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.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Civil Party Lawyers Question the PTC's Reasoning and Drop the Ball on Proffering a Solid Reasoning for Why They Believe It Is the Case

The Civil Party Lawyers of the ECCC filed a motion requesting that the PTC re-consider the parameters it had set out for the nexus between the ECCC's Internal Rules (IRs) and the Cambodian Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). The Lawyers, inter alia, requested that the PTC re-consider its stipulation of the primacy of the IRs should there be a conflict between a provision of the CPC and an IR rule. This was, however, done without a contestation of the outcome of the decision which bears the impugned reasoning on the nexus between the two codes of procedure.
In their Observations, the Co-Prosecutors made an argument which pulls the rug from under the Civil Lawyers' argument by citing an irrefutable authority derived from international law, i.e. reconsideration can only be granted if one of the following conditions are present: (1) the request of reconsideration contains a material change of circumstance; (2) the request of reconsideration contains an argument that the decision was erroneous; (3) the request of reconsideration contains an argument that the decision has caused an injustice. This authority having been unrefuted by the Civil Lawyers has facilitated its expeditious acceptance by the PTC and merited only a short decision which arose out of the clarity of the authority cited by the Co-Prosecutors.
This case doubtless shows the lack of legal research undertaken by the Civil Lawyers and their inability to predict the Co-Prosecutors' rebuttal which in this case is textbook and therefore should have been easily predictable. These shortcomings of the Civil Party Lawyers are particularly unfortunate in this case due to the substance of their request being the perceived inadequacies of the quality of a legal reasoning produced by the PTC in a particular case. The irony of this circumstance perhaps need not be underscored.

Richard Rogers Appointed as Head of the Defense Support Section


The Office of the Coordinator of UNAKRT is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Richard Rogers as Head of Defense Support Section (DSS). Mr. Rogers joined the ECCC/UNAKRT in November 2006 as the Deputy Head of DSS and has since played a significant role in the design and set up of the Section. Mr. Rogers possesses a wide range of experience in the area of international criminal law and has worked with various international tribunals including ICTR and ICTY. He brings with him a good background in managing and leading a team of lawyers and trial assistants. He has previously worked with various organizations in Cambodia to facilitate and train Cambodian nationals in monitoring trials, and elements pertaining to crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Soldier Defends Toul Sleng Film

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer

A Vietnamese soldier and cameraman defended as “true” a film he shot of Tuol Sleng prison during the ouster of the Khmer Rouge, which could be used as evidence in tribunal proceedings.

Ding Phong, now 71, shot footage of Tuol Sleng prison as Vietnamese forces liberated Phnom Penh in Januray 1979, but the film has come under criticism from defense lawyers for former Khmer Rouge leaders facing atrocity crimes trials.

“The documentary shot in Tuol Sleng is true,” Dinh Phong said Thursday, before returning to Vietnam after a six-day visit to Cambodia to deliver his film to researchers. “What we shot 30 years ago is the truth.”

Lawyers for Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch, who is the first to face trial under the tribunal, said the films were not unbiased.

“This is a documentary which has a political character,” said Kar Savuth, an attorney for Duch, or Kaing Kek Iev, who saw his initial trial hearing this week. “It cannot be used [as evidence] in the trial.”

“What he mentioned is an accusation,” Dinh Phongsaid, denying the political assertion.

Tribunal prosecutor Chea Leang has requested that two Vietnamese filmmakers, who have donated their films to the Documentation Center of Cambodia, be brought before the Trial Chamber of the Khmer Rouge tribunal, to defend their work.

Dinh Phong said Thursday he would only answer questions outside the court.

EU Presidency Statement on the start of the first trial at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia


The Presidency of the European Union welcomes the start of the first trial at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).

This hearing represents the realization of significant efforts to establish a fair and independent tribunal to try those most responsible for the serious crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge regime.

The Presidency of the European Union particularly welcomes the recognition of civil parties at the trial, providing a direct voice to the victims of atrocities of the Khmer Rouge. This will play an important role in helping Cambodians to understand and come to terms with their past.

The EU collectively has been a major contributor to the costs of the Court. The EU will continue to work with the Royal Government of Cambodia and the UN to ensure transparent justice and to promote peace and stability in Cambodia.

PTC Orders a Detention Appeal Hearing for Ieng Sary

The PTC has accepted the defense's views on the necessity of a hearing to determine the appeal of the extension of Ieng Sary's detention and interpreted the relevant rule of the ECCC Internal Rules (IRs) to contain a presumption in favor of oral hearings when the question pertaining to a charged person's liberty is raised. The defense plans on arguing that the pre-trial detention of Ieng Sary cannot be continued at this stage due to his rapidly deteriorating health.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Wouldn't This Be Fair?




The PTC rejected Khieu Samphan's appeal by establishing a curious precedent: matters for which no express provision is made in the Court's Internal Rules (IRs) cannot be appealed. Stiletto-narrow as this decision is it establishes a dangerous precedent for the Court's forthcoming decisions by adopting a textualist interpretation of the imperfectly crafted IRs.

Besides being procedurally unsound, this decision has declared that the Court's refusal to translate Khieu's case-file into French -- which prevents Khieu's Co-Lawyer from reading it, by his own admission -- does not constitute an abuse of process. The Court instead has suggested that the defense team identify the potentially exculpatory documents in the case-file and request that the Court translate them.

The question of "exculpatory" is convoluted as it might be elusive which documents bear that quality without examining them in the most detailed manner. In addition, the prosecution was never subjected to the same task. In fact, most of the prosecution's job had been done by the millions of US and European dollars contributed to the cause of prosecuting the Khmer Rouge and channeled through the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) for a period of 11 years preceding the establishment of the ECCC. Although this center is known to have claimed to conduct "unbiased research" such claims are not borned out by the Center's public behavior (the last appearance of such behavior is a Center-funded foldout in the English-speaking newspaper The Cambodia Daily which bears the word "Genocide" in large letters, a crime with which none of the presently accused persons have been charged). Therefore, considering that the prosecution got more than a head-start and with the principle of equality of arms in mind and the fact that the defense never was allowed to benefit from the millions of dollars' worth of research due to the policies of DC-Cam, wouldn't it be fair if the Court at least allowed unhampered access to the lawyers of the charged persons' to these persons' respective case-files in a language they can understand?

PTC Rejects Leader's former KR Leader's Translation Appeal

Fri Feb 20, 10:33 am ET

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Lawyers for former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu
Samphan Friday lost an appeal at Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal to
have his case file translated into French for his famed attorney.

The genocidal regime's leader and his lawyers have argued that in the absence
of the translation of the documents into French -- one of the court's three
official languages -- Khieu Samphan would not have a fair trial.

Khieu Samphan, 77, is being defended by famed French lawyer Jacques Verges,
who has acted for some of the world's most infamous figures including Nazi war
criminal Klaus Barbie and Venezuelan terrorist "Carlos the Jackal".

Judge Prak Kimsan, head of the tribunal's pre-trial chamber, said Friday that
the "appeal is inadmissible" because the court's rules do not provide for
appeals relating to translation issues.

The judge also said that the defence team already had legal assistants who
understand the languages used by the hybrid international-Cambodian court,
which was set up in 2006 after years of haggling with the United Nations.

Verges, who is representing Khieu Samphan along with Cambodian lawyer
Sa Sovan, said during an appeal hearing last December that only 2.5 percent
of the 60,000-page case file had been translated.

Sa Sovan said he was "very regretful" at the ruling.

"The suspect's rights have been violated. So there is no justice at this court,"
the lawyer said.

But the prosecution welcomed the decision, with Cambodian co-prosecutor
Chea Leang saying it was "very important" to make proceedings move
forward quickly.

Khieu Samphan is one of five Khmer Rouge leaders who have been detained
by the court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity under
the ultra-communist Khmer Rouge's brutal 1975-1979 regime.

He went before the court for the first time in April last year to appeal
against his pre-trial detention.

The judges adjourned that hearing and warned Verges over his behaviour
after he said he was unable to act for his client because court documents
had not been translated.

A fierce anti-colonialist, Verges, who was born in Thailand, reportedly
befriended Khieu Samphan and other future Khmer Rouge leaders while
at university in Paris in the 1950s.

Up to two million people are believed to have been 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.

The long-awaited first Khmer Rouge trial started earlier this week when
the regime's notorious prison chief, Kaing Guek Eav, better known
by the alias Duch, went before the court.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

China Wants No Part of the Historic Proceedings, Defends Its Ties with Democratic Kampuchea

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, was quoted as saying that "for a long time China had normal and friendly relations with previous Cambodian governments, including that of Democratic Kampuchea [...] The government of Democratic Kampuchea had a legal seat at the United Nations and had established broad foreign relations with more than 70 countries [...] The trial of former Democratic Kampuchea leaders is an internal political matter for Cambodia."

No Film?

The defense opposed the screening of footage shot by the advancing Vietnamese troops on the grounds that it was "political motivated" and designed to "disguise the truth of the event". It is difficult to imagine that footage of any type would be capable of doing anything of the kind unless of course the defense insinuates that the footage is a fabrication, from start to finish. In this case the defense would have us believe that there was a Vietnamese plan to smear the regime of Democratic Kampuchea by strewing bloated bodies around the prison compound of S-21. This, however, is far from impossible as history is familiar with fabrications far more sophisticated than what seems to be at hand here. However, defense arguments to exclude this footage on the grounds of "political motivation" are not likely to work in future proceedings. The defense therefore will do well if it finds evidence of Vietnamese intent to tamper with what is now a major crime scene in Kaing Guek Iev's case in general and create fake footage in particular.

Khmer Rouge Hearing Wraps Up


PHNOM PENH - LAWYERS at the trial of the Khmer Rouge's chief torturer clashed on Wednesday over the use of a film taken by Vietnamese troops showing the prison where he oversaw 15,000 deaths.
The arguments came as the UN-backed Cambodian genocide tribunal wrapped up the opening session of the trial of Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, after just a day and a half. Full hearings are expected to start next month.
Duch's lawyers opposed a prosecution bid to show footage shot by Vietnamese troops showing conditions at the prison two days after they helped to topple the communist Khmer Rouge regime on January 7, 1979.
'We the defence regard this video footage as having political motivation in nature to disguise the truth of the nature of the event,' co-defence lawyer Kar Savuth said, adding that it was effectively a Vietnamese propaganda film.
The seven-minute, black-and-white video shows scenes of horror inside the abandoned prison, which was a former high school, including several bloated corpses strapped to iron bedframes where they were apparently tortured. It also shows five children who survived the retreat of the Khmer Rouge from the jail by hiding in a pile of washing.
Prosecutors said it was essential for the tribunal to see the film, partly because it confirmed that children were held at the notorious jail as well as men and women.
'It is an absolute must for this trial chamber to have all available evidence,' said co-prosecutor Robert Petit, adding that they wanted to call the Vietnamese cameraman and other witnesses related to the video.
Cameraman Ho Van Tay was reunited with one of the child survivors, Cambodian Norng Chan Pal, at a news conference on Monday when they discussed the contents of the film. Lawyers also presented lists of witnesses whose admissibility the court is considering.
Duch, a former maths teacher now aged 66, could be seen listening impassively to the arguments through headphones.
Chief judge Nil Nonn later announced the end of the initial session but did not say when the trial would restart. Court spokeswoman Helen Jarvis said substantive hearings would likely begin in late March.
Duch is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and premeditated murder, and faces a life sentence.He has taken responsibility for his iron-fisted rule at Tuol Sleng, which was used as a mass torture centre to extract confessions from alleged traitors that they were spies for the CIA, KGB and other foreign powers.
Former Vietnamese leader Le Duc Anh, who helped organise the 1979 invasion to oust the Khmer Rouge, on Wednesday hailed the start of the trial of Duch.
'Thirty years after the downfall of the Khmer Rouge, I say better late than never,' Anh, who served as president of communist Vietnam from 1992-97, said in an interview with the online daily VietnamNet. 'Not judging them for what they did was almost like condoning the crimes of people who set up a genocidal regime.' -- AFP

In Cambodia, Pol Pot’s Regime on Trial at Last

Phnom Penh: It was crowded at the Tuol Sleng genocide museum in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh on Tuesday, as scores of foreign tourists visited the gated high school that was once a Khmer Rouge prison and execution center. Meanwhile, in a courtroom in the sprawling outskirts of the city, Tuol Sleng’s former chief became the first member of Pol Pot’s infamous regime to stand trial for crimes against humanity at the U.N.-backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts (ECCC) of Cambodia, more than 30 years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

Sitting behind bulletproof glass in a full courtroom, Kaing Guek Eav, alias Comrade Duch, appeared relaxed as he jotted down notes while his lawyers argued for hours over the inclusion of witnesses and other details in the trial that is expected to last about three months. Duch, who is now 66, oversaw Tuol Sleng at the height of the Khmer Rouge regime’s brutality in the 1970s, a waifish mathematics teacher turned zealous revolutionary cadre who ran the prison with maniacal attention to the details of the life and death of his prisoners.

Duch did not speak during his first day in court, and full testimony is not expected to be heard until substantive hearings in March. But the classroom walls at Tuol Sleng speak for themselves, hung with the black and white mug shots of many of the 14,000 men, women and children who were imprisoned and tortured until they confessed to betraying Pol Pot’s revolution. Later they were trucked to the outskirts of Phnom Penh where, blindfolded, they were dispatched standing at the edge of mass graves that would later be dubbed “the killing fields.”

As historically important as Tuesday’s initial hearing was - hundreds turned up at the court, including scores of international and local journalists - outside the confines of the ECCC, the start of Duch’s trial seemed underwhelming to many people. Not one of more than a dozen people interviewed had tuned in to watch the live television broadcast of the trial’s opening salvos, including two women selling entrance tickets to the Tuol Sleng museum, who didn’t know that the prison’s former director was even standing trial.

“I was too busy working to watch,” said Klang Sokhan, 62, tending to the small shop opposite Tuol Sleng’s gates where she peddles soft drinks and DVD documentaries about the Khmer Rouge to the hordes of tourists that visit the prison each day. “I am interested in the trial,” she added, “and if you want to know whether Cambodian people are interested, let [the Khmer Rouge suspects] out of prison to walk down the street. Then there will be a prosecution.”

Like so many of her generation, Klang Sokhan lost numerous relatives during the regime that ruled Cambodian from 1975 to 1979, when an estimated 1.7 million people died, including her son and daughter who were 5 and 4 when they succumbed to starvation. For Klang Sokhan, the complexities and the slow pace of the U.N.-backed tribunal proceedings do not assuage her anger - or her thirst for revenge. “The court is difficult to understand. It’s too complicated. What people want is for them to die,” she said of Duch and the four other Khmer Rouge leaders now in detention.

Though many Cambodians want to see justice done, most also have a limited understanding of the complex legal process the Khmer Rouge tribunal has become since it was proposed more than a decade ago. Negotiations between the Cambodian government and the U.N. to establish the hybrid court, which includes national and international judges and elements of international and domestic law, took years to hammer out, and on more than one occasion had many believing that the tribunal would never take place. Recent research conducted by the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley, found that of 1,000 Cambodians interviewed, fewer than one in 10 knew that five regime suspects have been awaiting trial. And only 3.3% of respondents could name the court’s five detainees: Duch, former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary, Sary’s wife, former social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, former “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea, and the regime’s former head of state, Khieu Samphan.

Nevertheless, the researchers also found that 90% of respondents said that members of the Khmer Rouge should be held legally responsible for their crimes. Many, including Vann Nath, a nationally renowned painter who survived Tuol Sleng because Duch put him to work rendering portraits of Pol Pot, hope that Duch’s appearance in court means the beginning of that long-delayed accountability. During a break in the hearing, Vann Nath said he had waited a long time to see his old jailer on trial. “When he was in power, he was brutal, I was afraid to look at his face. Now I look at him, and he is an old man,” Vann Nath said of Duch’s appearance. “It has been a long time to wait… and not just for me.”

Pol Pot's Chief Torturer Called to Account for Killing Fields


The torturer-in-chief of Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime went before a UN-backed genocide tribunal today for the long-awaited first trial into the "Killing Fields" atrocities 30 years ago.

Former maths teacher Kaing Guek Eav - better known as Duch - sat in the dock for an initial hearing into charges that he ran the main prison centre for the hardline-communist regime that killed up to 2 million people.

"This first hearing represents the realisation of significant efforts in establishing a fair and independent tribunal to try those in senior leadership positions," chief judge Nit Nonn told the court in Phnom Penh.

A gaunt-looking Duch, 66, wore a blue shirt and listened through earphones to lawyers' arguments as the court launched proceedings behind a large bullet-proof screen, designed to prevent revenge attacks by his alleged victims.

For Cambodians, the controversial tribunal, established in 2006 after nearly a decade of negotiations between Cambodia and the United Nations, is seen as the last chance to bring the Khmer Rouge's leaders to justice.

"It is a very important day for me," Chum Mey, one of only about a dozen people to have survived the notorious Tuol Sleng detention centre, said.

"I will be a witness and I want to see Duch and ask why he imprisoned me."

Duch was indicted last year for allegedly personally overseeing the torture and extermination of more than 15,000 men, women and children when he headed the prison, built in a former high school.

Now a born-again Christian, he is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and premeditated murder and faces a sentence of life in prison.

The tribunal does not have the power to impose the death penalty.

Several other survivors and people who lost loved ones at Tuol Sleng gathered outside the specially built courtroom on the outskirts of Phnom Penh for the hearing.

Duch was transported in an armoured LandCruiser with blacked-out windows from the nearby villa-style detention centre where he is being held with four other Khmer Rouge leaders, who face trial later this year.

His first hearing is expected to last less than three days as it involves procedural matters concerning the structure of the trial, which involves joint Cambodian and international staff.

Defence lawyer Francois Roux reminded judges that Duch had been held without trial for "nine years, nine months and seven days until today", something he called "unacceptable".

Duch was arrested in 1999 when a journalist found him working as a Christian aid worker in the jungle, and was formally transferred to the tribunal in July 2007.

He has previously expressed regret for his alleged crimes.

"A person can't be held in detention for more than three years under Cambodian law," Mr Roux said, adding he would raise the matter again during substantive hearings scheduled to begin next month.

Tuol Sleng was at the heart of the Khmer Rouge security apparatus and thousands of inmates were taken from there during Duch's tenure for execution at nearby Choeung Ek, an orchard now known as the "Killing Fields."

Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge was responsible for one of the worst horrors of the 20th century, wiping out nearly a quarter of the population through starvation, overwork and execution.

Rising to power as a tragic spin-off from the US conflict in Vietnam, the movement emptied Cambodia's cities to take society back to a rural "year zero", purging city dwellers, intellectuals and even people who wore glasses.

The Khmer Rouge was ousted by Vietnamese-backed forces after a reign of terror lasting three years, eight months and 20 days, but continued to fight a civil war until 1998.

Pol Pot died the same year.

The tribunal has faced controversy over allegations of political interference by the government and claims that Cambodian staff paid kickbacks for their jobs.

The joint trial of the other Khmer Rouge leaders being held with Duch is set to start later this year after Duch's trial is completed, although no date has yet been set.

Judges are considering opening cases against other former Khmer Rouge leaders after a dispute between the international and Cambodian co-prosecutors over whether to pursue more suspects.

Duch to Stand Trial Today as First Cadre to Face Justice for Khmer Rouge Crimes

Written by Asia News on Wednesday, 18 February, 2009

There is absolutely no way those who suffered under the Khmer Rouge regime can ever be adequately compensated for the pain endured, nor can any of the 1.7 million or more loved ones who perished during the three years, eight months and 20 days of KR madness ever be brought back to life.

These scars, so many angry, restless ghosts and the difficulty of how to deal with them are a permanent legacy of the Khmer Rouge regime.

But today marks the most visible beginning of a process that may result in some form of justice for those most responsible for the crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge’s murderous years in power.

At 9am this morning in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, or Khmer Rouge tribunal as it is more informally known, Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, is to take his place in the dock before five of the KRT judges to begin the initial hearing of his trial on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and the domestic charges under Cambodian law of premeditated murder and torture.

It is an event that has been delayed for decades by the hardnosed politics of the Cold War. It is an event that almost didn’t happen because the number of people who were pushing for the creation of a trial was so pitifully small. (Seven years ago I was told there were about 10 people outside of Cambodia pushing for the trials.) It is an event that has taken years of wrangling over the actual existence and format of the tribunal. It is an event that is already surrounded by controversy with accusations of a flawed tribunal process plagued by corruption and misuse of funds.

But it is an event that must happen and one that offers the last best chance to understand how things went so terribly wrong in Cambodia so long ago.

“Duch’s trial, and the trials that will follow it, are very significant. These trials will be the first to try leaders of a communist regime for mass murder, besides the trials of the Dergue regime in Ethiopia. It will also show war criminals that they are never safe, even 30 years after they committed their crimes. There is no statute of limitations on the prosecution of genocide and crimes against humanity,” said Gregory H Stanton, executive director of Genocide Watch.

Duch headed the S-21 detention and torture centre in Phnom Penh, where more than 16,000 so-called enemies of the regime were tortured and then led to their executions. Only a handful survived.

The details of the crimes committed at Tuol Sleng are so horrific that they defy comprehension. Even worse, S-21 was just one of about 150 sites in a prison and extermination network that extended over the entire country, a killing machine that destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives.

“Duch’s trial is very significant because he was actually quite high in the Khmer Rouge hierarchy as the commandant of the central prison where the highest ‘enemies of the state’ were tortured and executed,” Stanton told the Post. “It is also significant because Duch reportedly intends to confess and tell the truth about his crimes, and his testimony will prove very significant for all the other trials of the tribunal, because Duch received his orders from Nuon Chea, Son Sen, and other top leaders of the Khmer Rouge.”

So what does this trial mean for the Cambodian people?

It would be nice if it meant the beginning of the end of impunity for those who break the law. It would be great if it led to reforms of a judicial system that is perceived as biased towards those with power. It would be helpful if it added to the process of national reconciliation. It would be a blessing if it helped bring closure on the darkest chapter in recent Cambodian history.

All of these expectations may be a bit much to expect of the KRT given the limitations placed on it by the political expediencies of those who are still fearful of the full story coming to light.

At the very least it would be beneficial if Duch and his colleagues told the truth. That in and of itself would be a useful first step but is also one which remains to be seen. The good news is that we don’t have to wait much longer to find out.

“Human justice will always be imperfect because it has to be dispensed by human beings. But the ECCC, despite its imperfections, is still likely to do a very good job of trying the Khmer Rouge top leaders and in dispensing justice to them. The larger questions of restorative justice for Cambodians will have to be dealt with in other ways. But the ECCC will make an historic contribution by revealing the facts about the Khmer Rouge regime, and will help future Cambodians and other people understand and refuse to deny those truths,” Stanton wrote.

‘The larger question of restorative justice … will have to be dealt with’

worse, S-21 was just one of about 150 sites in a prison and extermination network that extended over the entire country, a killing machine that destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives.

“He was actually quite high in the Khmer Rouge hierarchy as the commandant of the central prison where the highest ‘enemies of the state’ were tortured and executed,” Stanton told the Post. “It is also significant because Duch reportedly intends to confess and tell the truth about his crimes, and his testimony will prove very significant for all the other trials of the tribunal.”

So what does this trial mean for the Cambodian people?
It would be nice if it meant the beginning of the end of impunity for those who break the law. It would be great if it led to reforms of a judicial system that is perceived as biased towards those with power. It would be helpful if it added to the process of national reconciliation. It would be a blessing if it helped bring closure on the darkest chapter in recent Cambodian history.

All of these expectations may be a bit much to expect of the KR tribunal given the limitations placed on it by the political expediencies of those who are still fearful of the full story coming to light.

At the very least, it would be beneficial if Duch and his colleagues told the truth. That in and of itself would be a useful first step but is also one that remains to be seen. The good news is that we don’t have to wait much longer to find out.

“Human justice will always be imperfect because it has to be dispensed by human beings. But the ECCC, despite its imperfections, is still likely to do a very good job of trying the Khmer Rouge’s top leaders and in dispensing justice to them. The larger questions of restorative justice for Cambodians will have to be dealt with in other ways. But the ECCC will make a historic contribution by revealing the facts about the Khmer Rouge regime, and will help future Cambodians and other people understand and refuse to deny those truths,” Stanton wrote.

Written by Michael Hayes
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
The Phnom Penh Post

Vietnamese Cameramen Condemn Duch

February 17, 2009
By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
17 February 2009

Two Vietnamese cameramen who were among the troops to oust the Khmer Rouge in 1979 hailed the upcoming trial of prison chief Duch as a positive step for justice in Cambodia.

“Comrade Duch,” whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, faces charges for atrocities committed at Tuol Sleng prison under his supervision. At least 12,000 Cambodians were tortured at the center and later executed at the Choeung Ek killing fields, which was also under Duch’s purview.

An initial hearing for his trial under the Khmer Rouge tribunal opened Tuesday, while his full trial is expected to begin in earnest next month.

“We must show our documents and condemn what was a serious crime,” cameraman Dinh Phong, who was among Vietnamese forces that drove the Khmer Rouge from Phnom Penh in January 1979, told reporters Monday.

As the Khmer Rogue withdrew, they left the bodies of victims behind, not only in Tuol Sleng, but “everywhere,” he said. “Near the road, in the forest and in the ditch, there were bodies.”

Dinh Phong and his fellow cameraman, Ho Van Tay, filmed what they found from the outset, in footage that has been donated for the tribunal.

The two were brought together Monday with a child they had helped rescue from Duch’s prison, Norng Chan Phal.

“I would say that this is the end of Duch,” Norng Chan Phal, now 39, said of the upcoming trial. “He is the chief of the murderers.”

Press Release

Press Release: First ECCC Trial On Crimes of 1970s Khmer Rouge Regime Officially Opens
Tuesday, February 17, 2009

First ECCC Trial On Crimes of 1970s Khmer Rouge Regime Officially Opens

Court begins hearing in relation to security centre chief Kaing Geuk Eav alias “Duch”

Phnom Penh (ECCC) – Efforts at bringing justice and accountability for crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge regime of 1975-1979 took a major step forward today, with the start of the initial hearing in the first case of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).

The ECCC – a United Nations-backed, independent hybrid tribunal – today began proceedings in the trial of Kaing Guek Eav, also known by the alias “Duch.” Kaing Guek Eav faces charges of crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, in addition to the offences of homicide and torture under Cambodian criminal law.

Following judicial investigations, on 8 August last year, the ECCC’s Office of the Co-Investigating Judges issued an indictment against the accused in relation to alleged offences committed in S-21, a security centre also known as Toul Sleng, between 1975 and 1979. Following resolution of an appeal against the indictment, the ECCC’s Pre-Trial Chamber remitted the case for trial on 5 December 2008.

“The Cambodian people have waited 30 years for this day, to find justice for the suffering in which over a third of the population perished,” said His Excellency, Mr. Tony Kranh, the ECCC’s acting Director of Administration.

“This is an historic moment and an important step towards bringing about accountability for crimes and providing justice for the accused and victims of atrocities committed during the Democratic Kampuchea regime in the late 70s,” said Mr. Knut Rosandhaug, the Deputy Director of the ECCC, and Coordinator of the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT), the UN body with the mandate of supporting the ECCC.

The initial hearing signals the formal commencement of Kaing Guek Eav’s trial, which will be followed – at a date yet to be fixed – by a hearing on the substance of the allegations made against him. The initial hearing will continue on any days required following Tuesday’s start.

At today’s hearing, the court considered applications for the admission of civil parties and protective measures sought by these parties, as well as preliminary legal and procedural issues that might have an impact on the conduct of the trial on the substance of the allegations.

It also finalized the scheduling of witnesses and experts to be heard at the trial. Neither the accused nor any witnesses, experts and civil parties spoke at the initial hearing on any matters of substance. On the basis of information received at the initial hearing, the court’s President, in consultation with the other members of the Trial Chamber, will shortly fix the date of the commencement of the substantive hearing. This is expected to occur soon.

The substantive hearing will consider the evidence contained in the case file. The accused, witnesses, experts and the civil parties may testify or make statements orally during this part of the trial.

Under a 2003 agreement between the United Nations and Cambodia , the ECCC was set up as an independent court. It is staffed by a mixture of Cambodian and international staff and judges and is mandated to try senior leaders and those deemed most responsible for serious violations of Cambodian and international law committed during the Khmer Rouge rule from 17 April 1975 to 6 January 1979.

***

For more information online: www.eccc.gov.kh and www.unakrt-online.org

For further information, please contact:

Dr Helen Jarvis
Chief of Public Affairs, ECCC
Mobile : +855-12 488 134
Fax: +855-23 219 841
Email: helen.jarvis@eccc.gov.kh

Reach Sambath
Public Affairs Officer, ECCC
Mobile : +855-12 488 156
Fax: +855-23 219 841
Email: reach.sambath@eccc.gov.kh

Ari Gaitanis
Public Information Officer, UNAKRT
Mobile : +855-12 488 421
Email: gaitanis@un.org

Cambodia opens first 'Killing Fields' Trial

by Danny Kemp Danny Kemp

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – The torturer-in-chief of Cambodia's brutal Khmer
Rouge regime went before a UN-backed genocide tribunal on Tuesday for
the long-awaited first trial over the "Killing Fields" atrocities of the 1970s.

Former maths teacher Kaing Guek Eav -- better known as Duch -- sat
glumly in the dock to face charges that he ran the main prison centre
for the hardline communist regime, which killed up to two million
people.

"This first hearing represents the realisation of significant efforts
in establishing a fair and independent tribunal to try those in senior
leadership positions," chief judge Nil Nonn said at the opening of the
trial.

Duch, 66, wore a blue shirt and listened through earphones as the
court held its initial hearing behind a huge bullet-proof screen,
designed to prevent revenge attacks by victims of the notorious Tuol
Sleng prison.

For Cambodians the controversial tribunal, established in 2006 after
nearly a decade of negotiations between Cambodia and the United
Nations, is seen as the last chance to bring the Khmer Rouge's leaders
to justice.

"I prayed for dawn as soon as possible so that I could see this trial
start," artist Vann Nath, one of only about a dozen survivors from the
prison, said outside the court on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

Duch was indicted last year for allegedly personally overseeing the
torture and extermination of more than 15,000 men, women and children
when he headed Tuol Sleng, built in a former high school.

Now a born-again Christian, he is charged with crimes against
humanity, war crimes, torture and premeditated murder and faces a
sentence of life in prison from the tribunal. It does not have the
power to impose the death penalty.

Duch was transported in an armoured Land Cruiser with blacked-out
windows from the nearby villa where he is being held with four top
Khmer Rouge leaders, who all face trial later this year.

His first hearing is expected to last less than three days as it
involves procedural matters.

Defence lawyer Francois Roux told the court that Duch had been held
without trial for more than nine years, branding it "unacceptable."

Duch was arrested in 1999 when a journalist found him working as a
Christian aid worker in the jungle, and was formally transferred to
the tribunal in July 2007.

He has previously expressed regret for his crimes but has said that he
was acting under orders from top Khmer Rouge leaders.

Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge was responsible
for one of the worst horrors of the 20th century, wiping out nearly a
quarter of the population through starvation, overwork and execution.

Rising to power as a tragic spin-off from the US conflict in Vietnam,
the movement emptied Cambodia's cities to take society back to a rural
"Year Zero," purging city dwellers, intellectuals and even people who
wore glasses.

Tuol Sleng was used to extract false confessions from alleged traitors
and thousands of inmates were taken from there during Duch's tenure
for execution at nearby Choeung Ek, an orchard now known as the
"Killing Fields."

The Khmer Rouge was ousted by Vietnamese-backed forces after a reign
of terror lasting three years, eight months and 20 days. Pol Pot died
in 1998.

The tribunal has been delayed by legal arguments and bail hearings,
and has faced controversy over allegations of political interference
by the government over the prosecution of further suspects.

But joint investigating judge Marcel Lemonde insisted it was crucial
for Cambodia's healing, telling AFP it was an "opportunity to decide
not just individual responsibility but also organise a public debate."
.

Closer and closer...

A Thousand Turn Out for Duch Hearing
By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
17 February 2009

More than 1,000 people participated in the initial hearing for jailed Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch on Tuesday, marking the official launch of the first trial ever for the hybrid courts.

Even though the hearing was mostly procedural, with judges discussing witnesses, evidence and scheduling, it was an emotional day for those who have waited a long time for the oft-delayed tribunal to reach the trial stage.

Van Nath, the 63-year-old survivor of Tuol Sleng prison, which was run by Duch, said he had not slept well the night before, and had come very early to join the initial hearing.

“The day that I have waited for for so long is coming,” he told VOA Khmer outside the courts. “We will see justice for victims, coming soon.”

Norng Chan Phal, who survived the prison as a young boy, but whose mother did not, said he was still angry with Duch, who faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder for his role as head of the prison, known as S-21 to the Khmer Rouge.

“When I saw him brought to the dock, my feelings became abnormal,” the 39-year-old survivor said. “If Cambodian law had a death sentence, I would want him sentenced to death.”

Vietnamese cameraman Ho Van Tay, 76, who was among the Vietnamese that pushed the Khmer Rogue from the prison and from Phnom Penh, said he was relieving the same feelings of shock he’d had as Vietnamese forces entered the city.

This is an important day for the Cambodian people to see justice, he said.

Many others had similarly strong reactions to the opening of the trial, which will actually begin in earnest next month.

Del Chhres, a 75-year-old villagers from Kampong Thom province, said he wanted the tribunal to “punish” Duch. He also wanted to see an end to impunity in Cambodia.

Thong Samnang, a 24-year-old monk, said he, like others, wanted to see Duch punished, “in order to clear their minds.”

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said the day was a very big day for Cambodians, because the justice they have been waiting for was getting “closer and closer.”

Sunday, February 15, 2009

At Last, Justice Comes to Cambodia



Cold War politics overlooked genocide and other atrocities

Benny Widyono
YaleGlobal, 13 February 2009

NEW YORK: Nearly 12 years after the UN initiative to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Cambodian genocide that took the lives of approximately 1.7 million people, the first preliminary hearing will be held in Phnom Penh on February 17. After years of talk and proclamations, but little action, Cambodians and people all over the world will watch how the justice is delivered.

The first person to be tried is Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, accused of crimes committed in the secret prison S-21 ( Tuol Sleng) S-24 (Prey Sar) and the killing ground of Choeung Ek., Four other defendants in prison awaiting the tribunal with him are four remaining top leaders still alive: Nuon Chea, now 82, the former second in command of the Khmer Rouge movement; former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith; and former Minister of Social Affairs Khieu Samphan. Pol Pot, the former head of state and supreme leader of the movement, died 11 years ago.

Why did it take so long for justice to come to Cambodia? The answer can be found within the international political dynamics during the Cold War and later in protracted negotiations between the Cambodian government and the UN for setting up the court. Because of the Cold War, a long period of international amnesia followed the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials after World War II. In 1993-94, this amnesia was broken when the UN established the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and later by the establishment of the permanent International Criminal Court in 2002 to deal with serous human rights abuses worldwide.

In Cambodia, Cold War diplomatic maneuvers swept Khmer Rouge atrocities under the carpet. On 7 January, 1979, Vietnamese Army and Cambodian defectors from the Khmer Rouge ended the Khmer Rouge rule. The People’s Republic of Kampuchea, which soon gained control over 90 percent of the country, was established.

In a great irony, as the battle shifted to New York, the United Nations in a resolution spearheaded by the US and China, awarded Cambodia’s seat in the General Assembly to the exiled Khmer Rouge terror regime; the actual government in Phnom Penh that ended the killing was turned into an international pariah. This travesty continued for 11 more years thereby prolonging the suffering of the Cambodian people. Throughout the 1980s, bringing the Khmer Rouge criminals to court was far from the minds of the powers that be. The PRK did try Khmer Rouge leaders Pol Pot and Ieng Sary, but few in the outside world paid attention.

Finally, the international aspects of the Cambodian problem were settled with the elections sponsored by the United Nations in May 1993 and the establishment of a new government, a new Royal government of Cambodia headed by two prime ministers Prince Ranariddh and Hun Sen. In June 1997, following a strong suggestion by UN special representative on Human Rights in Cambodia Thomas Hammarberg, the co-premiers requested UN assistance to bring the Khmer Rouge to trial. A UN expert group recommended establishment of a hybrid tribunal such as that for Sierra Leone. However, the Cambodian government, which after violent clashes in July 1997, was headed by one prime minister, Hun Sen, who quickly rejected the idea and insisted on a Cambodian tribunal with international assistance.

One can only surmise that the government feared that some UN personalities, donor and human-right organizations would broaden the scope of the tribunal to favor adding more defendants, including senior ex-Khmer Rouge officials now serving in the government, while the Cambodian side insists that the trials should be limited to the five surviving top leaders. The Cambodian concern is on principle, not just numbers, as they fear that spreading the net would result in more instability. This proved to be true when most recently, in 2008, the UN Representative on Human Rights Yash Ghai went so far as stating in his March 2008 report to the UN Human Rights Council that “The real test will be if a suspect in or close to the Government is investigated and brought before the ECCC [Extraordinary Chambers in Courts of Cambodia].”

Control of the tribunal was the main issue over which the Cambodian government and the United Nations argued at every twist and turn. It was no surprise that the negotiations were protracted and acrimonious, even suspended in February 2002, as the UN walked out. The government's foot-dragging may have also contributed to improved relations between Hun Sen and China which, as erstwhile supporter of the Khmer Rouge, could be embarrassed by an international tribunal. In June 2003, the UN and the Cambodian government signed an agreement that established the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. It started functioning in 2006.

Since then, achievements of the tribunal include the arrest of top surviving leaders and the participation of highly regarded international judges and prosecutors. The addition of a unit in which victims can participate in the process is widely acclaimed. By July 2008 it was announced that the first trial would commence in September. In the end, it took four more months. Proponents argue that the tribunal can be a tool to improve the judicial system in a transitional state ravaged by war and political upheaval, as well as political interference and control.

On the negative side, the lack of an independent and trained Cambodian judiciary, continuing yet unspecific accusations of corruption, and budgetary woes serve to mar the progress, and in practice protracted negotiations continued during implementation of the agreement. As of February 2009, the international prosecutor continued to argue that five more defendants should be tried, while the Cambodians insisted five is enough,

As the tribunal is financed from voluntary contributions, individual donors influence the process. Donors were concerned when accusations of corruption surfaced. It's reported that the US, which has not contributed to the tribunal, and perhaps others as well, favor a court with a top international personality overseeing the Cambodian director of administration and the UN deputy.

To placate the donors, new UN appointments were made in June, including David Tolbert, an ex-Yugoslavia tribunal prosecutor was named special expert to the UN secretary-general, with particular mandate over the budget. Knut Rosandhaug, veteran from the UN Kosovo mission took over from Michelle Lee as coordinator of UN assistance and deputy director of the tribunal administration; UN sources reportedly considered Lee, a Chinese national, as too lenient on the Cambodians. It remains to be seen how the new balance of power will play out in the court's day-to-day operations. At the end of 2008, the UN conducted an investigation of corruption in the tribunal, but the findings have not been published.

The trial, though late, still heralds a long-awaited process of healing and national reconciliation that require full accounting of what went on. A successful conclusion of the trials would include recognition of denial of justice imposed on Cambodia during the 1980s, a leftover obligation to be borne by donor countries. Such a successful conclusion for the tribunal would put an end to a dark chapter of history and exorcise the curse of the Khmer Rouge hanging over Cambodia.

Benny Widyono is author of “Dancing in Shadows: Sihanouk, the Khmer Rouge and the United Nations in Cambodia,” published by Rowman Littlefield in 2008. Click here to read an excerpt.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Deputy Prosecutor Sok Kalyan: Decision to Close the Investigation into ECCC Corruption Was Made Thursday

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 7 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Phnom Penh Municipal Court has dismissed an investigation into corruption charges filed against Cambodia's deputy prime minister and some senior officials, a prosecutor said Saturday.

Sok Kalyan, a prosecutor at the court, said the decision was made Thursday.

Andrew Ianuzzi, one of three complainants, confirmed he had received notice dismissing the complaint and suggested the dismissal might be related to "political motivation."

Last month, co-lawyers Michiel Pestman and Victor Koppe and legal consultant Ianuzzi filed the complaint with the municipal court charging corruption within the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

The lawyers are international co-lawyers for Nuon Chea, who is detained at the ECCC's facilities on war crime and crimes against humanity charges.

The trio alleged a portion of salaries for Cambodian judges and staff at the ECCC was kicked back to several government officials.

Among those they alleged to have benefited are Sok An, the deputy prime minister in charge of the Khmer Rouge trial, Sean Visoth, director of the ECCC administration, and his former chief of personnel Keo Thyvuth.

"There is no reason for judges to cut their salaries to pay kickbacks to government officials, as alleged. We absolutely reject such an accusation," the ECCC co-judges said in a statement released soon after the complaint was filed on Jan. 9.


Deputy Prosecutor Sok Kalyan: "Corruption Scandal Just a Claim Without Basis Facts"

The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 599

“Phnom Penh: The Phnom Penh Municipal Court decided to uphold the decision that the complaint of the foreign defense lawyers of Mr. Nuon Chea, the Brother Number 2 of the Khmer Rouge regime, will not be dealt with. This is based on a judgment by the deputy prosecutor of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, Mr. Sok Kalyan, on 5 February 2009. This judgment was published on Sunday.

“Deputy Prosecutor Sok Kalyan, responsible for handling the case, told foreign defense lawyers of the former president of the Khmer Rouge National Assembly, that the complaint regarding corruption allegations at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal will not be taken up to be settled.

“Yesterday, on Monday evening, 9 February 2009, Mr. Sok Kalyan clearly explained the decision, that the corruption allegations case will not be taken up, because the evidence does not state that a crime is imminent, and the perpetrators are not known.

“Deputy prosecutor Sok Kalyan added that normally, when deciding to take up a case, a prosecutor decides to address a fact by pointing to individuals involved in a crime. But checking all evidence in the complaint of Mr. Nuon Chea’s defense lawyers, nothing indicates that a crime is imminent to happen in relation to the accusation about corruption at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. Mr. Sok Kalyan added that another point is that the complaint of Mr. Nuon Chea’s defense lawyers is a defamatioin complaint and does not point out why individuals are suspects in this corruption case. They say that it was just heard that there was corruption at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, but there is no document to prove the nature of what is called corruption. And it does not point out clearly to the individuals suspected of receiving bribes.

“This refusal to take up a corruption case at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal was made after the prosecutor of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court had summoned Mr. Nuon Chea’s defense lawyers to question them, to defend their case one or two times, and he had planned to summon many other witnesses for questioning.

“Mr. Andrew Ianuzzi said as a plaintiff that Mr. Nuon Chea’s foreign defense lawyers are surprised that the Municipal Court decided not to take up the case. He had met with the deputy prosecutor, Mr. Sok Kalyan, on Wednesday [4 February 2009] morning, and he had been told that there were plans to question many other witnesses. However, within just 24 hours, this decision was reversed.

“Mr. Nuon Chea’s foreign defense lawyers have not yet decided how to appeal this decision. Mr. Andrew Ianuzzi said that the foreign defense lawyers of Mr. Nuon Chea must think carefully, before they appeal, as they have two more months to present a complaint to the Appeals Court, to take up the corruption complaint at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal to be dealt with.

“However, finally Mr. Sok Kalyan concluded that the a decision not to work on this corruption complaint is possible because there is no imminent pressure. This is so, because the prosecutor checked the different procedures based on evidence, and there is no evidence proving an immediate danger of crimes being committed, as had been the original accusation.

“On 8 January 2009, the foreign defense lawyers of Mr. Nuon Chea, Mr. Michael Pestman, Mr. Victor Koppe, and the assistant lawyer Mr. Andrew Ianuzzi, as plaintiffs, lodged a complaint at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. In the complaint the foreign defense lawyers of Mr. Nuon Chea asked to clarify corruption allegations at the Cambodian side of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. They claimed that corruption would affect the process of hearings of the former Khmer Rouge leaders.

“Talk about a corruption scandal at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal started in early 2007, when the Open Society Justice Initiative released a corruption report. But officials of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal at the Cambodian side, as well as government officials, denied it and considered this corruption scandal to be just a claim without basis facts.” Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #4816, 8-9.2.2009

Deputy Prosecutor Sok Kalyan Closes the Investigation into Alleged Corruption/Sean Visoth's Powers of Persuasion



Lawyers for the former high-level official of Democratic Kampuchea, Noun Chea, filed a case alleging corruption in the ranks of the ECCC and arguing that such corruption has adversely affected the rights of their client. The Prosecutor's Office of Phnom Penh dutifully ordered an investigation of the allegations in question. Just when the lists of potential witnesses were drawn up the Prosecutor's Office was visited by the ECCC's Chief of Administration, Sean Visoth, who submitted the documents which had been in the public domain for a significant period of time and which nonetheless managed to have such a tremendous effect on the Prosecutor that he declared the case closed due to the lack of incriminating evidence. The Cambodia Daily quoted Deputy Prosecutor Sok Kalyan as saying that "there is no evidence pointing to who bribed and who received the bribes". It is no wonder that no such evidence has come to the attention of the Prosecutor's Office because that would have required an investigation far more thorough than a chat with one "witness". One cannot help but wonder why Sean Visoth was even named as a witness in such investigation as he would be the one whose fiduciary responsibility could have been called into question had a conventional investigation been conducted. It is doubly curious why the Prosecutor's Office chose not to summon conventional witnesses which could have been persons who had come forward with the accusations of corrupt practices in the first place. Instead, the Prosecutor was so entirely convinced by the unspecified arguments put forward by Sean Visoth and the documents which the Prosecutor could have obtained from the ECCC's website and for the delivery of which Sean Visoth's visit was hardly necessary. With persuasion powers of this magnitude Sean Visoth might not be living up to the full potential of his talent and should try himself in something that requires advanced rhetorical skills such as, say, the practice of law. Only he might already know too well that that advanced rhetorical skills is not how one throws the eloquent prose of a submission of the likes of Koppe and Pestman.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Survivor Welcomes Impending Trial of Duch

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington

A survivor of Cambodia’s killing fields says he welcomes the news that jailed prison chief Duch will finally see trial, with the date of his initial hearing fast approaching.

Van Nath, who survived the Tuol Sleng prison where Duch was the director and where at least 12,000 Cambodians were tortured and later executed, said the upcoming trial, scheduled for February and March, was “the chance we have been waiting for, so long coming.”

Van Nath, 64, was among only a handful of inmates to survive the prison, which has been turned into a museum in Phnom Penh. He survived because he was able to paint portraits of Pol Pot and other leaders.

“But most important is the day of liberation, Jan. 7,” he said, referring to the day in 1979 when Vietnamese forces pushed the Khmer Rouge, out of Phnom Penh. “I was out of prison on that day.”

For his role as director of Tuol Sleng, Duch, 66, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The initial hearing of his trial under the Khmer Rouge tribunal will be held Feb. 17. His trial is expected to begin in earnest in March.

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath called the beginning of the trial “a response to the expectations of millions of people and the victims who suffered under the regime of Democratic Kampuchea.”


Impact of More Tribunal Indictments Surveyed

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh

While national and international prosecutors remain at odds over further indictments of Khmer Rouge leaders, the Documentation Center of Cambodia last week began a survey among Cambodians to find out what they think.

The survey, which will last one month, asks seven questions of ordinary citizens related to their general knowledge of the ongoing Khmer Rouge tribunal and whether they feel it should indict more cadre of the regime.

“The stance of DC-CAM is to allow victims to play a role and show their decision on whether the tribunal should try five persons or more than five persons, and then we allow them an expression of their views,” said Chy Terith, team leader of the center’s Victims Participation Project. “The outcome of the survey will be published publicly and submitted to the [tribunal] also. It is a voice from victims for the tribunal.”

The tribunal is holding five aging former leaders of the regime: chief ideologue Nuon Chea, 84; nominal head Khieu Samphan, 76; foreign minister Ieng Sary, 84; social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, 67; and prison chief Kaing Kek Iev, 66.

The survey seeks to learn what the potential repercussions of further indictments—of up to 10 subordinates of the currently jailed leaders—would be.

“We will ask them also if the tribunal tries only five persons, will they have justice or not,” Chy Terith said.

The survey will be distributed by 15 survey team members in several provinces, as well as by e-mail. The survey will not be conducted in the former Khmer Rouge redoubts of Pailin and Anlong Veng.

International prosecutors at the tribunal have argued for more indictments, but national prosecutors disagree.

The decision on whether more will be arraigned must now be decided by Pre-Trial Chamber judges, who have not set a hearing, tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said.

It was “too early” to comment on the Documentation Center survey, he said, but “all kinds of evaluations will be taken under consideration by the courts.”

Investigation of Tribunal Officers Underway

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh Municipal Court has begun investigating alleged corruption by administrators of the Khmer Rouge tribunal, officials confirmed Monday.

“We’ve started investigating,” deputy prosecutor Sok Kallyan said. “One person has been summoned for questioning. We will summon more persons soon.”

The investigation comes at the behest of tribunal defense lawyers for Nuon Chea, who filed a complaint earlier this month alleging Sean Visoth, the top administrator of the tribunal, and Keo Thyvuth, its former chief of personnel, had engaged in or abetted institutional corruption.

Sean Visoth, who has been on medical leave since November, declined to comment Monday and did not say when he would return to his duties.

Keo Thyvuth was removed from his position at the tribunal in August 2008 and is now on staff at the Council of Ministers.

The Khmer Rouge tribunal, which is preparing for its first trial of five jailed leaders of the regime, for prison chief Duch, has been plagued by reports from Cambodian employees and independent monitors who claim staff members paid kickbacks in order to work at the courts.

The Nature of Reparations Available Is Once Again Left Out of A Victims Unit Statement

In the foregoing statement of the Victims Unit Ms Keat Bophal left out one important aspect of participation in the civil proceedings before the ECCC which is the fact that under the ECCC's Internal Rules civil parties are precluded from claiming and receiving individual monetary reparations contrary to what is the case in the ordinary Cambodian judicial process. The fact that this is part and parcel of the "extraordinariness" of the ECCC process must be explained to those who are considering becoming civil parties to the ECCC proceedings to help such persons make informed decisions about their participation and calibrate their expectations accordingly.

The Victims Unit Calls on Witnesses to Come Forward

The Victims Unit is pleased to announce the receipt of 94 Civil Party applications related to Case 001. This total reflects the submissions received before the 2 February 2009 4pm deadline issued by the Trial Chamber for Civil Party applications wishing to participate in Case 001. Case 001 relates to crimes allegedly committed by Kaing Guek Eav, alias “Duch”, in connection to S-21 Security Office (Toul Sleng), S-24 Security Office (Prey Sar), and the Choeung Ek execution site.
These applications consist of 28 Civil Party applicants who have been recognized during the investigative phase by the Co-Investigating Judges and have now been transferred to the Trial Chamber. As a result of outreach activities concerning the approaching commencement of the Trial for Case 001, an additional 66 Civil Party applications were received. The Trial Chamber of the ECCC is in the process of admitting the newly received applications.
Complaints play an important role at the ECCC, the information provided by complainants who do not wish to become parties to the proceedings, can be extremely useful for the Office of the Co-Prosecutors. All complaints could be used as evidence during the trials and the complainants could be called as witnesses by the Co-Prosecutors. As of February 2 2009, the Victims Unit received a total of 28 complaints in relation to Case 001. There is however no deadline for the submissions of complaints therefore the Victims Unit will continue to receive and process any further complaints and forward them to the Office of the Co-Prosecutors.
Ms Keat Bophal, Head of the Victims Unit stated: "I would like to thank all the intermediaries who have helped in this process, to the media which disseminated information to the public and to all ECCC staff for their efforts, and we especially wish to express our appreciation to all victims who have shown their commitment in submitting applications."
The Victims Unit would like to highlight that the Initial Hearing in Case 001 (Kaing Guek Eav alias ”Duch” at S-21) commences at the ECCC on 17 February 2009 at 9.00am.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

German Government Funding Freeze

Funds held back until corruption allegations addressed; Berlin delegation also stresses democratic role of Cambodian opposition. Members of a German parliamentary delegation, led by lower house Vice President Wolfgang Thierse, greet CPP, Funcinpec and NRP parliamentarians Monday at the National Assembly.

A DELEGATION from the German parliament, or Bundestag, said Monday that the German government will not donate more cash to the Khmer Rouge tribunal until lingering allegations of corruption are resolved. "We will continue supporting the KRT provided corruption allegations are cleared up," said lower house Vice President Wolfgang Thierse, who led the delegation that met with representatives from the Khmer Rouge tribunal. Earlier Monday, the delegation met with all the Kingdom's major political parties.

The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), its junior coalition partner Funcinpec and the beleaguered Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP) met the delegation at the National Assembly. In a late change to the announced schedule, the Democratic Movement for Change (DMC) - composed of the Sam Rainsy and Human Rights parties - declined to attend the National Assembly meeting and met with Thierse late Monday, a move Thierse described as "fair" at a press conference. Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) Deputy Secretary General Mu Sochua said the National Assembly was an inappropritate place for her party to meet with Thierse."We are not part of any parliamentary commissions [at the assembly], so we would rather not be involved with that meeting," she said. Human Rights Party (HRP) President Kem Sokha said that the CPP had invited his party to attend a meeting at the National Assembly but the HRP wanted their own separate meeting. "There was going to be no chance for discussion," he said. "The government and opposition parties should have separate meetings." Thierse said that during his meeting with the prime minister Monday, he raised the importance of opposition in a democracy, especially in parliament, citing the example of the German house, where the opposition controls key commissions, meaning all parties have to work together.The delegation will stay in Cambodia for five days, flying to Siem Reap today where they will meet with members of the German Apsara Conservation Project, the group working to restore Angkor Wat.

Extracted from: The Phnom Penh Post, Vol. 19, # 23, Tuesday, 03 February 2009

Civil Party Co-Lawyers’ Joint Response to the Appeal of Ieng Sary against the OCIJ Order on Extension of Provisional Detention

Syllabus

1. The discretion of the OCIJ has been properly exercised and shows no unreasonable and unsustainable grounds. The Appeal of the Defense shows no error in the Extension Order. The Extension Order is reasoned and justifiable.


2. Pursuant to Rule 63(3)(a), there are well-founded reasons to believe that the Charged Person is strongly suspected of having committed the crimes detailed in the Introductory Submission. The investigations during the last year have been conducted expeditiously and with due diligence and have brought up new evidence.


3. Furthermore, the order of provisional detention is a necessary measure to prevent the Charged Person from interfering with victims and witnesses, to preserve evidence, to preserve the public order, to secure safety and to ensure his presence in the upcoming trial. The order fulfills the requirements of Rule 63(3)(b)(i-v).


4. House arrest under certain conditions may amount to a mode of detention, but cannot prevent all of the reasons given Rule 63(3)(b) IR, in particular to preserve public order, to secure the Charge Person’s safety and to preserve evidence.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Who Will be Convicted of the Khmer Rouge’s War Crimes?

by Chris Tenove
photograph by John Vink

In fact, Cambodia today could be dismissed as insignificant. It is tiny and poor, a territory half the size of Newfoundland and Labrador, with an economy less than 1 percent the size of Canada’s. What gives Cambodia an important — and tragic — place in world history is its continuing role as an ideological battleground. Most recently, it was a front line in the Cold War, with the US, Maoist China, and Soviet-backed Vietnam each using the Khmer Rouge as a tool to advance its interests. Then, in 1992, Cambodia became the first modern recipient of a major UN “nation-building” intervention, a military and political tsunami that cost $1.5 billion (US) and produced mixed results.One of the consequences of Cambodia’s war-wracked decades is the confusion many of its citizens feel about their history. Everywhere I travelled, people asked me, Why did we go hungry for four years? Why were children given guns and families sent to the killing fields? Why were we invaded and driven to civil war?This confusion has been exacerbated by the Cambodian government, which has discouraged public debate about the past and stripped recent history from school curricula. Prime Minister Hun Sen set the tone when, as the last Khmer Rouge holdouts were surrendering in 1998, he told Cambodians to “dig a hole and bury the past and look to the future.” Today many young people are skeptical of the stories their parents tell of the Khmer Rouge years, stories that seem too horrific to be true.

The trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders will undoubtedly trigger a new debate about the past, but the shape it will take remains nebulous. Funded by a $56.3-million (US) donation from a voluntary group of countries (including Canada), the eccc is a new and imperfect experiment in international justice — one that has teetered on the brink of self-destruction since it began operations in September 2006. Repeated allegations of political interference, ineptitude, and corruption prompted a United Nations Development Programme audit, which found that many of the Cambodian staff were unqualified and overpaid for their positions. In early 2008, the tribunal nevertheless asked for another $114 million and a two-year extension of its original three-year term; as this article went to print, the donor countries had not yet agreed to the increase. Despite the tribunal’s early difficulties, some Cambodians want its mandate to be expanded even further, and that afternoon in Phnom Penh I began to understand why.I arrived at the compound at the same time as a bus carrying several dozen Cambodian villagers, there for one of the tribunal’s outreach events. We filed into the peach-coloured courthouse and sat down in the plush blue seats of the main courtroom. An eccc staff member carefully described the upcoming trials, taking care to introduce such exotic concepts as “due process.” (In Cambodia’s justice system, the average criminal trial takes less than thirty minutes, and the verdict can sometimes go to the party that pays the largest bribe.)After the presentation, the villagers, who’d travelled from the northwestern rice-producing province of Battambang, began to ask questions. “Will Pol Pot be put on trial? ” asked a stout farmer. No, explained the staffer. Pol Pot died in the jungle in 1998. “Can you dig up his bones and put them on trial?”The reply — that the dead cannot be tried under international law — seemed to baffle the questioner. Many Cambodians believe that the spirits of the dead are reincarnated or return as ghosts. Why, some ask, shouldn’t the top Khmer Rouge leader’s name and spirit bear the disgrace? According to a recent study by Tara Urs for the Open Society Justice Initiative, this is just one of the ways in which a Westernized legal proceeding may fail to provide meaningful symbolic justice. Some also want to see the execution of any living former leaders found guilty, a penalty the eccc cannot order. Others want lower-level Khmer Rouge cadres put on trial.But the visitors from Battambang were most concerned about the prosecution of non-Cambodian perpetrators. A young man waved his arm in the air. “What about those who stood behind the Khmer Rouge?”“What about the French professors?” a grey-haired man quickly interjected — a reference to the years Pol Pot spent in France, where he became a Communist ideologue. The questions continued. What about the Vietnamese? What about the United Nations, which did nothing while we suffered? The villagers seemed willing to cast the net even further than Nuon Chea had.Each time, the answer was the same. The eccc’s mandate is narrow: to try senior leaders of Democratic Kampuchea, Cambodia’s official name under the Khmer Rouge, and those most responsible for violations of domestic and international law during that period. That’s where the investigations will end.