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

Executions and Disappearances

616.                  The leadership of Au Kanseng did not have the authority to make the decision to execute a prisoner²⁶⁷⁹. The date the prisoner was taken to be executed was recorded and daily statistics reports were sent to the Division.²⁶⁸⁰

617.                  From December 1976, Saroeun began reporting the capture of "Yuon" by units of Division 801,²⁶⁸¹ as did Northeast Zone Secretary Vy.²⁶⁸²

618. A telegram dated 15 June 1977 addressed by Vy alias Um Neng, in his capacity as Secretary of the Northeast Zone, to "Respected Brother" and copied inter alia to Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary reports the arrest of 209 Vietnamese Jarai by Division 801: "... on this 14 June, while on patrol, the production unit of 801 stationed in 107 captured 209 Yuon troops, among whom there were nine women, in the vicinity of Au L'ik, at a distance of 4 kilometres south of Route 19 [?] . All of them are of Jarai nationality and speak Khmer with an accent. They have been transferred to holding ... According to the proposal of the 801 production unit, a request was made for a decision for the highest level straightaway. I awaited the responses before being being agreeable to such as decision".²⁶⁸³

619. Sau Saroeun called [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] for a meeting where, according to the latter, they were told to "sort out those Jarai" ... the term 'sort out' [literally, to sort out or resolve] meant to 'kill and get rid of".²⁶⁸⁴

620. According to [REDACTED] "the Jarai were captured and brought in from the Vietnamese border because the Vietnamese had driven these Jarai from the Vietnamese territory".²⁶⁸⁵ [REDACTED] further explains that they were charged with being Khieu-Ky soldiers²⁶⁸⁶ and were called the "ethnic FULRO".²⁶⁸⁷

621. The execution of the Jarai people followed. Men, woman and children²⁶⁸⁸ were brought to Au kanseng Security Centre ²⁶⁸⁹ until they were tied in line and taken away by truck ²⁶⁹⁰ by a combination of forces, including a security unit from the sector, troops of artillery Battalion 8 0 3 ²⁶⁹¹ and personnel of Au Kanseng itself,²⁶⁹² to be killed in three B-52 bomb carters less than a kilometre away from the prison.²⁶⁹³

622.                  In late 197 8,²⁶⁹⁴ also in the Au Ya Dav area, a group of six ethnic Vietnamese²⁶⁹⁵, including one woman, were captured and, upon the instructions of Sau Saroeun,²⁶⁹⁶ escorted by the capturing units to be executed.²⁶⁹⁷

623.                  According to the Deputy Chairman, there was only one mass killing at Au Kanseng.²⁶⁹⁸ that of the Jarai people. According to the leaders of the Centre, if several hundreds of people died at Au Kanseng, most of the workers or people from the cooperatives died from disease and not from execution.²⁶⁹⁹ Some witnesses assert nevertheless that individual killings took place,²⁷⁰⁰ mostly in late 1978. For example, Sau Saroeun directly ordered [REDACTED] to kill some prisoners who were not considered reformed after reeducation and correction.²⁷⁰¹ Any prisoners who had escaped and were recaptured were executed.²⁷⁰² Two witnesses report that a female prisoner accused of immorality had her back cut open and her bile bladder extracted and put on display in the kitchen²⁷⁰³. However, this is contested by the Chairman of Au Kanseng.²⁷⁰⁴ Some other witnesses attest to never having seen nor heard of

killings.²⁷⁰⁵ Finally, three prisoners are reported to have hung themselves.²⁷⁰⁶

***

624.                  Five (5) civil parties were declared admissible with regards to Au Kanseng Security Center²⁷⁰⁷, 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 at Au Kanseng Security Center.