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Khmer Rouge Charges

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Duch first to be charged by Tribunal

After 1.7 million deaths and nearly 30 years, the first of Pol Pot's henchmen is charged with crimes against humanity. Kang Kek Ieu, known as?Duch,?was in charge of the notorious S-21 (Toul Sleng) torture prison in Phnom Penh. Of over 17,000 prisoners - mainly Cambodian, but including some foreigners - only?a handful survived. ?

Duch disappeared after the Vietnamese overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979. He was discovered by a journalist in the jungles of northern Cambodia in 1999.?He had become a Christian and was working for World Vision and other NGOs. He said that his conversion was "like that of St Paul" and recognised that he would have to take responsibility for his behaviour in the 1970s.

Read more in??this article?from the Independent and in??this article?from the BBC.

Duch was arrested in 1999.?He and a Khmer Rouge military commander Ta Mok?were?the only members of the Khmer Rouge in detention awaiting trial. Ta Mok died last year.

The other KR leaders expected to be charged by the UN-backed tribunal include "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, former president Khieu samphan and the KR foreign minister Ieng Sary. They are presently living freely in Cambodia.