The Master of Confessions Quotes

“DUCH’S IS THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL TRIAL CONCERNED WITH crimes committed in the name of Communism. International lawyers and human rights activists are scathing about so-called nationalist revolutions—those that openly pursue racist or xenophobic aims. No one has any trouble rejecting the movement for a Greater Serbia or denouncing Hutu Power. Yet many balk at the notion that, in a trial of the Khmer Rouge, Communism itself takes the stand as well.”
― Thierry Cruvellier, The Master of Confessions: The Making of a Khmer Rouge Torturer

“What is the norm for measuring enthusiasm? The Communist Party was a paranoid organization. They suspected everything, and they believed that anyone could turn out to be a traitor. There was no criterion for measuring what was within the parameters of an acceptable result and what wasn’t. This is my most frank answer, Your Honor.”
― Thierry Cruvellier, The Master of Confessions: The Making of a Khmer Rouge Torturer

“He has a better recollection of what he was ordered to do with lepers: destroy them all. Communism must liberate man. Communism abhors the handicapped, the sick, the mentally ill, the religious, homosexuals, and intellectuals.”
― Thierry Cruvellier, The Master of Confessions: The Making of a Khmer Rouge Torturer

“I have covered several trials for genocide or crimes against humanity in international courts; no other perpetrator has been given such ample opportunity to be heard—not in Arusha, Freetown, or The Hague.”
― Thierry Cruvellier, The Master of Confessions: The Making of a Khmer Rouge Torturer