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Sister of Khmer Rouge murder victim John Dewhirst hopes for UN trial

Sep 20 2009 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

John’s note even said his father, who died before his capture, was a CIA agent whose cover was as head of Benton Road Secondary in Newcastle.

Hilary said: “I have experienced death and grief. This is different. It’s everlasting.

“I can accept death completely. It’s what happened to my brother that I can’t accept.

“The fact that torture was so extreme, lasting not half a day, but months, makes it an inhuman act. It takes the humanity of the person.

“The person my brother had been was taken away during that torture. For a human being to do that to another human being, that’s not a human act.

“What happened in Cambodia isn’t generally known to today’s generations. It should be a part of history lessons. People should remember what happened there.

“I don’t know how my brother died. I have heard reports of people bleeding to death and having their heads smashed from behind beside mass graves. I don’t know if knowing what really happened can make me feel any worse. If I feel like this after 31 years, a whole country must feel the same.”

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