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

A. MOVEMENT OF THE POPULATION Movement of the Population from Phnom Penh (Phase 1)⁷⁸³

Return

Most of the people who were moved and survived the DK regime returned to their homes or native villages as soon as they could.¹¹¹³ Some witnesses found that their old villages were deserted,¹¹¹⁴ houses destroyed and that grave pits had been dug.¹¹¹⁵ Witnesses state that it was not possible for the population to return to their home villages during the DK regime.¹¹¹⁶ 

Reasons Given to the Population for the Movement

276. A document of the Standing Committee dated August 1975 pertains to the visit of the Standing Committee to the Northwest Zone.¹¹¹⁷ The report insists on the need to develop rice production in the whole of the Northwest Zone, with "Angkar" delivering its directions regarding inter alia economic and crop diversification and stating that the North and the Northwest Zones had "good qualities" such as better paddy land and rice to sustain "new people"}¹¹¹⁸ A meeting minute of the Standing Committee dated July/August 1976 and containing the CPK 4-year plan¹¹¹⁹ insists on the need to focus efforts on rice production. 

277.            A number of the witnesses who were moved were told that they were being sent to an area where there was more food¹¹²⁰ and fertile land¹¹²¹ or because there was a shortage of labour.¹¹²² One witness states that people were being told that they had to work for the socialist regime.¹¹²³ Upon arrival, people were sent to work in cooperatives¹¹²⁴ on building dams and canals¹¹²⁵ or on rice farming.¹¹²⁶

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78.            A former local CPK cadre explained that "the central policy was to remove the new people from the East when the war broke with Vietnam in late 1975 or early 1976 ... the new people had to be evacuated because the war broke out at the border".¹¹²¹ 

Planning 

279.            Witnesses¹¹²⁸ and documents¹¹²⁹ provide evidence as to how the Centre was involved in these movements of the population. The decision to send people to the North and North West Zones of the country appears to have been made following the visit of the CPK Standing Committee to this area around August 1975¹¹³⁰ and a Party document dated September 1975 discusses its implementation.¹¹³¹ 

280.            Telegram #15 dated November 1975¹¹³² describes a high-level decision of the Party regarding movements of population, which, according to numerous and consistent witness testimonies, was subsequently carried out. This telegram was sent by Chhon to Pol Pot and copied to Nuon Chea, Brother Doeun (Secretary of the 870 Political Office) and Brother Yem (Office 870). One witness who translated telegrams for Office K-1 during the DK regime states that the Chairman of the Telegram Unit made the decision to copy this telegram to Nuon Chea, indicating that "this telegram was originally sent to Pol Pot alone, but the person in charge of the telegram knew that this matter must also be sent to the person who was in charge of the people like Nuon Chea in order to find a solution".¹¹³³ This witness also refers to the involvement of the Standing Committee in the resolution of the problem.¹¹³⁴ Another witness, former chairman of the Central (Old North) Zone Telegram Unit explains that "[the East Zone] had to send the report from the Zone to Pol Pot of the Centre level first, and then waited for Pol Pot instruction. Ke Pork [Secretary of the Central (Old North) Zone] received this telegram about this matter from the Centre, not directly from the East Zone".¹¹³⁵

281. Telegram #15 specifically refers to a problem raised by the movement of Cham people from the East

Zone and reads "more than 100,000 more Islamic people remain in the East Zone ... In principle their

removal was to break them up, in accordance with your views in your discussions with us already. But if

the North refuses to accept them, we will continue to strive to persevere in grasping the Islamic people". 

¹¹³⁶ This happened a few weeks after the rebellion of Cham people in Koh Phal and Svay Kleang.¹¹³⁷

When read in that context, this document suggests that the underlying reason for the movement and

planned separation of the Cham people was to address the security concern they represented, illustration

of the CPK policy to"break up

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282. Three hundred and fifty four (354) civil parties were declared admissible in the 

context of the Movement of the Population from the Central (Old North), Southwest, West 

and East Zones (Phase 2)¹¹³⁸, since the alleged crimes described in the application were 

considered as being more likely than not to be true, pursuant to Internal Rule 23 bis (4). 

These civil parties have provided sufficient elements tending to establish prima facie 

personal harm as a direct consequence of the crimes committed during the Movement of 

the Population from the Central (Old North), Southwest, West and East 

Zones (Phase 2).