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

In light of the HISTORIC (!) start of MOST COMPLEX (sic!) trial hearings beginning on 27 June 2011 and again ANOTHER HISTORIC (!) START of this same MOST COMPLEX (sic!) on 21 Nov. 2011 of Case 002 against the surviving Khmer Rouge senior leaders Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith, KI Media is 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 (sic!) arguments over the criminal charges (e.g. genocide, crimes against humanity, penal code of 1956 - sic!).  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

 Kanseng Security Centre

 

Functioning

Structure and Personnel

593. Cadres from the Division 801 headquarters at Veun Sai were assigned to Au Kanseng.²⁵⁶⁸ [REDACTED] was appointed Chairman of the centre by Ta Saroeun²⁵⁶⁹ commander of

                                                                                                                               Division 801.²⁵'⁰ [REDACTED] was the Deputy Chairman²⁵⁷¹ in charge of interrogation and preparation of prisoner documents. [REDACTED]²⁵⁷² was in charge of security guard management and supervision. There were also a number of other security personel and guards.²⁵⁷³

594. Au Kanseng was subordinated to Military Unit 806²⁵⁷⁴ under Division 801 which was responsible for transport, logistics, warehouses and the Au Kanseng complex.²⁵⁷⁵. Unit 806 chairman was Ta Smien with Deputy [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] in charge of logistics.²⁵⁷⁶ In late 1978, Ta Smien was arrested and sent to Phnom Penh.²⁵⁷⁷ He was replaced by [REDACTED] ²⁵⁷⁸

595. The leadership of Au Kanseng had working meetings with Sau Saroeun every three or four months except when urgent meetings were necessary. There was also an annual Zone assembly.²⁵⁷⁹ The working communication between Au Kanseng and Division 801 leadership went from [REDACTED] to the Chairman of Unit 8 0 6²⁵⁸⁰ although on some important matters it was presented directly to the Division.²⁵⁸¹ As Battalion Secretary, Smien attended the first General Staff study session convened on 20 October 1976 as part of a group of 31 Division 801 cadres.²⁵⁸²

The reporting back of instructions followed the same chain²⁵⁸³ except during the last year of operation when the Chairman of Au Kanseng was instructed by 801 leading cadre Son, who had become number three in the Division, to stop reporting via the 806, and to only report direct to the Division instead.²⁵⁸⁴

600.

Whilst Sau Saroeun rarely visited Au Kanseng²⁵⁸⁵, [REDACTED], Chairman of Military Unit 806 often visited,²⁵⁸⁶ and received reports from it destined for the Division.²⁵⁸⁷ There is no evidence that any of the Charged Persons visited Au Kanseng.²⁵⁸⁸

The leadership of Au Kanseng had no power to arrest,²⁵⁸⁹ nor to release prisoners. They were only authorised to take prisoners into custody,²⁵⁹⁰ examine the reports that were sent and monitor their activities in the prison.²⁵⁹¹

The entry and exist dates of the detainees were recorded and notes were taken on incoming and outgoing prisoners.²⁵⁹² Between late 1976 and early 1977, there were between 10 and 40²⁵⁹³ prisoners at the centre, all soldiers, sent from units subordinated to Division 801.²⁵⁹⁴ In 1978, the number of prisoners increased to more than 100.²⁵⁹⁵ One witness asserts that there were 400-600 detainees.²⁵⁹⁶ By late 1978, Au Kanseng had a mixed population of

soldiers,²⁵⁹⁷ prisoners from cooperatives,²⁵⁹⁸ rubber plantation workers and civilians from sector 101.²⁵⁹⁹

596.             597.             Arrests 598.             599.

The military prisoners were arrested from Division 801 regiments 81, 82 and 83.²⁶⁰⁰ They were arrested by their regiments upon the order of Sau Saroeun.²⁶⁰¹ The soldiers of Division 801 who were arrested were considered to be free elements because they had disobeyed military discipline,²⁶⁰² used critical words regarding the Party²⁶⁰³ or had been implicated in confessions from Phnom Penh.²⁶⁰⁴ These confessions would first be sent to Sau Saroeun, who would then forward the information to the military units for arrest and transport of those implicated to Au Kanseng.²⁶⁰⁵ These confessions were delivered along with the prisoners.

601. On 15 June 1977, Northeast Zone Secretary Vy sent a telegram to "Respected Brother," copied to Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Son Sen, among others, ²⁶⁰⁶ informing them that "it

had been decided that [REDACTED]" a Division 801 cadre,²⁶⁰⁷ "would find a way secretly to take away the contemptible undercovers at the rubber and cotton plantations and in the mobile units". Consequently, the rubber plantation union workers were arrested and sent to Au Kanseng on the order of the Chairman of the Northeast Zone Rubber Plantations [REDACTED]²⁶⁰⁸ also concurrently on the Zone Committee.²⁶⁰⁹ Workers were arrested for a number of reasons including immorality in daily life, speaking in defence of an arrested pregnant wife,²⁶¹⁰ being critical of the Party²⁶¹¹ or were accused of using "techniques of the feudalist class, not farmer's techniques"²⁶¹². In the 15 June 1977 telegram Northeast Zone Secretary Vy added that "once responses have been obtained from all of them and clearly- tape recorded, the quest is made for a decision for the highest level for all of them²⁶¹³

602. Prisoners arrested from the cooperatives were sent by their chief along with reports of the faults attributed to them.²⁶¹⁴ They were mostly arrested for minor offences such as stealing food.²⁶¹⁵

603.                  Former detainees of Au Kanseng further state that between 100²⁶¹⁶ and 250²⁶¹⁷ prisoners from the Jarai minority had been arrested.

604.                  Prisoners were often transported by truck to the prison.²⁶¹⁸ While some prisoners remained without cuffs at the moment of their arrest,²⁶¹⁹ they were held at gunpoint and led in single file to their rooms.²⁶²⁰ Arrests of the Union workers happened in groups.²⁶²¹

Detention

605. Some prisoners were shackled either separately or collectively in rows of five to ten on a single steel bar.²⁶²² Civilians, woman and children were neither shackled nor chained²⁶²³. Female and male prisoners were detained separately.²⁶²⁴ Most prisoners were taken to go work during the day and then locked in their cells at night with soldiers guarding from the outside²⁶²⁵ while some were kept shackled in their cells permanently.²⁶²⁶ The prisoners worked, under the supervision of guards,²⁶²⁷ performing a variety of activities such as clearing grass, working in the rice paddies, planting and tending food, and building dams and dikes.²⁶²⁸ Periodically, the prisoners would be brought to reeducation meetings which were led by the Chairman who had previously met with Division chief Ta Saroeun.²⁶²⁹

606. Living conditions were very harsh in particular for those chained or shackled.²⁶³⁰ When prisoners were not shackled they could bathe in a stream near the prison under the guard of

soldiers.²⁶³¹

607. According to the deputy Chairman of Au Kanseng, prisoners who were not chained had enough food.²⁶³² However, except for one witness who worked in the kitchen, most witnesses state that the food was insufficient²⁶³³. One detainee witnessed a case of

cannibalism.²⁶³⁴

608. The health of the prisoners deteriorated as time went by in detention.²⁶³⁵ According to some witnesses, there was no medicine²⁶³⁶ whilst others report that in some cases, a medic named [REDACTED] administered some medicine for the sick.²⁶³⁷ In one instance, a prisoner was sent to pick leaves to boil with rice bran for another sick prisoner to eat.²⁶³⁸ Many prisoners died from illness and malnutrition.²⁶³⁹

609. Sau Saroeun ordered that if there were any prisoners who were considered as minor offenders or as having been successfully reeducated, that they could be sent from Au Kanseng to the 809 Reeducation Office²⁶⁴⁰ in Phnom Kach Changkeh²⁶⁴¹ near Au Tang, which reported regularly to Division 801.²⁶⁴²

Interrogations

610. There was a separate interrogation building inside the prison compound.²⁶⁴³ The interrogations would be led by Deputy Chairman [REDACTED] .²⁶⁴⁴ Most prisoners were not interrogated upon their arrival at the prison²⁶⁴⁵; they would be left in their cells to allow staff from the centre to read their files and familiarized themselves with the charges against them²⁶⁴⁶ or called to give their biographies and asked about the reasons for their arrest.²⁶⁴⁷

611. [REDACTED], the Deputy Chairman, explained that he "never tortured the prisoners, but there may have been some torture of prisoners done by the security personnel".²⁶⁴⁸ [REDACTED] describes that "there was some torture; but not all of them were tortured"²⁶⁴⁹. [REDACTED] reports that some prisoners were beaten with whips and electrically shocked because they were suspected of lying.²⁶⁵⁰ According to some detainees there were no prevalent incidents of serious mistreatment during interrogations²⁶⁵¹ however some did witness serious mistreatment of prisoners during interrogation.²⁶⁵² For most, the serious mistreatment was from the famine, the workload and the restriction of

movement.²⁶⁵³

612.                  [REDACTED] made the reports of the interrogations and sent them to [REDACTED]²⁶⁵⁴, who would send both the confessions and the results from the additional interrogation through the Commander of Unit 806 to Sau Saroeuun at the division level²⁶⁵⁵ for

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instruction.

613.                 An interrogator named [REDACTED] from Phnom Penh came to work at Au Kanseng in mid-1977 for about two or three months. ²⁶⁵⁷ Sau Saroeun personally told [REDACTED] that [REDACTED] was from the General Staff with Unit 703 under the command of Pin²⁶⁵⁸ and came to "[REDACTED] [i.e. [REDACTED]] in order to track down the activity background of the prisoners who had been implicated in the confessions from Phnom Penh"²⁶⁵⁹. Sau Saroeun personally told [REDACTED]that someone would come from Phnom Penh to work at Au Kanseng.²⁶⁶⁰ [REDACTED] had a permission letter from Phnom Penh²⁶⁶¹ and arrived with confessions with annotations indicating that the relevant prisoners must be questioned on their networks and activities.²⁶⁶² [REDACTED] himself told [REDACTED] that, prior to coming to Au Kanseng, he worked with Division 12²⁶⁶³ and "his unit was an interrogation place or a security place located at a former school of Tuol Svay Prey" ²⁶⁶⁴ The Deputy Chairman understood that [REDACTED] came from S- 21,²⁶⁶⁵ although Duch states he remembers no such person.²⁶⁶⁶

614.                 According to [REDACTED] it was two or three months after the arrest of a group of Division 801 cadres and intellectuals that [REDACTED] arrived at Au Kanseng.²⁶⁶⁷ From December 1976, there were discussions between Son Sen and Saroeun and other Division 801 cadre about the purging of leading 801 cadre and cadre in the Northeast Zone.²⁶⁶⁸ In 1977, Division 801 was indeed subjected to severe purges, with some regimental and battalion cadre, among others being arrested and sent to S-21,²⁶⁶⁹ whilst lower-ranking cadre and ordinary combatants were sent to Au Kanseng.

615.                 After [REDACTED]'s arrival, many cadres of Lay Sarim's Unit, were arrested and brought to Au Kanseng.²⁶⁷⁰ [REDACTED] participated in the interrogations of four prisoners who were high rank officers of Division 80 1 ²⁶⁷¹ including cadres from former Division 11 in which Lay Sarim²⁶⁷² (who was sent to S-21 in January 1977²⁶⁷³) had been active before becoming Chairman of Hospital 805 of Division 801. [REDACTED] arranged the interrogation together with [REDACTED]²⁶⁷⁴ of a company-level cadre name Pheng Phay, in the regiment of Lay Sarim²⁶⁷⁵ and three platoon-level cadre named Port, Samrin and Thea.²⁶⁷⁶. During the interrogations [REDACTED] would refer to the confessions he brought from Phnom Penh implicating them.²⁶⁷⁷ [REDACTED], himself made his own reports and brought them back with him to the General Staff in Phnom Penh.²⁶⁷⁸