One of the leaders of Red Khmers responsible for the Cambodian genocide from 1975 to 1979, is finally before the international tribunal. It is Kaing Khek Lev, more famous with his fight name, the head of a special division of the secret police, arrested in 1999. He is the only one arrested among the leaders of the Maoist regime of Pol Pot, who killed two million people from 1975 to 1979. Last month, Asianews agency made known that the prosecution had requested the five exponents of the regime to be judged for "crimes against mankind, genocide, serious violation of Geneva Conventions, murder, torture, and religious persecution", but no formal accusation has still been made against Duch, the only Red Khmer leader to be arrested. His lawyer, Kar Savuth, declared that Duch "was not guilty of any crime; he just executed orders orally received". A spokesman of the tribunal, Reach Sambath, explained that the judges wanted to conclude interrogation before deciding their following actions. The tribunal which should judge the extermination accusation was instituted last year, after eight years of difficult negotiations between Cambodia and the United Nations. In the meantime, Pol Pot died in 1998. The other culprits are alive and free.
