Cambodia

The first trial of a Khmer Rouge official got underway Feb. 17 at a UN-backed tribunal, three decades after hundreds of thousands of Cambodians died as a result of atrocities committed by the regime. Kaing Guek Eav, whose alias is "Duch," faces charges of crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, in addition to the offenses of homicide and torture under Cambodian criminal law. Duch has been indicted by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) in Phnom Penh in relation to alleged offences committed while he was chief of the notorious S-21 camp, also known as Toul Sleng. (UN News Service)