After Court Release, Questions Remains Over Ieng Thirith’s Health Care

The former “First Lady” of the Khmer Rouge is thought to have Alzheimer’s disease.

20 September 2012

Men Kimeng, VOA Khmer

WASHINGTON DC - With former Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Thirith now released from custody at the UN-backed tribunal, questions remain over who will pay her for her ongoing medical needs.

Ieng Thirith was found mentally unfit to stand trial at the court and handed over to her family on Sunday. She was ordered to surrender her passport and travel documents, leaving her to find health care in Cambodia, where most hospitals are far below the standards of neighboring countries.

The former “First Lady” of the Khmer Rouge is thought to have Alzheimer’s disease. She reportedly does not remember who her husband is, cannot recall important events from the past and has other physical health issues that need attention.

Khmer Rouge tribunal 'incredibly important': Australian envoy

The Clown - Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

An Australian envoy has defended the Khmer Rouge tribunal as an "incredibly important" institution as it battles criticisms over a controversial ruling.

18 September 2012

ABC Radio Australia

The tribunal, also known as the Extraordinary Courts in Cambodia, sparked outrage after it freed the regime's former "first lady", Ieng Thirith, for being unfit to stand trial.

Ambassador Penny Richards told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific the court has played a very important role historically.

"It's currently trying the most senior and surviving members of the Khmer Rouge for crimes of mass atrocity, crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, other crimes," she said.

"And I think historically, it's very important that the message be got out that you can't get away with that kind of crime anymore."

Victims Angered at Release of Senior Khmer Rouge Figure Ieng Thirith

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4UcLhVpNvo

Victims Angered at Release of Senior Khmer Rouge Figure Ieng Thirith

Ieng Thirith, the former social affairs minister of Khmer Rouge regime during trial, file photo.

Victims at the court said Monday they did not believe she had a degenerative mental condition, which court medical experts say is likely Alzheimer’s.

17 September 2012

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer

PHNOM PENH - Ieng Thirith, one of just five Khmer Rouge leaders to be detained by the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal, was freed to the custody of her family Sunday, after the court deemed her mentally unfit to stand trial for atrocity crimes.

Victims at the court said Monday they did not believe she had a degenerative mental condition, which court medical experts say is likely Alzheimer’s. But court monitors say the court issued a fair decision following intense medical examination that upholds international court precedents.

Ieng Thirith was released on condition she notify the court if she moves residence, and she was forced to hand over her passport and other travel documents. She is still charged with atrocity crimes, including genocide, and will have to answer any summons issued by the court, according to the release order.

Khmer Rouge leader granted provisional release by UN-backed genocide court

Ieng Thirith during her preliminary hearing on 29 August 2011

16 September 2012
UN News Centre

A former Khmer Rouge leader found unfit to stand trial owing to medical reasons has been granted a provisional release by the United Nations-backed court in Cambodia that is trying those accused of genocide and crimes against humanity.

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), a mixed court set up under a 2003 agreement signed by the UN and the Government, ruled today that Ieng Thirith be released, provided that she inform the Court of the address where she will reside and not change residence without prior authorization.

She must also surrender her passport and any other travel documents, and remain in the territory of Cambodia, as well as respond to any summons issued by the Court.

Khmer Rouge leader freed

Monday 17 September 2012
AP

Cambodia's war crimes tribunal has freed a former Khmer Rouge leader, upholding a decision that has outraged survivors of the mass killings committed more than 30 years ago.

Ieng Thirith, 80, pictured, who has been declared mentally unfit for trial, was Pol Pot's first wife. She served as social affairs minister during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule, when an estimated 1.7 million people died

Peace and justice: Make do in chambers - Op-Ed by So Vere

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

https://www.box.com/s/k15osvk2k8t5b1i134qa

Ambassador gives cash nod to KRT

Friday, 14 September 2012
Stuart White
The Phnom Penh Post

US ambasador-at-large for Global Criminal Justice Stephen Rapp re-emphasised America’s commitment to the Khmer Rouge tribunal in a press briefing at the Hotel le Royal yesterday.

Rapp, on his eighth visit to Cambodia, said the US Congress was considering a US$5 million pledge to shore up the 2012 finances of what Rapp referred to as “the most important trial in the world”.

“[The ECCC] sends the message that there will be a day of justice (sic!),” he said, calling attention to the impact of the trial to prevent future atrocities.

Prosecutors at UN-backed court want conditions placed on Khmer Rouge leader’s release

Ieng Thirith appears before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in October 2011 on her fitness to stand trial. Photo: ECCC/M. Peters

14 September 2012
UN News Centre

Prosecutors at the United Nations-backed Cambodia genocide court today appealed the decision to unconditionally release Ieng Thirith, a former senior member of the Khmer Rouge who was found unfit to stand trial, stating that certain restrictions should be placed on her freedom.

The trial chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), which held that Ieng Thirith is unfit to stand trial for crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the Khmer Rouge regime, issued a decision on Thursday to release her unconditionally.

Expert psychiatrists who examined Ms. Thirith last year diagnosed her with clinical dementia, most likely Alzheimer’s, which would hinder her participation in court hearings.

Prosecutors in Cambodia want passport taken from ex-Khmer Rouge leader deemed unfit for trial

In this photo taken on Oct. 19, 2011 released by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Ieng Thirith, foreground, the Khmer Rouge's former minister of social affairs, smiles during a hearing in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ieng Thirith will be set free after a court in Cambodia ruled Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012, that she was medically unfit to stand trial for genocide, a decision survivors called shocking and unjust. (AP Photo/Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Mark Peters)

September 14, 2012
SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Prosecutors urged Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal on Friday to confiscate the passport of a former regime leader it is about to free because it has deemed her medically unfit to stand trial.

The release of 80-year-old Ieng Thirith had been expected Friday, but it will be delayed at least a few days while the court considers prosecutors' request.

On Thursday, the United Nations-backed tribunal said it will free Ieng Thirith because she suffers from a degenerative illness, probably Alzheimer's disease. The court said the illness left "no prospect" for her to face trial.

Tribunal Rules Ieng Thirith Unfit for Trial

Ieng Thirith (Photo: Reuters)

The Trial Chamber ruled she was not likely to be fit for trial in the foreseeable future, but it did not drop charges of atrocity crimes against her.

14 September 2012

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer

PHNOM PENH - Ieng Thirith, the former social affairs minister for the Khmer Rouge who has been jailed since 2007, has been found unfit to stand trial at the UN-backed tribunal and is scheduled to be released Friday morning.

Tribunal prosecutors have until tomorrow to appeal Thursday’s decision by the Trial Chamber of the court, which found that Ieng Thirith, who is 80, is unable to stand trial due to mental degradation, likely due to Alzheimer’s disease.

The Trial Chamber ruled she was not likely to be fit for trial in the foreseeable future, but it did not drop charges of atrocity crimes against her. She will not be allowed to leave the country and must not interfere with the work of the court. She must not contact witnesses or others involved in her case or the case of her husband, former foreign minister Ieng Sary.

Ieng Thirith was arrested and charged alongside Ieng Sary in November 2007. Ieng Sarry is currently on trial alongside two other regime leaders—Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan—for crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge under their leadership.

Pol Pot’s Sister-in-Law Deemed Unfit to Stand Trial, Released

Ieng Thirith (Photo: Reuters)

September 13th, 2012
Voice of America

Cambodia's United Nations-backed war crimes tribunal has ordered the release of Ieng Thirith, the aging sister-in-law of former Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot.

On Thursday, the court said the 80-year-old – once dubbed the “First Lady” of the Khmer Rouge – is unfit to stand trial for genocide because of a degenerative illness, likely Alzheimer's disease.

The ruling, which upholds an earlier decision, found that all treatment options have been exhausted and that Thirith's sickness is “likely irreversible.”

She was charged with crimes against humanity, genocide, homicide, torture and religious persecution related to the 1975-1979 rule of the Khmer Rouge, which resulted in the deaths of some 1.7 million Cambodians.

Cambodia Genocide Tribunal Declassifies Over 1,700 Confidential Documents

9/6/2012

(RTTNews) - The United Nations-backed genocide tribunal in Cambodia trying cases of mass murder and other crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge regime on Thursday ordered that more than 1,700 confidential documents, including victims' 'confessions' and witness statements, be made public.

The decision comes after the Supreme Court Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) reviewed more than 12,000 confidential and strictly confidential documents in the case file of Case 0001, in which the former head of a notorious detention camp, Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, was the defendant.

The ECCC is a hybrid court set up after a 2003 agreement between the UN and the Cambodian Government with the aim of trying those accused of the worst crimes during the Khmer Rouge regime. As many as two million people are thought to have died during the rule of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979, which was then followed by a protracted period of civil war in the South-East Asian country.

Khmer Rouge cryptographer explains regime’s codes

Norng Sophang, a former telegraph and code operator who testified at the Khmer Rouge tribunal. Photograph: ECCC/POOL

Tuesday, 04 September 2012
Joseph Freeman
The Phnom Penh Post

“The Khmer Rouge had a slogan: ‘Secrecy is the key to victory. High secrecy, long survival.’”

Khmer Rouge leaders and cadres were so paranoid about messages being intercepted that communications took place on special frequencies and secret signals were exchanged between the sender and receiver before transmission could occur, said Norng Sophang, a former telegraph and code operator who testified at the Khmer Rouge tribunal yesterday.

Sophang, a 60-year-old retired teacher, spent much of his day on the stand delving into the nitty gritty of the intricate system.

In response to questions posed by senior assistant to the international co-prosecutor Tarik Abdulhak, he told the court that senior leaders would send transmissions to the zones using a special technique, and that telegrams were given an extra wrinkle of encryption depending on the level of classification.

A recipient trying to decipher some of the most sensitive documents, for example, would have to work through a few steps.

Tribunal Funding Faces Immediate Shortage, Long Term Woes

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

David Scheffer (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

The Khmer Rouge tribunal’s funding will dry up in October without an infusion from donors, tribunal experts say.

01 September 2012

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer

WASHINGTON DC - The Khmer Rouge tribunal’s funding will dry up in October without an infusion from donors, tribunal experts say.

David Scheffer, the UN’s special expert for the tribunal—which is in the midst trying three former leaders for atrocity crimes—wrote in the New York Times the court needs more funding right away.

“Several nations have pledged sufficient funds to finance the tribunal for two more months, and that is good news, Scheffer wrote in the opinion pages. “But at least $4 million must be raised to cover November and December expenses. (The Cambodian Government’s smaller portion of the budget has been covered with the help of foreign aid.) And then there is 2013 to worry about—immediately.”

Khmer Rouge court experts unanimous: Ieng Thirith suffers from dementia

Former Khmer Rouge social action minister Ieng Thirith attends a public hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia last year. She was ruled mentally unfit to stand trial in November. Photo Reuters

Friday, 31 August 2012
Bridget Di Certo
The Phnom Penh Post

Medical experts said there was no evidence that former Khmer Rouge Minister for Social Action Ieng Thirith has been feigning her cognitive impairment and told the Khmer Rouge tribunal yesterday that improvement of her mental abilities was not a prospect.

A panel of three court-appointed experts told the court categorically that they were of the opinion the only woman to be charged for Khmer Rouge crimes has a deteriorating form of moderate to severe dementia, most likely Alzheimer’s disease.

“We are united in our firm opinion that Ieng Thirith has significant dementia… there would be no advantage in trying any other medication or remedy,” New Zealand doctor John Campbell said, adding that none of the broad range of intensive treatments trialed by doctors had any influence on the deterioration of the genocide suspect’s cognitive function.

Experts at odds over Ieng Thirith

Former Khmer Rouge social action minister Ieng Thirith attends a public hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia last year. She was ruled mentally unfit to stand trial in November. Photo Reuters

Ieng Thirith (front, center) in 1976

Friday, 31 August 2012
Bridget Di Certo
The Phnom Penh Post

Flying in the face of a seeming mountain of expert conclusions to the contrary, the personal psychiatrist for former Khmer Rouge minister for social action Ieng Thirith testified yesterday that her patient exhibited no signs of mental illness or cognitive impairment.

Chak Thida, treating psychiatrist of the one-time “first lady” of the Khmer Rouge, was at odds with the conclusion of the court-appointed expert panel that Ieng Thirith suffers from a moderate to severe form of dementia, most likely Alzheimer’s disease.

Thida instead testified that her patient was a “polite and neat” lady who spoke and read perfect French and engaged in all the usual, pleasant social interaction.

“I have not found any sign of mental illness in Ms Ieng Thirith,” Thida told the court, qualifying her faith in the mental fitness of Pol Pot’s sister-in-law with: “Although she has experienced some loss in memory.”

Witness details the role of top KR leaders

Norng Sophang

សាក្សី​រៀបរាប់​ការ​ទទួល​ខុសត្រូវ​របស់​មេដឹក​នាំ​កំពូល​ខ្មែរ​ក្រហម


គង់ សុឋានរិទ្ធ
30 សីហា 2012
Voice of America

As for economic affairs the person who was responsible at that time was, if I recall correctly, the person who was handling the materials to be distributed to the base level, and the person who was in charge at that time was Mr. Khieu Samphan. But as for cultural affairs - for example if there was [sic] any moral issues among people in society - I believe it was Nuon Chea who was the person in charge. So once again there were different portfolios for different people at that time. As for Pol Pot he was the person who oversaw every sector and every field. He had the right to say anything concerning anyone.

ភ្នំពេញ៖ នៅក្នុង​អំឡុងពេល​តស៊ូ​ក្នុង​ព្រៃម៉ាគី នួន ជា ទទួលខុសត្រូវ​ផ្នែក​សីលធម៌​និង​វប្បធម៌ រីឯ​ខៀវ សំផន ទទួលខុសត្រូវ​ផ្នែក​ភ​ស្ត​ភា។ នេះ​បើតាម​ការបញ្ជាក់​របស់​ស​ក្សី​នៅក្នុង​ការកាត់ទោស​អតីត​មេដឹកនាំ​ខ្មែរក្រហម​នៅ​ថ្ងៃ​ពុធ​នេះ។

លោក នង សុ​ផង់ អតីត​ប្រធាន​ក្រុម​បកប្រែ​សារ​ទូរលេខ​នៃ​របប​កម្ពុជា​ប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ​បញ្ជាក់​ថា ប៉ុល ពត បងធំ​ទី១ នៃ​របប​នេះ នួន ជា បងធំ​ទី២ និង​ខៀវ សំផន បែង​ចែក​ការទទួលខុសត្រូវ​រួមគ្នា​មុនពេល​ពួក​ខ្មែរក្រហម​ឡើងកាន់​អំណាច។

«ខាង​សេដ្ឋកិច្ច​ដូចជា​ទាក់ទង​ខាង​សម្ភារៈ​ផ្សេង​ដែល​ត្រូវបញ្ជូន​តាម​មូលដ្ឋាន​គឺ​អ្នកចាត់ចែង​គឺ​ខៀវ សំផន។ ឯខាង​វប្បធម៌ អ្វីដែល​ប៉ះពាល់​ខា​សីលធម៌​គឺ​លោក​នួន ជា ជា​អ្នក​ណែនាំ។ ឯ​ប៉ុល ពត ជា​អ្នក​ណែនាំ​រួម»។

Evidentiary Hearing in Case 002 | August 29, 2012 (English)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMyvRFdYnPI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cx3CtqcWMY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQpJFv_zSN0

No evidence of Comrade Hor 5 Hong's interference in the KRT: Andrew Cayley and Comrade Chea Leang

https://www.box.com/s/dd2de66de785838f140a