Khmer Rouge guards say they were victims
ANLONG SAN, Cambodia, Mar 1, 2009 (UPI) -- As trials of senior Khmer Rouge leaders begin in Cambodia, guards who worked under them allege they had to kill or be killed.
"We were victims, too," said Him Huy, the head guard at Tuol Sleng, a house of torture where nearly 14,000 people died from 1975 to 1979.
The prisoners knelt at the edge of mass graves while guards bashed their heads and toppled them into the pits, Him Huy, 53, told The International Herald Tribune in a story published Sunday.
Today Him Huy is a farmer with nine children and is well-liked in his village. A handful of the people who survived Tuol Sleng, however, allege he was a seasoned killer, the Tribune reported.
A prison document bearing his signature from July 23, 1977, reports the killing of 18 prisoners. A note scribbled at the bottom reads: "Also killed 160 children today for a total of 178 enemies killed."
Five senior Khmer Rouge figures go on trial this week in Phnom Penh for the deaths of at least 1.7 million people who died of starvation, overwork, torture and execution. Thousands of lesser leaders, including Him Huy, are unlikely to face trial, the Tribune reported.
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