PHNOM PENH, (Reuters) – A United Nations-backed court set up to find justice for 1.7 million people killed by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s is at risk of losing credibility and relevance among Cambodians outraged by its first verdict.
Kaing Guek Eav, a former prison chief better known as Duch, was on Monday found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and received less than half the 40-year sentence sought by prosecutors for his role in the 1975-1979 reign of terror.
The ruling devastated many of the estimated five million survivors and raised questions among Cambodians over a tribunal that spent $78.4 million over nearly five years to bring its first case in one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century.
Duch, a 67-year-old former schoolteacher, admitted to overseeing the deaths of up to 14,000 people as chief of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison. During the eight-month trial, he expressed “excruciating remorse” for his actions.
That contrition helped to reduce his sentence, said the joint, five-judge U.N.-Cambodian tribunal, which gave Duch 35 years but shocked the court by saying the term would be cut to 19 given the amount of time he already has been detained.
Cambodians who hoped to see Duch spend his remaining years behind bars, or for the country to re-introduce the death penalty, say they are struggling to understand how he could be freed before he dies. Court authorities said he may be eligible for an early parole if he demonstrates he is rehabilitated. “There will now be a big question mark in Cambodia over this court and its credibility,” said Mark Turner, a Cambodia expert at the University of Canberra.
“Almost all Cambodians have been affected in some way and there will likely be widespread disillusionment,” he said. “People might just give up on this process.”
Many Cambodians question whether other indicted former Khmer Rouge cadres will face justice for their roles in the Maoist revolution that wiped out nearly a quarter of the country’s population through execution, disease, starvation or overwork under the leadership of top commander Pol Pot, who died in 1998.
Cambodia’s government has historic ties to the Khmer Rouge, with several ministers accused of high-level involvement. It has offered little support to the tribunal, claiming civil war could flare if it broadens its investigation.
“This verdict (on Duch) has taken the momentum out of pursuing the real Khmer Rouge leaders,” said Theary Seng, a Cambodian who lost her parents to the regime and who was one of the leading advocates for establishing the tribunal. It is unclear whether the four other cadres awaiting trial can implicate prominent political figures in the government.
