This 17th week of Duch’s trial marked the beginning of a two-week period allocated for the hearing of Civil Parties’ testimonies. Thirteen Civil Parties took the stand and recounted the loss of their loved ones to the crimes committed at S 21. All Civil Parties expressed their experience of intense sorrow flowing from the demise of their family members. The resulting psychological trauma ran extraordinarily deep because of the knowledge that their loved ones, being S21 detainees, were possibly, perhaps likely, subjected to inhumane treatment, painful torture, and cruel execution. A number of them described the lack of a sense of closure due to the absence of information on what precisely happened to their family members. In addition, the Civil Parties often posed questions to the Accused, asking if their loved ones had been subjected to torture, how they had died, and where their bodies had been interred. In response, however, the Accused maintained his stance that he had little knowledge of the fate of individual prisoners.
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KRT Trial Monitor C001 Issue No. 18 – Hearing on Evidence (Week Ending 23 August 2009) corresponds with Duch on Trial Episode 17
Khmer Rouge Trial Monitor 