THE
LOST EXECUTIONER
(Published
2005)
Between
1975 and 1979 the seemingly peaceful nation of Cambodia succumbed to one of the most bloodthirsty revolutions in modern history.
Nearly two million people were killed. As Head of the Khmer Rouge’s secret police, Comrade Duch was responsible for
the murder of more than 20,000 of them. Twenty years later, not one member of the Khmer Rouge had been held accountable for
what had happened, and Comrade Duch had disappeared.
“On
17 April 1975, Khmer Rouge forces invaded the capital city of Phnom Penh and declared the dawn of a new era ... they evacuated
the towns and cities, forcing people into the countryside ... then closed the borders and Cambodia vanished. Four years later,
in 1979, the world awoke to scenes of a second holocaust”.
Nic Dunlop became obsessed with the idea of finding Duch and shedding light
on a secret and brutal world that had been sealed off to outsiders. Then, by chance, he came face to face with him. . . .
The
Lost Executioner describes Dunlop’s personal journey to the heart of the Khmer Rouge and his quest to find
out what actually happened in Pol Pot’s Cambodia, and why.
____________________________________________________________________
Nic
Dunlop is a photographer by profession, living in Bangkok. In 1999 he received an award for Excellence in Journalism from
the Johns Hopkins University for exposing the head of the Khmer Rouge secret police, Comrade Duch.
