Early years
Kang Kek Iew was born in Choyaot village, Kampong Chen subdistrict, Kampong Thom Province[3], and is of Chinese-Khmer ancestry.[4][5] A star pupil in his school, he passed his Brevet d'Etudes Secondaire de Première in 1961 at the age of fifteen. He finished the first half of his Baccalaureate in 1962 at the Lycée Suravarman II in the town of Siem Reap. The same year he was offered a place in the prestigious Lycée Sisowath in Phnom Penh where he completed his Baccalaureate in mathematics, scoring second in the entire country.[1]
Induction into the Khmer Rouge
In 1964, Kek Iew began studying for his teaching certificate in Mathematics, a subject he loved, at the Institute de Pédagogie[6]. The Institute was a cradle of activism under the directorship of Son Sen who was later to emerge as the Defence Minister of the Khmer Rouge and Duch's immediate superior.
On August 28, 1966, Kek Iew got his teaching certificate and was posted to a lycée in Skoun, a small town in Kampong Cham Province. He was a good teacher, remembered as earnest and committed by his pupils[1]. He joined the Communist Party of Kampuchea in 1967. Following the arrest of three of his students, he fled to the Khmer Rouge base in Chamkar Leu District where he was accepted as a full member of the Communist Party of Kampuchea.
A few months later, he was arrested and tortured at the Prey Sar prison[1] by Norodom Sihanouk's police for engaging in communist activities[6]. He was held without trial for the next two years. In 1970, when he was released following the amnesty granted to political prisoners by Lon Nol, he joined the Khmer Rouge rebels in the Cardamom Mountains bordering Thailand.
On August 28, 1966, Kek Iew got his teaching certificate and was posted to a lycée in Skoun, a small town in Kampong Cham Province. He was a good teacher, remembered as earnest and committed by his pupils[1]. He joined the Communist Party of Kampuchea in 1967. Following the arrest of three of his students, he fled to the Khmer Rouge base in Chamkar Leu District where he was accepted as a full member of the Communist Party of Kampuchea.
A few months later, he was arrested and tortured at the Prey Sar prison[1] by Norodom Sihanouk's police for engaging in communist activities[6]. He was held without trial for the next two years. In 1970, when he was released following the amnesty granted to political prisoners by Lon Nol, he joined the Khmer Rouge rebels in the Cardamom Mountains bordering Thailand.
In the Maquis
In the zone under the control of the Khmer Rouge, Kek Iew took on his nom de guerre Comrade Duch (IPA:[dojc]) and became a prison commandant. He was appointed the head of Special Security by his immediate superior Vorn Vet. In the forests of Amleang, Thpong District, Duch set up his first prison, code-named 'M-13'. Two years later, he also established a second prison 'M-99' in nearby Aoral District.
Assisted by his two deputies, Comrade Chan and Comrade Pon, Duch began perfecting his interrogation techniques and the purging of perceived enemies from the Khmer Rouge ranks. Prisoners at these camps, mostly from the ranks of the Khmer Rouge, were routinely starved and tortured to extract real and made up confessions. Few prisoners left the camps alive.
While in the maquis, Duch married Chhim Sophal, aka Rom, a dressmaker from a nearby village.
Assisted by his two deputies, Comrade Chan and Comrade Pon, Duch began perfecting his interrogation techniques and the purging of perceived enemies from the Khmer Rouge ranks. Prisoners at these camps, mostly from the ranks of the Khmer Rouge, were routinely starved and tortured to extract real and made up confessions. Few prisoners left the camps alive.
While in the maquis, Duch married Chhim Sophal, aka Rom, a dressmaker from a nearby village.
Leading the Santebal and Tuol Sleng
After the Khmer Rouge victory in April 1975 Duch and his men set up prisons throughout the capital including the infamous Tuol Sleng prison. Duch's request for a transfer in May 1975[7] to the Industrial Sector of government was denied [6]. The Tuol Sleng prison camp was initially headed by In Lon aka Comrade Nath with Duch acting as deputy[1]. Subsequently, In Lon was transferred and Duch promoted to be the Director[8]. By May 1976 all the prisons in Phnom Penh were consolidated and relocated to Tuol Sleng. Prisons like Tuol Sleng were created to cleanse the ranks of the Khmer Rouge of suspected enemies of the revolution. Duch impressed his superiors with his work and was appointed the head of Democratic Kampuchea's dreaded "special branch" - the Santebal.
As the party purges increased towards the end of the Democratic Kampuchea period, more and more people were brought to Duch, including many former colleagues including his predecessor at Tuol Sleng, In Lon. Throughout this period Duch built up a large archive of prison records, mug shots and extracted "confessions".
On January 7, 1979 Duch was amongst the last Khmer Rouge cadres to flee Phnom Penh after it fell to the Vietnamese army. Though he was unable to destroy much of the prison's extensive documents, he saw to the execution of several surviving prisoners before he fled the city.
As the party purges increased towards the end of the Democratic Kampuchea period, more and more people were brought to Duch, including many former colleagues including his predecessor at Tuol Sleng, In Lon. Throughout this period Duch built up a large archive of prison records, mug shots and extracted "confessions".
On January 7, 1979 Duch was amongst the last Khmer Rouge cadres to flee Phnom Penh after it fell to the Vietnamese army. Though he was unable to destroy much of the prison's extensive documents, he saw to the execution of several surviving prisoners before he fled the city.
After the fall
Duch reached the border with Thailand in May 1979. Details of his whereabouts at this time were sketchy. It is believed that he went to the forests of Samlaut where he was reunited with his family. Here Duch was demoted by Brother Number Two, Nuon Chea, for having failed to destroy the documents at Tuol Sleng. At the border, he learned to speak Thai and taught himself English. He later taught English and Mathematics at a refugee camp in Borai just inside Thailand.[1]
In June 1986, Duch was sent to China to teach as a Khmer language expert at Beijing's Foreign Language Institute. He returned to the Thai-Cambodia border a year later and changed his name to Hang Pin. He worked as a senior bureaucrat just inside the Cambodian border at Pol Pot's secretariat at Camp 505. Shortly after the Paris agreement in October 1991, he moved with his family to a small isolated village called Phkoam close to the Thai border where he bought some land and began teaching in the local school. He was known as a good teacher, but one with a fiery temper.[1]
In 1995, following an attack on his home that killed his wife, Duch sold all his possessions, secured a transfer to Svay Chek College, and moved there with his children. Shortly after his wife's murder, Duch began attending the prayer meetings of the Golden West Cambodian Christian Church held in Battambang by Christopher Lapel, an evangelical Khmer-American. Duch was baptized by Lapel and eventually became a lay pastor.[1]
In June 1986, Duch was sent to China to teach as a Khmer language expert at Beijing's Foreign Language Institute. He returned to the Thai-Cambodia border a year later and changed his name to Hang Pin. He worked as a senior bureaucrat just inside the Cambodian border at Pol Pot's secretariat at Camp 505. Shortly after the Paris agreement in October 1991, he moved with his family to a small isolated village called Phkoam close to the Thai border where he bought some land and began teaching in the local school. He was known as a good teacher, but one with a fiery temper.[1]
In 1995, following an attack on his home that killed his wife, Duch sold all his possessions, secured a transfer to Svay Chek College, and moved there with his children. Shortly after his wife's murder, Duch began attending the prayer meetings of the Golden West Cambodian Christian Church held in Battambang by Christopher Lapel, an evangelical Khmer-American. Duch was baptized by Lapel and eventually became a lay pastor.[1]
Discovery
Close to his identity being discovered, Duch accepted a transfer to Samlaut as Director of Education. When fighting broke out in 1996 following the split of the Khmer Rouge and the coup to oust Prince Ranarridh in 1997, he fled with his family to the Ban Ma Muang camp just inside Thailand. At the camp, he worked as the Community Health Supervisor. In late 1998, he returned to Cambodia when fighting subsided. He settled in the village of Andao Hep in Rattanak Mondul and worked closely with World Vision, the Christian relief agency.
The photojournalist Nic Dunlop tracked down Duch to Samlaut. In 1999, Nate Thayer, who had previously interviewed Pol Pot and Ta Mok, and Dunlop interviewed Duch for the Far Eastern Economic Review. Duch surrendered to the authorities in Phnom Penh following the publication of his interview. (Photo reference [9]).
The photojournalist Nic Dunlop tracked down Duch to Samlaut. In 1999, Nate Thayer, who had previously interviewed Pol Pot and Ta Mok, and Dunlop interviewed Duch for the Far Eastern Economic Review. Duch surrendered to the authorities in Phnom Penh following the publication of his interview. (Photo reference [9]).
Trial
On July 31, 2007, Duch was formally charged with crimes against humanity and detained by Cambodia's United Nations-backed Cambodia Tribunal. Duch, represented by Cambodian lawyer Kar Savuth and French lawyer Francois Roux, appealed against his provisional detention by the ECCC based on the more than eight years he spent without trial in Cambodian military detention. The appeal was unsuccessful and on August 14, 2008, the tribunal issued its indictment after completing their investigation of Duch.[10]
In February, 2008, as part of the judicial process, Duch was taken to the scene of his crimes. He reportedly collapsed in tears after stating, "I ask for your forgiveness -- I know that you cannot forgive me, but I ask you to leave me the hope that you might."[11]
On February 16, 2009, the UN supervised trial of Duch began at a Phnom Penh court. Duch is charged "of personally overseeing the systematic torture of more than 15,000 prisoners".[2] The presiding judge of the case is Nil Nonn. Duch is being tried by a panel of five judges — three Cambodian, one French and one New Zealander — according to a 2003 pact between Cambodia and the United Nations establishing the tribunal.[10]
On March 31, 2009 Duch, in a statement in front of the Cambodia tribunal, accepted responsibility for torturing and executing thousands of inmates, expressed "heartfelt sorrow" for his crimes and vowed to cooperate fully with the tribunal.[12]
In February, 2008, as part of the judicial process, Duch was taken to the scene of his crimes. He reportedly collapsed in tears after stating, "I ask for your forgiveness -- I know that you cannot forgive me, but I ask you to leave me the hope that you might."[11]
On February 16, 2009, the UN supervised trial of Duch began at a Phnom Penh court. Duch is charged "of personally overseeing the systematic torture of more than 15,000 prisoners".[2] The presiding judge of the case is Nil Nonn. Duch is being tried by a panel of five judges — three Cambodian, one French and one New Zealander — according to a 2003 pact between Cambodia and the United Nations establishing the tribunal.[10]
On March 31, 2009 Duch, in a statement in front of the Cambodia tribunal, accepted responsibility for torturing and executing thousands of inmates, expressed "heartfelt sorrow" for his crimes and vowed to cooperate fully with the tribunal.[12]
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