Following the sentence handed down by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal on 67-year-old Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, the director of the former torture prison Tuol Sleng in Phnom Penh, Markus Löning, the Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid, issued today (27 July) the following statement:

”I am pleased that the Khmer Rouge Tribunal has now called to account one of those responsible for the massacres perpetrated by the Pol Pot regime. The message sent by tribunals such as this to victims and their families is that your suffering will not go unatoned. And the message to the perpetrators is that your crimes will not go unpunished! Such tribunals thus play an important part in international human rights protection. Germany has accordingly given the Tribunal strong political and financial backing.“

On Monday, 26 July, the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Cambodia sentenced 67-year-old Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, the director of the former torture prison Tuol Sleng, to 35 years in prison. The verdict is the first to be handed down by the Tribunal established jointly by the Cambodian Government and the United Nations in 2005. Four other leaders of the former Khmer Rouge regime are in custody awaiting trial. With a contribution of just under 8 million euro, Germany is the fourth largest donor to the Tribunal’s budget.