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Duch, the former Khmer Rouge head of torture, has died
The former head of torture of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, Kaing Guek Eav alias Duch, died on Wednesday night at the age of 77 in a hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh.
This was confirmed by a court spokesperson who once convicted Duch of his crimes. The spokesperson did not provide information on the cause of death.
Kaing Guek Eav at Phnom Penh court in March 2020. Image: keystone
Duch was serving a life sentence. In 2010 he was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh. In 2012, on appeal, this turned into life in prison.
The former mathematics professor was the director of the infamous Tuol Sleng Prison in Phnom Penh between 1975 and 1979 under the reign of terror by the Khmer Rouge Maoists. Up to 15,000 people were tortured there and executed in a nearby death camp.
Tuol Sleng Torture Prison is now a museum. Image: X02810
Under the rule of the Khmer Rouge, two million people died from forced labor, famine and executions in Cambodia, a quarter of the Cambodian population. The Khmer Rouge wanted to create a purely agricultural society and forced the urban population to move to the countryside. They got rid of money and religion and declared war on the intellectuals. Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in prison in 1998. (sda / afp)
