Ex-warden says sorry for Khmer Rouge evil

'Although I knew my orders were criminal, I never dared to challenge the top authorities,' former prison boss tells families of victims.

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. [e-mail]