Khmer Rouge Survivor Recalls Hellish' Ordeal

The first surviving prisoner to testify against the former Cambodian communist regime, the Khmer Rouge, has revealed grim details of his detention. He was so hungry he ate crickets and so dirty that he was covered in lice. Lets take a look.
The first survivor from the Khmer Rouges notorious S-21 prison camp takes a stand.

A Cambodian artist is testifying in a trial against Pol Pot's top torturer, Kaing Guek Eav.

He describes the experience like "hell".

[Van Nath, Prison Survivor]:
"When there were insects falling from the lamp, I collected them and ate them. When the security guards saw this, they asked, 'What are you eating'? So they hit me until I spat out the grasshopper or cricket from my mouth."

He was not only starving but also kept in filthy conditions.

[Van Nath, Prison Survivor]:
"When I didn't shower for such a long time, there were lice on my body and head. I scratched everywhere. So I was treated like a wicked animal."

Duch is being tried for his role as chief of torture center S-21, where more than 14,000 prisoners died.

Hes the first Pol Pot cadre to accept blame for crimes committed by the regime 30 years ago. 1.7 million people died in Cambodia during between the regimes reign.

Duch is tipped to be a key witness in the future trials of those deemed "most responsible" by the tribunal, for one of the darkest chapters in the 20th century.

The other four who are indicted include "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, the regime's ex-president, and foreign minister, and his wife. They deny knowledge of any atrocities during Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist revolution.

Duch is the first to be tried under a joint U.N.-Cambodian tribunal fraught with problems since the process started three years ago.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• NTD
• Khmer Rouge
• Cambodia
• Communist regime
• S-21 prison camp
• Pol Pot
• Torture
• Trial