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The Lost Executioner: the Story of Comrade Duch and the Khmer Rouge

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The Lost Executioner: the Story of Comrade Duch and the Khmer Rouge THE LOST EXECUTIONER: THE STORY OF COMRADE DUCH AND THE KHMER ROUGE Author: Nic Dunlop Number of Pages: 352 pages Published Date: 04 May 2009 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Publication Country: London, United Kingdom Language: English ISBN: 9781408804018 DOWNLOAD: THE LOST EXECUTIONER: THE STORY OF COMRADE DUCH AND THE KHMER ROUGE The Lost Executioner: The Story of Comrade Duch and the Khmer Rouge PDF Book The narrative of this nonfiction account is engrossing. There was no immediate reaction from the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge cadre who rebelled, fled to Vietnam and later helped to drive them from power. It takes a strong stomach to read some of this, but it's worth it. It was Duch. Readers also enjoyed. In Cambodia, between and , some two million people died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Upon the death of Comrade Duch, the 1st Khmer Rouge commander convicted of crimes against humanity, we grieve for those murdered under his direction. Nate Thayer the famed US journalist joined him for the final identification of Duch with many of his This is a very simply and well written book on Nic Dunlop's search to find Duch, the man who ran S21 security prison for the leadership of the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh through to Also, can there ever be justice in the true sense, when murderers of your loved ones live This is an excellent book-it is about the author's quest to track down the man responsible for running the S prison from where only 7 people survived out of the 20, that entered. Abused nations, like tortured children, produce monsters. First, the US had already "done" quite enough: invaded the country, imposed the usual satellite flunkey regime, set about bombing the country literally into the proverbial Stone Age, exhausting its resources and credibility before washing its hands of the blood. A recent study in Britain revealed that a significant proportion of young people knew little of the World War II Nazi extermination of the Jews, despite an impressive array of resource material that is widely available. Abolish money! The attempt by the Khmer Rouge to dismantle Cambodia in was proportionately the worst genocide of the modern era. About us. In , the U. But reading this book gave me a fuller understanding of the horrors that word is so Refresh and try again. Report an error Editorial code of conduct. He was given a life sentence two years later after his appeal, on the grounds that he was just a junior official following orders, was rejected. The biggest challenge for this tribunal is to demonstrate not only justice being done but, more crucially, justice understood. To placate the anger of the people and keep power. He apologized to all S victims and asked them to open their hearts. This was a book that left me heavy hearted, perhaps because I just visited Cambodia in January. Times News Platforms. This book is great at distilling the whole elements through the accounts of some of the members itself. Rebecca Ratcliffe and agencies. Tags Cambodia Human rights SW. Your Globe Build your personal news feed Hide info. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Dec 03, Suchan J rated it really liked it. I will make sure of this. In self inflicted extinction. Nic Dunlop. Today, he remains the only Khmer Rouge in custody. This book covered the extensive period of his turbulent life, being one of the brightest pupils in Cambodia during his youth, and then transformed into a terrible genocide perpetrator, despite his calm and unassuming appearance. Justice was exchanged for peace. The last time I saw Duch was at his trial in Duch — by the time of his trial a born-again Christian — expressed regret for his crimes. There was no immediate reaction from the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge cadre who rebelled, fled to Vietnam and later helped to drive them from power. He was the missing link between the killings and the leaders. Dunlop features interviews with victims and victimizers, including Duch himself, whom the author helped apprehend. Read this several times - it's easily one of the best books written about Cambodia's tortuous lateth century history. The Lost Executioner: The Story of Comrade Duch and the Khmer Rouge Writer He also offers a good summary of the rise and fall and rebirth of the Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian civil war, and how these entwined with the US and Vietnamese occupations. Duch — by the time of his trial a born-again Christian — expressed regret for his crimes. About Us. What will people think when only a few old men whom some may never have heard of go on trial in Phnom Penh, but the man who killed their relatives, living in the same village, literally gets away with murder? They were also able to take advantage of the political turmoil of the next decade and a half, which witnessed the formation of a Cambodian coalition government in , the final withdrawal of the Vietnamese in and the intervention of a UN peacekeeping mission in the early s. It shows his cruelty still exists. In , he was co-recipient of an award from the John Hopkins University 'for excellence in international journalism' for exposing the head of the Khmer Rouge Secret Police, Comrade Duch. Nothing in the modern world was remotely like it. Even after the genocide of the Pol Pot years came to like in the name of anti-communism many Chilling. Where endemic corruption meant you couldn't aspire to any positions of power. His sentencing is of enormous interest across the country. Victims were sometimes forced to dig their own graves. But justice is not complete. Hot Property. Why has so little been done to bring to trial the perpetrators of the Cambodian holocaust? It is only natural that we empathize with their pain and suffering; it is vital that we do. Make a donation. He gets obsessed with the famous prison S aka Tuol Sleng located in Phmon Penh where around 17, people died. There are simply certain criteria for the term, as with first degree murder. Nic Dunlop does not get the answers I was looking for. Duch, 67, has confessed to his crimes, telling the court last year: "I am solely and individually responsible for the loss of at least 12, lives. Businesses, city's empty. This is such an amazing book. I will make sure of this. A decade later Duch went on trial charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Tragically, however, Cold War alliances between major world powers enabled the Khmer Rouge to regroup in Thai refugee camps. The Lost Executioner: The Story of Comrade Duch and the Khmer Rouge Reviews Mey recounts the tortures used to extract false confessions from prisoners and force them into implicating others as CIA spies. View Cart Checkout. He apologised to all S victims and asked them to open their hearts. Log in. Other editions. Mar 28, Robert Carmichael rated it really liked it. The kindless If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. I was waiting for my day. Dunlop is a shrewd observer of people and events. Keep your Opinions sharp and informed. Dec 03, Suchan J rated it really liked it. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. How did that conversation happen? This approach makes the impact of discussing the atrocities even more shocking and real being seen through the eyes of people you can relate too. Both this prison and its associated Killing Field can be visited. Hardcover , pages. Even after the genocide of the Pol Pot years came to like in the name of anti-communism many western countries still continued to support this murderous regime.. Couldn't break away from the book, was a great recount by Nic. Growing up in Ireland and England, I was shocked by revelations about what happened under the Khmer Rouge. In a prison known as S, more than 12, Cambodian men, women and children were tortured and killed, some of the two million people who died under the Khmer Rouge between to The book reads fairly easily can be completed in three days and it does provide a surface treatment to some of the customs and geopolitical contexts that made a genocide possible within the walls of Cambodia. Customer Help. The book really looks at the human beings that were the people committing these atrocities and how they get converted, if that's really the right word, to I loved the perspective of being a journalist in search of Comrade Duch as the backdrop for addressing the atrocities in Cambodia -most of this occurred just around when I was born. As a global community, we ignore the lessons contained therein at our peril. I wanted to know how any grown up people could think this was a a good idea and b could be done and c will be done beginning next Monday. The former high-school maths teacher said he was ordered to kill prisoners at Tuol Sleng against his wishes, and obeyed out of fear that he would be killed if he refused. Third, the same gothic inhumanity was found in the torture chambers of Latin America with US complicity. Duch spent some of these years in a refugee camp, but was eventually to convert to Christianity. Nothing can compensate for the misery that people such as Duch inflicted.
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