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
D. TREATMENT OF SPECIFIC GROUPS
Treatment of the Cham
Treatment of the Cham 1977-1979
759. Some witnesses state that they observed that Cham people were treated much the same as everybody else,3265 or that they were not arrested or killed3266 or that the prohibition on religion was the only mistreatment of the Cham.3267 In particular, at the 1st January Dam worksite, three witnesses stated that Cham lived in the same conditions as the Khmer workers.3268 However, one of these witnesses qualified their evidence by stating that if they were seen to practice Islam "they would take them away and kill them" and that most of the people killed were "new people or Cham".3269 Other witnesses from this site stated that Cham were considered to be even lower than the 17 April people.3270 Three witnesses from this site stated that the Cham religion was prohibited.3271
760. During 1977 and 1978 many witnesses describe seeing waves of killings of Cham people in the Central (Old North) Zone and East Zone.3272
764. These events appear to have been coordinated by the Centre authorities. Ke Pork was the Secretary of the Central (Old North) Zone3273 and a member of the Central Committee and of its Military Committee.3274 With respect to security matters, he was under Son Sen, Pol Pot and Nuon Chea's supervision.3275 Duch gave evidence that Pork came "many times to Phnom Penh" in 1977.3276 A witness who worked as Pork's telegraph cadre gave evidence that liaisons between Pork and the Centre increased in frequency in 1978, specifying in particular that he received more telegrams than had previously been usual.3277 This witness further recalls that at this time the Centre installed special new telegraph machinery making it possible for the Central (Old North) Zone to communicate to the Centre from six in the morning until midnight.3278 At the same time, he says, telegrams were sent more often from the sectors to the zone.3279
765. One witness states that he was called to a meeting in 1977 in Bos Khnor Village, Chamkar Leu District, Kampong Cham Province, Sector 41, Central (Old North) Zone. He states that the agenda for the meeting was to specify a plan called "The Plan to Smash the Enemy" and that the chairman of the meeting declared "the enemies of the revolution are many, but our biggest enemy are Cham. So the Plan calls for the destruction of all the Cham people before 1980" 3280 This same witness states that he was subsequently assigned to meet with the Chairman of O-Nung Subdistrict, Chamkar Leu District. Whilst waiting for the Chairman to arrive he saw a small 16 page book with a light yellow cover called "The Plan for Progressive Cooperation" which read "Cham are the biggest enemy who must be totally smashed by 1980". 3281
766. Another witness gives evidence that, in 1977, he was told by a security cadre from Sector 21 of the East Zone that "the remaining Cham people would soon be killed"3282 Other witnesses observed that "measures were taken against those who were not Khmer, and the Chams in
particular" or that there were orders to "gather up all the believers in Islam". Another witness states that he woke up one day and that "all the Cham of his village had suddenly disappeared". Out of the 10 Cham families in his village, only one person survived, only because she had been out of the village in a district mobile unit, when the attack took
place.3285
767. [REDACTED], District Secretary of Kroch Chhmar District since 1978 (and as such, presented, as being responsible for the mass killings of Cham people in the Kroch Chhmar District)3286 gives evidence that in 1978 there was a "rebellion" of Cham and Khmer in Kroch Chhmar. The Subdistrict Committee reported the rebellion to the District Committee, who in turn, reported to the Sector Committee. The Sector Committee gave initial orders to arrest and detain the "rebels". [REDACTED] states "[ljater on, the upper echelon made one annotation to the district in red ink reading: 'all of the rebels must be smashed'"'.3287 The witness states that he travelled by boat to where the rebels were being detained and gave the upper echelon's order to the military commander in charge, and that the rebels were hit with clubs and buried in mass graves, with between 20 - 30 people in each pit.3288
768. Another witness states that, "they searched out the Cham so they could wipe out every last one of us. The eight members of my family were all killed I was the sole exception because I disguised myself as being of another race".3289 Another witness, who states that there were approximately 100 Cham families in his subdistrict, describes the situation as follows: "I did not see the killings, just saw the Khmer Rouge coming to call one family away at a time, and the Cham population became less and less. Later on, they gathered them all. The Cham people were arrested in 1978".3290
769. Another witness states that he overheard a meeting in late 1978, between Ke Pork and the district secretaries of the East and Central (Old North) Zones. The meeting was held in the Sandan District of Kampong Thom Province. The witness states he could also hear what was being said during the meeting because they were using a public address system inside. At one point during the meeting, Ke Pork asked the District Secretary of Kroch Chhmar, "the plan set out by the Party, what percentage has been completed? ... You must destroy the Cham [in the] mobile forces first; they are all traitors".3291
770. [REDACTED] confirms that the Cham were targeted for killing in 1978 but denies that the Central (Old North) Zone cadre were involved in the killings.3292 The evidence of this witness is inconsistent with witnesses who implicate the Central (Old North) Zone cadre in the killings of Cham in Kroch Chhmar District.3293
1 comment:
For fair and justice in Cambodia,
1) Get the Viet out from Cambodia
2) Dismiss the case then let Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, and Ieng Thirith back to their homes to rebuild and defend the country before too late.
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