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, March 31, 2011

Law Review 3

Stan Starygin, Was There Good Reason to Order Pre-Trial Detention of the ECCC defendants: ECCC in Pre-Trial Action, Human Rights Brief, Apr, 2011 at http://hrbrief.org/2011/02/newedition18-2/
(the pdf at the bottom of the page is not the current issue but an earlier one; as such it does not include this article).

INTRODUCTION


To date, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) have denied all motions for pre-trial release. On July 31, 2007 the reputed commandant of the central security prison (S-21) of Democratic Kampuchea (popularly known as the “Khmer Rouge regime”), Kaing Guek Iev, was transferred into ECCC custody from the military prison of Phnom Penh where he had been held without trial for eight years prior on orders from the Military Tribunal of the Kingdom of Cambodia (Military Tribunal). The Co-Investigating Judges (CIJs) promptly ordered Kaing’s pre-trial detention. On December 3, 2007 the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) denied Kaing’s appeal.

Noun Chea, the Democratic Kampuchea’s alleged Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) Secretary and presumed second in command to Pol Pot, was the first person arrested directly on orders by the ECCC. On March 20, 2008 the PTC rejected Noun’s appeal of a CIJ order for his pre-trial detention. Similarly, on orders of the ECCC, Ieng Thirith, Democratic Kampuchea’s Minister of Social Affairs (Action), and Ieng Sary, Democratic Kampuchea’s Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs were arrested and ordered to pre-trial detention. The PTC rejected appeals against pre-trial detention in both cases in decisions on July 9 and October 17, 2008, respectively.

Finally, on November 19, 2007,the ECCC also arrested Khieu Samphan, who had allegedly held numerous high-level positions, within Democratic Kampuchea. Khieu filed an appeal with the PTC which was later withdrawn as part of defense counsel’s pre-trial strategy, but subsequently filed an additional appeal requesting his release on the basis of an alleged abuse of process. Despite Khieu’s appeals, the CIJs’ decision by the CIJs to detain has stood throughout the process.

On account ofBecause the Internal Rules of the ECCC that limit orders for pre-trial detention to a maximum length of one year at a time, defendants continue to appeal extension of orders for pre-trial detention without success. Operating in an environment of endemic abuse of legal process and abuse of the state power to detain individuals pending trial in particular, the ECCC hasve sought to set clear standards of the rule of law and resist the coercive powers of the State. This paper seeks to examine the reasons by which the ECCC have substantiated ittheirssuch denials of appeal against pre-trial detention, and attempts to answer the question of whether such reasons had a solid legal foundation in the ECCC’s pre-trial detention test.

Law Review 2

Stan Starygin, Judicial Discretion in ECCC Decisions on Pre-trial Detention against the Backdrop of the Case-law of the International Criminal Tribunals, International Criminal Law Review, Mar, 2011 at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mnp/icla/2011/00000011/00000002/art00006

ABSTRACT

This article examines the issue of the exercise of judicial discretion in deciding motions for pre-trial release at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) through a comparative prism of other existing and past International Criminal Tribunals (ICTs). Th e issue of pre-trial detention has been one of the most contentious in international criminal justice, with many questioning the ICTs’ insistence on abiding by the self-imposed principle of “detention is the rule, pretrial release is the exception”. Th is article off ers an answer to the question of the extent to which the relevant statutory pronouncements have led to the creation of the foregoing principle, and the extent to which such has been achieved by the statutorily prescribed or the extra-statutory exercise of judicial discretion. Further, this article examines the extent to which the relatively newly established ECCC has followed the patterns of judicial discretion in deciding motions for pre-trial release created by its predecessors.

Law Review 1

Stan Starygin, Internal Rules of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC): Setting an Example of the Rule of Law by Breaking the Law? Journal of Law and Conflict Resolution, Feb, 2011 at http://www.academicjournals.org/JLCR/

ABSTRACT

This paper encapsulates an in-depth examination of the legality of the authority invoked by the extraordinary chambers in the courts of Cambodia (ECCC) to create a set of rules of procedure and evidence known as the internal rules (IRs). In the void of public information pertaining to the ECCC’s rationale in creating the IRs, this paper, in part, seeks to reconstruct the relevant judicial arguments and, to the greater extent, focuses on answering the question of which of the arguments put forward during the adoption process of the IRs should have been but were not entertained and accepted by the judicial panel to ensure the legality of the actions associated with the creation of the IRs. To this end, the paper extracts a statutory test which is used as the litmus test of the provisions of the IRs analyzed throughout the narrative. The application of this test, in the end, results in the separation of the provisions of the IRs ab initio identified as suspect into those for the adoption of which authority exists at the international level and those which the ECCC has invented ultra vires its own law and applicable international standards.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Invitation to attend the Appeal Hearing in the Duch-Case 28-30 March 2011

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) has the honour to invite national and international public and the media to attend the Supreme Court Chamber Appeal Hearing in case 001 concerning the accused Kaing Guek Eav alias Duch accused of crimes committed in S-21 (Tuol Sleng) and related sites.
The session will commence in the main courtroom on Monday 28 March 2011 at 9 am and will continue on Tuesday 29 March and Wednesday 30 March from 9 am to 4:30 pm. If the hearing cannot complete within the three days, it will continue on Thursday 31 March from 9 am. The court provides simultaneous interpretation of its proceedings in three official languages of Khmer, English and French.

In order to ensure the order in the courtroom, all visitors must be seated in the public gallery by 8:45 am. It is recommended to arrive at the ECCC between 7:30 am and 8 am in order to leave enough time for security checking and issuance of tickets. Doors to the courtroom will close by 9:00 am or when all seats in the public gallery are fully occupied.
All persons seeking admission to the ECCC courthouse must present a proof of identification (including a photo) and must pass through a security check. Participants shall maintain dignity and proper behaviour all the time and shall wear appropriate clothing. Their clothing may not display slogans, indicate their support for or to be offensive any party of the proceeding. Please note that no persons under 16 years of age will be admitted to the court and persons 16 -18 will be admitted only with the guardianship of an adult. No mobile phones, cameras, laptops, recording devices, large bags, food or drink are permitted in the public gallery.
The ECCC is situated in Chaom Chau, 16 kilometres from downtown Phnom Penh, on the left hand side of National Road 4. Public and media please enter from the Visitors Gate at the eastern end of the compound.

Parking will be provided for visitors with their own buses, cars or motorbikes. Assistance for those with disabilities will be provided, including wheelchair access.

Seats in the public gallery of the main courtroom have been allocated as follows:1) Civil Parties - 90 seats for the civil parties and appellants in Case 001. If these seats are not fully utilised by 9 am on the day of the hearing, they will be re-assigned to the general public.
2) Groups - 230 seats for villagers, students and monks arranged/escorted by the Public Affairs Section.
If these seats are not fully utilised by 9 am on the day of the hearing, they will be re-assigned to the general public.
3) General Public – 50 seats for individual members of the general public. Individuals are encouraged to register in advance and will be seated on a first come, first served basis.
4) NGO representatives – 30 seats for representatives of national and international NGOs with ECCC related programmes. NGOs are encouraged to register in advance and will be seated on a first come, first served basis. If these seats are not fully utilised by 9 am on the day of the hearing, they will be reassigned
to the general public.
5) Diplomats and Officials – 60 seats for diplomats and friends of the ECCC, including representatives
of donor countries and the Cambodian Government as well as recognized scholars specialized in the
ECCC. Advance registration is required. Deadline: Wednesday 23 March 2011 at 4 pm. If these seats are not fully utilised by 9 am on the day of the hearing, they will be re-assigned to the general public
6) Media – 20 seats for journalists. Advance registration is required. Preference will be given to print media when allocating the seats in the public gallery. The rest of the representatives of the media will be able to follow the proceedings from the pressroom on the ground floor. Media representatives who wish to be allocated a seat in the public gallery should submit a request for this together with their registration for attendance of the hearing (see below for media accreditation and registration).
To register for seats, please contact Chin Hemvichet as follows:
Email: pas@eccc.gov.kh
Phone: 023 219 814 extension 6065, or 012 696 220
Fax: 023 219 841
Media Accreditation for the appeal hearing:Advance registration and accreditation is required for all media representatives who wish to be granted access to the ECCC on 28 – 31 March 2011. The following procedure will apply for media representatives seeking access to the ECCC for the appeal hearing:
a) Valid ECCC accreditation card holders must register their request for access to the appeal hearing with the Public Affairs Section by sending an email to PAS@ECCC.GOV.KH.
b) Expired ECCC accreditation card holders must re-submit a completed and signed Media
Accreditation Form (http://www.eccc.gov.kh/english/cabinet/fileUpload/26/ECCC_Accreditation_Media_Application_Form.doc) together with their request for registration to PAS@ECCC.GOV.KH. Please indicate the card
number on your expired ECCC accreditation card.
c) Non-ECCC accreditation card holders must submit a completed and signed Media Accreditation Form(http://www.eccc.gov.kh/english/cabinet/fileUpload/26/ECCC_Accreditation_Media_Application_Form.doc), a jpg portrait photo and copy of passport together with their request for registration to PAS@ECCC.GOV.KH
Deadline: Wednesday 23 March 2011 at 4 pm
Photo Courtesy of Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia