Today, a United Nations court sitting in Cambodia, found one of Pol Pot’s leaders guilty of war crimes. The man called Duch was the chief of Khmer Rouge’s main prison, S-21, where around 16,000 people were tortured and then murdered. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison. He has already been in prison for 11 years. Four other Khmer Rouge leaders will go on trial next.
New Zealand is interested in this court for three reasons. First, we have many refugees who escaped from Cambodia during the time of Pol Pot between 1975 and 1979. They had friends and family who were among the 1.7 Cambodian people murdered.
Secondly, a New Zealander, Kerry Hamill, was one of those people tortured and murdered by Duch. In 1978, he was sailing in a yacht off the coast of Thailand when strong winds blew his yacht south into Cambodian waters. He was taken to S-21 prison and later murdered. His brother, Rob Hamill, is a well known Olympic rower. Last year, Rob visited the prison and saw where his brother had died. He told the court about how his family had suffered. He returned to Cambodia this month to hear the guilty verdict.
The last reason that New Zealand is interested is because one of the five judges appointed by the United Nations is a New Zealand judge. She is Dame Silvia Cartwright. She was a judge and later became Governor General of New Zealand.
Questions
1. Duch said he was just doing what he was told to do. Was he responsible for the murders at the prison?
2. How can a human being do such things to other human beings?
3. These events happened more than 30 years ago. Is it too late to hold a trial?