanied the deputy prime mimister Suthep Thaugsuban in a recent visit to Cambodia. He further informed that the talk in reducing tension along Thai-Cambodian border went well. He said that Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to a plan of not to create violence along the border. However, with regard to the removal of troops out of the border, the defence minister said there will be another meeting to disccuss on this matter with Cambodia border authorities whether or not both sides will withdraw troops from the border area. The defence minister reaffirmed that the situation along the border near Preah Vihear temple is back to normal. Meanwhile, the shops at the Thai-Cambodia crossing gate have been back to regular trading and ready to welcome visitors. Hoever the national park of Preah Vihear, which is the gateway to the temple from the Thailand side remains closed for security reasons.