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2.17.2009

"killing fields" torturer on trial

This week in Phnom Penh, Kaing Guek Eav, the chief Khmer Rouge torturer went on trial for crime against humanity -- the first senior leader of Pol Pot's regime to be tried by the "Killing Fields" court, nearly thirty years after the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians: "Killing Fields" torturer on trial in Cambodia.

Known also as Duch, the ex-commandant of the notorious S-21 prison sat in hearings this week that will lay the groundwork for a full-blown trial in March, when he, as well as former prisoners and torture survivors are expected to testify. More here: Cambodia opens landmark 'Killing Fields' trial.

There are a lot of people in Cambodia who have been waiting a long time for this. In a country where nearly everyone lost loved ones in the violence, starvation and disease that followed Pol Pot's devastating regime, this is a landmark trial. Right? It's complicated: In Cambodia, Pol Pot's Regime on Trial at Last.