Chief executioner of Khmer Rouge is jailed for 35 years

FORMER Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch was found guilty today of overseeing the deaths of thousands of people.

Duch, 67, whose full name is Kaing Guek Eav, was sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment for war crimes and crimes against humanity by Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal.

Victims and their relatives wanted a life sentence for Duch, and many burst into tears after learning that he could face just 19 years in jail after taking into account time served. The sentence means he could one day walk free.

"I'm shocked, as everyone is right now," said Theary Seng, a human rights lawyer who lost both of her parents. "It's just unacceptable to have a man who killed thousands of people serving just 19 years."
"I can't accept this," said a weeping Saodi Ouch, 46. "My family died, my older sister, my older brother. I'm the only one left."

It was the first verdict for the war crimes tribunal. The Khmer Rouge, which ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979, killed an estimated 1.7  million people through execution, starvation, medical neglect and slave-like working conditions.
The regime's leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998 and four other Khmer Rouge leaders are awaiting trial.

During the 77-day trial in Phnom Penh, Duch admitted to running Toul Sleng, a top secret prison for the worst "enemies" of the state.
More than 16,000 people passed through its gates before they were killed. Torture used to extract confessions included pulling out prisoners' toenails, electric shocks and waterboarding.

Duch had expressed remorse, offering at one point to face a public stoning and to allow victims to visit him in jail.

Duch, who kept meticulous records, signed off all the executions. In one memo, a guard asked him what to do with six boys and three girls accused of being traitors. "Kill every last one," he wrote across the top.