Comrade Duch, the Khmer Rouge’s security chief who ran the notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, was jailed for life on appeal Friday.

By Robert Carmichael, Phnom Penh

In 2010 the UN-backed tribunal convicted Duch of war crimes and crimes against humanity, sentencing him to 35 years for his role in the deaths of at least 12,272 people at the infamous torture and execution centre.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, had contested his conviction arguing the court lacked jurisdiction because he was not a “senior leader” or one of “those most responsible” for crimes – the two categories the UN-backed tribunal is permitted to prosecute.

But on Friday the tribunal’s Supreme Chamber ruled Duch did fall within its remit. The judges said his crimes were so egregious that he deserved a life term, the tribunal’s most severe sanction since Cambodia does not permit the death penalty.

Worst crimes ever

In handing down the decision Judge Kong Srim, who heads the bench of seven judges, said the 69-year-old defendant was guilty of crimes that were “undoubtedly among the worst in recorded human history” and “deserve the highest penalty”.

“The high number of deaths for which (Duch) is responsible, along with the extended period of time over which the crimes were committed – more than three years – undoubtedly place this case among the gravest before international criminal tribunals,” Kong Srim said.

Duch is the first member of the Khmer Rouge to be convicted for crimes committed during the movement’s 1975-79 rule of Cambodia, when as many as 2.2 million people died.

“Duch trained staff in torture and the execution of prisoners, and showed dedication to refining the operations of S-21,” the Supreme Chamber ruled, adding its endorsement to the prosecution’s description of S-21 as “a factory of death”.

The judges also found that the lower court had “attached undue weight to mitigating factors” – including his cooperation with the tribunal and numerous expressions of remorse – when determining Duch’s sentence, and “attached insufficient weight to the gravity of the crimes”.

“Further, the aggravating elements and exceptional gravity of crimes neutralize the limited impact of these mitigating factors,” the Supreme Chamber ruled.

Duch, who was in court, stood in the dock with his arms by his side while Kong Srim read out the final disposition at the conclusion of the two-hour session. Senior government officials were in the audience to watch the verdict.

“The fact that he was not on the top of the command chain in the (Khmer Rouge’s) regime does not justify a lighter sentence,” the judges said, adding that there was no rule stating that people in more senior roles should be punished more severely. “(Duch’s) sentence must be proportionate to the crimes he committed.”

Heaviest sentence

The prosecution had also appealed Duch’s original sentence on the grounds that it was too lenient. As part of its appeal the prosecution also protested the lower chamber’s decision to subsume a number of serious crimes into the category of persecution, one of the listed crimes against humanity.

On Friday the Supreme Chamber agreed with the prosecution, and convicted Duch of the further crimes of extermination, enslavement, imprisonment, torture and other inhumane acts.

International co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley said he was satisfied.

“We were successful in the two major prongs of our appeal,” he told a press conference after the verdict. “We were successful in ensuring that the cumulative conviction was overturned, and that (Duch) was convicted of other crimes.”

“I think the victims can be satisfied with that,” Cayley said of the life sentence, adding that the prosecution had sought a 45-year tariff “and we in fact got life imprisonment.”

Under Cambodian law Duch is entitled to apply for parole once he has served 20 years. As he has been held for nearly 13 years, that means he can apply for parole in around seven years.

However Cayley pointed out that being permitted to apply for parole did not mean he would be granted parole.

“He has committed very serious crimes indeed,” he said.

Duch was arrested in 1999 and held at a military prison for eight years before being transferred to the UN-backed tribunal.

In a dissenting judgement two of the three international judges on the seven-judge bench said Duch was entitled to a reduction in his life sentence to 30 years in order to compensate for his being held illegally prior to trial. However they were overruled by their colleagues.

Tribunal monitor Clair Duffy of the Open Society Justice Initiative said she was “very surprised” at that decision since Duch’s rights had been violated by his illegal detention.

“This is very much a pro-victim outcome without enough balance given to Duch’s rights,” she said. “It definitely looks like Cambodian public perception has weighed greatly (in the ruling).”

The war crimes tribunal is currently hearing evidence in its second case, which is against three surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge. The case against them has been described as the most complex since the Nazi trials at Nuremberg after World War II.

The elderly defendants deny charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and stand accused of responsibility in the deaths of up to 2.2 million people from execution, starvation, disease and overwork.

The defendants, who are in their 80s, are: Nuon Chea, who is known as Brother Number Two and was the deputy to the movement’s late leader Pol Pot; ex-head of state Khieu Samphan; and former foreign minister Ieng Sary.