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.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Khmer Rouge prison chief describes torture

Khmer Rouge prison chief describes torture
By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press Apr 29, 09 3:10 AM CDT

The chief jailer of the Khmer Rouge, on trial for the killing of thousands of "state enemies" in the 1970s, said Wednesday that he trained peasant children as young as 12 to guard prisoners who were routinely electrocuted and whipped.

Kaing Guek Eav told a special tribunal that torturers used "a kind of mobile phone" connected to an electric current to shock prisoners. Other torture techniques used to extract confessions included whipping and beating.

But he denied that putting plastic bags over prisoners' heads or waterboarding _ in which drowning is simulated were used.

Kaing Guek Eav, 66, alias Duch, commanded Phnom Penh's S-21 prison, where as many as 16,000 men, women and children are believed to have been tortured before being sent to their deaths.

He is being tried by a U.N.-assisted genocide tribunal for crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died under the 1975-79 communist Khmer Rouge regime from forced labor, starvation, medical neglect and executions.

"The way people were detained, interrogated and smashed (killed) was unique to the prison (S-21)," said Duch, one of five senior Khmer Rouge leaders expected to face the tribunal,

Answering questions from prosecutor Alex Bates, Duch said hundreds of children between the ages of 12 and 17 were rounded up from poor families in the countryside to serve as "special and honest security guards" at the prison.

"Because they were young, they were like clean pieces of papers that can be easily written or painted on," Duch said. "I myself educated them. I trained them."

He said that once these children arrived at S-21, he decided which of them would be trained as guards. Those who were unhealthy or very young were assigned to collect grass to feed rabbits.

During his testimony, Duch described himself as a clean and honest man who devoted himself completely to the regime's leaders, serving as their eyes and ears.

As Duch was being questioned, Ieng Sary, the regime's foreign minister, was hospitalized.

Reach Sambath, a spokesman for the tribunal, told journalists that the ailing 83-year-old man has a history of heart and urinary tract problems but was sent to the hospital for a routine checkup.

Two other detained ex-Khmer Rouge leaders, head of state Khieu Samphan, 78, and chief ideologist, Nuon Chea, 82, would also be sent to a hospital for checkups, the spokesman said.

Duch is the first senior Khmer Rouge figure to face trial, and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Ieng Sary's wife, who are all being detained, are likely to be tried in the next year or two.

ECCC Proceedings: Video Feeds

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4966256/13221633

Khmer Rouge prison chief describes torture

Sopheng Cheang
April 29, 2009
(AP)The chief jailer of the Khmer Rouge, on trial for the killing of thousands of "state enemies" in the 1970s, said Wednesday that he trained peasant children as young as 12 to guard prisoners who were routinely electrocuted and whipped.

Kaing Guek Eav told a special tribunal that torturers used "a kind of mobile phone" connected to an electric current to shock prisoners. Other torture techniques used to extract confessions included whipping and beating.

But he denied that techniques such as putting plastic bags over prisoners' heads or waterboarding — in which drowning is simulated — were used.

Kaing Guek Eav, 66, alias Duch, commanded Phnom Penh's S-21 prison, where as many
as 16,000 men, women and children are believed to have been tortured before being sent
to their deaths.

He is being tried by a U.N.-assisted genocide tribunal for crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died under the 1975-79 communist Khmer Rouge regime from forced labor, starvation, medical neglect and executions.

"The way people were detained, interrogated and smashed (killed) was unique to the prison (S-21)," said Duch, one of five senior Khmer Rouge leaders expected to face the tribunal.
Answering questions from prosecutor Alex Bates, Duch (pronounced Doik) said hundreds of children between the ages of 12 and 17 were rounded up from poor families in the countryside to serve as "special and honest security guards" at the prison.

"Because they were young, they were like clean pieces of papers that can be easily written or painted on," Duch said. "I myself educated them. I trained them."

He said that once these children arrived at S-21, he decided which of them would be trained as guards. Those who were unhealthy or very young were assigned to collect grass to feed rabbits.

Monitor says Khmer Rouge trial is likely to run beyond schedule

DPA
April 29, 2009

An international monitor at Cambodia's UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal warned Wednesday that the first trial before the cash-strapped court could run much longer than scheduled because of delays in proceedings. In its weekly report on the progress of the trial of former torture prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, known by his revolutionary alias Duch, the US-based War Crimes Studies Center said the trial had been weighed down by procedural arguments and only a handful of witnesses had been called to testify.

"The initial estimates of the trial completing in 12 weeks now seem somewhat unrealistic," the report said. "Given the chamber is yet to hear an estimated 49 further witnesses, proceedings may continue till at least the end of 2009."

The long-awaited trial began in March, and Duch faces charges of crimes against humanity, torture, premeditated murder and breeches of the Geneva conventions, allegedly committed while he was the warden of the S-21 torture prison during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule.

At least 15,000 men, women and children were imprisoned, interrogated and tortured at the school-turned-prison in Phnom Penh's suburbs before being murdered at the Choeung Ek "killing fields" on the outskirts of the capital.

In his opening address at the trial in March, the 66-year-old former mathematics teacher apologized to S-21 victims, their families and the country but asserted that he was merely following the orders of his superiors.

The trial was scheduled to conclude on July 2, but judges made a provision in the schedule to extend the hearing if necessary.

Tribunal spokeswoman Helen Jarvis said she had not read the War Crimes Studies Center report but said judges would release a revised schedule for the trial at the end of the week.

"It is hard to project from the first few weeks how long these things will run, but we are hopeful that the trial will follow the schedule closely," she said.

According to the War Crimes Studies Center, which is based at the University of California at Berkeley, translation errors were also hindering the court's progress.

‘I tried to quit,’ Khmer Rouge prison chief tells war-crimes court

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: The former Khmer Rouge prison chief told Cambodia’s UN-backed war crimes court Tuesday he hated overseeing torture and executions, and had requested his superiors give him another job.

Duch—whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav—apologized last month at the start of his trial, accepting blame for overseeing the extermination of 15,000 people who passed through the regime’s Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21.

He said Tuesday that in May 1975, the month after the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia, he asked for a transfer to work in the country’s industrial sector.

“At that time I really wanted to be away from the security office. I wanted to be in industry,” Duch said.

However, he said, defense minister Son Sen told him he would have to work at S-21.

“That was the end of it. That’s what the superior said, and I dared not to protest. I honestly wanted to run away and go to industry,” Duch said.

Asked by English prosecutor Alex Bates whether he told his superiors he detested his job, Duch said: “I did not particularly say that I hated security work, I only told them that I wanted to do industry work.”

“In Khmer language there is a proverb: is it necessary to kill the crab to show the shit of the crab?” he said.

“When I talked to my superiors, I did not dare to open the crab and show the shit inside the crab”

Although, Duch says he oversaw the brutal prison for most of the 1975 to 1979 regime, he has maintained he never personally executed anyone and has only ever admitted to abusing two people.

The former mathematics teacher has also denied prosecutors’ claims that he played a central role in the Khmer Rouge’s iron-fisted rule and maintains that he and his family would have been executed if he had not followed orders.

He faces life in jail from the court, which does not have the power to impose the death penalty.

Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998, and many believe the UN-sponsored tribunal is the last chance to find justice for victims of the regime, which killed up to two million people.

The tribunal was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the United Nations and Cambodian government, and is scheduled to try four other senior Khmer Rouge leaders.

But the court has been marred by corruption claims and talks between UN and Cambodian officials ended earlier this month without agreement on anti-graft measures.
-- AFP (in The Manila Times)

Leaders Responsible for Mass Killing: Duch

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
29 April 2009

Four groups of senior Khmer Rouge cadre were responsible for the orders of mass killings throughout the regime, jailed prison chief Duch told the court Wednesday.

In response to questioning from an international lawyer for civil parties, Alain Werner, Duch said leaders from seven Khmer Rouge regions, administrators, permanent committee members and headquarters ordered the killings.

“Members of those four groups had the power to order prisons all over the Khmer Rouge,” he said. “They could decide to let people die or remain alive, according to their political interests.”

“They have a high responsibility for crimes facing Cambodian law,” Duch said.

Duch did not name any of the four other jailed leaders of the regime—chief ideologue Nuon Chea, head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary and social affairs minister Ieng Thirth.

Tribunal observers said Wednesday’s testimony could be fodder for further investigations and indictments of the court.

However, prosecutors remain at odds over more suspects, with the international prosecutor, Robert Petite, urging further indictments, and his counterpart, Chea Leang, claiming more investigations could destabilize the country.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has warned that more indictments could lead the country back to war, but critics say judges should not make decisions based on political justifications.

Meanwhile, the court has so far been able to bring Duch to trial, as the rest remain in detention, leading to worries each could die before seeing court.
Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said the tribunal had decided to allow Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Khieu Samphan to visit the hospital “one by one.”

Ieng Sary, whose health is the poorest, was sent to the hospital on Wednesday.

Duch Blames Torture on Previous Regimes

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
28 April 2009

Jailed prison chief Duch told tribunal judges on Monday he had learned torture methods from the regimes that preceded the Khmer Rouge, as more details of his role emerged.

“I did not learn from anyone,” he told the court. “First of all, the Lon Nol regime taught me, and secondly, the French regime, which tortured members of the Vietnamese Labor Party.”

Duch said he did not learn torture methods from the US or China. The US backed the regime of Lon Nol in a coup against then-prince Norodom Sihanouk, in 1970, as China emerged as a primary supporter of the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge.

The 66-year-old Duch, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, is accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder. His trial, the first of five jailed leaders by the UN-backed tribunal, has been in full swing since late March, but only in recent days has his testimony focused on Tuol Sleng prison.

Known the Khmer Rogue as S-21, the prison was the regime’s principal torture center, where more than 12,000 Cambodians were sent for confession and execution.

Duch said he was selected for promotion to direct the prison because of his experience and qualifications. He proved to be a better director than his predecessor, he said, but he did not like his duties, a fact he could not reveal this openly to his Khmer Rouge bosses.

The prison had two separate periods, Duch explained Tuesday, the period before he became director, and the one after.

In the first period, former Lon Nol government and military officials and civilian supporters were “cleaned,” he said. The prison’s second role, under his direction, was to purge those not loyal to the Khmer Rouge.

To that end, four groups were put in charge, comprised of key figures within the regime, who would then decide who would be arrested and sent to Tuol Sleng, where confessions were extracted under torture before they were executed.

Duch’s testimony Tuesday followed statements that even guards at the prison could be executed. The rules of the prison, he said Monday, had been established by “Vietnam.”

Friday, April 24, 2009

A little lesson about the Khmer Rouge Trial with co-Investigating Judge Marcel Lemonde: who does what?


By Stéphanie Gée

The judicial system of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) leaves more than one perplexed, and even has some of the Court’s protagonists baffled. The hybrid tribunal is indeed the first internationalised jurisdiction based on Civil Law, also known as Romano-Germanic legal system, when until now what always prevailed was Common Law. Landmarks are somewhat changed, particularly with the introduction of Investigating Judges and the possibility for victims to constitute themselves as Civil Parties. The court’s Internal Rules, amended and completed with every Plenary Session of the judicial staff, set the rules of the game step by step and the limits of each party’s role. However, a few elements still remain unclear to this day. In order to shed some light on the whole process, co-Investigating Judge Marcel Lemonde, who trained in Civil Law, accepted to evaluate the system and focus on 4 themes elaborated by Ka-set, so as to provide, in the most pedagogical way, some clarity on some of the court’s main mechanisms.

Ka-set: Investigating Judges and Prosecutors: what are the roles of each?
Marcel Lemonde: After a preliminary investigation is carried out, co-Prosecutors decide to prosecute. They must determine, in an “Introductory Submission”, facts which will be referred to the co-Investigating Judges (who cannot investigate any other facts). Then, Prosecutors temporarily put the case aside and entrust it to the responsibility of Investigating Judges. The latter’s role is to gather the required evidence, with a view to decide, on the one hand, whether those cases mentioned in the Introductory Submission do or do not constitute one or several crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the ECCC, and on the other hand, whether the charged person(s) must or must not be sent back before the Trial Chamber, where the trial will be held. The final decision of the co-Investigating Judges will be issued as a “Closing” order, which will then either be an “indictment” or a “dismissal order”. The finality of the investigation is somehow and above all to sort out important questions and make a summary of the incriminating and discriminating elements so that, if a Closing order for indictment is issued, the debate before the Trial Chamber will be limited to essentials and the whole process is therefore more efficient when the trial hearing is held, which is obviously of great importance in trials relating to mass murder. This is the main difference between Common Law proceedings, according to which the investigation is made orally by Parties at the court hearing, and Civil Law proceedings, along which the ECCC work, where the investigation is written down: it leads to the establishment of a case file in which all the elements gathered by the co-Investigating Judges will be placed. In the event of indictment before the Trial Chamber, the case file will be taken as the basis of the trial proceedings.

During the investigation, co-Prosecutors are regularly informed of any new document added to the case file. They can take part in proceedings by attending interrogations of the charged persons and asking questions, provided Judges grant them authorisation for that. More generally speaking, they can ask co-Investigating Judges to accomplish the investigative tasks which they think are useful. Judges accede to these requests or, on the contrary, refuse to accomplish the tasks, in which case they are required to issue as soon as possible and at the latest before the end of the investigative phase, an Order Refusing the Request, which is likely to be subject to appeal before the pre-Trial Chamber. Typically, co-Prosecutors can lodge an appeal against all the decisions issued by the co-Investigating Judges, including Closing Orders. Finally, concerning certain deeds (e.g. the issuing of an arrest warrant, a decision concerning the detention or release of the charged person, the closing of the investigation…), co-Investigating Judges must ask for the opinion of the co-Prosecutors beforehand.

Once the co-Investigating Judges have issued their Closing Order, the proceedings do not pertain to them any more and their role is over. This is when Prosecutors take over: they become again the first protagonists responsible for the use of case files by defending the prosecution at the court hearing.

K7: Judges at the Trial Chamber: which part do they play in the hearing and which control do they have over Parties?
M. L.: Judges at the Trial Chamber have the main and essential role in the conducting of debates at the court hearing. This is another important difference with Common Law proceedings. Not only do Judges act as “referees” by listening to Parties and making sure that the rules of the game are respected, but they also play an active part in the search for truth and, in particular, they question the accused and witnesses themselves, since Parties only play a subsidiary part on that point. They can even order the opening of new investigations. By and large, they are the only protagonists responsible for the outcome of the trial, something which escapes Parties: whether the accused pleads guilty or not, the proceedings will remain the same; and even if the Prosecutors decided to drop the charges, Judges could still condemn the person! ... It will be interesting to watch how, in practice, Judges will use their own powers, in front of lawyers more used to working along the completely different rules of other international tribunals.

K7: Civil Parties: what are the limits in their participation?
M. L.: The ECCC are the first jurisdiction which accepts Civil Party applications, i.e. not only does the jurisdiction allow victims to make their voice heard – as it is the case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for example – but it also allows them to have access to the case file, to make requests related to the investigation, to appeal and to be represented at the court hearing as Parties. They have real rights, just like the Prosecution and the Defence. This innovation is without any doubt a very important progression in terms of transitional justice. However, it is clear that this trial must remain a criminal trial and not become a civil trial; otherwise it would bring down the whole meaning of it. This is why the Internal Rules make provision for those rights and stipulate that they are strictly monitored and more limited than they would be before ordinary jurisdictions: victims cannot initiate the prosecution themselves; they cannot appeal a Dismissal Order or a decision related to the basic judgement unless Prosecutors themselves decide to appeal; they cannot obtain any financial compensation, etc.

The fact that a victim is a Civil Party does not forbid them to recount the story of what they saw. Indeed, it would be obviously paradoxical to prevent victims from speaking up and in the meantime say more rights are granted to them. But as this is about a Party, nobody can require from them the impartiality imposed on witnesses. Therefore, the Party will not take the oath and their version will be collected in the same way as the defendant’s version would be listened to. The defendant does not take the oath either. Judges then have to take all that into account in order to bring out their own intimate conviction.

K7: What can be said regarding the strength imbalance between the Defence and Civil Parties?
M. L.: Civil Parties are clearly more numerous than defendants. It is therefore no wonder their lawyers are also more numerous... Having said that, it is the sole responsibility of Judges to ensure that “a balance between the rights of the Parties” is preserved, as indicated by the ECCC Internal Rules. It is up to them to take that element into account, especially when it comes to dividing up speaking time, and, once again, making sure that the trial is not pulled away from its main goal, which is to give a ruling on a criminal accusation.

If you wish to find out more about the Khmer Rouge Trial and the role of the different protagonists or the ongoing proceedings, check the regularly updated Tribunal’s website: http://www.eccc.gov.kh/english/

Khmer Rouge Court offers an opportunity for Cambodian would-be jurists to compete for eloquence


The Khmer Rouge tribunal found itself in the dock at the Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Penh. Depending on the side they were told to work on, students had to defend it or condemn it, as part of the first edition of their moot court. Debates were held in French – to celebrate the “Fête de la francophonie” – a detail which often added heaviness to the language of these would-be jurists, who stretched arguments they took here and there in the media, using relevant but also disturbing reasoning sometimes. We attended three of the sparring matches including the final, presided over in the jury by co-Investigating Judge at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal Marcel Lemonde.

The tribunal: useful or useless?
The usefulness of the court was roughly presented by young speakers who enunciated disjointed lists of arguments: “finding justice”, “seeking the truth”, “not leaving culprits wandering free and putting an end to impunity”, “strengthening the legal system”, “closing that dark chapter and writing it down in History for younger generations and for it to never happen again”, “catching national and international attention”, “healing the trauma of survivors”, asserting “the stability of Cambodia”, etc. One of the students points out the pragmatic advantage in the creation of the Extraordinary Chambers if the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). After quoting the names of two persons from the university of Law who found employment at the hybrid court, he declares, out of the blue and his face illuminated by a smile: “This is an employment opportunity for us jurists!”

Standing opposite, their opponents remain unruffled. “The ECCC will fail to put an end to impunity”, “political and legal obstacles are many”, “the court’s mandate is limited: it must happen in Cambodia, it only concerns the period going from April 17th 1975 to January 6th 1979 and has only prosecuted five persons!”, “the mixing of Cambodian and international judges together and the use of three official languages make the process more complex”, etc... “Do you believe that justice can be found in such conditions?”, a student asks, with the voice of someone who will not be fooled. “And why judge Duch [the former director of torture centre S-21] before all the other ones who are old and on the verge of dying in their prison cell?” “What about corruption? What about bad communication at the tribunal? Citizens are ill-informed... This is a disaster! “And what about problems of funding? And the slowness of the proceedings? Those who plead in favour of the tribunal sometimes find it hard to play opposite them. “How can you already say that that court is doomed to failure?”

Students keen to exercise their free will
With her tiny and piping voice, a student goes back over the question of the number of people under prosecution. “So you think there were only five of them leading the country? No, the other persons accountable must be found, and we must not push aside the request made by Mister... er... What’s his name again? Oh, Mister Robert!” In the opposite camp, everyone is laughing up their sleeve and someone reminds her of the international co-Prosecutor’s name: “Mr. Robert Petit!”. Not taken aback by the situation, she continues. “What if we arranged a sort of conciliation between victims and former Khmer Rouge leaders – it wouldn’t cost any money! We do that when it comes to labour law, between employers and employees, so why not do it in this case? Well, I prefer saying no more, since we haven’t studied conciliation in class yet!”

At the end of these duels for selection, students sitting among the audience assure us, placing their hand over their heart, that they would have opted in favour of the tribunal if they had been given the choice. However, after insisting, a few students plainly admit that they are more like detractors of the ECCC.

“Too much money has been spent on that tribunal when only a handful of people have been put under prosecution and the country is poor!”, third-year student Sambo says. “And why aren’t Civil Party lawyers paid by the tribunal like those for the accused?”, Keam adds in a reproving tone. Their fellow student Revatey, sporting a solid stature and expressing herself in clear French, does not beat around the bush. The 20 year-old, despite the outward appearances of a well-brought-up young woman who looks slightly timorous, strikes: “This is a political tribunal!”. She explains: “The United Nations encourage this tribunal because they want to make China lose face, but China does not want these trials as they supported the Khmer Rouge! And when China makes donations to Cambodia, the court encounters problems... It is like a game between big nations. But politics should not be mixed with law! The things that matter are the effectiveness of this tribunal and the good will of its protagonists”. Without any surprise, Revatey ends up in the final round... on the side of detractors of the tribunal.

Tie in the debates and advantage for the accused
For this moot court, which was organised this time in a lecture theatre at the University, Revatey and her colleague decided to stigmatise Cambodian magistrates at the ECCC, who according to them should not be there. “They are ill-trained, it is even said that one of them doesn’t have a degree, and they are affiliated to the ruling party, the CPP!” Without any inhibition whatsoever as to their critical reasoning, they persevere: “What is that tribunal for? Strengthening our legal system, they say, but there are other means to do so!”
The camp of supporters then defends the “unique and original” aspect of the tribunal and the respect of the “right to a fair trial”. “Peace and justice are indi.. indisss.. – the young woman is desperately stuck on the word. Her colleague comes to her aid: "In-di-sso-cia-ble"! She continues: “We cannot leave this trial in the hands of internationals when they don’t know our history and law well!” And to debunk any oncoming criticism from the opposite side, her colleague declares, learnedly and standing as stiff as a lamp post: “There is no such thing as absolute justice; it is all about relative justice!”

Revatey tries again and puts the United Nations in the dock: “The UN have long acknowledged Khmer Rouge as holders of the seat for the representation of Cambodia and now they are encouraging the holding of these trials. Why did they change their position? Are the United Nations truly independent?” And she goes back over the corruption charges staining the hybrid court. The opposite side retorts: “This is a serious accusation and as a jurist you should support it with evidence. Do you have any?”, the boy asks with the face of a primary school teacher who points out the errors of a pupil. “And if the UN have acknowledged the Khmer Rouge it is only normal since the latter fooled the whole world when they gave to their regime the name of Kampuchea Democratic”, he says, against all expectations.

Still too early to judge the tribunal
Judge Lemonde, as the president of the jury, intervenes and tells the disputants: “You have been harsh with Cambodian judges – bad reputation, lack of competence and independence, corruption... – but what do you think of international judges?” The two girls stand up to him. The first one utters a quiet “nobody’s perfect”, which generates laughter in the room, and the second one dispels all doubts: “We do not believe that the UN are independent and have good will in the creation of that tribunal!” Shortly after, she confidently asks the adverse party: “Do you believe that international judges are fair and effective?”. Her boldness entertains the audience. Marcel Lemonde negligibly slumps into his seat, smirking. He is the one who will have the final word to issue the “verdict”.

The co-Investigating Judge at the ECCC announces: “I am compelled to declare victors those who assert that the tribunal is unfair. This is heart-wrenching. But I think that it is easier to attack the tribunal than to defend it. Whether the tribunal is fair or not, what I would have said is: “Let’s see later! It is a bit too early to judge the justice it can render! [...] People will be able to call the trial fair if the rules of fair trial are respected and if it is understandable by all. “Justice is not perfect”, he admitted. “And besides, a court rarely provides satisfaction for everyone. The Judge, defending the holding of these trials in Cambodia – otherwise it would be meaningless - , reminded the audience of the fact that judges were not historians but were there “to deal out justice”. Marcel Lemonde then expressed his wish that “those who take part in the tribunal do their best for all Cambodians and for humanity”... And also that those who defend the tribunal win during the next debates.

Duch trial: quick hearing in front of populous audience

On Thursday April 23rd, the courtroom was packed as some 250 villagers came to attend the hearing. They live in the Omlieng commune, where the M-13 centre, formerly directed by Duch, was located, and were taken to Phnom Penh by the Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DC-Cam). Also, about sixty inhabitants living on the outskirts of Phnom Penh were there, taken to the tribunal by the ECCC (Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia) Public Affairs Section and fifty students from the private Build Bright University (BBU) also came to watch. The hearing, which only took place in the morning, started late and was slowed down by the search for sorting marks on documents but Duch, the accused, began mentioning the early stages of S-21, where more than 15,000 people lost their lives.

During the hearing, Duch claimed that before coming to the ECCC, he was only aware of the existence of two Khmer Rouge security centres, on top of S-21, which he directed. He explained that “All security offices, including the S-21 office, had the duty to detain, torture, interrogate and finally to smash -- that is to kill”. After a recap, with maps, of the “successive houses and offices of Duch”, judges started mentioning the structure of S-21. An organisation chart drawn by Duch himself was then projected, showing his name at the top.

To sum up his responsibilities as “president” of the structure, Duch reminded that on the one hand, he had to draft reports regarding the confessions extracted from detainees under torture. He then sent those documents over to his superiors. On the other hand, he was in charge of train end aducate hiss taff for them to dare “interrogate and torture”. On the chapter of interrogators, some of whom were specially appointed to make Vietnamese or important prisoners talk, he explained he asked his hierarchy to be able to set up a female team of interrogators. He said he made this decision after “incidents” occurred among male staff that took advantage of their position and raped female detainees. Debates over S-21 will resume on Monday April 27th.

At break time, the courtyard of the tribunal was very busy. Sat around a table, Law professor Seng Bun Mea Rith, 55, is chatting with some of his students from BBU. He explains he wanted to teach them a lesson of practical work, since “youngsters are too often not really aware of the Khmer Rouge regime”. “I also wanted them to see how the court works”, he says, seriously, in front of his students. Judging by their cheerful faces, one can guess the real interest they took in being there, seeing and listening to a former Khmer Rouge cadre. A tall young man points out that he lost his grand-parents during the regime of Democratic Kampuchea and felt a greater wish to see one of the senior survivors of the murderous regime. Dany, 20 years old, says with a large smile that she feels angry against the former torturer. “My parents told me the sufferings they went through during the Pol Pot era... Seeing Duch on the television is not enough. I wanted to see him for real!”, she says. Several of her fellow-students mentioned the same feelings. However, the young woman admits the strange sensation of also discovering Duch as an “ordinary old man”...

Tribunal Breakdown Puts Onus on Donors: UN

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
23 April 2009

The failure between UN and Cambodian negotiators to find a method to address corruption at the Khmer Rouge tribunal will mean funding decisions are left up to donors, a senior UN official told VOA Khmer.

The breakdown, after four months of talks, over whether complainants had a real choice to submit complaints, has put further funding for the cash-strapped Cambodian side of the court on uncertain ground.

The UN has argued that anonymity is essential to ensure allegations come to light. The Cambodian side has said complainants should be named, to ensure fairness and legitimacy.

But speaking to VOA Khmer in an exclusive interview, UN negotiator Peter Taksoe-Jensen, who is the Assistant Secretary-General of Legal Affairs, said the final decision over fairness was now in the hands of the donors.

“This is an issue for the donors,” he said. “I know they have been looking to the UN and the government of Cambodia to agree on a mechanism that could put the issue of corruption, or the allegations of corruption, behind us. And now we didn’t succeed in doing that, and therefore the UN has tried to address the issue unilaterally.”

Taksoe-Jensen traveled to Cambodia three times seeking to put to rest concerns over corruption that have made some donors balk at funding the Cambodian side of the court, which is now facing a budget crisis.

Prior to leaving Cambodia earlier this month, having failed to reach an agreement with his counterpart, Council Minister Sok An, Taksoe-Jensen said in a statement the UN would continue to handle complaints, through its own offices.

The UN had sought what it considered a transparent, credible method for addressing kickback allegations—which tribunal officials have repeatedly dismissed—but the Cambodian side argued that the UN sought to undermine national sovereignty.

“There was one outstanding issue that we couldn’t agree on, which was the question of what I have called ‘freedom of choice’ for all staff members of court… where they maintain freedom of choice to complain to whom they want to complain to,” Taksoe-Jensen told VOA Khmer Thursday.

Each side now understood the other’s position, he said. “So we have done a lot of good work, and there is only a little issue that separates us now,” he said. “And I hope and believe that can be dealt with. So we can agree very soon.”

Cambodian officials have said the two sides need not agree further than a February arrangement of a “parallel” system of complaints, where those on the UN side of the hybrid court complain through UN channels, and those on the national side complain through government channels.

Cambodian negotiators argue that this method will be satisfactory for donors.

However, some questions over donor funding remain. Earlier this week, the UNDP declined to release $456,000 in Australian funding for the Cambodian side of the court, saying in a statement it would not do so until questions of corruption were properly addressed.

So the Cambodian side of the court, which could only pay staff salaries in March with an emergency, bilateral infusion from Japan, remains under-funded, even as the tribunal’s first trial, of prison chief Duch, got fully underway.

In fact, neither side wants full transparency, said Peter Maguire, a US professor of law and war, and the only real pressure for full disclosure is coming from the non-governmental sector.

Following staff allegations of kickbacks last year, the UN investigated, but the results of that investigation have never been made public.

None of that bodes well for future trials, Maguire said.

“I think that basically the Cambodian government would like this trial to end after Duch’s case, and I think that everything is sort of leading in that direction,” he said. “I don’t know that they could successfully try other defendants in their lifetimes.”

Duch Outlines Role at Tuol Sleng


By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
23 April 2009

In response to Khmer Rouge tribunal judges Thursday, jailed prison chief Duch outlined his role at Tuol Sleng, the chief torture center for the regime, claiming he was in charge of verifying confessions of inmates and investigating enemies of Angkar, the Organization, based on the confessions.

“As I was director, I had an important role, and in this hierarchy was deeply rooted in criminality” compared to other prisons, he said.

Prosecutors say more than 12,000 Cambodians were forced into confessions through torture before being sent to their deaths at Tuol Sleng.

Duch’s testimony on Thursday highlighted his other roles at the prison, giving a picture of how the regime turned in on itself and became a killing machine.

“And then, the records of confession that I submitted to [superiors] would have to have links with several people” not yet arrested, or allow for the arrests of new people, he said. “We made links to people who had been in liberty.”

“All reports and confessions of victims obtained through torture, I underlined and submitted to my chief,” he said, referring to Son Sen, the head of the Khmer Rouge secret police.

Duch, 66, who is facing atrocity crimes charges for his role as chief of Tuol Sleng, known to the Khmer Rouge as S-21, was appointed in March 1976 to run the site.

He told judges he was also in charge of training young cadre in the interrogation of prisoners.

“My men who had the proper mind, we educated them and made them decisive in torturing and decisive in interrogation,” he said. “This was my job.”

All Khmer Rouge prisons had a role to detain, torture, interrogate and “to destroy” people, he said.

Cambodians in US Following Duch Trial

By Cheoung Pochin, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
23 April 2009

As the trial for jailed Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch gets fully underway, Cambodians living in the US say that even though they are far away, they are watching closely.

Far away from their homeland, and busy with businesses and making a living, Cambodian-Americans say they are watching the trial on television, listening to the radio or reading online.

They are anxious for news about Duch, who, at 66, is facing atrocity crimes charges for his role as the administrator of Tuol Sleng prison, were prosecutors say more than 12,000 Cambodians were tortured and sent to their deaths.

Although he was born in the United States, Jimmy Srun, a 25-year-old graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, said he paid close attention to the trial, given that his parents and other relatives suffered under the regime, which led to the deaths as many as 2 million Cambodians.

The “cruelty” of Tuol Sleng, the prison known to the Khmer Rouge as S-21, has become familiar to him through newspapers, television and radio, he told VOA Khmer.

“I’m very interested in the Khmer Rouge trial,” he said. “I’m very busy with my studies; however, I follow the news.”

Duch, a revolutionary moniker for Kaing Kek Iev, is one of five former Khmer Rouge leaders under indictment at the Khmer Rouge tribunal. His is the first trial to be conducted for the UN-backed tribunal, which was established in 2006 after a decade of negotiations between the UN and government.

The former math teacher has admitted responsibility for ordering the tortured confessions of thousands—through electric shock, waterboarding and beatings—and has sought forgiveness from victims and their families.

From abroad, Cambodian-Americans say they are happy he is on trial, but they worry about the fairness of the tribunal, which has been plagued by allegations from Cambodian staff members that they’ve had to pay kickbacks to keep their positions.

And they say they are worried the other, older leaders—chief ideologue Nuon Chea, head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary, and social affairs minister Ieng Thirith—may not live to see trial.

“Duch is a junior Khmer Rouge official,” said Kim Tung, president of an organization called Cambodian-Americans for Human Rights and Democracy. “I want to know more about the senior Khmer Rouge officials.”

He has followed the trial via newspapers and the Internet, he said, and he worries that political considerations may color the remaining proceedings.

Cambodian prosecutor Chea Leang has come under criticism for her objection to indict more leaders, citing concerns over political stability in the country—a non-judicial argument, critics charge.

All those in custody at the tribunal should be tried before they grow too old, or die before seeing their days in court, Kim Tung said.

Sama Thida, a student at American University, in Washington, said that even though she is far from Cambodia and was born after the Khmer Rouge fell from power, in 1979, she has heard tales form her parents of the regime and visited the former site of Tuol Sleng, which is now a museum.

The question of fairness worries her, she said.

“For me, trials of people who have committed crimes are very good things,” she said. “I am happy with the trial, but I am very concerned whether the trial is fair. Will they try the others, or only Duch?”

For some, trials for only five leaders are not enough. Duch may have overseen the death of thousands, but others, collectively, incurred the deaths of millions, nearly a quarter of the Cambodian population at the time.

“If we have the funding, we should continue to try more people, because people with blood on their hands still walk free,” Vibol Tan, a survivor of the regime. “Five people are still not enough. We should try more.”

Tuol Sleng Conceived by Pol Pot: Duch

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
22 April 2009

Jailed Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch told tribunal judges Wednesday that Pol Pot had created the concept for the Phnom Penh prison that would become the regime’s most infamous killing machine.

Duch, who is on trial for his role as chief of the prison, Tuol Sleng, known the Khmer Rouge as S-21, said Pol Pot had put him in charge of administration, but that the regime’s chief ideologue, Nuon Chea, was the supervisor.

Nuon Chea, top lieutenant to Pol Pot, is also in tribunal detention and awaiting trial, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Duch’s testimony shed official light on the hierarchy of the Khmer Rouge and the prison, outlining how Pol Pot had conceived of the facility, which became the regime’s main torture center, and had put in charge Nuon Chea and another Khmer Rouge leader, Son Sen, who led the secret police.

Son Sen could make decisions, Nuon Chea was supervisor, and Duch was in charge of administering the facility, he said.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder, for administering Tuol Sleng, as well as Prey Sar prison and the execution site of Choeung Ek, on the outskirts of the capital.

Prosecutors say more than 12,000 Cambodians were tortured and sent to the deaths at Tuol Sleng, while researchers estimate as many as 16,000 prisoners went through.

Duch has admitted to his role in the killings. However, he has said he did not do any himself, and he has sought during his trial, which began March 30, to demonstrate he was a loyal revolutionary following orders.

Wednesday marked the beginning of the trial’s look at Tuol Sleng itself; judges had previously examined Duch’s role as administrator of a jungle prison in Kampong Speu province ahead of the Khmer Rouge’s rise to power.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Washington Vigil Held for Khmer Rouge Victims

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
21 April 2009

More than 60 human rights and democracy activists gathered before the White House in Washington to remember Cambodians who lost their lives during the Khmer Rouge’s brutal rule and called for an urgent trial of the regime’s surviving leaders.

“We are here at the candle light vigil today to pay our respects to the souls of our countrymen who died during the Khmer Rouge’s genocidal regime and to pray that their souls and all the sacred spirits push the Khmer Rouge tribunal to move forward quickly,” said Yap Kimtung, president of the Cambodian-Americans for Human Rights and Democracy, a lead organizer of the ceremony. “We want to have a fair trial and wish that this cruel regime does not return.”

The activists came from states around Washington, such as Virginia and Maryland; some of them came all the way from Philadelphia, Texas, Ohio, California and New York.

“I am so happy that we Khmers can get together as one to remember those who died during the genocidal regime,” Dara Kas, who came all the way from California, told VOA Khmer. “I am very much pleased to see that Khmers are helping each other.”

Dara Kas expressed her excitement and said she wished to see the Khmer Rouge tribunal come to an end as soon as possible.

With a flickering candle in his hands, Phuong Sodarith, who lost his parents and grandparents, told the assembled crowd of the suffering his family received under the Khmer Rouge and expressed his wish to see no more genocide in Cambodia or the world.

“I am here today to remember those who died and would like to appeal to the world not to repeat its history,” he said. “Nowadays, history seems to repeat itself, because there are still more killings. Therefore, I don’t want the world to experience more killings like in Cambodia.”

The candlelight vigil was organized by four Khmer associations in the US. It was joined by activists from the Genocide Prevention Project and the Save Darfur Coalition.

“We are very much here to support justice,” Allison Johnson, the international campaign manager of the Genocide Prevention Project, told VOA Khmer. “Thirty-four years is a very long time, and some of the people who are being tried are getting quite old, so justice is very important, very important.”

The Khmer Rouge came to power on April 17, 1975, after toppling the US-backed regime of Gen. Lon Nol. In less than four years, the communist movement was responsible for the loss of nearly 2 million lives through starvation, hunger, overwork, torture and execution.

Currently, five surviving Khmer Rouge leaders—chief ideologue Nuon Chea, head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary, his wife, Ieng Thirith, minister of social affairs, and S-21 prison director Kaing Kek Iev—are in detention awaiting trials by a UN-Cambodia hybrid court.

In addition to the vigil, participants viewed a film screening of “New Year Baby,” the story of filmmaker Socheata Poeu, who was born in a Thai refugee camp in the aftermath of the Cambodian genocide.

Poeu grew up in the United States without knowing of her parents’ experiences during the Khmer Rouge. After a startling family revelation, Socheata Poeu travels to Cambodia in search of the truth about her parents’ secret past.

“I hope that the movie helps families open a conversation about their own family history, their own personal story of what happened to them during the Khmer Rouge period,” Socheata Poeu told VOA Khmer. “I hope that the movie helps the families begin to remember again, and also not be so afraid to talk about their own stories, and to celebrate the fact that they did survive and they were able to build new lives for themselves.”

April is being remembered as Genocide Prevention Month. There are more than 250 events planned during the month to remember six genocides that have occurred from World War II and beyond: those in Darfur, western Sudan, Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia, and Armenia, as well as the Jewish Holocaust.

Calls Mount for Release of Tribunal Funding

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
21 April 2009

Government and rights officials appealed to the UNDP Tuesday to release Australian funding for the Cambodian side of the Khmer Rouge tribunal, which is facing a budget crisis in the wake of corruption allegations.

The Australian government pledged $456,000 in April 2008 to the Cambodian side of the UN-backed court, but the UNDP, which manages donor funding, has not released the money.

The Cambodia Daily reported Tuesday that Australia had authorized the release of funds.

The UNDP said Tuesday it “was not in a position to release the funds at this time.”

“There must be a resolution of the allegations” of corruption before the money is released, UNDP said.

“If UNDP does not agree to release the funds to the Khmer Rouge tribunal, it will affect the regular process of the tribunal,” Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said Tuesday. “The United Nations in its management of the funds provided for the Khmer Rouge tribunal should follow what the donors want.”

The government is “doing everything to ensure the transparency, morale, work effectiveness and increased confidence” at the court, he said.

The call for funding comes after failed talks this month between a senior UN legal adviser and the Cambodian government on how to address issues of corruption at the court, where Cambodian staff members have alleged they were forced to pay kickbacks for their positions.

The two sides are at odds over whether the identities of those who complain about corruption should be protected. The two sides have so far agreed on a parallel “mechanism” whereby complaints on the UN side are handled by the UN and those on the national side are handled by Cambodia.

Thun Saray, president of the rights group Adhoc, said the Cambodian side of the court risked running out of money if funding is not released.

“This can damage the whole process of the Khmer Rouge tribunal,” he said. “The donors are not concerned about providing funds, because the funds will be used fairly with the anti-corruption mechanism.”

Established in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the UN and Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge tribunal has only now begun its first trial, for former prison chief Duch, who has been facing Trial Chamber judges over the past few weeks for his role as the head of Tuol Sleng prison.

Even with Duch’s trial underway, the Cambodian administration was only able to pay its staff salaries for March after a direct infusion of $200,000 from Japan.

Helen Jarvis, a spokeswoman for the tribunal, said the court lacked around $4.3 million for 2009. The tribunal has not called for the release of funding from UNDP, she said, as the matter was in progress.

“We are still hoping the funds will come in time,” she said.

US Bombings Influenced Prison Design: Duch

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
21 April 2009

Jailed Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch told tribunal judges Tuesday that detention facilities were set up ahead of the communist takeover of Cambodia in part to avoid American bombardment.

Pits were dug in rural prisons, such as the M-13 facility run by Duch in the forest of Kampong Speu province, to keep prisoners safe from bombing and to prevent their escape, not as an intentional form of torture, he said.

“I had two intentions. The first was to prevent prisoners from escaping, because we didn’t have cement walls,” he said.

The pits were 2 meters deep, and prisoners were shackled, ate little and were very weak, he said. “How can they escape?”

“Secondly, holes were dug to protect them from bombings, because there were many bombings from B-52s,” he said.

Duch, 66, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, has been on trial since March 30, facing charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder, for his role as the chief of security for two Phnom Penh prisons and an execution site outside the capital.

The M-13 prison, which Duch administered ahead of the Khmer Rogue takeover of Cambodia, in April 1975, is not under the mandate of the UN-backed court. However, the jungle prison is being used by judges to shed light on Duch’s future role at Tuol Sleng and Prey Sar prisons.

A lawyer for civil parties, Hong Kim Suon, argued before judges Tuesday that the M-13 prison was designed mostly to detain prisoners, not to protect them from bombardment.

Duch said he recognized that the conditions at M-13 were inhumane.
“It wasn’t a school,” he said. “It was a Khmer Rouge prison.”

Justice, 34 Years in the Making, Falters

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
20 April 2009

Thirty-four years ago on April 17, black-clad Khmer Rouge guerrillas walked into Phnom Penh and began nearly four years of terrible, terrifying rule, causing the deaths of nearly 2 million people and destroying the fabric of Cambodian society. Yet, for all that time, no justice has been served, even as five former leaders of the regime sit in a tribunal detention center.

Developments at the UN-backed, hybrid tribunal have raised questions about the court’s ability to deliver justice to victims of the Khmer Rouge: Prime Minister Hun Sen has said he would rather see the court fail than have indictments destabilize the country; the UN and the government can’t reach an agreement on how to handle nagging allegations of corruption; and prosecutors are at odds over how many people should even face trial.

The last one is a tough one. Cambodian prosecutor Chea Leang has said further indictments beyond the five currently in custody could lead to instability, while the UN-appointed prosecutor, Robert Petite, has advocated for more investigations.

“It is a line that is difficult to draw, sometimes, for prosecutors to proceed to a fairly worldly standard,” David Tolbert, a former UN adviser to the tribunal, told a forum in Washington recently. “But at the end of the day, it is a judicial judgment, and the arguments that have been put forward are not judicial.”

Caitlin Reiger, deputy director of the Prosecution Program and head of the Cambodia Program at the Center for International Justice, agreed.

“It is a matter for the judges to decide, based on, first of all, whether or not the evidence put before them is bared and whether the cases fall into their interpretation of the jurisdiction and the mandate of the court,” she told the forum, which was attended by academics, researchers and diplomats. “And the court mandate is explicitly [to try] senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge and those most responsible.”

The tribunal is undertaking its first trial, of former Tuol Sleng prison chief Duch, who, at 66, faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder. Duch, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, has been in custody since 1999, and his trial is the easiest to prosecute.

Trials for four more former leaders—‘Brother No. 2’ Nuon Chea, head of sate Khieu Samphan, foreign affairs minister Ieng Sary, and social affairs minister Ieng Thirith—have not been scheduled.

Hun Sen, who was once a Khmer Rouge cadre himself, says those five are enough, and more arrests could erode the fragile peace Cambodia has achieved since Khmer Rouge leaders and soldiers defected to the government as part of a peace plan in 1998.

Such statements, made “on an increasing basis over the last several weeks,” can undermine the credibility of the court, especially in Cambodia, where the judicial system is widely seen as politically influenced, Reiger said.

Cambodia has never had a reconciliation commission, as have other countries, so the tribunal, established in 2006, must function without interference if it is to deliver justice, Scott Warden, an expert on the rule of law at the United States Institute of Peace, told VOA Khmer.

“It is not just about getting a conviction for the senior people,” he said. “I think this is also an opportunity for the court to give a much larger story, to bring out testimony that otherwise wouldn’t be talked about.”

Meanwhile, allegations that Cambodian staff pay kickbacks in order to work at the court have sullied the reputation of the process, leading some donors to withhold funding and leading to a budget crisis on the Cambodian side of the tribunal.

Earlier this month, the UN’s senior legal adviser, Peter Taksoe-Jensen, failed to reach an agreement with the Cambodian government on how the court should tackle corruption allegations.

Cambodian officials wanted those who file complaints to be named; the UN maintains their identities must be protected. There is no indication of further talks, even as donors hold back their funding.

For now, the hope is that the five leaders under indictment will at least be tried, in a fair manner, contributing to the process of justice, a process that has proven elusive for three decades.

At Jungle Prison, Duch Tortured, Murdered: Guard

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
20 April 2009

A man claiming to be a former Khmer Rouge guard at M-13 prison told judges that Duch also tortured prisoners, as trial proceedings continued Monday.

The purported guard, Chan Voeun, said Duch, who is facing numerous atrocity crimes charges, had shot his uncle and lit fire to the breast of a female inmate at M-13, the Kampong Speu provincial prison he ran before he was chief of Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh.

Judges are considering the behavior of Duch at M-13 as reference to acts later carried out at Tuol Sleng, as prosecutors continued to build a case against him. Now 66, Duch, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, is the first to be tried by the UN-backed court.

“I saw him hang prisoners, beat them, and I saw my uncle fall down and die after [Duch] shot him,” Chan Voeun said Monday. “I saw Duch holding in his hand a gun. He put a torch to burn the breast of a woman prisoner. She died at the prison.”

In his defense Monday, Duch said Chan Voeun had not been a guard at the prison and that his testimony was a fabrication. However, Duch did recognize some testimony of Chan Voeun, that villagers from the commune of Am Laing, near the prison, were arrested and put in M-13 and later killed.

Chan Voeun, 56, told judges he worked for Duch at M-13 from 1974 to 1975, and that there were around 70 people from the village.

Duch said he remembered the prisoners, but he said the number was “not 70.” However many there were, they were killed, which he regretted, Duch said.

Other witnesses at Duch’s trial have said that five to 10 prisoners died each day at M-13. However, Duch has said that only between 200 and 300 prisoners were killed at the prison.

Chan Voeun said that on one occasion he passed the cells of prisoners and counted 10 people, but when he returned later, there only four or five remained.

Duch’s trial is scheduled to continue Tuesday and Wednesday, when judges are expected to look closer at Duch’s role at Tuol Sleng, known to the Khmer Rouge as S-21, where prosecutors say at least 12,380 people were tortured and sent to their deaths.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Once-Feared Rebel Says She Won’t Testify


By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Cambodia
27 March 2009

A well-known former Khmer Rouge district chief says she’ll take legal action if she’s indicted by a broader list of suspects by tribunal prosecutors and won’t testify in the courts.

Yeay Chaem, known during the revolution as Im Chaem, told VOA Khmer in a rare interview that she had nothing to do with the killings that came to characterize the regime, despite numerous testimonies from the villagers in the area who said they learned to fear her name.

“I can tell you frankly that I did not commit anything linked to [the loss of] human life,” the 65-year-old Yeay Chaem said, speaking from her home in the former Khmer Rouge sanctuary of Anlong Veng, located in a remote part of northwestern Cambodia. “I will not answer, and I will not accept, if my name is brought for indictment. I will protest, because [the tribunal] should find truth and solutions according to just means.”

Her words echo the sentiments of many form regime members, as the Khmer Rouge tribunal prepares to try five of its former leaders, including prison chief Duch, whose trial begins Monday. Prosecutors at the special court are at odds over whether to indict more regime cadre and are awaiting a decision by pre-trial judges.

Some observers, like Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, say an increase in indictments will not cause instability, one of the reasons given for limiting the number of leaders arrested. Those who could be brought to trial are many, he said. After all, there were 198 prison chiefs like Duch, who is facing atrocity crimes charges for his role in the alleged torture and execution of more than 12,000 Cambodians.

Like many former leaders of the regime, Yeay Chaem does not see herself among those who should be indicted. Now a deputy commune chief in Anglong Veng, she speaks with authority, and in a recent interview she was confident and smiling.

She said as a Khmer Rouge district chief, her role was to help people cultivate rice, and her position as a female leader in the government of Democratic Kampuchea was highlighted in a film that was shown nationwide. People have sometimes apologized to her for wrongly accusing her of killings, she said.

Villagers in the district of Preah Net Preah, Banteay Meanchey province, where Yeay Chaem was once in charge, tell a different story. Many said they were much afraid of her in the 1970s, when farmers in her area went missing for infractions against the revolution.

“Even though she’s a woman, she ordered killings, that’s why there was death,” said one man in Phnom Leap village. (No villager was willing to be named, fearing reprisal.)

The man described being nearly killed himself by Yeay Chaem’s bodyguards, after he suggested farmers in the area be given more food. He was able to untie his bonds before he was killed, he said, and fled to Thailand.

Another villager said he was nearly killed too, for farming rice improperly.

“The one who supervised me to pull rice [seedlings] was killed with his family members in a nearby area, as she was angered at him pulling in an improper way,” the man said, referring to Yeay Chaem. “Whether they were killed or not, I didn’t see with my own eyes, but that family went missing forever.”

Villagers say they learned to fear the name of Im Chaem, but the former cadre now says that’s only because she was rumored to have magic that could stop bullets. That wasn’t true, she said.

People did die, she said, but not by her orders. “Some died on the battlefield, some died because there was no food, as we were a country at war.” She regretted there had not been enough food or shelter for people. “I’m not afraid, because I did nothing wrong.”

Even though she could be a suspect, Yeay Chaem said she supports the current tribunal efforts to try leaders of the regime.

“I’m very grateful for the discovery of justice for our brothers and sisters of that era,” she said. “But if they indict me, I don’t agree, and for myself, if they bring me to testify, they must contact me with clear proof. If not, it’s not my business; I will not go.”

Some villagers think Yeay Chaem should be prosecuted, even if they never directly saw her do any killing. Many people went missing in the area she controlled, they said.

“In Phnom Leap, here, there were a lot of graves,” said one. “One grave had 200 people; 50, 60, also have.”

Pointing to a mountain named Phnom Trayong, a monk said many killings had taken place there.

“To find this lady with your own eye, whether she herself did the killing, was impossible,” one villager said. “If we went near [an execution] they would kill us too.”

Tribunal Administrator Answers Allegations

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh

With corruption allegations continuing to hound the Khmer Rouge tribunal and with the Cambodian side of the courts continually cash-strapped, the chief administrator said in a rare interview Wednesday the allegations leveled against his office were products of ulterior motives, politics, and even “destructors.”

The man at the center of the court’s corruption woes is Sean Visoth, the director of administration for the tribunal. He has not been to work in four months, even though the tribunal has begun its first trial, of prison chief Duch. He spoke to VOA Khmer by phone from Phnom Penh.

“I can say that this is a power struggle,” he said of allegations his office had mismanaged the tribunal and that Cambodian staff have been forced to pay kickbacks in order to work at the tribunal. “Who controls this court? This issue is what is causing this problem. All these elements are politically motivated.”

By way of explaining, he quoted a Cambodian proverb: “If you want to get a dog killed, say
Sean Visoth, the chief administrator of ECCC, is now on medical leave.
the dog is mad.”

Corruption allegations have followed the tribunal from the get-go, just after the court stood up in 2006. By February 2007, the Open Society Justice Initiative had issued a statement saying its monitors were hearing about kickbacks. And in 2008, several Cambodian whistleblowers reported to the UN they were forced to pay senior officials to keep their jobs. The UN investigated but has not made those findings public.

Sean Visoth said Wednesday he had been to the United Nations in New York twice at the end of 2008, “for discussions,” but he would not elaborate. He denied any allegations of corruption in his office, and said seven different auditing teams had been unable to find evidence to support the claims.

These investigations made a clean bill of health, he said, and the so-called whistleblowers were in fact disgruntled Cambodian staff members who had moved over to the UN side of the court. He declined to say whether he could take legal action against them for their allegations, but said instead the former staff members could “only cheat children” and were “tribunal destructors.”

Meanwhile, he said, the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Service did no t have jurisdiction over his office, which is on the Cambodian side of the UN-backed tribunal.

Still, the allegations have been enough for some donors to freeze funding, and the Cambodian side of the court was only able to pay its staff for March with the help of an emergency $200,000 from Japan.

Sean Visoth said the Cambodian side has always had difficulties with funding, so it would make no difference whether he stepped down amid the allegations. He has been on medical leave since November 2008, but his doctors have not yet cleared him to return to work.

“Since the start-up, this court has not received a big budget package,” he said. The donors “drop [funds] just like they’ve hung up an IV, drop by drop, and wait and see.”

Even in these conditions, he said, the court was able to pass its internal rules more quickly than expected, arrested five suspects in just four months, and had a lower cost and wider public participation than other war crimes tribunals.

Duch Accepts Indictment of 260 Crimes

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
01 April 2009

Entering the third day of his trial, Duch agreed to accept all the charges against him as chief of Tuol Sleng prison, known to the Khmer Rouge as S-21, as prosecutors read through their entire indictment.

Duch’s indictment includes 260 crimes committed when he was head of S-21, the nearby prison of Prey Sar, and the Choeng Ek execution ground, where as many as 16,000 Cambodians were killed and dumped into mass graves.

All of them relate to charges he faces for war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder.

Duch, 66, spent nearly three hours before Trial Chamber judges, reading along as prosecutor Robert Petit announced the charges against him. Step by step, Duch agreed through his lawyers to every charge.

He disagreed with only one phrase. He requested that the words “Tuol Sleng” be removed from the terminology. The prison was called S-21 when he was its director, he said, and was only called Tuol Sleng after the regime fell.

Aside from that, Duch had no disagreements with any of the indictments, and his acceptance of responsibility for each crime was well met by those who had come to see the trial.

“The confession to the crimes and acceptance of the indictment by Duch is the right thing,

Ouy Poch, 39, who watched the proceedings Wednesay, said.

This was the first time he heard Khmer Rouge cadre publicly accept responsibility for individual crimes, he said.

“Duch expressed loyalty for the court, for the witnesses and the souls of the dead in Tuol Sleng, but it is not enough for Duch,” he said. “The court should punish him according to the law.”

Var Reena, 45, said Duch’s case was important for “all the Cambodian people.”

“Especially, he knows his mistakes, and his taking responsibility for his mistakes is not a bad thing,” she said.

On April 6, Duch will face questions from prosecutors and judges.

Tribunal Progress ‘Wonderful’: Ambassador


By Poch Reasey, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
07 April 2009

[Editor’s note: Carol Rodley became Cambodia’s ambassador in October 2008. In an interview with VOA Khmer in March, she discussed the growing relationship between Cambodia and the US, on topics ranging from the Khmer Rouge tribunal to the global financial crisis. Below is the fifth of a six-part series resulting from the interview.]

Q. Regarding the Khmer Rouge tribunal, when US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte was here last year, he committed $1.8 million to the Khmer Rouge tribunal. Does the US have plans to provide more money to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia?

A. I can’t say definitely because our budget process is still going on, but we are exploring ways to provide an additional contribution to the ECCC. Our first contribution went to the UN side of the tribunal, and I would expect future contribution would also go to the UN side. I am a big supporter of the tribunal actually. It’s not perfect but it is a very, very big and important step forward.

I went to the opening of the Duch trial. I was very moved by what I saw there, to see for the first time a member of the Khmer Rouge facing justice in front of a panel of Cambodian and international judges, sitting side by side in the courtroom, being questioned by Cambodian and international judges, sitting side by side and working together in the courtroom with the participation of the civil parties representing the victims. It was quite wonderful.

Q. Hopefully when the tribunal is all over, the Cambodian judicial system will be improved by the experience of the ECCC.

A. I definitely hope so, and I take encouragement from the fact that the Cambodian people express a lot of confidence in the ECCC. We have done some polling on this. And a big percentage of Cambodians say that they have confidence in the ability of the tribunal to render some justice for the senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge.

Q. There have been accusations about corruption and kickbacks in the hiring practices of the ECCC. Has the court done anything to improve the situation?

A. We have made this point to the government a number of times, that they need to take action to address the allegations of administrative corruption in the tribunal on the administrative side of the tribunal. I think they are making progress, working with the UN office of legal affairs to set up a procedure that will allow the donors to have more confidence in the administration of the tribunal.

Forest Camp a Model for Torture Prison: Duch

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
07 April 2009


Jailed Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch denied on Tuesday any killings by his own hand, but admitted to ordering the deaths of prisoners at a small jungle camp in the west of the country and at Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh, as he continued his ground-breaking trial at the special tribunal court.

Duch’s administration of the Kampong Speu provincial detention camp, called M-13, served as a model for his role as chief at Tuol Sleng prison, known to the Khmer Rouge as S-21, where 16,000 Cambodians were tortured ahead of their execution, he told judges of the tribunal’s Trial Chamber.

“I did not kill [prisoners] by myself, I did not commit this,” he said. “But all orders [to kill prisoners] in M-13 came from me.”

He also said he had only ordered killings at S-21.

Duch, 66, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, is facing charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder, as director of Tuol Sleng and Prey Sar prisons, as well as the execution site of Choeung Ek.

Few lived through Tuol Sleng, which became a repository for those considered enemies of the revolution, and in earlier trial sessions Duch apologized to the families of his victims and to survivors.

On Tuesday, he directly apologized to survivor Chhum Mey, who has been an ardent follower of the trial. Duch said Tuesday he had released only 10 prisoners from S-21.

The trial proceedings of Monday and Tuesday offered a look into the earlier prison camp, M-13, where the main torture method was to beat prisoners into forced confessions. Among torture methods at M-13, he said, prisoners would be dunked into water or left outside to be chilled by the cold.

Duch became chief of M-13, in Tpong district, Kampong Speu province, in July 1971, as the Khmer Rouge were growing in power in Cambodia’s countryside. He left M-13 prior to the Khmer Rouge takeover of Phnom Penh in April 1975. He became the chief of S-21 in 1976.

Revolution Meant Killing, Duch Says


By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
08 April 2009

As his trial moved through its second week Wednesday, prison chief Duch said told tribunal judges the Khmer Rouge revolution had meant killing, even if young revolutionaries were not aware of it.

Duch, who was the head of Tuol Sleng prison while the Khmer Rouge was in power, also commanded a small jungle prison in Kampong Speu province, known as M-13, as the communist guerrillas rose to power in the countryside.

Duch said he would invite the rural poor and the young to join with him in the revolution. “And what was revolution work at the time? It was killing,” he said.

After Duch spoke Wednesday, a former French diplomat who was once held in M-13 defended his captor, saying Duch had been trapped in the Khmer Rouge revolution and could not have turned back.

Francois Bizot, whose book, “The Gate,” in part outlines his three months at a jungle prison known as M-13, in Kampong Speu province, in 1971, was the first witness to appear at a tribunal trial.

“The revolution was for the independence of Cambodia, on behalf of the Cambodian people, to eradicate poverty, and they had hope for the future,” Bizot said.

He acknowledged that some people had been mistreated at M-13, but he also said some prisoners had been released.

They were “released from their shackles,” he told Trial Chamber judges, “because they respected the conditions of detention and they did not resist or protest.”

Duch, 66, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, is charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder, as commander of the infamous Tuol Sleng prison, where up to 16,000 Cambodians were sent to be tortured into confessions and later executed in “killing fields” outside Phnom Penh.

Five leaders of the regime are now facing atrocity crimes charges at the tribunal. Duch’s trial is the first, and as it continued into its second week Wednesday, the former prison chief admitted to recruiting young peasants to join the revolution.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Less ECCC Commentary and More Facts, Please

Written by Allen Myers
Monday, 13 April 2009

Dear Editor,

Georgia Wilkins' article in your April 3 issue of The Phnom Penh Post titled "Judges gag corruption talk" should have been labelled as a commentary rather than presented as news.

Wilkins seems unable to distinguish between corruption allegations and responses to Hun Sen's reported comments on the ECCC. For example, she follows a quotation of the prosecution's arguments about the inadmissibility of the corruption allegations, because they were not notified before the hearing, with: "But [defence] lawyers argued that as the comments [by Hun Sen] were made only two days ago, they could not have included it [sic] in the appeal." What are readers meant to understand from that? That Hun Sen accused the ECCC of corruption?
In addition, the article contains some significant inaccuracies:

1.The allegations about kickbacks at the ECCC did not arise last year. They were first made more than two years ago. And they did not "arise". They were pushed to the media by OSJI [Open Society Justice Initiative], and they have been repeated continually since then by OSJI, which has steadfastly refused to make its allegations specific or ... subject to verification.
2.There was no "review of the court [ECCC] by a UN oversight body". The UN has never reviewed the court on this or any other matter. (However, there have been regular independent financial audits of the Cambodian side, the results of which are posted on the ECCC website.)
3.The German parliamentary delegation report was not "leaked to the media in February". It was published on the internet in November (my memory: maybe it was December or October). The assertion that the report "named" the ECCC head of administration as "found guilty of corruption" might be worded to be defensible in a libel case but is bad journalism. The German delegation's report quoted Knut Rosandhaug, the ECCC's deputy director of administration, as reporting such a "finding" to the delegation. Mr Rosandhaug, offered the opportunity to do so by the media, declined to affirm that quotation. Wilkins does not mention this.
4.Wilkins claims that OSJI's kickback allegations have been "consistently dodged by the court, the UN and the government". Leaving aside the government, for the last two years the court has spent an inordinate amount of time dealing with the allegations.

Allen Myers
Phnom Penh

Failed Corruption Talks Worry Some

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
10 April 2009

Cambodian officials gave guarded reaction to a UN statement following failed corruption talks over the tribunal on Wednesday, a statement that said in part the UN would pursue its own anti-corruption measures at the UN-backed court.

UN Assistant Secretary General for Legal Affairs Peter Taksoe-Jensen left three days of talks with Council Minister Sok An Wednesday with no agreement on how to address the nagging allegations of corruption and mismanagement that have led to a dearth of funds and a cash-strapped Cambodian side of the court.

Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, pointed to the ongoing trial of Duch, the former chief of Tuol Sleng prison, where 16,000 Cambodians were sent to their deaths, as proof of the success of the courts.

Duch, the revolutionary name for Kaing Kek Iev, is the first of five defendants to be tried at a tribunal that was established in 2006 after a decade of negotiations between Cambodia and the UN.

“We have to ask whether this success can be separated from those of the administration,” Phay Siphan said. “It is not unless the administration team provides sufficient service that the trial is as smooth as what we have seen now.”

Duch’s trial has coincided with dire straights for the Cambodian side of the jointly administered tribunal. The Cambodian side, from where allegations of staff kickbacks to senior officials come, struggled to pay its employees in March. That’s because many donors to the tribunal are either waiting for corruption allegations to be resolved or are giving their money to the UN side of the court. A UN investigation into allegations made in 2008 has not been made public.

Taksoe-Jensen said in a statement after failed talks on Wednesday that it had been his goal to establish a system of monitoring that would have re-established credibility for the Cambodian administration. No agreement was reached.

“I have submitted to H.E. Sok An–for his consideration–a draft Exchange of Letters setting out an ethics monitoring mechanism acceptable to the United Nations,” said Peter Taksoe-Jensen in his statement issued late Wednesday, adding that he thought the system would also be acceptable to the government.

Taksoe-Jensen also said the UN side of the tribunal would strengthen its own ethic monitoring, forwarding complaints to UN headquarters in New York and informing the Cambodian government “as appropriate.”

Without commenting directly on the statement or exchange of letters, Phay Siphan said that during negotiations this week, the Cambodian side had suggested including the real name of complainants in any allegations brought forward, to avoid groundless accusations. The UN would not agree.

“The UN does not understand this issue. They don’t know Cambodian culture. We want the complainant to put their name with real ground so that we can look at the complaint together, but what they want tends to dominate [us],” he said. “They just want this or that, so as an independent and sovereign country, and since the court is in the Cambodian jurisdiction, Cambodia must preserve its right to maintain discipline, orders and work effectiveness.”

Taksoe-Jensen said in Wednesday’s statement it was crucial that complainants remain anonymous: “the United Nations continues to believe that for the ethics monitoring system to be credible, the staff should have the freedom to approach the Ethics Monitor of their own choice and put forward complaints without fear of retaliation. Such freedom of choice is an imperative element of a trustworthy ethics monitoring system.”

Taksoe-Jensen’s statement was quickly welcomed by an organization monitoring the court process.

“I support both the UN and Cambodian measures to get rid of the corruption scandal, otherwise at every court hearing or legal process it will become a forum for lawyers and defendants to raise every time,” Long Panhavuth, a program coordinator for the Open Society Justice Initiative, told VOA Khmer by phone.

OSJI was one of the first organizations to air concerns of kickbacks, in 2007.

Staff members allege they must pay a portion of their salaries to senior officials in the Cambodian government in order to work at the tribunal—a not uncommon practice in other sectors of Cambodian government.

“The corruption allegations not only tarnish the government, but the whole court, which is comprised of both the UN and Cambodia,” Long Panhavuth said.

Other civil society organizations expressed concern that short funding would derail the court process. They suggested the UN and Cambodia finalize their differences as soon as possible to ensure transparency in spending donor money and to secure donor confidence.

“We are concerned and sorry,” Kek Galabru, president of the rights group Licadho, told VOA Khmer. “We want to see the court finish its work by at least putting on trial the five defendants so that people are able to know the truth.”

“From what we witnessed at Duch’s hearing, the court is doing their work at an international standard,” she said. “We want to see such a court.”

No date has yet been scheduled for another round of talks, though the government has said it still welcomes a UN return to the table.

No Agreement in Corruption Talks: UN

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
09 April 2009

A senior-level UN representative ended three days of talks with Cambodian officials Wednesday with no agreement on how to improve the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s nettling allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

In a statement released after talks with Council Minister Sok An, UN Assistant Secretary-General Peter Taksoe-Jensen said both sides had failed to find a way that mismanagement or corruption accusations could be fed through an ethics monitor.

“I met with H.E. Sok An with the ambition to work together to put the issue of corruption behind us by concluding an agreement, which would establish a credible mechanism addressing allegations of corruption,” Taksoe-Jensen wrote Wednesday. “We did not manage to reach final agreement today.”

The Khmer Rouge tribunal, which was established in 2006 only after years of wrangling between the UN and Cambodia, has faced repeated allegations that Cambodian staff pay kickbacks to high-ranking officials in order to work at the UN-backed court.

Those allegations have been investigated by the UN, but no report has been made public. The accusations were enough to have funding frozen to the Cambodian side of the court, which is now facing empty coffers and was only able to pay its staff in March because of an emergency infusion from the Japanese government.

Other donors have proven unwilling to fund an international court that does not meet international standards, and rights groups and monitors say the corruption allegations continue to undermine the court.

The breakdown in talks comes as the hybrid court is undertaking its first trial of five jailed leaders, Kaing Kek Iev, better known as Duch, who commanded a prison system responsible for the deaths of up to 16,000 Cambodians.

Taksoe-Jensen acknowledged the progress of the court, but said it still needed ethics monitoring.

“The United Nations continues to believe that for the ethics monitoring system to be credible the staff should have the freedom to approach the Ethics Monitor of their own choice and put forward complaints without fear of retaliation,” Taksoe-Jensen wrote, at the conclusion of a third round of talks. “Such freedom of choice is an imperative element of a trustworthy ethics monitoring system. It remains critical to the United Nations that allegations of corruption and other misconduct are effectively addressed.”

The UN side of the tribunal “will further strengthen our own anti-corruption mechanism within the Court,” he wrote. The UN side would continue to file complaints with UN headquarters in New York, informing the “as appropriate” the Cambodian government, “while respecting confidentiality in a way that ensures full protection of staff of the ECCC against any possible retaliation for good faith reporting of wrongdoing.”

Sok An declined to comment to reporters after talks Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said the Cambodian side remained opened to more meetings with the UN. He said Cambodia “welcomed” the remarks of Taksoe-Jensen.

Long Panhavuth, a tribunal monitor for the Open Society Justice Initiative, which itself has reported hearing allegations of kickbacks, appealed to the UN to continue its meetings with the government.

Tribunal officials were not available for comment late Wednesday after the talks.

Taksoe-Jensen did not indicate in his remarks whether more talks were pending, but said he had left an exchange of letters “setting out an ethics monitoring mechanism acceptable to the United Nations, which in my view should also be acceptable to the Cambodian Government.”

“The United Nations continues to be convinced that the Court will meet the principle of fair trial,” he wrote, and said the agreement on the tribunal between the government and the UN “must be able to carry out its functions with full respect to the need for judicial independence.”

No Agreement in Corruption Talks: UN

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
09 April 2009

A senior-level UN representative ended three days of talks with Cambodian officials Wednesday with no agreement on how to improve the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s nettling allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

In a statement released after talks with Council Minister Sok An, UN Assistant Secretary-General Peter Taksoe-Jensen said both sides had failed to find a way that mismanagement or corruption accusations could be fed through an ethics monitor.

“I met with H.E. Sok An with the ambition to work together to put the issue of corruption behind us by concluding an agreement, which would establish a credible mechanism addressing allegations of corruption,” Taksoe-Jensen wrote Wednesday. “We did not manage to reach final agreement today.”

The Khmer Rouge tribunal, which was established in 2006 only after years of wrangling between the UN and Cambodia, has faced repeated allegations that Cambodian staff pay kickbacks to high-ranking officials in order to work at the UN-backed court.

Those allegations have been investigated by the UN, but no report has been made public. The accusations were enough to have funding frozen to the Cambodian side of the court, which is now facing empty coffers and was only able to pay its staff in March because of an emergency infusion from the Japanese government.

Other donors have proven unwilling to fund an international court that does not meet international standards, and rights groups and monitors say the corruption allegations continue to undermine the court.

The breakdown in talks comes as the hybrid court is undertaking its first trial of five jailed leaders, Kaing Kek Iev, better known as Duch, who commanded a prison system responsible for the deaths of up to 16,000 Cambodians.

Taksoe-Jensen acknowledged the progress of the court, but said it still needed ethics monitoring.

“The United Nations continues to believe that for the ethics monitoring system to be credible the staff should have the freedom to approach the Ethics Monitor of their own choice and put forward complaints without fear of retaliation,” Taksoe-Jensen wrote, at the conclusion of a third round of talks. “Such freedom of choice is an imperative element of a trustworthy ethics monitoring system. It remains critical to the United Nations that allegations of corruption and other misconduct are effectively addressed.”

The UN side of the tribunal “will further strengthen our own anti-corruption mechanism within the Court,” he wrote. The UN side would continue to file complaints with UN headquarters in New York, informing the “as appropriate” the Cambodian government, “while respecting confidentiality in a way that ensures full protection of staff of the ECCC against any possible retaliation for good faith reporting of wrongdoing.”

Sok An declined to comment to reporters after talks Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said the Cambodian side remained opened to more meetings with the UN. He said Cambodia “welcomed” the remarks of Taksoe-Jensen.

Long Panhavuth, a tribunal monitor for the Open Society Justice Initiative, which itself has reported hearing allegations of kickbacks, appealed to the UN to continue its meetings with the government.

Tribunal officials were not available for comment late Wednesday after the talks.

Taksoe-Jensen did not indicate in his remarks whether more talks were pending, but said he had left an exchange of letters “setting out an ethics monitoring mechanism acceptable to the United Nations, which in my view should also be acceptable to the Cambodian Government.”

“The United Nations continues to be convinced that the Court will meet the principle of fair trial,” he wrote, and said the agreement on the tribunal between the government and the UN “must be able to carry out its functions with full respect to the need for judicial independence.”

Survivor Describes Torture in Jungle Prison

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Origina report from Phnom Penh
09 April 2009


A second survivor of an early Khmer Rouge prison camp took the stand against jailed commandant Duch on Thursday, adding to a picture judges are trying to paint of methods that would later emerge at Tuol Sleng prison, where up to 16,000 Cambodians were tortured and sent to their deaths.


Ouch Sorn, 72, told judges of the Trial Chamber Thursday he had been tortured at a jungle prison known as M-13, run by Duch in Kampong Speu province before the Khmer Rouge rose to power.


“They put shackles in a line of five or six people, and prisoners were put in pits in the ground,” he said. “I saw they were tortured with their finger nails pulled by pliers and needles pushed underneath. Some of the prisoners were beaten to death with bamboo rods and hoes. Some of them were shot dead.”


Ouch Sorn described four people tied to poles, and Khmer Rouge security personnel killing one. “They killed people without pity,” he said. “It’s not like other nationalities who like their nation.”


Duch acknowledged only part of Ouch Sorn’s testimony, saying most of it was true but not all was based on reality.


Duch, now 66, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, went on to run Tuol Sleng prison, known to the Khmer Rouge as S-21, along with Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh and the Choeung Ek “killing fields,” where prisoners were taken for execution after “confessing.”


He faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder for his role at those three facilities. The Kampong Speu prison does not technically fall under the mandate of the tribunal, which is tasked with trying leaders of the regime while it was in power, between April 1975 and January 1979.


But judges are using testimony about the revolutionary prison to help understand the thinking that went into Tuol Sleng, a former high school, where people were electrocuted, dunked in water, strung by ropes and beaten, forced to confess their crimes against the Angkar, the Organization. Many were suspected traitors to the regime, sent from outlying areas as Khmer Rouge leaders became increasingly paranoid and began internal purges.