Closing Order of Case 002 against Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith

In preparation for the start of trial hearings beginning on 27 June 2011 of Case 002 against the surviving Khmer Rouge senior leaders Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith, KI Media is starting a new series in posting installations of the public document of the Closing Order of Case 002.  The Closing Order of the Co-Investigating Judges forms the basic document from which all the parties (Co-Prosecutors, Co-Lead Lawyers for all civil parties, Defense Lawyers) will be making their arguments before the Trial Chamber judges (one Cambodian President, 2 Cambodian Judges, 2 UN judges).  Up until now, the hearings involving these four surviving senior Khmer Rouge leaders have been in the Pre-Trial Chamber over issues of pre-trial detention and jurisdictional issues.  Beginning in June 2011, the Trial Chamber will hear the substantive arguments over the criminal charges (e.g. genocide, crimes against humanity, penal code of 1956).  Available in Khmer and French.  Contact the ECCC for a free copy.

CLOSING ORDER

of Co-Investigating Judges You Bunleng and Marcel Lemonde, 15 September 2010

VII. FACTUAL FINDINGS OF JOINT CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE

            The common purpose of the CPK leaders was to implement rapid socialist revolution in Cambodia through a "great leap forward" and defend the Party against internal and external enemies, by whatever means necessary.

            To achieve this common purpose, the CPK leaders inter alia designed and implemented the five following policies:

-          The repeated movement of the population from towns and cities to rural areas, as well as from one rural area to another;

-          The establishment and operation of cooperatives and worksites;

-          The reeducation of "bad-elements" and killing of "enemies", both inside and outside the Party ranks;

-          The targeting of specific groups, in particular the Cham, Vietnamese, Buddhists and former officials of the Khmer Republic, including both civil servants and former military personnel and their families; and

-          The regulation of marriage.

158.           The common purpose came into existence on or before 17 April 1975 and continued until at least 6 January 1979. The five policies designed to achieve this common purpose were implemented within or before these dates. These policies evolved and increased in scale and intensity throughout the regime. One of the consequences of these policies was the collectivisation of all aspects of society. This collectivisation involved the suppression of markets, currency and private property,⁴⁶⁷ the prohibition of peoples' freedom of movement, and generally forcing everyone to live in communal units according to their categorisation. This resulted in the implementation of a system which Cambodians have subsequently described in the following way: the entire country had become a "prison without walls".

159.           The persons who shared this common purpose included, but were not limited to: members of the Standing Committee, including Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary; members of the Central Committee, including Khieu Samphan; heads of CPK ministries, including Ieng Thirith; zone and autonomous sector secretaries; and heads of the Party Centre military divisions.