PHNOM PENH , June 29 KYODO
One of more than a dozen Khmer Rouge survivors of a torture center in Phnom Penh recounted Monday that at the prison where he was incarcerated were ''inhuman'' and the food given him was less than that for the animals. ''The conditions were so inhumane and the food was so little.
I even had thought of eating human flesh,'' said Vann Nath, one of 14 Khmer Rouge survivors believed to have escaped from S-21 torture center. ''Even with animals, they would give enough food to eat,'' he said, adding he was given only three spoons of porridge ''and the spoon was as small as coffee spoon.'' Vann Nath, 63, is the first Khmer Rouge survivor to testify at a U.N. backed court where the former chief of S-21 prison Kaing Guek Ieu, known as Duch, is on trial for crimes against humanity.
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia plans to call at least nine witnesses and victims who survived S-21 during the course of Duch's trial, which is expected to end by the end of this year. Duch is one of the five Khmer Rouge leaders to be tried at the ECCC for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Vann Nath said he spent a year in the prison, first as a prisoner and later was a painter during which time he said he saw some of the torture committed by the security guards under Duch's command. Duch, 66, has admitted his role and responsibility for the deaths of at least 12,380 prisoners and has several times apologized to the public for his cruelty.
He has added, however, he did everything on orders of his superiors. The Khmer Rouge are blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians in late 1970s.
KyodoJune 29, 2009
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