Tribunal concludes Case 002 inquiry

Phnom Penh Post 15/01/2010

THE Khmer Rouge tribunal announced the provisional conclusion of the judicial investigation in its second case on Thursday, setting a tentative timeline for the prosecution of the regime leaders currently awaiting trial.

UN court spokesman Lars Olsen said the co-investigating judges hoped to issue a closing order in Case 002 by September of this year, paving the way for a trial shortly afterwards.

“The earliest possible time for a trial, if there will be a trial, will be the end of this year,” Olsen said. He noted, though, that there is no guarantee that indictments will be issued in the case. With the conclusion of the investigation, all parties to the case now have 30 days to request further investigative actions. The co-investigating judges must then either carry out these requests or refuse them and explain their reasoning, with court parties given 30 days to appeal refusals.

Tribunal charges Khieu Samphan with genocide

Phnom Penh Post 18/12/2009

Former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan has been charged with genocide, a spokesman for Cambodia’s UN-backed war crimes court said Friday.

Lars Olsen said Khieu Samphan had been notified of the charge in a meeting with investigating judges Friday morning.

The tribunal announced earlier this week that Khmer Rouge Brother No 2 Nuon Chea and foreign minister Ieng Sary had been charged with genocide, marking the first time the charge had been brought against regime leaders by an internationally sanctioned court.

As with Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary, the genocide charge against Khieu Samphan stems from the regime’s treatment of Vietnamese and the Cham Muslim minority group, Olsen said.

All three men, who had previously been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, were also informed this week that they are now facing charges of homicide, torture and religious persecution under the 1956 Cambodian penal code, which was in effect during the regime.

Prosecutors in September requested that judges clarify the charges against the five regime leaders being held at the tribunal, including Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, whose trial ended in November. Olsen said Friday that a meeting with former minister of social action Ieng Thirith was scheduled for next week.

No decision has been made on whether to indict the four leaders awaiting trial, let alone on what charges they might face. Judges are expected to conclude their investigation for the tribunal’s second case in the next few weeks.

Between 100,000 and 400,000 Cham Muslims died during the regime, according to figures provided by Documentation Centre of Cambodia Director Youk Chhang, who added that it is unclear how many Vietnamese were killed.

KR killings revealed, by accident

Phnom Penh Post : 18/12/2009

A KHMER Rouge tribunal staffer on Thursday provided estimated death tolls for security centres and execution sites related to the ongoing investigation of five regime leaders, going far beyond what had previously been made public in a presentation that the court later described as unauthorised.

Hang Vannak, the complaint and applications manager for the court’s Victims’ Unit, delivered his presentation on the scope of the investigation before an audience of 400 civil party applicants at the tribunal.

Judges in November distributed a list of 20 execution sites, security centres, cooperatives and work sites throughout 16 provinces that were being investigated, but provided little information on the types and scale of specific crimes committed at any of them.

On Thursday, however, Hang Vannak went methodically through the list, describing how victims were killed at each site and, in some cases, providing estimates of the number of mass graves and total casualties.

Richard Rogers, chief of the court’s Defence Support Section, expressed concern that the presentation could have compromised the confidentiality of the investigation of the four regime leaders awaiting trial: Brother No 2 Nuon Chea, foreign minister Ieng Sary, head of state Khieu Samphan and social action minister Ieng Thirith.

“If this information came from the OCIJ investigation, then it is a serious and blatant breach of the confidentiality requirement,” said Rogers.

Genocide charges laid at KRT

Phnom Penh Post:

GENOCIDE charges have been issued against Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary, a spokesman for the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal said Wednesday, marking the first time that former regime leaders have faced the charge in an internationally sanctioned court.

I don't think you can find any proof.... the intent issue is the key thing, and you can’t get the smoking gun."

Photo by: DC-CAM

Khmer Rouge leaders during the regime, including Nuon Chea (front, second from left) and Ieng Sary (third from left, smiling).

The charge stems from crimes specifically targeting Vietnamese – both in Prey Veng and Svay Rieng provinces, and during border incursions into Vietnam – and the Cham Muslim minority group, UN court spokesman Lars Olsen said, adding that the two men and their lawyers were notified of the charges in meetings earlier this week.

Prosecutors in September requested that co-investigating judges clarify the charges against the five regime leaders being held at the tribunal, including Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, whose trial ended in November and is awaiting verdict.

From the Khmer Rouge tribunal, Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary (left) and Brother No 2 Nuon Chea. AFP

Meetings with Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan and social action minister Ieng Thirith are set for the end of this week and the beginning of next week, Olsen said.

Ieng Sary and Nuon Chea had previously been charged with crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. They learned in the meetings this week that they would also be charged with homicide, torture and religious persecution under the 1956 Cambodian penal code, which was in effect during the regime.

UN-backed court issues K.Rouge genocide charges

Bangkok Post 16/12/2009

Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court has for the first time issued genocide charges against two leaders of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, a tribunal spokesman said Wednesday.

Kaing Guek Eav, known by the alias Duch, who was charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and premeditated murder in the court's first trial.

The skulls of victims are piled up on display at the Choeung Ek memorial stupa close to Phnom Penh.

Cambodia's UN-backed warcrimes court has for the first time issued genocide charges against two leaders of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, a tribunal spokesman said Wednesday.

Former Khmer Rouge number two Nuon Chea and foreign minister Ieng Sary were both charged over the hardline communist regime's slaughter of Vietnamese people and ethnic Cham muslims during the 1970s, spokesman Lars Olsen told AFP.

"This week both Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary have been brought before the investigating judges and informed they are being charged with genocide against the Cham muslims and the Vietnamese," Olsen said.

"This is the first time that anyone has been charged with genocide" at the UN-backed tribunal, he added.

Please allow me to share your immense and enduring sorrow

Phnom Penh Post S-21 chief downplays role in final statements

TUOL Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, reiterated his remorse for Khmer Rouge-era crimes Wednesday, but not before using the bulk of his closing statement to downplay the torture facility’s significance and paint himself as an unwilling “cog in a running machine” over which he had no control.

“I plead with you to allow me to share your immense and enduring sorrow anytime in order to express my most excruciating remorse,” Duch said.

“I am psychologically accountable to the entire Cambodian population for the souls of those who perished” during the regime, Duch said

Prosecutors, meanwhile, asked judges to hand down a 40-year prison sentence in the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s first case, dismissing as baseless Duch’s claim that he acted under duress.

“I am psychologically accountable to the entire Cambodian population for the souls of those who perished” during the regime, Duch said. “I am deeply remorseful and profoundly affected by destruction on such a mind-boggling scale.”