Kambol (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). Faced with justice, has Duch changed? The accused asked the question himself  
©John Vink/ Magnum (file picture: 01-04-2009)

Thursday June 25th, in one morning, the co-Prosecutors and civil party lawyers interrogated Duch on the functioning of the re-education camp of Prey Sar, also called S-24. The efficiency can be credited to a decision by the judges to limit the speaking time allocated to each party and the president’s direction of the debates. However, the examination of S-24 ended with the feeling that Duch was far from having disclosed everything on the subject.

Kambol (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). 24/06/2009: International co-Prosecutor Robert Petit explained in a press conference the reasons for his resignation and the challenges awaiting the tribunal (see textbox)  
©Vandy Rattana

Wednesday June 24th, debates focused on the creation and functioning of the re-education camp of Prey Sar, also referred to as “S-24”, placed under the authority of S-21 similarly to the execution site of Choeung Ek and also located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. During the hearing, the judges repeatedly went back over Duch’s answers, which were at times rather confused and often contradictory, to try and sketch a picture of what was a re-education camp only in name.

Kambol, Phnom Penh (Cambodia). 22/06/2009: In the press room at lunch time, during Duch’s trial at the ECCC  
©Vandy Rattana

During the hearing on Tuesday June 23rd, Alain Werner, co-lawyer for civil party group 1, suggested to the accused another way to look at his role at the head of S-21 – and hence his personality – which departs from what Duch has explained until now during his trial, in other words, that the former director of the security centre where over 12,000 people lost their lives was no other than a zealous cadre. Shortly afterwards, the defence counsel presented a rueful Duch by showing an excerpt from the footage shot during the reconstruction at Choeung Ek and S-21. Also, the tribunal’s international co-Prosecutor, Robert Petit, announced his resignation (see textbox).

Kambol (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). 22/06/2009: A journalist reads a newspaper in the ECCC press room while Duch’s trial goes on  
©Vandy Rattana

The hearing on June 22nd 2009 highlighted the weakness of the prosecution in Duch’s trial. Between repetitive questions and off-topics, the examination of the accused by the co-Prosecutors on the functioning of S-21 and Choeung Ek left more than an unfinished taste. The court president, Nil Nonn, started directing the debates again, with a timely reminder to the parties of the rules of the game.

 Neak Leung (Prey Veng, Cambodia). 16/11/2002: Storm near the Neak Leung pier, on the road from Cambodia to Vietnam  
©John Vink/Magnum

Will Cambodia collapse under the weight of thousands of starving Vietnamese exiles, fleeing fields devastated by roaring waves? Much dreaded by Cambodians, the invasion of their territory by the children of Uncle Ho may result not from aggressive territorial ambitions, but from the dramatic consequences of a global warming that would force farmers into a rural exodus as their lands were gradually lost to the sea. If the scenario of a sudden arrival in mass of Vietnamese migrants on the Khmer soil seems unlikely today, several recent reports point out the major environmental risks which people in the Mekong Delta may be faced with in the forthcoming decades. A new challenge for the two nations after a long common history of much turmoil.