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.