Exploitation and Disempowerment of Victims at the KRT, Issues of Reparations - Commentary

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Exploitation and Disempowerment of Victims at the KRT

Issues of Reparations
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COMMENTARY
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Phnom Penh, 6 February 2012

On the advent of the Duch verdict on 23 July 2010, we, the Civil Parties of Orphans Class—a sub-group of the Association of Khmer Rouge Victims in Cambodia (www.akrvictims.org)—launched a public campaign for the “ECCC Inventory and Provincial Learning Centers as Part of [our] Right to Reparations for All KR Victims”.

By way of reminder, we have periodically re-released the public statement. Excerpt:

“After initial review of the ECCC website and communications with ECCC officials, it is our understanding that the ECCC has at minimum these basic items of inventory for its 500 personnel (350 of these Cambodian):

·        24 vehicles

·        200 desktop and laptop computers

·        25 photocopy machines

·        50 printers and scanners

·        Telecommunications and communications systems (property of UN, according to Art. 1.3 of Supplementary Agreement Re Utilities, Facilities and Services)

·        Air conditioners

·        Televisions, screens, LCD projectors, video-conferencing equipments

·        Transcription equipments

·        Video cameras

·        Office desks, chairs, tables, cabinets, bookshelves”

On 26 July 2010, the ECCC Trial Chamber’s verdict offered in full this reparation: “to compile and post on the ECCC’s official website all statements of apology and acknowledgements of responsibility made by [Duch]” (our emphasis).  Unsurprisingly, the hollowness and insensitivity of this reparation triggered a public outrage!   (It raised the rhetorical questions of: How many victims own a computer?  And of those who own a computer, how many have access to the internet?)

On 26 June 2011, we issued a similar demand with an open letter to the Lead Co-Lawyers and the 40 intermediary lawyers representing the civil parties to advocate at the ECCC hearings on reparations.  We acknowledged the scope of our demands (excerpt):

“It is also our understanding that (i) the Chambers may award only “collective and moral reparations to Civil Parties”, (ii) Article 39 of the ECCC Law [promulgated 27 Oct. 2004] to “be awarded against, and be borne by convicted persons” not to exclude the Cambodian government and the United Nations, parties to the laws and agreements establishing the ECCC in the provision of this collective and moral reparation as owners of the inventory (see ECCC Law Art. 44.1, 44.2, 44.4 New; Internal Rules 9.3 New), and (iii) any sensitive materials and data can be easily removed and protected before the handing over of the inventory.

In addition, we demand that provincial Learning Centers-Memorials be established in each of the 24 provinces of Cambodia as part of our right to reparation and the legacy of memorializing and education. With all due respect, Phnom Penh was not the only crime scene; memorializing and resources need to include and respect the 85% of Cambodian victims who reside in the provinces.”

A few days after this open letter of 26 June 2011, the Elite Club of ECCC officials (civil party lawyers, administrators, judges) exclusively met—as presidents and representatives of victims associations do not matter in this high-minded discussion on reparations as we can’t possible know what we want (sic!), thus we were not invited—and decided to seal shut any possible interpretation of government and UN responsibility.

This Elite Club amended the above Article 39 of the ECCC Law, stripping it of the above quoted language, with the document falsely stating that it was last amended on 26 August 2007 (which opened up the possibility that I made up the above quoted language).  As it stands now, the full Article 39 reads:

“Those who have committed any crime as provided in Articles 3 new, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 shall be sentenced to a prison term from five years to life imprisonment.

In addition to imprisonment, the Extraordinary Chamber of the trial court may order the confiscation of personal property, money, and real property acquired unlawfully or by criminal conduct.

The confiscated property shall be returned to the State.”

The vacuity of past discussions of the ECCC Elite Club on victims’ reparations was given the final seal of approval with the ECCC Supreme Court Chamber’s summary decision of 3 February 2012, in para. 67: “that awards are borne exclusively by convicted persons”, shielding the government and the UN of any responsibility.

Here, I will not go into the other serious concerns raised by the 3 Feb. 2012 final decision on Duch, except to say that: We the victims and we the larger Cambodian society have to pay an extremely high price for the life sentence given to Duch.  The life sentence fits with the gravity of the crimes and should have been given at the first instance without the high drama for such a simple case as this one where the defendant confessed and cooperated, mounds of culpable documents existed and Tuol Sleng survivors testified; that’s not the point. 

The price we have to pay comes in the serious consequences in the: (i) Supreme Court Chamber’s 

erasure of the illegality of Duch’s pre-trial detention at the Cambodian Military Court; (ii) SCC’s uneasy language on personal jurisdiction in light of the imbroglio of Cases 003/4, stating that “[w]hether an accused is a senior leader or one of the most responsible are exclusively policy decisions for which the Co-Investigating Judges and Co-Prosecutors, and not the Chambers, are accountable” where history, resources and power are not on our side; and (iii) making Duch the sole scapegoat of the Khmer Rouge regime and crimes. 

By any interpretation, this is manipulation of victims.  This is exploitation of our suffering.  This is disempowerment whereby the tools of “justice” are used to perpetrate injustice. 

The danger now is that it comes with UN insignia.  It comes with Japanese Yens and high-minded rhetoric of western ambassadors for the vacuity.  It doesn’t matter how many billions the western donors and Japan continue to spend on “rule of law” via the various aid agencies, because what they are embracing now at the KRT will undo any benefits they may have produced.  We are talking about the embedding of dark mentalities by the KRT with UN insignia which will awash the larger society for years and decades to come, long after the KRT has closed its gates on its military-situated compound and the UN has left for another genocide-chasing mission.

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Theary C. Seng
Founding President
Association of Khmer Rouge Victims in Cambodia

References:

Association of Khmer Rouge Victims in Cambodia:  www.arkvictims.org

ECCC Law (Oct. 2004):  http://www.eccc.gov.kh/sites/default/files/legal-documents/KR_Law_as_amended_27_Oct_2004_Eng.pdf

Public Demand for ECCC Inventory, Provincial Learning Centers:  http://www.thearyseng.com/component/content/article/104-campaign-for-eccc-inventory-provincial-learning-centers/242-campaign-for-closing-order-booklets-eccc-inventory-24-provincial-learning-centers-memorials

UN-backed tribunal in Cambodia hears reparations wish list for Khmer Rouge victims

Source: UN News Centre

19 October 2011 – Lawyers representing 4,000 victims of Khmer Rouge atrocities today presented a wish list for reparations to the United Nations-backed tribunal in Cambodia that is trying four former political leaders of the regime accused of crimes against humanity.

The tribunal, known officially as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), was set up under an agreement signed in 2003 by the UN and the Government, and is tasked with trying those deemed most responsible for crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979 during which as many as two million people are thought to have died.

Reparations have to be satisfactory for civil parties. Reparations have to alleviate their pain and grief.

Court hears submission on reparations for Khmer Rouge victims

Jun 29, 2011
DPA

Phnom Penh - Lawyers for victims of the Khmer Rouge told a UN-backed tribunal Wednesday they planned to seek a combination of memorials, psychological support and educational initiatives as reparations.

The tribunal has charged four surviving leaders of the ultra-Maoist movement with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Any awards are contingent on the court handing down a guilty verdict against the accused, and on sufficient funding being found to pay for them.

Victims had also suggested an annual remembrance day and a museum, said Pich Ang, co-lead lawyer for the civil parties.

Victims demand key role at KRouge trial

Wed, Jun 29, 2011
AFP

PHNOM PENH - Victims who suffered under the Khmer Rouge more than 30 years ago took centre stage Wednesday at a key trial at Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court, setting out their demands for reparations.

A remembrance day, memorials, education projects and free therapy for survivors were among the ideas listed by the civil parties, as the victims are known, on day three of the trial of four top regime leaders.

"This is part of the justice that we want," said Luk Sao, who lost her parents and five siblings at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. "It's right to demand reparations so victims can heal their trauma."

The 52-year-old is one of the 3,850 civil parties taking part in the trial of the regime's most senior surviving members, including "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea.

KR tribunal mulls Tuol Sleng reparation plan with Culture Ministry

Tuesday, 08 March 2011
Mom Kunthear
The Phnom Penh Post

Officials from the Ministry of Culture and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia met last week to discuss reparations for civil parties in future cases at the war crimes tribunal.

Seng Sought, director of the Culture Ministry’s international relations department, said the ECCC had requested talks on the construction of a memorial at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum that would contain the names of civil party victims.

“The Ministry of Culture … did not deny the request but said that if a memorial could not be built, a stupa in the Khmer style might be possible,” he said. An official annual day of commemoration for victims is also being considered, he added.

Groups Question Reparation as Tribunal Continues

The Sept. 17 amendments were aimed at reinforcing moral and collective reparation—which some victims found lacking in tribunal's first case, for Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch. (Photo: AFP)

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Friday, 15 October 2010

“We are all aware that the question of reparation is not easy to deal with, because there are many victims all over Cambodia.”

Nearly one month after the Khmer Rouge tribunal changed its rules for victim complainants, groups say they are concerned the UN-backed court has so far missed a key function.

The court was established to try senior leaders of the regime and to provide a measure of reconciliation to victims. But as it heads into its second trial, victim complainants have less access to court procedures.

It also remains unclear how the measures to improve “moral and collective reparations” will work, the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee and the French-based International Federation for Human Rights said at a regional meeting of civil parties in Kampong Cham province Thursday.

The Sept. 17 amendments were aimed at reinforcing moral and collective reparation—which some victims found lacking in tribunal's first case, for Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch. The amendments also established coordination from the court's victim support unit and the lead lawyers for civil parties.

“We are satisfied with the changes, especially providing the opportunity for the [Victim Support Section] to raise funds for reparation,” Thun Saray, president of the rights group Adhoc, told those gathered in Kampong Cham. “But it is not yet clear in its functioning. And we have recommended responsibilities for the government for reparation. But this has not been considered.”

Civil society representatives submitted a recommendation to the UN-backed court asking for “fair and adequate” compensation for victims of the Khmer Rouge, whose four senior-most leaders are awaiting trial. They also asked that the court prepare for collective reparation even in the event that those leaders die before the trial is finished.

However, in a joint statement, both the Human Rights Action Committee and the International Federation for Human Rights said it was “regrettable” those recommendations were “not heard.”

“They take the question of the victims as preeminent,” said Reach Sambath, a spokesman for the tribunal. “We are all aware that the question of reparation is not easy to deal with, because there are many victims all over Cambodia.”

The current tribunal rules cannot currently be amended, he added. Meanwhile, the court is preparing for Case No. 002, to try leaders Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith for atrocity crimes, including genocide.

The question of reparation remained high on the agenda Thursday in Kampong Cham.

Long Panhavuth, a program officer for the Cambodia Justice Initiative, said reparations must honor and recognize victims and their suffering.

Rong Chhorng, head of the Victims Support Section of the court, said the unit and lead lawyers for civil parties would work with NGOs in the search for collective reparation.

“We must find the finances to achieve our goal,” he said Thursday.

Pen Saroeun, a civil party applicant for the upcoming trial, said he wanted reparations for the province of Svay Rieng.

“We need a stupa and a museum to store the remains that have been discovered since 1979,” he said. “They are still dispersed, and some of them have disappeared.”

Khmer Rouge Leaders Indicted; Reparations Uncertain, However

Youk Chhang, director of a research team that has compiled a vault of evidence archiving the regime’s abuses, says it is the most important trial in Cambodian history.

September 21, 2010
By Irwin Loy
IPS News

A war crimes tribunal in Cambodia may have reached a major milestone this week by indicting four former leaders of the genocidal Khmer Rouge. But much more needs to be done to ensure that the long-awaited trial is meaningful to the regime’s victims, analysts say.

On Sep. 16, the tribunal announced the indictment of four Khmer Rouge leaders: Nuon Chea, the party’s chief ideologue; Ieng Sary, the foreign minister; Ieng Thirith, the social affairs minister; and Khieu Samphan, the party’s head of state.

They face charges including crimes against humanity, murder and genocide and are accused of being among the architects of a regime that caused the deaths of up to 2.2 million people during the Khmer Rouge rule from 1975 to 1979.

More than three decades after the regime collapsed, the four ageing suspects are also the only senior Khmer Rouge leaders to be charged by the United Nations-backed tribunal.

"I think the case is going to be the most important trial in Cambodian history. It could allow Cambodians to turn to the next page and move on," said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, whose researchers have compiled a vault of evidence archiving the regime’s abuses.

Officials with the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the tribunal’s official name, say they hope a trial will begin during the first half of 2011.

However, some observers say the court will not truly be effective unless it can properly address the crucial issue of how reparations will be given to victims of the regime.

In July, the court convicted former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Khek Eav. Duch, as he is better known, was convicted of overseeing the murders of an estimated 14,000 people judged to have been enemies of the regime. But advocates for victims and their surviving families said the court did not go far enough to address the hugely symbolic issue of reparations.

Part of the court’s mandate is to give a voice to victims. And so it allowed qualified victims and their families to participate directly in the proceedings as civil parties – and at levels that were unprecedented in international justice.

The tribunal is also able to award "collective and moral reparations" to approved victims. Demands from civil parties in the Duch case included free medical care, the creation of staffed education facilities and a curriculum about human rights abuses and genocide, as well as a trust fund that could provide vocational training and small-business loans.

But in the end, the court consented only to having the names of approved civil parties and victims listed in the final written judgment and for transcripts of Duch’s apologies and admissions of responsibility to be posted to the court website. This latter gesture was derided by some as being severely inadequate in a country where few rural residents have access to the Internet.

"It’s not meaningful to victims," said Sok Leang, the interim director and victims outreach manager for the NGO Centre for Justice and Reconciliation. "The names of the victims will be listed in the final verdict and then they will be digitised and posted on websites so everyone can see. This is just ridiculous in light of the technologies that victims living in remote areas have access to."

But in their decision, trial chamber judges noted that they were "constrained" by the rules of the court. It was not within the tribunal’s scope, they said, to award reparations the court had no jurisdiction to enforce – thus ruling out civil party demands to create school curriculums or national memorials.

And while the court’s legal framework stipulated that the accused was to be solely responsible for reparations, there were no measures allowing the ECCC to enforce its rulings if Duch was unwilling or unable to comply. The court was also unable to draw funding for reparations from third parties like donor countries or government.

Sok said the first case was a "test" – one that he said produced very mixed results. "I think it was a lesson for the victims as well as a lesson for the panel of judges," he said of some of the harsh reactions to the decision on reparations.

In the second case involving the four senior Khmer Rouge leaders, then, the tribunal must find more creative and symbolic solutions to the issue of reparations, should the accused be found guilty, Sok said.

"People have to have something to take away and be proud of this court; to be proud of the trial," he said. "If the reparations after this second case are similar to the first case, then most victims will not be satisfied. If the reparations are still the same, I think it will not be successful."

But the tribunal has taken measures that could see the matter handled differently in the second case. A day after the indictments were publicised, the court announced it had approved new rules that will expand its options for reparation during the second case.

The court will now be allowed to award reparations that may be funded by donor contributions. This would mean that potential reparations that would have been excluded under the old rules because the accused lacked the money to pay for them, could now be covered by donors. The rule changes do not affect the reparations rulings for the Duch trial.

"I think we are learning throughout the process what is working and what is not working," said Lars Olsen, a court spokesman. "Remember, this is the first time in international criminal justice that we have victim participation on this scale."

But while reparations have a highly symbolic meaning for victims, Olsen said the focus must remain on the trial’s criminal proceedings. "By the end of the day I believe the most important factor for any victim is to see that justice is being served," he said. "This can mainly be done through criminal proceedings, holding perpetrators responsible for crimes."

Irwin Loy was a city newspaper reporter for 24 hours Vancouver. He is currently based in Phnom Penh.

Tribunal Must Consider Reparations: Victim

Seng Theary, head of the Center for Justice and Reconciliation. (Photo: by Roland Neveu)

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Friday, 27 August 2010

"If we wait until the trials are finished, they'll forget it."

Reparation for victims of the Khmer Rouge should be a chief concern for the UN-backed tribunal in its eventual plans to bring hearings for senior leaders to a close, a civil party participant said Thursday.

Seng Theary, who has filed as a complainant in upcoming Case 002, said reparations should include a center in each of the nation's 24 provinces and municipalities to help bring reconciliation to the country.

“If we wait until the trials are finished, they'll forget it,” she said, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

“We're requesting the equipment of the [tribunal], as we know the Khmer Rouge court has a lot of materials, such as computers and vehicles,” she said. “This is a basic demand, and we will demand more than this. But to make it effective, the victims should make the requests.”

Tribunal judges are now preparing for Case 002, to try Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith for atrocity crimes committed while the Khmer Rouge was in power. But experts have also said administration officials should consider how they will wrap up the court when trials are finished.

Besides bringing senior leaders to trial, the tribunal was also meant to bring a measure of reconciliation to the country.

But the court did not do enough for victims following its first trial, for Tuol Sleng prison chief Duch, Seng Theary said.

Victims will need more, like a memorial stupa, education centers and preservation of prisons like Tuol Sleng, she said.

Press Release: Khmer Rouge Victims Demand ECCC Inventory and Provincial Learning Centers as Part of Their Right to Reparations for All KR Victims

Civil Party of Orphans Class Demands ECCC Inventory and Provincial Learning Centers
as Part of Their Right to Reparations for All KR Victims

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PRESS RELEASE
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PHNOM PENH, 23 July 2010: The Association of Khmer Rouge Victims in Cambodia (“Victims Association”)—the first Cambodia-based association to be officially registered with the Ministry of Interior and the first to be officially recognized by the Victims Support Section of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (“ECCC”)—demands that the inventory of the ECCC be given to victims after it has closed operations and that Learning Centers in all 24 provinces of Cambodia be established and furnished with this inventory. The Civil Party of Orphans Class, a sub-group within the Victims Association, has the right to reparations as a party to the ECCC criminal proceeding against the senior Khmer Rouge leaders, should they be found guilty.

After initial review of the ECCC website and communications with ECCC officials, it is our understanding that the ECCC has at minimum these basic items of inventory for its 500 personnel (350 of these Cambodian):

• 24 vehicles
• 200 desktop and laptop computers
• 25 photocopy machines
• 50 printers and scanners
• Telecommunications and communications systems (property of UN, according to Art. 1.3 of Supplementary Agreement Re Utilities, Facilities and Services)
• Air conditioners
• Televisions, screens, LCD projectors, video-conferencing equipments
• Transcription equipments
• Video cameras
• Office desks, chairs, tables, cabinets, bookshelves

It is also our understanding that (i) the Chambers may award only “collective and moral reparations to Civil Parties”, (ii) Article 39 of the ECCC Law to “be awarded against, and be borne by convicted persons” not to exclude the Cambodian government and the United Nations, parties to the laws and agreements establishing the ECCC in the provision of this collective and moral reparation as owners of the inventory (see ECCC Law Art. 44.1, 44.2, 44.4 New; Internal Rules 9.3 New), and (iii) any sensitive materials and data can be easily removed and protected before the handing over of the inventory.

Here, we would like to draw the attention of HE SOK An, Mr. Sean Visoth and his replacement Mr. Tony Kranh for the Cambodian government; Mr. Douglas Broderick and Mr. Knut Rosandhaug for the United Nations; and the donor states who are Friends of the ECCC.

In addition, we demand that provincial Learning Centers be established in each of the 24 provinces of Cambodia as part of our right to reparation and the legacy of memorializing and education. With all due respect, Phnom Penh was not the only crime scene; memorializing and resources need to include and respect the 85% of Cambodian victims who reside in the provinces. These provincial Learning Centers must be the joint efforts of local and national government with civil society and all the victims associations. Local government can donate land and office space while civil society and victims associations work to maintain and operate these Learning Centers. The Learning Center being established at Wat Samroung in Battambang with the involvement of the local community, assisted by the Center for Justice & Reconciliation and funded by the Australian Embassy is one existing example. The ECCC documents, the Virtual Tribunal, public forums and outreach materials produced by civil society and victims associations, art works are but some of the materials which can be made available at these provincial Learning Centers. These provincial Learning Centers would be furnished with the above-mentioned equipment and inventory.

Our demand for the ECCC inventory does not burden the ECCC with a new budget as they are items already financed and purchased. No one else has a greater moral and legal right to these equipment and inventory than the civil parties for the welfare of all the victims, including the new generation born after the Khmer Rouge who lost grandparents and other loved ones in addition to limited opportunities produced by the genocide. Moreover, the provincial Learning Centers do not pose a heavy financial burden, if at all, a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the national budget which can easily be legislated by the National Assembly. The benefits which these reparations of inventory and provincial Learning Centers impart toward reconciliation and legacy for the current and future generation are priceless.

We would like to thank the Center for Justice & Reconciliation (“CJR”) for facilitating our establishment and involvement in these public forums, CIVICUS Cambodia for co-organizing this particular forum, as well as the donors The Asia Foundation, the German Development Service and the Australian Embassy of these public forums, victims participation and the Battambang Learning Center.
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For further information, please contact:

• Ms. Theary C. SENG: Founding Advisor, Association of Khmer Rouge Victims in Cambodia at 012.222.552 or theary.seng@gmail.com.
• Mr. SOK Leang: Interim Director/Victims Outreach Manager, Center for Justice & Reconciliation at 012.588.081 or sokleang@cjr-cambodia.org.

For more information about:

1. The Association of Khmer Rouge Victims in Cambodia—the first association based in Cambodia to be registered with the Ministry of Interior and the first to be recognized by the ECCC Victims Support Section and independent of any political or religious affiliation—is a network of survivors of the 1975-79 killing fields who are joined in the fellowship of suffering, in the demand for justice, and in the work for a just peace. The members of the Victims Association are from overseas and spread across the provinces and capital of Cambodia, coming together as a result of the public forums conducted by its Founding Advisor Ms. Theary C. SENG and CJR Victims Outreach Manager Mr. SOK Leang since 2007. They include widows and orphans; former child soldiers and former prisoners; hard-working farmers and middle-class city-dwellers; well-known actresses playwrights, authors and journalists; as well as teachers, translators, security guards, taxi drivers, inter alia. Among the other members of the Victims Association is the Civil Party of Orphans Class, a special grouping officially recognized by the ECCC Victims Support Section and a party to the Extraordinary Chambers Case File No. 002 against the senior Khmer Rouge leaders. www.akrvc.org
2. The Center for Justice & Reconciliation, a non-profit non-governmental organization registered with the Ministry of Interior, is founded by Ms. Theary C. SENG and senior staff to continue the work of the Center for Social Development on victims outreach, psycho-social support, court monitoring and radio broadcasting with seed funding and consultants from the German Development Service. Over the last year, CJR has conducted public forums in former Khmer Rouge strongholds to give a more concrete meaning to the term “reconciliation”. www.cjr-cambodia.org
3. CIVICUS: Center for Cambodian Civic Education is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational, non-governmental organization registered with the Ministry of Interior dedicated to promoting an enlightened and responsible citizenry committed to democratic principles and actively engaged in the practice of democracy in Cambodia and the larger, globalized world. Up to now, Cambodia has had only a society of “survivors”, not of “representatives” or “citizens”. Cambodians as survivors are either “survivor-authoritarian” if the person is in a position of power or “survivor-subject” if an average person. The principal goals of CIVICUS Cambodia are to help Cambodian citizens develop (i) an increased understanding of the institutions of Cambodian constitutional democracy and the fundamental principles and values upon which they are founded, (ii) dialogue as a norm of communication, (iii) the skills necessary to participate as effective and responsible citizens, and (iv) the willingness and ease to use democratic procedures for making decisions and managing conflict. In its engagement of citizens, CIVICUS Cambodia gives a special emphasis to (i) students—from elementary to university level—and the generation born after the Khmer Rouge era, (ii) female (both girls and women) participation, and (iii) elected representatives. CIVICUS Cambodia has an official Memorandum of Understanding of partnership with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights.

Contrition all a sham, victims say

In this photo released by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Kaing Guek Eav, the former chief of the Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison, now known as Tuol Sleng genocide museum, is seen in the courtroom of the U.N.-backed tribunal, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Also known as Duch, Kaing Guek Eav is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture, and is the first of five defendants scheduled for long-delayed trials by the tribunal. (AP Photo/Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia)

Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Robbie Corey Boulet
The Phnom Penh Post

Civil party lawyers say Duch has habitually misled tribunal.

JUDGES should not be fooled by the partial confessions and feigned contrition Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, has employed in a bid to downplay the savage crimes he committed as Tuol Sleng prison commandant, civil party lawyers argued Monday during the first round of closing statements in the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s first case.

Four groups of lawyers representing 90 civil parties spent the day attacking claims that have been central to Duch’s defence strategy – that he had no choice but to follow the orders of top Khmer Rouge leaders, for example, and that he did not participate directly in interrogations, torture and executions.

“Your honours must objectively, we say, review the evidence to determine whether or not what has been accepted by the accused amounts to full disclosure and the full truth,” said lawyer Karim Khan.

Kong Pisey, a lawyer for Civil Parties Group 2, told the court that his clients viewed Duch’s repeated professions of remorse as contrived. “His attempts at forging remorse by crying, often around 4pm at the end of the hearing, can be described as crocodile tears. The civil parties felt that the tears were orchestrated and devoid of meaning.”

Lawyers also took issue with the more theatrical performances of Duch and his defence lawyers. Khan highlighted an exchange on September 16 in which international defence lawyer Francois Roux asked Duch whether civil parties could visit him in prison, and whether he would “open the door of your soul” to them. Duch responded that they could, and that he would.

“That kind of answer to that kind of question must be given either little probative value, or at the very least, it must be approached with the utmost caution,” Khan said.

Later, lawyer Philippe Canonne criticised references made by Duch and Roux to “The Death of the Wolf”, a poem by Alfred de Vigny that Duch has said helped him through his time as prison chief. Duch has highlighted, in particular, lines that read: “Shoulder your long and energetic task, / The way that Destiny sees fit to ask, / Then suffer and so die without complaint.”

Addressing Duch directly, Canonne questioned the relevance of the poem to the proceedings.

“We are not here in a trial dealing with elegancy,” he said. “We are not here in a literary discussion. I am speaking to you about the 12,000 people who died in Tuol Sleng.”

Trying ‘to bluff this court’

Khan said the clearest example of Duch’s refusal to come clean during the trial came on June 22, when he described instructions he provided for the torture of Khmer Rouge leader Ney Saran, alias Ya, in 1976.

In a letter dated October 1, 1976, Duch encouraged interrogator Tang Sin Hean, alias Pon, to step up the intensity of Ya’s torture sessions, writing: “Although it may lead to death, comrade is not acting against Angkar’s regulations.”

Duch told the court in June that the message had merely been a ploy to frighten Ya into confessing to crimes committed against the regime.
But Khan contested that assertion.

“This was not a strategy to bluff a detainee,” Khan said. “This is a strategy of the detainee to try to bluff this court.”

Khan also disputed Duch’s claim that to have had little control the operation of Tuol Sleng, calling it inconsistent with the defendant’s own testimony.

He referred to hearings in June, during which Duch described his ability to save artists from execution as well as his establishment of the killing fields at Cheoung Ek.

“He didn’t require consultation for these not-insignificant decisions. He did it under his own volition,” he said. “What happened to this autonomy?

Where did it dissolve? Where did it evaporate when it came to the interrogations, the torture and the killing of so many people?”

Kong Pisey called Duch’s cooperation with the court “neither sincere nor truthful”, highlighting, in particular, his responses to allegations of sexual violence at Tuol Sleng.

Though Duch acknowledged in June that a schoolteacher imprisoned at Tuol Sleng had been raped with a stick, he said he knew of no other such incidents.

Kong Pisey said Duch should be held “criminally liable for at least three rapes” that were mentioned during the hearings.

“The accused had sufficient reason to know that the male interrogators and guards who were deprived of a sexual life would be more likely to exploit the defenceless situation of the women prisoners,” he said.

Reparations

Several lawyers emphasised that their clients were not looking for revenge, and they elaborated on the types of reparations they were seeking as well as how they should be financed.

Kong Pisey said Duch’s self-described indigence was was no excuse for him to “sit back and relax”, and suggested that he instead spend his years in prison writing his autobiography, the proceeds of which could go towards reparations.

The four groups of civil party lawyers submitted a joint filing in September requesting, among other things, free medical care and the building of memorial pagodas as part of a reparations award. The Trial Chamber is likely to rule on reparations when it issues a verdict, which is expected early next year.

Victims Demand Reparation in Duch Case

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
23 November 2009

Civil parties in the trial of Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch insisted on reparation for victims, as final arguments in the case got underway Monday.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, has admitted responsibility for the deaths of more than 12,000 people under his administration of Tuol Sleng prison, in the first trial of the UN-backed court.

Four lawyers for civil party teams addressed the court Monday, laying serious responsibility on Duch for atrocities committed against 12,380 prisoners under his control at the prison, known as S-21.

“You forgot the humanity of men and women and of those who were detained in Tuol Sleng,” said Martin Jacquin, civil party lawyer from Group 3.

Duch, 67, is charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder, though he has already accepted blame and apologized publicly.

Karim AA Khan, a civil party lawyer, said in his conclusion that Duch’s confession had not been “honest,” and the former math teacher and revolutionary was avoiding responsibility.

“The accused recognized some atrocities that he rejected at the beginning, so the confidence in him is in doubt,” said Silke Studzensky, a lawyer for Group 2.

“What the civil parties need is justice,” said Moch Sovannary, another civil party attorney. “They do not need other things, but justice which is interpreted by reparation.”

In her conclusion, she requested the tribunal set up a volunteer and independent fund for reparation; preserve evidence and the place of crimes; and build a signboard dedicated to victims.

Khmer Rouge Tribunal Asked to Define Victim Reparation

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
20 November 2009

The Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC) and a London-based rights group, Redress, urged the Khmer Rouge Tribunal on Friday to show respect for the principle of reparation and make funds available for the regime’s survivors.

The groups insist on having victims participate in the discussions about reparations with the court, and that judges should issue an order about reparations and explain ways to find funds for it.

“We want to know clearly from the Khmer Rouge tribunal regarding the reparation,” said Hang Chhaya, director of Khmer Institute for Democracy and coordinator of the CHRAC.

But Reach Sambath, head of public affairs of UN-backed court, said the court is not yet in a position to thoroughly review the issue of reparation.

“The court is now working on Duch’s case,” he said, referring to case 001 against a notorious former Khmer Rouge prison chief. “And that issue has not been discussed in details yet.”

A Khmer Rouge Tribunal with civil parties but no guarantees of implementation of reparations

Choeung Ek (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). 17/04/2008: Commemoration of the start of Pol Pot’s regime at the “Killing Fields” in Choeung Ek (Photo: John Vink/ Magnum)

03-06-2009
By Stéphanie Gée
Ka-set

While the Rules Committee of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) – which examines potential amendments of the Internal Rules of the jurisdiction backed by the United Nations –, is meeting this week in Phnom Penh, the issue of the reparations to be awarded to victims of the Khmer Rouge is back on the table. Cambodian civil society organisations as well as lawyers for civil parties at the ECCC called to clarify this point as soon as possible, instead of waiting until the end of the judicial process, so that the measures provided for in the rules regarding collective and moral reparations do not remain a simple symbolic rule on paper.

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Khmer Rouge Victims Consider Reparation

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
27 November 2008

Click here to listen to the Khmer audio program

Survivors of the Khmer Rouge want justice for those killed and reparation for the rest.

Not only survivors, but Cambodia’s younger generation too is seeking reparations for the nearly 2 million victims of the Khmer Rouge. Nobody yet knows what exactly that will mean.

“We need hospitals for victims,” Chhou Ny Sinan, project officer for justice and reconciliation of Youth for Peace, said Thursday, during a two-day seminar on reparations for victims. “We need support to build centers for the old, widows and children.”

Victims of the regime, non-governmental agencies and other participants discussed Wednesday and Thursday the needs of victims, as a Khmer Rouge tribunal moves forward.

Some victims said they needed common reparation, such as monuments, schools and hospitals. And they need real justice.

“We need a place that we can pray for the souls of the victims,” said Seng Theary, executive director of the Center for Social Development, whose parents were killed by the regime. Crying, she added: “1.7 million lives, who died, this is costly and we must have respect for them, and give them honors.”

Other survivors of the regime, such Chum Mei, a former prisoner of Tuol Sleng, whose director, Duch, is to go on trial next year, and Sum Rithy, who lived through a Khmer Rouge prison in Siem Reap, said individual reparation should be available.

The internal rules of the Khmer Rouge tribunal do not allow for individual reparation, such as awarding cash to victims, but for “psychological” or common reparation.

“Compensation cannot be done for individuals,” Kong Srim, president of the tribunal’s Supreme Court, said Thursday.

However, lawyers for the tribunal said the internal rules are not clear enough in their definition of “psychological.”

They asked for recommendations for an amendment to the rules.