Trials of Khmer Rouge Officials Begin

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — The first substantive sessions in the trials of former Khmer Rouge officials began Monday morning, 30 years after the end of the notorious communist regime that left some 1.7 million Cambodians dead.

The first defendant in the tribunal, Kaing Guek Eav, 66, spoke briefly in court on Monday, identifying himself with his name and various aliases, and giving the names of his wives and children.

Widely known as Duch (pronounced doik), he has been charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes and various Cambodian crimes including murder. He was the commander at S-21, the main prison and torture house during the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-79.

More than 14,000 people died at the prison, also known as Tuol Sleng. It is now a museum.

The Duch trial is expected to be held four days a week and could last four months. He has previously admitted to journalists that the charges against him are correct.

While Duch was more of a henchman than part of the Khmer Rouge leadership, he is on trial, according to the court, as “one of those most responsible” for torture and killings.

Four senior Khmer Rouge leaders also have been charged by the United Nations-backed tribunal — Noun Chea, known as Brother No. 2, the chief propagandist of the regime who was second only to the leader Pol Pot; the former head of state Khieu Samphan; the ex-foreign minister, Ieng Sary, and his wife, Ieng Thirith.

All four were members of the Khmer Rouge Central Committee under Pol Pot, who died in 1998. They are being held in a detention facility next to the tribunal in Phnom Penh, although their trials are not expected to begin until next year.