Four Khmer Rouge suspects face “questionable” genocide trail

(Photo: Flickr)

16 September 2010
By Lula Ahrens
Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Four former Khmer Rouge regime leaders will stand trial for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity at Cambodia's national, UN-backed war crimes court. The closing order was signed on Tuesday 15 September, allowing for the trial to begin in 2011. The Dutch lawyer of suspect Nuon Chea has serious doubts about the fairness of the trial. “I’m afraid it won’t meet international standards.”

The four are the most senior members of the hard-line communist movement still alive.

Former deputy to Khmer Rouge founder Pol Pot, Nuon Chea (84); foreign minister Ieng Sary (84), Sary’s wife and social affairs minister Iengh Thirith (78), and head of state Khieu Samphan (79) were indicted in December 2009. They have been in detention since their arrests in 2007.

Dutch lawyers
The Marxist Khmer Rouge regime wiped out nearly a quarter of the country's population between 1975 to 1979 in a bid to create an agrarian utopia. Up to two million people died from starvation, overwork or execution.

The current genocide charges relate specifically to the deaths of Vietnamese people and ethnic Cham Muslims under the Pol Pot regime. Estimates for the number of Cham who died under the Khmer Rouge range from 100,000 to 400,000. It is not known how many Vietnamese were killed.

One of the suspects, Chea, is defended by Dutch lawyers Victor Koppe and Michiel Pestman. Mr Pestman told Radio Netherlands that he expects the trial to start in April, and that it will probably last three years. “That excludes the appeal.” He added that from a statistical perspective, it is very likely that not all four suspects will live to hear the verdict. “Which is why one could wonder: what’s the point of this trial?”

“Unfair” trials
The Cambodia tribunal is a UN-backed national tribunal that tries senior members of the Khmer Rouge regime for violations of both Cambodian and international law. It is composed of both local and international judges.

Mr Pestman wonders whether it was a good idea of the UN to allow a majority of Cambodian judges to serve at the tribunal. “There is a painful gap between them and the international judges,” he said. “I’m afraid that this trial won’t be fair, that it will not meet international legal standards.”

The court is still investigating whether to open more cases against five other former Khmer Rouge cadres, but faces political and financial pressures. Prime Minister Hun Sen has said further trials could drive the country back to civil war.

Government influence
Cambodia is a one-party state that has been in power since 1979. Its judiciary has an ambiguous record. Mr Pestman wonders to extent it is able to free itself from that tradition.

“Ultimately, the government decides whether or not more suspects will be prosecuted,” Mr Pestman said. “That tells you how far-reaching the government’s influence is.

Last Friday, the Pre-Trial Chamber rejected our request to interview more witnesses, which gives the impression that the Cambodian government is in charge of who is and who isn’t allowed to testify. The credibility of the preliminary investigation is being called into question, and that affects the reputation of the court as a whole.”

Petit and Lemonde
Canadian prosecutor Robert Petit resigned in September 2009, later explaining that efforts by the Cambodian government to influence the court and the decision whether or not to prosecute more suspects had led him to his decision.

Mr Pestman told Radio Netherlands his position as a Dutch lawyer is also difficult. "On the other hand, I am a whistle blower. I am here to make sure this trial does not turn into a farce. But if the situation gets worse, I might reach the point where I, too, decide to leave.”

Frenchman Marcel Lemonde, one of the tribunal's two co-investigating judges, announced Thursday 16 September that he was quitting to focus on other projects. He will be replaced by German Siegfried Blunk.

This will be the court's second trial, following the historic sentencing of former prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias ‘Duch’ (67), in July for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Duch was given a 30-year jail term for his role overseeing the executions of an estimated 15,000 men, women and children. He could be released in 19 years, because of the time already served.