Court Watch
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Prepares for its Second Trial - Case 002
More than three decades after the Khmer Rouge regime was overthrown, the Extraordinary Cham- bers in the Courts of Cambodia has begun pro- ceedings in its second trial. On trial are four of the senior-most members of the Khmer Rouge that are still living. The Court issued its first and only judgment to date, for Case 001, in July 2010 against Kaing Guek Eav, also known by his nom de guerre, “Duch,” for crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.
The Khmer Rouge regime took power in April 1975 and ruled Cambodia—with Marxist leader Pol Pot at the helm—for less than four years before it was overthrown in 1979. During this short time, up to three million people perished. The Khmer Rouge attempted to create an agrar- ian utopia, and in so doing isolated the Cambo- dian people from the rest of the world, set about emptying the cities, abolishing private property and establishing rural collectives. Intellectuals were killed, and members of the educated mid- dle class were tortured and executed. The Khmer Rouge regime was finally overthrown in 1979 by invading Vietnamese troops, after a series of vio- lent border confrontations.
In 1997, the Cambodian government asked the United Nations to assist in establishing a tribunal to prosecute senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge. In 2001, the Cambodian National Assembly passed a law to create the court that would be- come the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Com- mitted during the Period of Democratic Kampu- chea, or the ECCC.
The four defendants who are charged in Case 002 are: Nuon Chea, aged 85, former Deputy Secre- tary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea who also served as Pol Pot’s second in command; Ieng Sary, aged 85, former Deputy Prime Minister for
Foreign Affairs; Ieng Thirith, aged 79, former Min- ister of Social Affairs and wife of Ieng Sary; and Khieu Samphan, aged 80, former Head of State. Each defendant is charged with crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conven- tions of 1949, genocide; and homicide, torture, and religious persecution within the meaning of the 1956 Cambodian Penal Code.
In June 2011, the ECCC began an initial hearing for Case 002 to determine the final witness list and to hear preliminary objections. Some 500 spectators watched from the gallery, many of whom were victims of the Khmer Rouge regime. The tribunal has also conducted preliminary hear- ings as to the fitness of the four defendants to stand trial, as all four are now elderly. On August 29, Nuon Chea told the Court that he “has some health problems which makes him unable to sit more than 1.5 hrs per day in the courtroom.” Ad- ditionally, Professor John Campbell, Professor of Geriatric Medicine, University of Otago (New Zealand), was appointed by the tribunal as a medical expert to “assess the physical and men- tal fitness to stand trial for Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Nuon Chea.”
In September, the ECCC Trial Chamber ordered Case 002 to be divided into a series of smaller tri- als which will be held and adjudicated separately. The first trial will concern crimes related to the forced movement of the population and charges of crimes against humanity. The ECCC is permit- ted to separate proceedings into segments if it is considered to be in the interest of justice.
The defendants claim that they did not commit the crimes with which they are charged. Unlike defendant “Duch” in Case 001, who expressed both remorse and responsibility for his actions, these four defendants have attempted to cast blame elsewhere and have not admitted any responsibility. In 1996, after leading a mass de- fection, Ieng Sary stated, “Do I have remorse? No, I have no regrets because this was not my responsibility.”
ILSA Quarterly » volume 20 » issue 1 » October 2011
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