A man looks at skulls displayed at the Choeung Ek killing fields memorial, 15 kilometres southwest of Phnom Penh. The Cambodian genocide court will decide on Friday on a possible indictment of former Khmer Rouge leaders. (AFP)Tuesday, December 02, 2008
AFP
Cambodia's genocide court will decide on Friday whether a charge that could have wide-ranging effects on top Khmer Rouge leaders should be added to the indictment of the regime's former prison chief.
Kaing Guek Eav – better known as Duch – was indicted in August for allegedly overseeing the torture and extermination of more than 12,000 men, women and children when he headed Tuol Sleng prison, known as S-21.
The 66-year-old faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, making him the first leader of Cambodia's brutal 1975-1979 communist regime to stand trial at the UN-backed tribunal.
Court officials had hoped that the hearing would start in September, but prosecutors appealed against the indictment, saying it failed to go far enough and portray a "full and truthful account" of Duch's crimes.
The court is now set to rule on the appeal, under which prosecutors demanded that the charge of "commission of crimes through participation in a joint criminal enterprise as a mode of liability" be added to Duch's indictment.
Because of its very nature, the charge is opposed by other Khmer Rouge leaders who fear that a conviction in Duch's case could leave them automatically liable.
"These are all important issues that need to be addressed for Duch and relate to the cases against the other defendants," said John Ciorciari, a senior legal advisor for the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, which collects evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities.
The controversial "joint criminal enterprise" (JCE) is a legal doctrine that allows a court to hold multiple people responsible for crimes when they act as part of a coordinated process, according to legal officials.
"It makes it a bit easier to hold defendants guilty, because they need not kill someone or order killings themselves to be held responsible," Ciorciari told AFP.
He said the judges will also decide during the hearing whether joint criminal enterprise is a "viable principle" in the Khmer Rouge court.
"The importance of the December 5 hearing for them is that it will set a few key precedents" for the senior Khmer Rouge leaders, said Ciorciari.
"Their (judges') decision will probably influence not only Duch but other defendants as well," he added.
Duch, a mathematics teacher who became the Khmer Rouge's torturer-in-chief, has been in prison since 1999 for his role at Tuol Sleng. He was formally transferred to the tribunal and indicted in July 2007.
Thousands of inmates were taken from the centre he ran for execution at Choeng Ek, now known as the Killing Fields.
Up to two million people were executed or died of starvation and overwork as the regime emptied Cambodia's cities, exiling millions to vast collective farms in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia during its rule.
The defence teams of four other former Khmer Rouge leaders who are detained by the court for crimes committed by the regime have expressed fears that the court's decision will affect their clients.
They have asked for intervention on the issue of joint liability, but the court has denied them.
"Every (defence) team is concerned that a major decision on a far-ranging-legal issue...will affect not only Duch but other accused persons," said Andrew Ianuzzi, a legal consultant for Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea's defense team.
Nuon Chea was the Khmer Rouge's former "Brother Number Two," the most senior of the regime's cadres held by the tribunal.
But the trial of Duch will be moving forward and is getting closer, court officials said.
The hearing "marks the end of appeals... which will enable the trial to start sometime soon in the first quarter of 2009," tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said, adding that "no more investigation" is needed for Duch's case.
A lawyer for victims of the regime said that if the appeal is rejected the trial could start in March, but if not then it could be delayed for many more months.
Established in 2006 after nearly a decade of negotiations between Cambodia and the UN, the long-stalled tribunal seeks to prosecute crimes committed 30 years ago by senior Khmer Rouge leaders.
Kaing Guek Eav – better known as Duch – was indicted in August for allegedly overseeing the torture and extermination of more than 12,000 men, women and children when he headed Tuol Sleng prison, known as S-21.
The 66-year-old faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, making him the first leader of Cambodia's brutal 1975-1979 communist regime to stand trial at the UN-backed tribunal.
Court officials had hoped that the hearing would start in September, but prosecutors appealed against the indictment, saying it failed to go far enough and portray a "full and truthful account" of Duch's crimes.
The court is now set to rule on the appeal, under which prosecutors demanded that the charge of "commission of crimes through participation in a joint criminal enterprise as a mode of liability" be added to Duch's indictment.
Because of its very nature, the charge is opposed by other Khmer Rouge leaders who fear that a conviction in Duch's case could leave them automatically liable.
"These are all important issues that need to be addressed for Duch and relate to the cases against the other defendants," said John Ciorciari, a senior legal advisor for the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, which collects evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities.
The controversial "joint criminal enterprise" (JCE) is a legal doctrine that allows a court to hold multiple people responsible for crimes when they act as part of a coordinated process, according to legal officials.
"It makes it a bit easier to hold defendants guilty, because they need not kill someone or order killings themselves to be held responsible," Ciorciari told AFP.
He said the judges will also decide during the hearing whether joint criminal enterprise is a "viable principle" in the Khmer Rouge court.
"The importance of the December 5 hearing for them is that it will set a few key precedents" for the senior Khmer Rouge leaders, said Ciorciari.
"Their (judges') decision will probably influence not only Duch but other defendants as well," he added.
Duch, a mathematics teacher who became the Khmer Rouge's torturer-in-chief, has been in prison since 1999 for his role at Tuol Sleng. He was formally transferred to the tribunal and indicted in July 2007.
Thousands of inmates were taken from the centre he ran for execution at Choeng Ek, now known as the Killing Fields.
Up to two million people were executed or died of starvation and overwork as the regime emptied Cambodia's cities, exiling millions to vast collective farms in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia during its rule.
The defence teams of four other former Khmer Rouge leaders who are detained by the court for crimes committed by the regime have expressed fears that the court's decision will affect their clients.
They have asked for intervention on the issue of joint liability, but the court has denied them.
"Every (defence) team is concerned that a major decision on a far-ranging-legal issue...will affect not only Duch but other accused persons," said Andrew Ianuzzi, a legal consultant for Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea's defense team.
Nuon Chea was the Khmer Rouge's former "Brother Number Two," the most senior of the regime's cadres held by the tribunal.
But the trial of Duch will be moving forward and is getting closer, court officials said.
The hearing "marks the end of appeals... which will enable the trial to start sometime soon in the first quarter of 2009," tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said, adding that "no more investigation" is needed for Duch's case.
A lawyer for victims of the regime said that if the appeal is rejected the trial could start in March, but if not then it could be delayed for many more months.
Established in 2006 after nearly a decade of negotiations between Cambodia and the UN, the long-stalled tribunal seeks to prosecute crimes committed 30 years ago by senior Khmer Rouge leaders.
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