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 (Indictment).  The Closing Order (or INDICTMENT) 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, English and French. Contact the ECCC for a free copy. 

 

CLOSING ORDER

of Co-Investigating Judges You Bunleng and Marcel Lemonde

15 September 2010

IX. ROLES OF THE CHARGED PERSONS

A. NUON CHEA

Participation in The Common Purpose

Movement of the Population

889.            Through his various roles in the CPK, Nuon Chea participated in the movement of the population from towns and cities to rural areas, as well as from one rural area to another.

890.            The CPK moved the population from a number of cities prior to 17 April 1975 while Nuon Chea was on the Standing Committee. According to Khieu Samphan, in 1960 during the first Party Congress, at which Nuon Chea was present, a determination was made that the cities were likely places for enemies of the Party to assemble.³⁷⁹⁶ In a speech in July 1978, Nuon Chea confirmed this position stating that before 1975, there were few enemies in rural areas but many in the cities.³⁷⁹⁷ Further during the speech he gave at the 9^th anniversary of the RAK on 16 January 1977, Nuon Chea mentioned the evacuation of Banam in the East Zone in 1973 and Udong in the Special Zone in 1974.³⁷⁹⁸

891.            On several occasions during and after the regime, Nuon Chea endorsed and defended this policy. He explained that immediately after liberation the cities were evacuated for security reasons in order to "smash" the plan that "involved joint action on the part of the USA, the KGB and Vietnam" to seize power from the CPK.³⁷⁹⁹ After the regime, he added that the evacuation was necessary to protect the people from war³⁸⁰⁰ and that it was a temporary measure because of the lack of food and fuel in the cities.³⁸⁰¹ Talking about the people who were moved he states "Not many people died, later on yes but during the evacuation they were still physically strong"²⁸⁰² Nuon Chea was also made aware of the CPK-era movements of the population through the receipt of telegrams, such as one dated 11 December 1977 which mentions the distribution of new people from Siem Reap to other districts.³⁸⁰³

Phase 1

898. Nuon Chea participated in the decision making process that led to the movement of people from the cities, in particular Phnom Penh, to the countryside. In an interview after the regime he stated that this decision was made by "the Party Centre ".³⁸⁰⁴ He nevertheless also stated that the analysis that led to the decision to evacuate the cities was taken by the CPK Military Committee, a committee he denies membership of.³⁸⁰⁵

899. Nuon Chea was involved in the continued planning of this policy through his participation in meetings in late March and early April 1975.³⁸⁰⁶ In early April, a meeting took place at Pol Pot's office in Tang Poun Village, Kampong Tralach (Leu) District in Kampong Chhnang Province. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the evacuation of Phnom Penh and the implementation of this policy. Nuon Chea participated in the meeting, took his own notes, and according to a witness "Mr. Nuon Chea also provided his impressions and agreed to the plan".³⁸⁰⁷

900. In April 1975, Nuon Chea and Son Sen held a meeting with military commanders from all zones,³⁸⁰⁸ in which they planned and coordinated the attack on Phnom Penh. In an interview after the regime Nuon Chea stated "we attacked and we took military bases inside. So by 17 April 75, liberation, the army went in and completely liberated Phnom Penh"³⁸⁰⁹ Together with other CPK leaders, Nuon Chea left the former CPK headquarters on 17 April 1975 and entered Phnom Penh on or around 20 April 1975.³⁸¹⁰ This is consistent with the first recorded CPK leaders' meeting held in Phnom Penh which took place "less than a week after the liberation" at the train station and where Nuon Chea is recorded as present .³⁸¹¹

Phase 2

901. The decision to move people from the Central (Old North), Southwest, West and East Zones to the North and Northwest Zones was made by the members of the Standing Committee after they visited the Northwest Zone between 20 and 24 August 1975. It is likely that Nuon Chea was part of this trip and participated in the subsequent Standing Committee meeting.³⁸¹² At a minimum, he was also aware of a Party document dated September 1975 that specified the need to relocate new people to the North and Northwest Zones.³⁸¹³ This document coincided with an enlarged Standing Committee meeting in September 1975 to discuss strengthening agriculture and industry and which Nuon Chea attended.³⁸¹⁴ Telegram 15, dated November 1975,³⁸¹⁵ concerning problems arising in the implementation of the decision to transfer Cham and other people out of the East to the North Zone en masse, was sent by Chhon to Pol Pot

and copied to Nuon Chea. A witness in charge of telegrams for Centre Office K-1 states that the Chairman of the Telegram Unit made the decision to copy this telegram to Nuon Chea

"because this telegram is related to the people, it had to be sent to Nuon Chea ... in order to find a solution" .³⁸¹⁶

Phase 3

902.            This population movement occurred while Nuon Chea was a full-rights member of the Standing Committee. Further, it was linked to the East Zone purge which took place, in part, because of CPK fears that the Vietnamese had infiltrated its ranks in the East Zone in order to stage a coup d'etat. The decision to move the people was made by the CPK Centre. A witness states that he participated in a meeting in the Northwest Zone where Ta Mok referred to Sao Phim as a traitor, and stated that "Angkar" was going to move the population from the East Zone to the Northwest Zone to check whether they were against the Party line or whether they were connected to the Vietnamese.³⁸¹⁷ As described in detail in other sections of the Closing Order, Nuon Chea became de facto Secretary of the East Zone for a period after the suicide of Sao Phim³⁸¹⁸ and he actively participated in the purge of the East Zone to which this phase of the population movement was linked.³⁸¹⁹