Phnom Penh - Cambodia's war crimes tribunal heard closing arguments Monday from civil party lawyers in the trial of Comrade Duch, the former commander of the Khmer Rouge's most notorious prison. Lawyers for four groups of civil parties repeatedly questioned the sincerity of Duch's numerous apologies. Philippe Canonne, attorney for the third group, said Duch could not imagine how much people continued to suffer from his actions.
"They are trying to understand why a man - possibly no worse than any other - set up a system of such barbarity," Canonne said, addressing the defendant directly.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, is charged with crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Convention. He ran the infamous torture and execution centre known as S-21 in Phnom Penh where at least 15,000 people died between 1975-79. Very few inmates survived.
Canonne, a French civil rights lawyer, told the court that including civil parties - mainly the relatives of victims - in such a trial was "a major innovation."
He said civil parties had initially wanted violence done to Duch for his crimes. Now they wanted to see justice rendered by the court.
"Look at them," Cannone told Duch with a dramatic gesture. "Look at the men and women whose spouses, children you sought to smash. You cannot smash human beings."
The term "smash" was used repeatedly by the Khmer Rouge when killing perceived enemies of the state, and was written numerous times by Duch on paperwork he signed authorizing the execution of thousands of S-21 inmates.
Earlier, Karim Khan, a lawyer for another group of civil parties, told the court that Duch had run a camp "dedicated to death." He said the accused's stance that he had little choice but to carry out his functions held little water.
"The accused did what he did not only because he was ideologically of the same mind as the senior members of the (Khmer Rouge hierarchy) ... and wished to belong, but because it made life easier for him," Khan said.
Khan said the evidence heard during the trial had shown Duch enjoyed the autonomy to carry out certain important actions at S-21, including building prison cells at the former school.
"What happened to this autonomy when it came to the interrogation, the torture and the killing of so many people?" Khan asked.
"This is no Schindler before you," Khan concluded, referring to Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist who famously saved several hundred Jews from Nazi death camps during World War II.
Khan told the bench of five judges that they would need to weigh up Duch's acceptance of some of the crimes of which he is accused against his unwillingness to shoulder responsibility for other crimes that witnesses said he committed.
"The evidence shows only one conclusion: for all that has been said by the accused and his defence in large and important particulars, the accused has sought to minimize his role," Khan told the court.
Duch testified that he was simply following orders and had almost no power to help detainees sent to S-21.
Lawyers for the prosecution and defence will address the court from Tuesday to Thursday, and Duch will also be given the opportunity to address the court.
Sentencing in Duch's trial will take place early next year. There is no death penalty in Cambodia, and he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for his crimes.
Four senior surviving leaders are currently in jail and awaiting trial.
The Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia between 1975-79 before being forced out of power by neighbouring Vietnam. Around 2 million people died of starvation and disease or were executed under the radical regime.
