MR VANN Nath said he was tortured at a different camp after his arrest but he was spared torture at S-21.

The court was shown a dozen paintings Mr Vann Nath made after the fall of the regime that depicted events from S-21, some of which he says he witnessed and some related to him by others. The paintings showed executions, prison guards snatching a baby from a mother, and women being tortured by guards who set scorpions loose on their bodies.

The regime's radical policies caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people nationwide by execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition.

Most prisoners were tortured into giving fanciful confessions that suited the Khmer Rouge's political outlook, though they generally had been loyal members of the group.

'What I want is something that's intangible,' Mr Vann Nath said.

'I want justice for those that died.' -- AP