Original report from Phnom Penh
31 October 2008
The Khmer Rouge tribunal’s case against prison chief Duch could include a legal principle called “joint criminal enterprise,” potentially implicating other leaders of the regime in his crimes, editors of a journal on international crime say.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role as the Democratic Kampuchea head of the infamous torture prison Tuol Sleng. Under his watch, at least 12,000 people were tortured at Tuol Sleng, to be later executed and dumped in mass graves between 1976 and 1979.
But in a “friends of the court” brief filed to tribunal prosecutors Monday, the editors of the Journal of International Criminal Justice said the tribunal had a right to employ “joint criminal enterprise,” which would mean other leaders of the regime share responsibility for the acts Duch carried out as prison chief.
“If the co-prosecutors apply this principle, it can mean if they have enough evidence, they can pursue more and more persons,” said Dara Peou Van Than, deputy director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
Duch lawyer Kar Savuth declined to comment on the brief Friday.
The brief was signed by the journal’s editor-in-chief, Antonie Cassese, the first president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
In it, the editors argue that the principle of “joint criminal enterprise,” which is under consideration for use by the courts, could be applied “to ensure accountability for the full gravity of crimes” committed by leaders of the regime.
The principle would keep the Khmer Rouge tribunal consistent with other historic and modern tribunals, according to the brief.
But civil party lawyer Hong Kim Suon said the principle, though applied to the tribunal of former Yugoslavia, might not be compatible with Cambodian law, under which all tribunal laws must conform.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role as the Democratic Kampuchea head of the infamous torture prison Tuol Sleng. Under his watch, at least 12,000 people were tortured at Tuol Sleng, to be later executed and dumped in mass graves between 1976 and 1979.
But in a “friends of the court” brief filed to tribunal prosecutors Monday, the editors of the Journal of International Criminal Justice said the tribunal had a right to employ “joint criminal enterprise,” which would mean other leaders of the regime share responsibility for the acts Duch carried out as prison chief.
“If the co-prosecutors apply this principle, it can mean if they have enough evidence, they can pursue more and more persons,” said Dara Peou Van Than, deputy director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
Duch lawyer Kar Savuth declined to comment on the brief Friday.
The brief was signed by the journal’s editor-in-chief, Antonie Cassese, the first president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
In it, the editors argue that the principle of “joint criminal enterprise,” which is under consideration for use by the courts, could be applied “to ensure accountability for the full gravity of crimes” committed by leaders of the regime.
The principle would keep the Khmer Rouge tribunal consistent with other historic and modern tribunals, according to the brief.
But civil party lawyer Hong Kim Suon said the principle, though applied to the tribunal of former Yugoslavia, might not be compatible with Cambodian law, under which all tribunal laws must conform.
2 comments:
we people khmer,we need Peace,Independence,Real Justice!
not the justice of the jungle.
According to "INSCRIPTIONS MODERNES D'ANGKOR"by "Mähä Bidür KRASSEM
collection dirigée par:Nouth Narang,Jacques Népote,Ang Chouléan.
Khmers beleived to the reincarnation,welcome of Buddha Srey Ar métrey"
http://fr.youtube.com/user/maitreyaproject
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=KHb_K_tOS6k&feature=related
There is no crime of "joint criminal enterprise" neither in the Law on the Establisment of Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia [Communism tribunal] nor in the Cambodian criminal law.
If this crime was instituted after 6 January 1979, the charge against the Khmer Rouge leaders for it would violate the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal law.
The prohibition of the retroactive application of criminal law is clearly spelled out in Annex V of of the Paris Peace Agreements of 1991, although the Cambodian constitution has has failed to incorporate it.
This Annex says: "It [Cambodia's constitution] will prohibit the retroactive application of criminal law."
The Paris Peace Agreements were signed by 19 countries, including the five big powers, in the presence of the UN secreatary-Genral.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
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