Somewhat
fittingly, the English translation of Tuol Sleng is “Hill of the Poisonous
Trees.” During the reign of the Communist
Party of Kampuchea, or the Khmer Rouge as they were subsequently known, the
Tuol Sleng prison was a true charnel house, ostensibly charged with enforcing
ideological purity. Kaing Guek Eav, the
man dubbed “Comrade Duch,” oversaw the wholesale torture and mass executions perpetrated
there with the ferocity of a zealot.
Years later, Duch became the first Khmer Rouge official to stand trial
for crimes against humanity. Adrain
Maben documents the historic trial and the complicated circumstances
surrounding it in Comrade Duch: The
Bookkeeper of Death (promo
here), which
airs tomorrow as part of the current season of Global Voices on PBS World.
Duch
was a butcher, plain and simple.
However, he represented himself as a much different person in 2007 than
he was in the late 1970’s. A convert to
Evangelical Christianity, Duch initially surprised the world by acknowledging
personal culpability for the crimes he committed and asking for the forgiveness
of victims and their families. Indeed,
it seemed to confuse the issues for the tribunal, which eventually sentenced
Duch to what most of the country considered a scandalously lenient sentence.
Trying
a nearly seventy year old man for crimes that were committed decades ago but still
remain a source of acute and widespread pain throughout the country will always
be a tricky proposition. Problematic as
it might have been, Duch’s trial was only possible thanks to the gumshoe work
of investigative photojournalist Nic Dunlop (who contributed so many images to
HBO2’s Burma Soldier has was
officially credited as a co-director). Haunted
by the archival photos of soon to be executed Tuol Sleng prisoners, Dunlop
scoured the remote corners of Southeast Asia for the notorious ideologue responsible.
While
the trial is presented rather straightforwardly and dispassionately, there are
several heavy moments in Bookkeeper. In one telling scene, Duch earnestly tells
his interviewer his only fundamental mistake was serving Communism rather than
Christianity. It is hard to imagine a
more Eric Hoffer-esque moment, yet there is no question the world would have
been a better place had his allegiances been altered accordingly. It is also a little unnerving to take into
account Duch was the product of his leftist school teacher’s classroom
indoctrination.
Arguably,
Bookkeeper illustrates the power of
the photographic image more forcefully than any recent film expressly documenting
the medium. Profoundly saddening but
respectful and informative, it is one of this weekend’s television highlights
when it airs tomorrow (5/20) on PBS World.