[The following is in regards to the trial of Kaing Guek Eav, commonly known as Comrade Duch, who was the head of the Khmer Rouge’s internal security branch, in which he oversaw the Tuol Sleng (S-21) prison camp where thousands were held for interrogation and torture. While the trial itself takes place in the early 2000s, I still felt it appropriate, as the trial only covered events taking place between the years 1975-1979. Every testimony is from that time period, and everything depicted by the author, who was present at the trial, are essentially reactions to this gruesome period of history by contemporaries who were present or had participated. In that sense, I feel this fits well for our purposes, and I do not believe it breaks the 20 Year Rule.]
The youngest of the seven sisters has come to speak on behalf of the family. Holding up the photo of her sister taken in 1974, she says she wants to show Duch what Tioulong Raingsy was like before. She wants to do this even if it makes no difference to him.
”I want to show him what he destroyed with his own hands.”
The little sister doesn’t believe the executioner’s remorse. She thinks that, unlike his victims, he was lucky enough to get a fair trial. She says she will never forgive him.
”Never, never, never.”
The children of the murdered couple grew up as best they could, she says. At the age of eleven, their son with diagnosed with neurological problems and epilepsy. Psychologists said that these were linked to the trauma he had suffered. In the 1990s, he returned to live in Phnom Penh. One day he had a seizure while driving and was killed when he crashed into the Independence Monument roundabout downtown. One of his sisters also suffers from psychological issues.
As for Raingsy’s parents, theirs is a silent grief. Her mother still asks why the Khmer Rouge killed her daughter. In the early ‘90s, her father, who remained loyal to the king [of Cambodia], had to negotiate peace with various parties, including the Khmer Rouge. He kept his feelings to himself.
Source:
Cruvellier, T., and Alex Gilly. “Chapter 31.” The Master of Confessions: The Making of a Khmer Rouge Torturer. Ecco, 2014. 246. Print.
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