ECCC Reparations

This blog is designed to serve as a repository of analyses, news reports and press releases related to the issue of RERAPATIONS within the framework of the Extraordinary Chambers in Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), a.k.a. the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

Friday, November 30, 2007

ECCC: December 3, 2007 -- the Pre-Trial Chamber Is Set to Answer the Multiple Questions of Duch's Detention

Dear all:



We have an important notice to inform you that the Pre-Trial Chambers of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia will announce the Verdict of Kaing Gueck Eav known as Duch on Monday 03 December 2007 at 1400. You are warmly invited to participate in the process.



Please read detail information in Khmer and English in the file attachment.



Thanks and cheers, Sambath.



Reach Sambath
Presss Officer
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
Tel: (855) 12 891 567
Fax: (855) 23 219 841
Email: reach.sambath@eccc.gov.kh, reachsambath@hotmail.com

ECCC: Solicitation of Amicus Curiae Briefs for the Defense's Appeal against Noun Chea's Detention

Dear everyone:



The Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia invites the public who are interested to submit their written amicus curiae briefs to the PTC within 30 days of the date of this public notice. Your participation in the process would be very much encouraged.



Please read details in the file attachment.



Thanks and cheers, Sambath.



Reach Sambath
Presss Officer
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
Tel: (855) 12 891 567
Fax: (855) 23 219 841
Email: reach.sambath@eccc.gov.kh, reachsambath@hotmail.com



Web: www.eccc.gov.kh

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Khmer Rouge jailer demands his human rights

Khmer Rouge jailer demands his human rights

Bangkok Post

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=123770



Phnom Penh (dpa) - A single survivor of the Khmer Rouge's most notorious prison sat stoney-faced in the public gallery as the jail's former commandant began his first day of court hearings for pre-trial release on human rights grounds.

One of less than 10 survivors of the S-21 torture centre, Chum Mey listened as attorneys for his former jailer, Kang Keng Iev, alias Duch, argued that detaining the 65-year-old for more than eight years without trial breached his human rights and appealed for bail.

Duch, a born-again Christian, was discovered in 1999 working as a teacher in the northwestern province of Battambang and has been imprisoned virtually ever since.

Duch has never argued that he was not in charge of Phnom Penh's S-21 torture centre, Toul Sleng, where it is estimated up to 17,000 people were "processed" and survivors taken to the "killing fields" to be executed or worked to death in agricultural labour camps.

"This is a relief for me. This feels like at last something is happening to start to find justice," Chum Mey said outside the courtroom. "It is my duty as a survivor to come. The others were too ill to come or could not make it here today, so I represent them."

Duch has been formally charged with crimes against humanity by the joint UN-Cambodia tribunal, and security was tight as people crowded into the court Tuesday morning.

Tuesday's hearing consisted mainly of complex legal arguments, although the prosecution detailed some of the atrocities alleged to have taken place inside the prison.

Those included placing people in pits filled with water and watching as the prisoner drowned; electric shock therapy; pulling out fingernails and other forms of torture.

Duch made a brief speech early to the court in the morning, his hands clasped in front of him in supplication as he gave basic details of his family and places of residence before his arrest.

The hearing is expected to last at least two days with a decision scheduled for late this month or early next month, according to court spokesman Reach Sambath.

It comes nearly three decades after the 1975-79 regime was toppled by invading Vietnamese forces. Up to 2 million Cambodians perished under the Khmer Rouge in its drive to transform the country into a classless agrarian utopia.

Four other former leaders have been charged by the court: former leader Pol Pot's chief deputy, Nuon Chea; former head of state Khieu Samphan; former deputy prime minister Ieng Sary and his wife, Pol Pot's sister-in-law Khieu Thirith.

Outside the courthouse Tuesday, Khieu Samphan's wife So Socheat mounted her own vigil for her husband, who was arrested and charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes Monday.

"I am waiting to be allowed to see him. We will also be asking for the court to allow him to be freed before his trial," she said.

© Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2007

Trial of Khmer Rouge should end impunity

General news >> Tuesday November 27, 2007
IN TOUCHANURAJ MANIBHANDU
Trial of Khmer Rouge should end impunity



Thirty years after the events, it is hard to believe that
justice will be done for Cambodians who lost people they loved to the
ruthlessness of the Khmer Rouge. But there is sense in the argument that the
United Nations-backed tribunal, expected to begin in earnest next year, will
help reassure Cambodians that there is a chance for justice in future.

Not least important, the tribunal _ however much or little it
succeeds in incriminating the ageing Khmer Rouge leaders _ will help send
the message to political supremos everywhere that they will not escape with
impunity if they commit crimes against their people.

Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia,
convincingly presents his argument on the benefits of the tribunal in an
article posted on the website of the Cambodian Tribunal Monitor.

He starts by relating the experiences of members of his family
under the Khmer Rouge and their differences of opinion to the upcoming
tribunal.

The Khmer Rouge cut open his sister's stomach after her husband
had been beaten to death for stealing rice from the commune kitchen.
Following the overthrow of the regime, his mother alone in the family
accepted as a form of apology the offering in bananas and meat from the
chief of a village where some other family members disappeared. His niece,
who was only five or six when her parents were killed, holds that no justice
in the world will bring her family back.

Two reasons which Youk Chhang puts forward for insisting that
the tribunal matters are persuasive.

''We need prosecution before we can ever reach the point of true
forgiveness,'' he writes.

Secondly, he points out that justice has already been done ''to
some degree'', during the 1980s, when people ''took the law into their own
hands and killed many of the worst Khmer Rouge perpetrators''.

''For this reason, I feel that the trials _ if they are
successful _ will not so much bring justice to the victims as give people a
perception that justice is possible for the future.''

The years of delay in the setting up of the tribunal _
officially called the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
(ECCC) _ have given Cambodians and observers of Cambodia ample time to
debate questions of crime, punishment and reconciliation.

The Khmer Rouge are held responsible for the deaths of 1.7
million people through overwork, starvation, torture and execution from
1975-79. Youk Chhang, who has spent 10 years researching the excesses,
reckons a ''vast majority'' of Cambodians want to see the ''intellectual
authors'' of the genocide put behind bars. In a paper presented in Singapore
in 2005, he says these Cambodians are unlikely to be satisfied. He cites the
ages of many candidates for prosecution, the possibility that the trials
will drag on for years, the likelihood of appeals, and the track record of
the Cambodian legal system.

With the arrests of three well-known figures in recent days, and
the demand for bail of the Khmer Rouge's chief interrogator, debate has
resumed over the prospects for the tribunal and the end of the culture of
impunity in Cambodia.

Duch, who was arrested in July by order of the ECCC, stood
before it on Nov 20 to appeal against his detention without trial since
1999. Also known as Kaing Guek Eav, he and the three Khmer Rouge leaders
arrested on Nov 14 and 19 face charges of crimes against humanity.

These are Ieng Sary, the former Khmer Rouge foreign minister,
his wife Ieng Thirith, who served as a minister for social services, and
Khieu Samphan, the former president. Nuon Chea, the Khmer Rouge's chief
ideologue taken into custody in September, faces similar charges.

The arrest of Khieu Samphan came a day before the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations drew contempt for again procrastinating on the
question of setting up a proper human rights body. The Asean charter signed
by heads of government on Nov 20 left it up to foreign ministers to spell
out the terms of reference for the mechanism, although the idea has been
discussed by officials and expert groups for close to 30 years.

The member government that was seen to benefit from such
unfinished work was Burma. But other regional governments, including
Thailand's, know full well how such a status quo protects their respective
situations.

The coincidence of the Khmer Rouge arrests, Duch's appeal for
bail and Asean's failure to set up a human rights body was a reminder of the
difficulties of bringing change to the region.

Thailand contributed US$10,000 to the tribunal.

Worth a lot more is the information stored in the memories of
officials who took charge of some 300,000 Cambodian refugees encamped along
the eastern border.

These included Khmer Rouge dependents and victims.



© Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2007

Friday, November 23, 2007

A Jail Garb Break-through

Editorial

Stan Starygin


Be the final outcome of Kaing Guek Iev (alias ‘Duch’)’s hearing what it may, there is one dimension that this hearing has already added to the Cambodian judicial process – provided the judges of the ordinary Cambodian courts stick by it once the ECCC closes doors for business – the accused, this time, appeared in court clad in plain clothes rather than the usual for Cambodian courts jail garb.

Strong arguments of prejudice against the defendant's right have been made against compelling him/her to wear a jail garb in several domestic jurisdictions prior. In the United States, for example, the US Supreme Court had to answer the question of compulsion to wear a prison garb in Estelle v. Williams where the Court held that the state's exercise of this type of compulsion prejudiced against the rights of the accused reasoning that (1) it would be prejudicial toward the accused as it would be a “constant reminder of the accused’s condition implicit in such distinctive, identifiable attire may affect a juror’s judgment” and (2) that “compelling an accused to wear jail clothing furthers no essential state policy”. The Court, therefore, held that this compulsion goes against the very essence of the Due Process Clause of the US Constitution, however, providing an exception for situations where an accused does not object to wearing the garb, in which case no violation would be committed by the detaining authority. In Thailand, there is a procedural rule which allows an accused to wear plain clothes, however, as a matter of practice, detainees are rarely – if ever – informed of this option which results in the accused almost always wearing jail garbs at trial in Thai courts. In Cambodia, there is no particular rule providing for a possibility of wearing plain clothes to court, if the accused has been detained in pre-trial prior which makes the authority resort to the prison procedure which mandates that garbs be worn at all times and does not mention any exceptions for the time of the accused’s appearance before the judge. At the international level, this issue has been addressed since the commencement of the hearings at the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in 1945 and was resolved in favor of the accused wearing clothing of his/her choosing.

PTC: This Is What Is Likely to Happen

Editorial

Stan Starygin

Now that the two-day duel between the prosecution and the defense in Kaing Guek Iev’s bail appeal hearing is over, the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) judges will be determining the value of the evidence and arguments presented and balancing the both against the interests of justice. Although no specific date was set for the judicial decision to be published, it is likely to happen before the onset of the Western holiday season, as the international judges of the PTC – as well as other international stakeholders involved -- are likely to be headed back to their home countries around that time. Another benchmark that the PTC judges will have to try to meet is that of the commencement of trials in the early months of 2008 which will enable the tribunal, as a whole, to send a message out there that the process is firmly underway, thus, helping the Office of Administration’s efforts of securing additional funding to bridge the current budgetary shortfall. With this said, this time around the judges are not likely to have the luxury of time which they had taken to thrash out the internal rules of the court and if deliberations in the chamber, nonetheless, span over a period comparable to that of the internal rules, it will negatively reflect upon the court’s image of its ability to make a decision within a reasonable period of time and might make some potential funders – like the United States, for example – snap their wallets closed.

The issue of granting Kaing Guek Iev his request of bail is likely to be a contentious one with the Cambodian judges standing firmly on denial – for political reasons rather than those of their assessment of the value of the evidence and arguments presented – and international judges toying with the idea of achieving the unthinkable – ruling against the Military Tribunal of Phnom Penh's actions against the accused and asserting that it had violated Kaing Guek Iev’s rights to the level of gravity which amounts to ‘abuse of process’. Provided the PTC’s international judicial wing comes to an agreement on the matter, it will have a tough job of securing the vote of at least one Cambodian judge to form an opinion of the court. If such a scenario does play out, it will doubtless write a first chapter in the legacy of the ECCC and make a firm statement that abuse of process will not be tolerated by this tribunal regardless of what the merits of a particular case might be. On the other hand, it will further undermine the already razor-thin credibility of Cambodian courts and show that the Cambodian judicial process is miles away from the stipulations of the international instruments Cambodia has acceded to. The international judges will weigh the benefits of upholding the principles of international law against the possibility of bringing the Cambodian judicial system into further disrepute, enraging the Cambodian government and alienating their Cambodian colleagues, and rule in favor of a continued detention of Kaing Guek Iev.

We, of course, at this point have no way of knowing exactly what’s going to happen, but this is what is likely to happen.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

The former director of the Khmer Rouge's notorious Toul Sleng Security Prison during the 1970s, Kaing Guek Eav (“Duch”), has appeared before the ECCC


The former director of the Khmer Rouge's notorious Toul Sleng Security Prison during the 1970s, Kaing Guek Eav (“Duch”), has appeared before the ECCC.

See at http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/eCache/DEF/8/594.TGFuZz1FTg.html

Prosecutor Argues Duch Might Flee If Released


By Suy Se AFP - Wednesday, November 21 10:33 amPHNOM PENH (AFP) - Prosecutors Wednesday demanded that Khmer Rouge prison chief and top interrogator Duch remain behind bars as Cambodia's genocide tribunal ended two days of appeals against his pre-trial detention.

A ruling on his release will be issued at a later date, judges said.

Arguing that Duch could flee if freed, co-prosecutor Robert Petit said that the UN-backed court had a duty to the regime's victims to keep him detained.

"There is sufficient evidence to support his responsibility for the crimes he's being charged with," Petit said.

"We believe that Duch's detention is necessary to ensure his presence in the court," he told AFP following the court's first public hearing, seen by many as a landmark moment for a country trying to come to terms with its brutal past.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, allegedly oversaw the torture and extermination of an estimated 16,000 men, women and children at the Khmer Rouge's Tuol Sleng prison during the regime's 1975-1979 rule.

He was arrested by the tribunal in July, becoming the first top Khmer Rouge cadre to be detained and charged with crimes against humanity ahead of a trial expected to take place next year.

Sitting grim-faced before the panel of five judges who will rule on his release, Duch, a 65-year-old former maths teacher, appeared to be closely following the proceedings.

As judges ended the hearing, he rose clasping his hands in front of him and said: "I ask the pre-trial chamber to release me on bail."

Duch's bail hearing followed the arrest Monday of another regime figure, head of state Khieu Samphan, who was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The arrest brought to five the number of former top cadres facing justice for one of the 20th century's worst atrocities.

Up to two million people were executed or died of starvation and overwork as the communist regime emptied Cambodia's cities, exiling millions to vast collective farms in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia during its rule.

The Khmer Rouge also abolished money, religion and schools.

Duch's lawyers argued that years spent imprisoned without trial by another court -- he was first arrested by the government in 1999 -- violated the law and was grounds for his release.

"Duch has been detained for eight years without trial. This contradicts Cambodian law and international standards for civil and political rights," said Duch's co-counsel Francois Roux after the hearing.

The long-stalled genocide tribunal was established in July 2006 after nearly a decade of negotiations between Cambodia and the UN.

With trials not expected until the last half of 2008, Duch's hearing has been widely anticipated as a key test of the court's credibility.

"The climate is good, there is no interference or intimidation," said Kek Galabru, director of the Cambodian rights group Licadho.

"The court is moving forward," she added.

The hearing also gave hundreds of attending Cambodians their first glimpse of the man who brought them so much misery three decades ago.

Duch, thought dead following the 1979 fall of the Khmer Rouge, was re-discovered 20 years later working for a relief organisation after converting to Christianity.

"I want all of the people who were involved in the Khmer Rouge regime to be in jail," said villager Sao Sihun, who lost 20 members of her family under the regime.

As momentum towards the trials builds, former foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, the regime's social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, were arrested last week, while Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea was detained in September.

The regime's top leader Pol Pot died in 1998.

Sister says Khmer Rouge interrogator was "gentle man"

Sister says Khmer Rouge interrogator was "gentle man"
Wed Nov 21, 2007

By Ek Madra

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Chief Khmer Rouge interrogator Duch is a "gentle man" who was only following orders when he ran the notorious S-21 torture centre during Pol Pot's reign of terror 30 years ago, his sister said on Wednesday.

"My brother was a gentle man," Hong Kimhong, 50, told Reuters outside Cambodia's "Killing Fields" tribunal where Duch, charged with crimes against humanity, is seeking bail ahead of his trial expected next year.

"He worked under the Khmer Rouge regime. If he did not follow orders from above, he would have been killed," she said on the second day of the historic hearing held on the outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh.

Duch, also known as Kaing Guek Eav, is the first senior Khmer Rouge cadre to stand before the U.N.-backed court set up to prosecute "those most responsible" for the 1.7 million deaths during the 1975-79 genocide, one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century.

There was little reaction from the grey-haired former schoolteacher, now 66, as prosecutors argued against his release in the nationally televised hearing.

"He bears at least some direct responsibility for the detention, torture and deaths of over 14,000 men, women and children," co-prosecutor Robert Petit told the five Cambodian and international judges.

"A lot of Cambodians are watching and listening to what is being said and done in this chamber. Most of them have been waiting for 30 years to see justice done," Petit said.

A born-again Christian, Duch has confessed in interviews with Western reporters that he committed multiple atrocities as head of the infamous Tuol Sleng, or S-21, interrogation centre.

At least 14,000 people deemed to be opponents of Pol Pot's "Year Zero" revolution passed through Tuol Sleng's barbed-wire gates. Fewer than 10 are thought to have lived to tell the tale.

Most victims were tortured and forced to confess to a variety of crimes -- mainly being CIA spies -- before being bludgeoned to death in a field on the outskirts of the city. Women, children and even babies were among those butchered.

But Duch's sister did not believe "he was as brutal as the allegations say" and she said their family had also suffered under the Khmer Rouge.

"Ten of our family died of starvation under the regime. If he isn't released I don't think it will be a fair trial," she said.

Her comments were echoed by Duch's 30-year-old son, Hong Sivpheng.

"I want to see my Dad released. This is all about politics".

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/11/20/khmer.rouge/index.html

Prosecutors Want Khmer Rouge Chief Held

Prosecutors Want Khmer Rouge Chief Held

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/21/AR2007112100007.html?hpid=sec-world

By SOPHENG CHEANG

The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 21, 2007



PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Prosecutors urged a U.N.-backed genocide tribunal Wednesday to deny bail to the former head of the Khmer Rouge's largest torture center, saying his release could pose a threat to public order in Cambodia.



Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, is charged with committing crimes against humanity as the commandant of the regime's notorious Tuol Sleng prison. He is one of five people held in connection with the communist regime's brutal rule of Cambodia in the 1970s.



Duch became the first defendant to appear before the long-awaited tribunal when his bail hearing opened Tuesday. His defense lawyers argued that Duch's human rights have been violated by his long detention and that he should be freed on bail ahead of trials expected to start next year. He has been in custody since 1999.



The Khmer Rouge regime is blamed for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people during its reign from 1975-79. Many have said they feared the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders might die before being brought to justice. The movement's notorious leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998.



Duch, now 65, was the commandant of the Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh, also known as S-21. As many as 16,000 men, women and children were tortured there before being executed outside the capital at the site known as "the killing fields." Only 14 people are thought to have survived.



Prosecutors called Duch a "flight risk" and urged the court Wednesday to keep him behind bars _ for his own safety and in the interest of public order. Duch's trial is expected to start in the middle of next year, but the tribunal has not yet set specific dates for any of the trials.



If Duch were released he could be harmed both by "accomplices wishing to silence him and by the relatives of victims seeking revenge," Robert Petit, a prosecutor from Canada, told the court.



Petit added that "the entire public order (could) be jeopardized" if the aging Khmer Rouge official were freed.



Graying and frail, Duch took the witness stand for a second day Wednesday dressed in the same white polo shirt he wore a day earlier.



His lawyers, countryman Kar Savuth and Francois Roux of France, argued that he should be released because his human rights had been violated during the eight years he already spent in a Cambodian military prison on war crimes charges before being transferred to the tribunal's custody in July.



Duch has said he was simply following orders from the top to save his own life. "I was under other people's command, and I would have died if I disobeyed it," he told a government interrogator after his arrest.



Former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan, 76, was arrested Monday and charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes.



Last week, authorities arrested Ieng Sary, the regime's ex-foreign minister, and his wife Ieng Thirith, its social affairs minister. Both were charged with crimes against humanity; Ieng Sary was also charged with war crimes.



Former Khmer Rouge ideologist Nuon Chea was detained in September on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Cambodia's UN-Backed Tribunal Hears Appeal of Former Khmer Rouge Leader

Cambodia's UN-Backed Tribunal Hears Appeal of Former Khmer Rouge Leader

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-21-voa35.cfm

By VOA News

21 November 2007



A former Khmer Rouge prison chief has asked Cambodia's United Nations-backed genocide tribunal to release him on bail before he is tried for crimes against humanity.



Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, center, former Khmer Rouge prison chief at Tuol Sleng prison, sits inside the court room during a hearing in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 20 Nov 2007

Prosecutors argued in Wednesday's pre-trial hearing that Kaing Guek Eav - also known as "Duch" - should remain in custody because he may try to flee if released.



Duch's defense lawyers argued that the eight years he has spent in detention since his arrest were a violation of his rights.



The judges adjourned without saying when they would reach a verdict.



The 65-year-old former school teacher will be be tried for his role overseeing the infamous Khmer Rouge interrogation center, S-21, during the group's rule from 1975 to 1979.



An estimated 16,000 men, women and children were tortured at the prison before being executed at the infamous "killing fields." At most, 14 people held in the prison survived.



In July, the tribunal took Duch into its custody from a military prison where he had been held since 1999.



The tribunal has since arrested and charged four other former top leaders with war crimes and crimes against humanity.



Those charged are former head of state Khieu Samphan, former foreign minister Ieng Sary, social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, and the group's second in command Noun Chea.



Trials for their roles in the deaths of nearly two million people under Khmer Rouge rule are expected to begin next year.



The top Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998.



Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Duch's Hearing Pic 4

Duch's Hearing Pic 3

Duch's Hearing Pic 2

Duch's Hearing; Pic 1

Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal holds first hearing

Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal holds first hearing
20 Nov 2007, 1048 hrs IST,AP
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PHNOM PENH: Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal opened its doors on Tuesday for the first public court appearance of a Khmer Rouge figure since the regime's brutal reign of terror in the 1970s.

Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, who headed the regime's notorious S-21 prison and torture centre, entered the long-delayed tribunal for a pre-trial hearing to appeal his detention ahead of trials scheduled to begin in 2008.

He was driven in a car with tinted windows from a detention centre on the tribunal's compound to the nearby courtroom.

Hundreds of journalists, international observers and Cambodians crowded the compound to witness the event that comes almost three decades after the regime fell from power.

The 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime was blamed for the deaths of some 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution.

Many have said they feared the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders might die before being brought to justice. The movement's notorious leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998.

Duch's hearing was to be held in the tribunal's pre-trial chamber, with a live video feed broadcast to the main courtroom that seats 500 people. Ahead of the morning hearing, Duch was to be paraded before journalists for a photo session.

Tribunal spokesman Peter Foster hailed the hearing as "a milestone," saying he hoped it would ease the doubts of critics who feared the tribunal would never materialize.

"It's a big day" he said. "The spotlight will now be on Cambodia."


PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (CNN) -- The U.N.-backed genocide tribunal opened its first formal hearing in the Cambodian capital on Tuesday with the alleged chief torturer of the Khmer Rouge the first to appear.


Kaing Guek Eav is accused of carrying out executions and torture at the Tuol Sleng interrogation center.

1 of 3 Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, was the first of five defendants to appear before the panel for a pretrial hearing. He is charged with carrying out mass executions and torture while serving as commandant of the Tuol Sleng interrogation center in Phnom Penh.

About 17,000 political prisoners were tortured at -- and only seven survived -- the notorious prison. The victims' faces, names and details were recorded in files and photographs, including mug shots taken before and after torture.

The tribunal was created to bring to trial the surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge on charges of crimes against humanity in connection with the Communist movement's violent reign. The tribunal includes three Cambodian and two international jurists and is expected to continue until 2010.

On Monday former Khmer Rouge Prime Minister Khieu Samphan was arrested and formally charged, the fifth ex-Khmer Rouge official arrested by the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia since September.

Khieu will face an initial hearing before the tribunal either Wednesday or Thursday, said Yves Sorokobi, a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Last week the U.N. tribunal arrested Ieng Sary, the regime's former foreign minister, and his wife, Ieng Thirith, who was also Khmer Rouge member. Ieng Sary was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, and his wife faces charges of crimes against humanity, the ECCC said.

The top surviving Khmer Rouge leader, Nuon Chea, was arrested in September and faces trial before the special tribunal on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In all, more than 2 million people died during the party's efforts to transform Cambodia into an agrarian utopia before troops from neighboring Vietnam overthrew the regime.

Remnants of the Khmer Rouge continued to battle Cambodia's government into the 1990s before fragmenting in the middle of the decade.

In an interview with CNN, Chom Mai recalled his time incarcerated by the Khmer Rouge.

"It was very painful, because through all of it I never knew what I had done wrong," he said through a translator. "What mistake could I have made that they could hit me and torture me? I still don't know." Watch a survivor revisit his prison and his memories »


Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, known as "Brother Number One" during the group's four years in power, died in a jungle hideout in 1998.

And Ta Mok, the former Khmer Rouge military chief known as "The Butcher," died in a Cambodian military hospital in 2006 while awaiting trial for crimes against humanity.

Khieu Samphan: Co-Lawyers Assigned

DEFENCE SUPPORT SECTION

PRESS RELEASE





Mr. Khieu Samphan was taken into the custody of the ECCC today. The Defence Support Section has assigned two lawyers selected by Mr. Khieu Samphan from the ECCC List of Lawyers. They are Dr SAY Bory of the Cambodian Bar and Mr Jacques VERGÈS of the Paris Bar.

Dr Say is the most senior member of the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and was the first President of the Bar on its creation in 1995. He was a member of the Constitutional Council from 1998 until 2004 when he returned to private practice. He also acts as legal advisor to H.M. King Sihanouk the King Father.

Mr. Jacques Vergès has been a member of the Paris Bar since 1955. In the 1960s he defended a number of cases before French military tribunals arising out of the conflict in Algeria. In 1987 he represented Klaus Barbie before the Lyon cour d’assises on charges of crimes against humanity from of the Second World War. He has represented a number of other high profile clients before domestic and international tribunals.

The Co-Lawyers have been provisionally assigned whilst the Defence Support Section assesses whether Mr Khieu Samphan has sufficient freely available assets to pay for his legal team for the next two years.

Monday, November 19, 2007

ICTY Trial Chamber Churns up an Acquittal; Prosecution Appeals; Will There be Acquittals at ECCC


The Prosecution appeal against former Bosnian Army Deputy Commander, Sefer Halilović, has been dismissed by the ICTY Appeals Chamber.

On Tuesday, 16 October, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) affirmed the acquittal of Sefer Halilović, the former Deputy Commander of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ABiH). In November 2005, the Trial Chamber had found Halilović not guilty of all charges regarding his alleged command responsibility for murders committed by members of the ABiH in Herzegovina in September 1993.

The Prosecution had appealed the Trial Chamber’s judgement, seeking reversal of Halilović’s acquittal with respect to the killings perpetrated in the village of Grabovica, 30 kilometres north of Mostar. According to the Prosecution, Sefer Halilović was the commander of the military operation called Neretva-93 and had effective control over the troops which committed the crimes in Grabovica. Neither party disputed that the killings of the thirteen persons of Croatian descent had actually occurred. The appeal hearings were held on 10 and 11 July 2007.

The Appeals Chamber dismissed the Prosecution’s appeal, stating that it had failed to show that Halilović had the required degree of “effective control” over the perpetrators to establish his superior responsibility under Article 7(3) of the Statute. Having dismissed the first of the Prosecution’s four grounds of appeal, determining that it had not shown that a superior-subordinate relationship between Halilović and the offending troops had been established, the Appeals Chamber declared that the Prosecution’s remaining grounds of appeal became moot and required no further appraisal.

ECCC arrests former DK leader Khieu Samphan

ECCC arrests former DK leader Khieu Samphan
+ - 14:19, November 19, 2007


Khieu Samphan, head of state of the former Democratic Kampuchea (DK), was arrested Monday by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), a court spokesman said.

Khieu Samphan has been arrested and brought to the tribunal, spokesman Reach Sambath told reporters, without elaborating on the charges.

ECCC detained and charged former DK deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, who served as DK's education and social affairs minister, last Monday.

ECCC was co-installed by the United Nations and the Cambodian government last year to try former DK leaders, whose regime from 1975 to 1979 was widely held responsible for the death of some 1.7million people over starvation, torture and lack of medicine.

Source: Xinhua

The Way Some View Khieu Samphan's Politics


Extraordinary chamber to try some of the top leaders during Democratic Kampuchea Regime; a regime that is accused of killing millions of Cambodian innocent lives, is in the process. This is probably the most heated topic from the government institution up to the general public. However, a prevailing fact that would dim “the justice prospect” for Cambodian people is that a huge number of the people do not even know the basic biography of those most responsible; Democratic Kampuchea leaders to face trial, constituted of Cambodian and international judges.

Mr. KHIEU Samphan, one of the prominent leaders of many other Democratic Kampuchea leaders is due to face the foregoing extraordinary chamber; however, a huge number of Cambodian people, old and young, do not even have even a basic knowledge pertaining this man: This is the fact that I hypothesize that Cambodian prospect to justice is apparently faint. The entire contents of the following compiled essay will unveil KHIEU Samphan’s on-the-surface biographical details.

I. Childhood

Mr. KHIEU Samphan who is considered as brother number five, after SALOTH Sar (Pol Pot), NUON Chea, IENG Sary and TA Mok, is believed to be born July 27, 1931 in Svay Rieg province. He is the oldest son in the family. His father was a local judge. After a compulsory education in his hometown, KHIEU Samphan pursued his education to Sisowat High School in Phnom Penh. During his time, Sisowat or Preah Sisowat High School was believed to be the top high school in Cambodia. Only the uptown-class or outstanding students would attend this educational institution.

KHIEU Samphan‘s childhood is not dramatically known, and until now, resources about his childhood are still inadequate and even unreliable. But he became better noted after winning the government scholarship to study in the University of Paris in Paris city, France.

Since his childhood, Mr. KHIEU Samphan was believed to be a “serious and good-natured” man, up to being entitled: A clean man. Because of these outstanding personalities, he was granted with government scholarship to pursue his studies in Paris, France, up to achieving Doctor of Economics. It was from here, the University of Paris, that Max Lenin ideologies have been inserted into Cambodian intellectuals who latter became leader of Democratic Kampuchea. History has told that the universities in Paris have created most of the Cambodian intellectuals.

Pursuant to American sources, Mr. KHIEU Samphan was reported to be one of the most outstanding students amongst his generation. Other astoundingly outstanding students in KHIEU Samphan’s generation including HOU Yun who mastered Economics and Law. Mr. HOU Yun (born 1930) was classified as the astoundingly physical and intellectual person and another genius was Mr. SON Sen who red education and literature.

II. Studies in Paris and Doctoral Thesis

Mr. KHIEU Samphan granted his Doctoral Degree in Economics from the University of Paris, a world-wide recognized university in humanity and materialistic and ideological invention.

KHIEU Samphan who was one of the pivotal members of Khmer Student Association in Paris selected a doctoral thesis, entitled: “Cambodia’s Economy and Industrial Development” and successfully defended this thesis. His Doctoral Degree in Economics was granted during the 1950s.

It can be brief that his doctoral thesis sided with national self-reliance. From deeper analysis into his doctoral thesis, more personalities of KHIEU Samphan would be more understandable. KHIEU Samphan accused the rich countries that have advanced industrialization are the factors to make the poor countries poorer. The core of hi doctoral thesis, was that he supported “dependency theory.” So what is dependency theory?

Dependency theory is the body of social science theories by various intellectuals, both from the Third World and the First World, that create a worldview which suggests that the wealthy nations of the world need a peripheral group of poorer states in order to remain wealthy.

Dependency theory states that the poverty of the countries in the periphery is not because they are not integrated into the world system, or not 'fully' integrated as is often argued by free market economists, but because of how they are integrated into the system. The premises of dependency theory are:

-Poor nations provide natural resources, cheap labor, a destination for obsolete technology, and markets to the wealthy nations, without which they could not have the standard of living they enjoy.

-First World nations actively, but not necessarily consciously, perpetuate a state of dependency through various policies and initiatives. This state of dependency is multifaceted, involving economics, media control, politics, banking and finance, education, sport and all aspects of human resource development.

-Any attempt by the dependent nations to resist the influences of dependency will result in economic sanctions and/or military invasion and control.

The doctoral thesis herein is believed to be strictly adopted into political administration of Democratic Kampuchea. Not only the KHIEU Samphan’s doctoral thesis, HOU Yun’s doctoral thesis entitled: Cambodian peasants and their prospects for modernization, is also believed to have great influence on general policy of Democratic Kampuchea (DK).

Though these two doctoral thesis became the perils of Democratic Kampuchea’s political administration, these two people are yet to be accused of being the mastermind of the sins committed during DK’s reign. Yes, would mean their doctoral thesis intended to extinguish million of Cambodian lives and No, would mean the head of the Democratic Kampuchea may exaggerate the contents of the thesis or scapegoat the two intellectuals.

Because the intellectuality of Cambodian people who graduated from universities in Paris during the 1950s, Cambodia was praised as the first communist country that was led by intellectuals, in Asia. III. Group of Khmer Students in Paris (Initiation of Political Ideology)

During the 1950s, Cambodian students who were studying in different universities in Paris, integrated to establish their own communist movement and this movement was believed to have very little connection with their home government. So of the returned members of this movement returned to their home countries and took up political leadership positions in DK government, including KHIEU Samphan, POL Pot, IENG Sary, to name just a very few. It was from this movement: Khmer Student Association, that KHIEU Samphan was converted into an all-out communist. The involvement of Cambodian students who returned from universities in Paris was to set up a movement to combat against LON Nol and Prince Norodom Sihanouk where were deemed as corrupt and egoist. Such the movement of these students was then improve to a regime, called “Democratic Kampuchea.”

IV. Political Life

KHIEU Samphan arrived back in Cambodia in 1959, with a doctoral degree in Economics from the University of Paris. Immediately after his arrival in Cambodia, he took up a position in the Faculty of Law in Phnom Penh; simultaneously, establish a French-language journal entitled, L’observateur. This journal strongly sided with the leftist. The purpose if this journal was to better the social justice and other field of humanity in Cambodia during that time. But this never resisted him from commitment to Cambodian social justice. It was from this journal that KHIEU Samphan won great popularity from the public, especially the students. However, this journal did not survive long; it was closed just after one year, KHIEU Samphan was arrested and undressed in the public by Prince Norodom Sihanouk.

After the coupe in 1970, Prince Norodom Sihanouk collaborated with other Khmer communists, including his former enemy: KHIEU Samphan, to resist against LON Nol government. In this coalition government, KHIEU Samphan was nominated as the Deputy Prime Minister, Minster of National Defense and the Commander-in-Chief of the Coalition Government. It was from these political events that KHIEU Samphan climbed to the top positions within the Democratic Kampuchea regime.

His political life during the Democratic Kampuchea era (1975-1978) was hard to unveil, due to the fact that confidentiality and secrecy were the leadership strategies of the DK leaders.

KHIEU Samphan is now living in his last military stronghold: Pailin Municipality, the province in the most west of Cambodia, bordered with Thailand.

V. Students Talk Trial with Ex-KR Leaders in Pailin

Extracted from The Cambodia Daily, Friday, August 26, 2005 A group of university students canvassing villages to conduct interviews about the Khmer Rouge regime and distribute information about the long-awaited tribunal ended up in unlikely conversations with former Khmer Rogue leaders Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea in their Pailin Municipality homes last week.

Graduate student and Documentation Center of Cambodia intern Huy Vannak organized the group for a planned distribution of the documents in Pailin. And despite their apprehensions at bringing Khmer Rogue tribunal literature to the foremost former rebel stronghold, the group decided to seek out the aging communist leaders’ at their homes.

“I thought because of security and cooperation we should not go to the Khmer Rouge stronghold,” Huy Vanak said Thursday. “I told myself we should not fear the Khmer Rogue. During the Khmer Rouge regime they tried to frighten my mother, to frighten everybody…. I have learned a lot. Khmer rouge are not tigers. They are human beings.”

The group went to Khieu Samphan’s house near the eastern side of central Pailin, but were initially rejected despite a polite “chum reap sour” and assurances that they were students, not journalists. Khieu Samphan, former Democratic Kampuchea head of state, eventually acquiesced and asked them to return later in the afternoon.

Next, the students went to find Brother No 2 Nuon Chea, who lives about 300 meters from the Thai border in Brother No 3 Ieng Sary’s son-in-law’s house, surrounded by his children and grandchildren. “[Nuon Chea’s] wife asked us ‘who are you, and where do you come from?”” Huy Vannak said. “We told her we are students and we ant to learn about Pailin. She said, ‘grandfather is sleeping, but it’s ok, you can talk to him.””

Nuon Chea emphasized religion in their talk, and denied that religion had been suppressed under the Khmer Rouge.

He maintained that people were just busy building the country and so could not give alms, so monks were forced to feed themselves.

“I think Mr. Nuon Chea is open-minded, but when he answers it’s not so good,” said group member Ean Sopheap. “When I asked him questions, he looked at other people when he answered.”

“I never expected that I could meet a Khmer Rouge leader,” Ean Sophea added. “I was born in 1980.”

The students returned to Khieu Samphan’s home in the evening. “I feel that Khieu Samphan is a trustworthy and gentle man. He is an intellectual from what I know,” said another member of the group, 22-year-old student Chheng Koemseng. “My parents used to tell me that Pol Pot’s men were very cruel, but when I met them face-to-face. I felt they are just old men, like my grandfather.”

However, Huy vanak was less than sympathetic. “The two guys told us only a small chapter of the history. We need more answers from them. Why did they give people less food? Why did they evacuate people? Why did they kill people? They said they did not know about the killing. How could they not know?”

The students discussed the tribunal very little with the aging Khmer Rouge leaders, but Khieu Samphan didn’t seem worried.

“Khieu Samphan said if they have a tribunal people will not be happy, because he is an honest guy and has devoted everything to the country, and people would not be happy with the court’s decision,” Huy Vannak said. “I almost told him people would [still not be] happy if the court cut him into two million pieces.”

Lay Vicheka is a translator for the most celebrated translation agency in the Kingdom of Cambodia, Pyramid Translation Co.Ltd.. He is now hoding other two professions: freelance writer for Search Newspaper; focusing on social issues and students' issues and Media Liaison Officer for Asia's first free on-line IELTS consultation website. Lay Vicheka is the expert author for ezine and prolific article contributor to other websites around the world such as articlecity, 365articles, spiderden, talesofasia, etc (Just google him). He is also a volunteer Cambodian-newspapers columnist (Rasmey Kampuchea and Kampuchea Thmey). Lay Vicheka has great experience in law and politics, as he used to be legal and English-language assistant to a Cambodian member of parliament, migration experience (home-based business) and in writing. He is also member of a New York-based research company. Posting address: 221H Street 93, Tuol Sangke quarter, Russey Keo district, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Tel: 855 11 268 445, vichekalay@yahoo.com


Cambodia police arrest Khmer Rouge president

By Ek Madra
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Rifle-toting Cambodian police arrested ex-Khmer Rouge President Khieu Samphan on Monday, the latest member of Pol Pot's inner circle to be detained by the U.N.-backed "Killing Fields" tribunal.

The French-educated guerrilla leader was taken from a hospital in the capital Phnom Penh where he was treated after suffering a fall last week at his home in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin on the Thai border.


File photo shows former Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin, near the Cambodian-Thai border, July 3, 2003. (REUTERS/Stringer/Files)
"My client is being transferred to the tribunal today where he will appear before the co-investigating judges," Say Bory, Khieu Samphan's lawyer, told Reuters.

A court spokesman declined to comment, but a Cambodian judge on the tribunal also confirmed the transfer.

A close confidante of Pol Pot, the 78-year-old Khieu Samphan has denied knowledge of any atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge during its four-year reign of terror from 1975-79.

An estimated 1.7 million people were executed or died of torture, disease or starvation under the ultra-Maoist revolution. His 24-year-old daughter said she was not allowed to see her father before his arrest.

"I don't know why they won't let my father go back home," Khieu Maly told Reuters.

Khieu Samphan is the fifth person to face the long-awaited Khmer Rouge tribunal, which started work in earnest a few months ago after nearly a decade of delays caused by wrangling over jurisdiction and cash.

Former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary and his wife -- both life-long friends of "Brother Number One" Pol Pot -- were arrested and charged last week with crimes against humanity.

"Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, who had also lived in Pailin, is in the custody of the court on similar charges, as is the Beijing-backed regime's chief jailer, Duch, who ran Phnom Penh's "S-21" torture and interrogation centre.

Duch will be the first to make a public appearance at the tribunal when he appears for a bail hearing on Tuesday.

Khieu Samphan was the leading intellectual among the small group of Cambodian students in 1950s Paris who became imbued with communism and returned home to the southeast Asian nation to form the core of the guerrilla movement that became the Khmer Rouge.

However, he published a book three years ago portraying himself as a virtual prisoner of the regime and denying knowledge of any atrocities as Pol Pot drove his dream of creating an agrarian peasant utopia.

Pol Pot died in 1998 in the final Khmer Rouge redoubt of Anlong Veng.

Khieu Samphan Arrested; The Circle Is Complete

ECCC Media Alert:



Office of the Co-Investigating Judges-Khieu Samphan



On 19 November 2007, Khieu Samphan was brought before the Office of the Co-Investigating Judges of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in execution of an arrest warrant. An initial appearance will be held today during which he will be informed of the charges which have been brought against him. Further details will be available shortly.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Ieng Thirith Lashes Out against the Co-Prosecutors' Introductory Submission and Denounces Noun Chea

Editorial

Stan Starygin


Under the Internal Rules of the ECCC ('IRs') interviews of charged persons are closed to the public, which turns them into a bit of a mystery. IRs (Rule 56) explain that this measure is necessary to "preserve the rights and interests of the parties", which is the justification all involved will have to live with throughout the duration of this tribunal.

Bits and pieces of these interviews do get leaked out to the media with some of them appearing in print.

An order of provisional detention ('the order') most recently issued against Ieng Thirith breaks this code of official silence and, for the first time since the beginning of the pre-trial proceedings, gives the public a glimpse of what seems like an uphill battle put up by Mrs. Ieng during her interview by the Co-Investigating Judges. The text of the order reveals that Mrs. Thirith declared that in her opinion "the claims (the Co-Prosecutors' Introductory Submissions) of the Co-Prosecutors [are] 100% false" and that she "never had any relations with Noun Chea, whom she detests, as she knows she is a bad person".

Presumably, the latter statement was made in reference to the Co-Prosecutors' attempt to mount charges of conspirasy, which will make the prosecution's job easier when the cases of the three persons who currently stand accused (Duch's case had been severed prior) are forwarded to trial. The standard of proof of conspirasy under international law is lower than that of crimes committed by single individuals, which will allow the prosecutors to win cases, even if no direct links between the particular person and an order to commit a wrongful act can be established in court and proven beyond reasonable doubt. It is not clear whether Mrs. Ieng is aware of this technicality of law, however, her attempt to make a clean break from Noun Chea points in that direction.

It is also insightful to see that the former functionaries of Democratic Kampuchea are not likely to stand in court as a monolith -- like some of the defendants of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) -- now that denounciation has begun at the pre-trial level. This is likely to spiral into a scenario where the defendants might turn against one another and offer previously unknown evidence, thus, helping the prosecution make headway with their cases.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Order for Provisional Detention of Ieng Thirith

We, You Bunleng and Marcel Lemonde, the Co-Investigating Judges of the
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia,
Noting the Law on the establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers, dated 27 October
2004,
Noting Rule 63 of the Internal Rules of the Extraordinary Chambers,
Noting the judicial investigation opened against:
IENG Thirith
Alias: Phea
Born on 10 March 1932.
Charged with Crimes against Humanity, defined and punishable under Articles 5, 29
(new) and 39 (new) of the Law on the establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers,
dated 27 October 2007.
Noting today’s adversarial hearing,

Office of the Co-Investigating Judges
Bureau des Co-juges d’instruction

Criminal Case File /Dossier pénal
UŠ UŠ/No: 002/14-08-2006
UŠ +u/Investigation/Instruction
UŠ UŠ/No: 002/19-09-2007-ECCC/OCIJ
Extraordinary Chambers in the
Courts of Cambodia
2
I- STATEMENT OF THE FACTUAL AND LEGAL SITUATION
1. To date (and without prejudice to the outcome of on-going judicial investigations
which may identify other offences referred to in the Introductory Submission that
may implicate the Charged Person) IENG Thirith is being prosecuted for:
• Crimes Against Humanity (Murder, Extermination, Imprisonment, Persecution
and Other Inhumane Acts),
2. for having, throughout Cambodia during the period from 17 April 1975 to 6 January
1979:
• in her capacity as the Minister of Social Action, exercising authority and effective
control over the Ministry and all of its constituent and subordinate organs,
• instigated, ordered, failed to prevent and punish, or otherwise aided and abetted in
the commission of the aforementioned crimes;
• by directing, encouraging, enforcing or otherwise rendering support to
Communist Party of Kampuchea policy and practice which was characterised by
murder, extermination, imprisonment, persecution on political grounds and other
inhumane acts such as forcible transfers of the population, enslavement and
forced labour;
• as part of a widespread or systematic attack targeting a civilian population.
3. The Co-Prosecutors of the Extraordinary Chambers have requested the provisional
detention of IENG Thirith on the grounds that: on the one hand, being in possession
of a passport, she could easily flee to another country if she were left at liberty, and
that this is all the more likely since she risks life imprisonment if convicted; on the
other hand, that in the absence of detention, the victims might seek revenge and that
provisional detention is, thus, necessary to prevent disturbing public order and to
ensure the security of the Charged Person; and finally, that there is a danger of
pressure on witnesses.
4. IENG Thirith disputed the crimes which she is charged, indicating that “the claims of
the Co-Prosecutors are 100% false”; that she has never had any relations with Nuon
Chea, whom “(she) detests, as (she) knows that he is a bad person”. She demanded
that proof of her guilt be provided, specifying that, within the framework of her
functions at the Ministry of Social Action and in the health sphere, she did nothing
other than helping the population and the patients, in particular by organising repairs
to damaged hospitals and the fabrication of medication. She argued that there is no
danger of flight since her passport was seized and that she has a home, and declared
herself ready to appear whenever summoned. She also noted that she is 75 years old
and suffers from chronic physical and mental illness. Accordingly, she asked to be
left at liberty, if necessary under police supervision.
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, National Road 4, Choam Chao, Dangkoa Phnom Penh
Mail Po Box 71, Phnom Penh Tel:+855(0)23 218914 Fax: +855(0) 23 218941.
Chambres extraordinaires au sein des tribunaux cambodgiens, Route nationale 4, Choam Chao, Dangkoa, Phnom Penh
Boite postale 71, Phnom Penh. Tel: +855(0)23 218914 Fax: +855(0) 23 218941.
3
II - REASONS FOR THE DECISION
5. In light of the many documents and witness statements implicating IENG Thirith,
contained in the Introductory Submission, there are well-founded reasons to believe
that she committed the crimes with which she is charged.
6. These crimes are of a gravity such that, 30 years after their commission, they still
profoundly disrupt public order to such a degree that it is not excessive to conclude
that a decision to leave the Charged Person at liberty would, in the fragile context of
today’s Cambodian society, risk provoking protests of indignation which could lead
to violence and perhaps imperil the very safety of the Charged Person, given that the
situation is clearly no longer perceived in the same way since the official prosecution
has commenced.
7. In addition, it is absolutely essential for the continuing judicial investigation to
prevent any pressure on witnesses and victims. Indeed, it may be feared that, if the
Charged Person were to remain at liberty, she might attempt, and would be in a
position to organize, such pressure. Indeed, henceforth, IENG Thirith will have
access to all of the elements in the case file of the judicial investigation, including the
written records of interviews with specific witnesses, complaints and civil party
applications. Whereas the nature of the alleged crimes makes it difficult for a suspect
to identify and influence the very large number of potential witnesses before the
judicial investigation begins, the same is not true once the Charged Person has
knowledge of the identity of the inculpatory witnesses and victims involved in the
proceedings. In view of this new situation, the fear of pressure being exercised is
particularly justified, especially since the Charged Person has numerous family
members and sympathizers in the regions of Phnom Malai, Pailin and Phnom Penh,
some of whom currently hold influential positions and even have armed guards.
8. Furthermore, numerous elements show that IENG Thirith (who has a residence
abroad and has made numerous voyages outside of Cambodia) has the material means
necessary to facilitate her flight to another country, especially those with which
Cambodia does not have any extradition agreements. It may, thus, be feared that the
Charged Person, who faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted,
will be tempted to flee the legal process.
9. The particular gravity of the crimes alleged against IENG Thirith renders the risks set
out above even more acute, and no bail order would be rigorous enough to ensure
that the abovementioned requirements would be sufficiently satisfied and therefore
detention remains the only means to achieve these aims.
10. To date, none of the documents produced by the defence lead us to believe that the
Charged Person’s state of health is incompatible with detention.
11. Consequently, considering that provisional detention is necessary to prevent any
pressure on witnesses and victims; that it is also necessary to ensure the presence of
4
the charged person during the proceedings; and finally, that it is necessary to preserve
public order and protect the safety of the Charged Person;
On these grounds,
We hereby order that IENG Thirith be placed in provisional detention for a period not
exceeding one year.
Done at Phnom Penh, on 14 November 2007
5
We,......................................., have given a copy of this order to the below-mentioned
persons on …………………………...
Charged Person Lawyer of
Charged
Person
Co-prosecutors Office of the
Administration
Delivering Agent

Order for Provisional Detention of Ieng Sary

We, You Bunleng and Marcel Lemonde, the Co-Investigating Judges of the
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia,
Noting the Law on the establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers, dated 27 October
2004,
Noting Rule 63 of the Internal Rules of the Extraordinary Chambers,
Noting the judicial investigation opened against:
IENG Sary
Alias: Van
Born on 24 October 1925.
Charged with Crimes against Humanity and Grave Breaches of the Geneva Conventions
of 12 August 1949, crimes defined and punishable under Articles 5, 6, 29 (new) and 39
(new) of the Law on the establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers, dated 27 October
2007.
Noting today’s adversarial hearing,

Extraordinary Chambers in the
Courts of Cambodia
2
I- STATEMENT OF THE FACTUAL AND LEGAL SITUATION
1. To date (and without prejudice to the outcome of on-going judicial investigations
which may identify other offences referred to in the Introductory Submission that
may implicate the Charged Person) IENG Sary is being prosecuted for:
• Crimes Against Humanity (Murder, Extermination, Imprisonment, Persecution
and Other Inhumane Acts), and
• Grave Breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (Wilful Killing, Wilfully
Causing Great Suffering or Serious Injury to Body or Health, Wilful Deprivation
of Rights to a Fair Trial of prisoners of war or civilians, unlawful deportation or
transfer or unlawful confinement of a civilian),
2. for having, throughout Cambodia during the period from 17 April 1975 to 6 January
1979:
• in his capacity as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, exercising authority and
effective control over the Ministry and all of its constituent and subordinate
organs, and as a full rights member of the Central and Standing Committees of the
Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK),
• instigated, ordered, failed to prevent and punish, or otherwise aided and abetted in
the commission of the aforementioned crimes;
• by directing, encouraging, enforcing, or otherwise rendering support to CPK
policy and practice which was characterised by murder, extermination,
imprisonment, persecution on political grounds and other inhuman acts such as
forcible transfers of the population, enslavement and forced labour;
• as part of a widespread or systematic attack targeting a civilian population;
• noting that there was a state of international armed conflict between Democratic
Kampuchea and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam during all or part of the period
between 17 April 1975 and 6 January 1979.
3. The Co-Prosecutors, who developed their factual and legal arguments in the written
submissions placed on the case file on 18 October 2007 and 13 November 2007, have
requested the provisional detention of IENG Sary, firstly, in order to guarantee his
presence before the Extraordinary Chambers, arguing that he is in possession of a
passport and that there is a danger of flight; secondly, to prevent any acts of revenge
by the victims; and finally, to prevent any pressure on witnesses.
4. IENG Sary disputed the crimes which he is charged, declaring: “there are certain
accusations that I cannot accept” and demanding that proof of his guilt be provided.
He added: “I would like to know the truth about a dark period in our history. I do not
know where the truth lies. I am very happy that this Court has been established
because it will be an opportunity for me to discover the truth and also to share what I

3
know”. He asked to be left at liberty, fearing that he would die in prison before
knowing the truth, and claiming that, if he dies, the first victim will be his family, but
the second will be the Court, which would thus lose an important witness and be
criticised. He stated that he has no intention of interfering with the proceedings,
noting that he has been at liberty for many years, informed of the possibility of being
charged for a long time, and that he would have had the opportunity to intervene with
the witnesses but has never done so. He observed that he is old and sick. He isnsited
on the total absence of any danger of flight, and declared himself ready to appear
whenever summoned, adding that his age and state of health would not allow him to
flee, which he could have done a long time ago if he had so wished. As regards the
danger of revenge, he pointed out that, since he rallied the Government, he has never
received the slightest threat, either in Pailin or Phnom Penh. On the contrary, he
recalled that after being convicted by the Revolutionary Tribunal in Phnom Penh on
the 19th of August 1979, he received an amnesty from the King on 14 September
1996 and that there was no trouble as a result. He stressed that it was thanks to him
that the Khmer Rouge forces reintegrated the Government and argued that he had
thus contributed to the re-establishment of peace. In conclusion, he requested to be
left at liberty on bail.
II - REASONS FOR THE DECISION
5. Before deciding on the provisional detention of IENG Sary, it is worth recalling the
particular circumstances of the Charged Person which, given the obligation to take
account of both exculpatory and inculpatory evidence in conducting the judicial
investigation, raises a specific difficulty that the Co-Investigating Judges must
resolve. Indeed, an in absentia Judgement handed down by the People’s
Revolutionary Tribunal at Phnom Penh on 19 August 1979, condemned IENG Sary to
death and confiscation of all his possessions for the crime of genocide.1 It appears
that, under Cambodian law, this judgement is final. Later, under a Royal Decree dated
14 September 1996, IENG Sary was pardoned for these penalties and received an
amnesty with respect to the 14 July 1994 Law on “the Outlawing of the "Democratic
Kampuchea" Group”.
6. This situation raises a number of legal issues: first, does the current prosecution
before the ECCC infringe the binding authority of a previous legal decision, under the
general principle of criminal law ne bis in idem? second, assuming that the answer to
the first question is negative (and providing that the Co-Investigating Judges have the
jurisdiction to decide on the scope of the 1996 Royal Decree), are the pardon and
amnesty granted to IENG Sary opposable to the ECCC? These issues will be dealt
with consecutively.
1 Judgement of the People’s Revolutionary Court, Doc. U. N. A/34/491, 19 August 1979.

4
A. Ne bis in idem
7. Pursuant to Article 14(7) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
dated 16 December 1966, which the ECCC are required to follow, “No one shall be
liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he has already been
finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of
each country.” However, under international criminal law, this is not an absolute
principle.
8. Thus, as a general rule, the statutes and practice of international and internationalized
tribunals permit the prosecution of a person for the same acts and under the same
legal characterization, in particular where “the proceedings in the other court: (a)
Were for the purpose of shielding the person concerned from criminal responsibility
for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court; or (b) Otherwise were not conducted
independently or impartially in accordance with the norms of due process recognized
by international law and were conducted in a manner which, in the circumstances,
was inconsistent with an intent to bring the person concerned to justice” 2. The Co-
Investigating Judges will decide later whether they need to conduct an in-depth
analysis of the trial that tool place before the People’s Revolutionary Tribunal in
1979. In any case, the question whether this solution is applicable to the
circumstances of the case in hand does not arise at this time since, without prejudice
to the outcome of on-going judicial investigation, IENG Sary is not currently charged
with genocide.
9. Moreover, consistent case law of the international tribunals establishes that, as
regards international crimes, cumulative convictions are possible in relation to the
same act as long as each offence has a materially distinct element not contained in the
other3. Therefore, it is accepted that a person may be prosecuted for genocide, crimes
against humanity and war crimes based on the same acts, given that the each of these
international offences has a distinct element not contained in the others and protects
different values4. This solution has already been adopted before 1975, since the
International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg also handed down cumulative
convictions based on the same acts5. In application of these principles, there seems to
2 Article 20 Rome Statute; see as well Article 9(2) ICTR Statute; Article 10 ICTY Statute; Article 9 SCSL
Statute; UNTAET regulation 2000/15.
3 Judgement of the ICTY Appeals Chamber, Case No. IT-96-21-A, The Prosecutor v. Delalic et al
(“CELEBICI Case”), 20 February 2001, para. 412.
4 See also the Judgement of an ICTY Trial Chamber in Prosecutor v. Kupreskic et al, Case No. IT-95-16,
14 January 2000, para. 637; the Judgement of an ICTR Trial Chamber in Prosecutor v. Jean-Paul Akayesu,
Case No. 96-46-T, 2 September 1998, par. 468 ; Timor Leste Special Panels, Legal Ruling Concerning the
Applicability of Ne Bis in Idem at the Arrest Warrant Stage of the Proceedings, Case Wiranto et al, No.
05/2003, 5 May 2005, para. 33 ;and for national case law : US Supreme Court, Blockburger v. United
States, 284 U.S. 299, 304 (1932).
5 For example, 12 accused, including Goering, Ribbentropp, Keitel, Rosenberg, Jodl and Von Neurath,
were found guilty cumulatively of crimes against humanity and war crimes; see the Judgement of the
5
be no impediment to the prosecution of IENG Sary for the acts covered by the 1979
Judgement under an international legal characterisation other than genocide.
10. Finally, and above all, it already appears to be established that the 1979 Judgement
did not cover all of the acts for which IENG Sary is currently being charged.
Accordingly, there does not appear to be any valid argument here concerning the
binding authority of previous legal decisions.
B. The scope of the 1996 pardon and amnesty
11. Article 40 of the Law on the establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers, dated 27
October 2004 (as provided in Article 11 of the Agreement between the United
Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia dated 6 June 2003) confers
jurisdiction on the Extraordinary Chambers to decide on “the scope of any amnesty or
pardon that may have been granted prior to the enactment of this Law”, which is in
fact a direct reference to the case of IENG Sary. In its capacity as a judicial body of
the ECCC responsible for conducting an exculpatory and inculpatory investigation
into IENG Sary’s alleged acts, the Co-Investigating Judges thus have jurisdiction to
decide on the scope of the pardon and amnesty in question. Of course, their
determination is of a provisional nature and does not bind the Trial and Supreme
Court Chambers.
12. As regards the effects of the royal pardon, it is important to note that they are limited
to annulment of the sentence, as well as its execution, without having any effect on
the conviction decision as such. Accordingly, even if it were opposable against the
ECCC, this measure would have no effect on the current prosecution, and the only
issue is that of the conviction itself, which has been dealt with above.
13. The amnesty, on the other hand, makes express reference to the 1994 Law. Yet, apart
from an allusion to genocidal acts in its preamble, this law only refers to a number of
domestic law offences subject to prosecution in accordance with national legislation
applicable at the time, as well as a series of crimes against State security. Therefore, it
does not cover the offences coming within the jurisdiction of the ECCC.
14. In summary, neither the pardon nor the amnesty currently establish any obstacles to
prosecution before the ECCC for the international crimes with which IENG Sary
stands charged. The only remaining issue at this stage is, thus, whether the
provisional detention of the Charged Person is necessary or not.
Nuremberg IMT, 1 October 1946, available on the Avalon project at Yale University:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/proc/judcont.htm.
6
C. Provisional Detention
15. In light of the many documents and witness statements implicating NUON CHEA,
contained in the Introductory Submission, there are well-founded reasons to believe
that he committed the crimes with which he is charged.
16. These crimes are of a gravity such that, 30 years after their commission, they still
profoundly disrupt public order to such a degree that it is not excessive to conclude
that a decision to leave the Charged Person at liberty would, in the fragile context of
today’s Cambodian society, risk provoking protests of indignation which could lead
to violence and perhaps imperil the very safety of the Charged Person, given that the
situation is clearly no longer perceived in the same way since the official prosecution
has commenced.
17. In addition, it is absolutely essential for the continuing judicial investigation to
prevent any pressure on witnesses and victims. Indeed, it may be feared that, if the
Charged Person were to remain at liberty, he might attempt, and would be in a
position to organize such pressure. Indeed, henceforth, IENG Sary will have access to
all of the elements in the case file of the judicial investigation, including the written
records of interviews with specific witnesses, complaints and civil party applications.
Whereas the nature of the alleged crimes makes it difficult for a suspect to identify
and influence the very large number of potential witnesses before the judicial
investigation begins, the same is not true once the Charged Person has knowledge of
the identity of the inculpatory witnesses and victims involved in the proceedings. In
view of this new situation, the fear of pressure being exercised would be particularly
justified if the Charged Person was in a position to have uncontrolled communication
with these people, given that IENG Sary has numerous family members and former
subordinates in the regions of Phnom Malai, Pailin and Phnom Penh, some of whom
currently hold influential positions and even have armed guards.
18. Furthermore, numerous elements show that IENG Sary (who has a residence abroad
and has made numerous voyages outside Cambodia) has the material means
necessary to facilitate his flight to another country, especially those with which
Cambodia does not have any extradition agreements. The Charged Person, who faces
a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted, has made a number of public
statements to the effect that he refuses to appear before the Extraordinary Chambers.
These statements severely undermine the value of any statements which indicate his
intention to be available at trial. It may, thus, be feared that he will be tempted to flee
the legal process.
19. To date, none of the documents produced by the defence lead us to believe that the
Charged Person’s state of health is incompatible with detention.
20. The particular gravity of the crimes alleged against IENG Sary renders the risks set
out above even more acute, and no bail order would be rigorous enough to ensure

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Khieu Samphan Has a Panic Attack; Hospitalized

KRouge leader Khieu Samphan to be hospitalised in Phnom Penh
3 hours ago

PHNOM PENH, Nov 14, 2007 (AFP) - Former Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan,
whose imminent arrest by Cambodia's UN-backed genocide court is widely
expected, will be hospitalised Wednesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen said.

The 76-year-old will be flown from his home in the former rebel stronghold
of Pailin, in northwest Cambodia, to the capital Phnom Penh for treatment
after suffering unusually high blood pressure Tuesday night, Hun Sen said.

"I have ordered a helicopter to transfer him to hospital," he said at a
graduation ceremony.

Earlier Wednesday, Khieu Samphan's wife, Sor Socheat, said her husband's
health had returned to normal after an apparent panic attack overnight.

"He was suffering from high blood pressure but he's back to normal now," Sor
Socheat told AFP.

Khieu Samphan, the Khmer Rouge's former head of state, was ready to face
court, she said, just days after two other senior regime cadre were arrested
for their alleged roles in one of the 20th century's most brutal regimes.

"He is not worried about being arrested. He has been ready to face the
tribunal for a long time now," she said, speaking from Pailin, where Khieu
Samphan has lived since surrendering to the government in 1998.

A family friend who did not want to be named said Khieu Samphan had been
"happily" discussing the tribunal, which was established last year to try
former Khmer Rouge leaders for crimes committed during their 1975-79 rule.

Up to two million people were executed, or died of starvation and overwork
when the regime tried to forge an agrarian utopia, abolishing religion,
money and schools, and driving nearly the entire population onto vast
collective farms.

Former regime foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife Ieng Thirith, who was
social affairs minister, were arrested Monday and charged with war crimes
and crimes against humanity, bringing to four the number of former Khmer
Rouge facing the tribunal.

Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea and prison chief Duch have also been
detained.

Khieu Samphan, a French-educated radical whose Marxist theories loosely
influenced the communist Khmer Rouge's policies, is widely believed to be
the fifth person who will be arrested by the court.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

In the Spotlight: Ney Thol

Editorial

by Stan Starygin


Judge Ney Thol is an army general and has served as president of the only military court in Cambodia. His presidency spanned over the period of detention of Kaing Guev Iev ('Duch') regarding the legality of which an appeal has been lodged in the ECCC's Pre-Trial Chamber. Judge Ney Thol submitted a letter of recusal to the Pre-Trial Chamber, just a short two weeks before the hearing on said appeal.

Ney Thol's becoming a part of the ECCC sparked a controversy at the time of judicial appointments with a Bangkok-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher calling him an official with "a bad record on human rights" citing a case in which Ney Thol had allegedly denied to call the accused's witnesses and cross-examine the prosecution's witnesses (the Cheam Channy case; see below). Prime Minister Hun Sen responded to this criticism by robustly defending Ney Thol's nomination "likening his critics to perverted sex-crazed animals, among other things".

In 1998, Ney Thol presided over the case of Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the leader of FUNCINPEC, which resulted in a sentence bearing a 30-year term of imprisonment for weapons smuggling and conspiring with outlawed Khmer Rouge guerrillas. Prince Norodom Ranariddh did not serve a single day of this sentence as it as annulled by a pardon issued by then King Norodom Sihanouk.

Ney Thol later presided over another sedition case -- this time against parliamentarian Cheam Channy -- sentencing the accused to seven years in prison for attempting to form an armed group to topple the government. Ney Thol's conduct of this trial garnered a wave of criticism from a variety of international watchdogs.

Ney Thol was never formally trained as a lawyer or a judge, but, by his own admission, has "gone through many short courses [of legal training] inside and outside the country" since 1987, the year of his appointment to the bench.

A Pre-Trial Chamber Judge Recuses Himself

Criminal Case File Nº 02/14-08-2006-ECCC/PTC
PRE-TRIAL CHAMBER
Before: Judge Prak Kimsan, President
Judge Huot Vuthy
Judge Rowan Downing
Judge Pen Pichsaly
Judge Katinka Lahuis
Date: 6 November 2007
PUBLIC
NOTIFICATION
Office of the Co-Prosecutors
CHEA Leang
Robert PETIT
YET Chakriya
William SMITH
Charged Person
KAING Guek Eav
Defence Counsel
KAR Savuth
François ROUX
THE PRESIDENT OF THE PRE-TRIAL CHAMBER of the Extraordinary Chambers in the
Courts of Cambodia;
HAVING RECEIVED a letter from Judge Ney Thol dated 6 November 2007 recusing himself
from participation in the appeal against the Provisional Detention Order of 31 July 2007 by the
charged person KAING Guek Eav (“Appeal”);
NOTING Chapter IV of the Law on the Establishment of Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of
Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed During the Period of Democratic Kampuchea
of 27 October 2004;
NOTING Rule 34 of the Internal Rules of 12 June 2007;
HEREBY NOTIFIES the parties and the public that Judge Ney Thol has been replaced by Reserve
Judge Pen Pichsaly for the duration of the proceedings in the Appeal.
Phnom Penh, 06 November, 2007
President
Prak Kimsan

Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith Charged

Information Bulletin of the Co-Investigating Judges of the ECCC





On 12 November 2007 Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith were charged, the former for crimes against humanity and war crimes and the latter for crimes against humanity.



Their lawyers asked for time to prepare their defence and, consequently, requested the adjournment of the adversarial hearing on the question of pre-trial detention.



The Co-Investigating Judges considered this request reasonable and have decided that the adversarial hearing will take place on 14 November 2007, the two charged persons being, in the meantime, placed in police custody in the detention centre of the ECCC. (http://www.eccc.gov.kh/english/indictments.list.aspx).



Both charged persons will, today, have some medical examinations at Calmette Hospital.



Further details will be communicated shortly.

Defense Support Section Statement

Defence Support Section

PRESS STATEMENT

12 November 2007

Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith were arrested and brought before the ECCC on 12 November 2007. They met with the Defence Support Section in order to choose their Co-Lawyers.

Ieng Sary has selected a Cambodian lawyer, Mr Ang Udom, to represent him before the ECCC. From 1994 to 1997, Mr Ang worked as a criminal defence lawyer at the Cambodian Defenders Project and the Legal Aid of Cambodia. He has managed his own law firm since 1999 and, from 2006, has been Head of the Legal Unit at the Center for Social Development in Phnom Penh.

Mr Ieng has shortlisted two possible foreign Co-Lawyers and a final selection will be made this week.

Madame Ieng Thirith selected a Cambodian lawyer, Mr Phat Pouv Seang, to represent her before the ECCC. Since 1986, Mr Phat has been a professor at the Royal University of Law and Economics. Mr Phat has worked as a lawyer since 1997 dealing with numerous criminal cases and, from 2004, has also been a legal consultant to the National Assembly’s Legislative and Judiciary Committee.

Madame Ieng Thirith also selected Diana Ellis QC to be her foreign co-lawyer. Ms Ellis was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1978 and was appointed as Queen’s Counsel in 2001. She has wide experience in handling serious criminal trials. Notably, Ms Ellis was defence counsel for Ferdinand Nahimana at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which was the first trial to take place before an international tribunal on charges relating to the role of the media in the commission of genocide.

Both charged persons have claimed that they do not have the means to pay for their Co-Lawyers. Therefore, their defence team will be funded through the ECCC’s Legal Assistance Scheme whilst this claim is being assessed.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Khmer Rouge ex-foreign minister detained


Khmer Rouge ex-foreign minister detained
Khmer Rouge dissident leader Ieng Sary gestures during a press conference at Division 450, Phnom Malai, northwestern Cambodia, in this Sept. 9, 1996 file photo. Police entered the home of the former foreign minister of the communist Khmer Rouge regime, Ieng Sary, early Monday, Nov. 12, 2007 in an apparent move to arrest him for trial before Cambodia's U.N.-backed genocide tribunal, witnesses said. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)


Associated Press Writer / November 11, 2007
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia --Police detained the ex-foreign minister of the brutal 1970s Khmer Rouge regime and his wife Monday and brought them to Cambodia's U.N.-backed genocide tribunal Monday to face charges, an official said.

more stories like thisIeng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, are both accused of involvement in the slayings of political opponents during the 1975-79 radical communist regime, according to documents from prosecutors seen by The Associated Press. Ieng Thirith served as the regime's minister for social affairs.

Police detained the couple at their Phnom Penh residence at dawn. Officers later brought them to tribunal offices, where they were to make an initial appearance before the judges later Monday, said tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath. He did not elaborate on the charges they would face.

The radical policies of the Khmer Rouge blamed for the deaths of some 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution. None of the group's leaders have faced trial yet.

Both are accused of involvement in the slayings of political opponents, according to documents from prosecutors seen by The Associated Press.

The arrests of Ieng Sary and his wife had been widely anticipated, as they were believed to be two of five unnamed suspects earlier listed by tribunal prosecutors. Two others have already been taken into custody.

Ieng Sary, thought to be 77, was not available for comment. But like other surviving Khmer Rouge leaders, he has repeatedly denied responsibility for any crimes.

The tribunal was created last year after seven years of contentious negotiations between the United Nations and Cambodia. Critics have warned that the aging suspects could die before ever seeing a courtroom.

Ieng Sary served as a deputy prime minister as well as foreign minister in the Khmer Rouge regime.

Ieng Sary, "promoted, instigated, facilitated, encouraged and/or condoned the perpetration of the crimes" when the Khmer Rouge held power, according to a July 18 filing by the prosecutors to the tribunal's judges, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

It said there was evidence of Ieng Sary's participation in crimes included planning, directing and coordinating the Khmer Rouge "policies of forcible transfer, forced labor and unlawful killings."

"I have done nothing wrong," Ieng Sary told The Associated Press in October in Bangkok, Thailand, where he was visiting for a medical checkup.

"I am a gentle person. I believe in good deeds. I even made good deeds to save several people's lives (during the regime). But let them (the tribunal) find what the truth is," he said without elaborating.

The alleged crimes of his wife, Ieng Thirith, who is believed to be 75, included her participation in "planning, direction, coordination and ordering of widespread purges ... and unlawful killing or murder of staff members from within the Ministry of Social Affairs," the prosecutors' filing said.

Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998, and his former military chief, Ta Mok, died in 2006 in government custody.

Nuon Chea, the former Khmer Rouge ideologist, and Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, who headed the Khmer Rouge S-21 torture center, were detained earlier this year on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Killing Fields court nabs another Pol Pot henchman

Killing Fields court nabs another Pol Pot henchman
By Ek Madra

Nov 12, 2007




PHNOM PENH, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Police and security guards from Cambodia's "Killing Fields" tribunal arrested former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary on Monday, the third Pol Pot henchman to be taken into custody by the U.N.-backed court.

His wife, Khieu Thirith, another leading member of the Khmer Rouge, was arrested with him, a tribunal spokesman said after the couple had been ferried from their plush Phnom Penh villa in a police convoy with sirens blazing.



They would be questioned by investigating judges in an initial appearance later on Monday, he said. The pair would be charged, the spokesman added without specifying the charges or when they would be brought.



Ieng Sary became the international face of the ultra-Maoist revolution after its collapse under the weight of a Vietnamese invasion in 1979, spending years at the United Nations defending Pol Pot's legitimacy,.



An estimated 1.7 million people were executed or died of torture, disease or starvation under the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979.



Ieng Sary has denied having anything to do with the extraordinary privations and brutality during the regime's time in power.



He and Khieu Thirith were the third and fourth to be arrested after years of delays since the $56 million tribunal got off the ground in earnest this year.



Duch, the former schoolteacher who ran the notorious S-21, or Tuol Sleng, interrogation and torture centre at a former Phnom Penh high school has been charged with crimes against humanity.



So has "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, who is also accused of war crimes.



While Nuon Chea has proclaimed his innocence, Duch, in interviews with Western reporters, has confessed to his role in the mass killings and is expected to be a key witness against other senior regime figures.



Pol Pot, "Brother Number One", died in 1998 in the final Khmer Rouge redoubt of Anlong Veng, a jungle-clad mountain on the border with Thailand.



In all, prosecutors have so far identified five top suspects. In addition to Ieng Sary, Nuon Chea and Duch, they are widely believed to be former president Khieu Samphan and Meas Muth, a son-in-law of military chief Ta Mok, who died last year.



Ieng Sary had been living as a free man in Phnom Penh since he surrendered to the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen -- himself once a Khmer Rouge soldier -- in 1996.



Ieng Sary was born in 1924 as Kim Trang but, like many Cambodians, had a penchant for aliases, including Van, Thang and Nenn.



He was a member of a group of young Cambodians imbued with socialist and communist zeal while studying on government scholarships in Paris in the 1950s.



Many members of the group, which included Pol Pot, Khieu Samphan and Khieu Thirith, went on to become the Khmer Rouge's highest ranking officers.



Reports of his ill-health have been frequent in the past few years, including some suggestions he has travelled to Bangkok for heart treatment.