War Crimes

Jacques Verges, the lawyer for notorious assassin Carlos the Jackal, arrived in Cambodia to defend Khieu Samphan, the former head of state of the Cambodia Khmer Rouge at the war crimes tribunal there. Khieu was a prominent communist thinker prior to entering the political scene to force a eugenic campaign in Cambodia following the coup that brought the Khmer Rouge to power in the wake of the Vietnam War. His doctoral thesis, “Cambodia’s Economy and Industrial Development” preached a national autonomy that blamed wealthy industrial states for poverty in the Third World. He was arrested in 2007 following his release from hospital after suffering a stroke.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A French lawyer who defended terrorists and a former Nazi officer arrived in Cambodia on Monday to represent a former Khmer Rouge leader.

Jacques Verges declined to comment and only said “go to the court” before being whisked away in a car after his arrival at Phnom Penh International Airport.

Verges will join a Cambodian attorney to argue former Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan’s appeal against his pretrial detention.

The U.N.-assisted tribunal has held Khieu Samphan since Nov. 19 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from atrocities committed under Khmer Rouge rule in 1975-79.

The communist group’s radical policies led to the deaths of some 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution.

Khieu Samphan is one of five former leaders of the group held for their alleged roles in the atrocities. He has repeatedly denied any involvement.

Verges has won international notoriety for his past efforts in defending criminals such as Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal and Nazi Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie.

Khieu Samphan has said he has known Verges since he attended university in France in the 1950s, when both were active in student movements against French colonialism.

Khieu Samphan’s defense team also includes Say Bory, a Cambodian lawyer who used to serve on the constitutional council, the country’s highest legal body.

Say Bory said the defense is challenging both the tribunal’s grounds for detaining Khieu Samphan and its arguments implicating him in the Khmer Rouge’s atrocities.

Dith Pran, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide and photojournalist for The New York Times, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer at a New Jersey hospital.  He was 65.

Dith worked alongside the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sydney Schanberg to relay the story of the Cambodian atrocities to the international news media at both of their perils. Schanberg credits Dith with saving his life when the pair were captured by the Khmer Rouge.

Dith suffered in a Cambodian labor camp run by the radical communist regime when the Khmer Rouge seized power there in 1975.  He spent several years at the labor camp and lost more than 50 of his relatives to torture or starvation.

Schanberg remembers Dith as a journalist who was “always doing good deeds for people in the Buddhist tradition.” Dith escaped Cambodia to Thailand in 1979 where Schanberg flew to met him. He long advocated attention to the Cambodian genocides, compiling several stories and books on the subject while continuing his work with the Times.  Dith was portrayed by Dr. Haing Ngor, himself a Cambodian survivor, in the portrayal of the atrocities, “The Killing Fields,” and won an Academy Award for his role.

The world has lost a tireless advocate and a hero.

The New York Times 

Officials overseeing the tribunal examining the atrocities committed by Cambodia’s notorious Khmer Rouge regime led its seminal prison leader, Kaing Guek Eav, known simply as “Duch,” through the prison system he once ran.  Tribunal officials lead Duch through a “re-enactment” of the systematic torture conducted at the converted high-school called the S-21 prison.  Duch, a 65-year-old former math teacher, led the S-21 detention facility where more than 14,000 people were tortured under his strict authority.  Only 14 people survived their detention there.

“Under his authority, countless abuses were committed, including mass murder, arbitrary detention and torture,” the presiding judge said at the opening of his tribunal in November. A former guard at the facility said Duch never directly participated in an execution, but was known to visit the Choeung Ek killing field to observe the executions.

Three survivors of the prison accompanied Duch on the tour of the facility, which now serves as a genocide museum.  Witnesses to the atrocities and the survivors told Duch of their recollection of the events as they toured the facility.  A spokesman for the tribunal, Reach Sambath, said Duch wept openly as he explained what happened under his tenure at the prison. Witnesses to the “re-enactment” said Duch broke down near a tree on the prison grounds where executioners killed child captives by repeatedly bashing their heads against the trunk. 

I’ve written here before that the mixed tribunal system employed in the Khmer Rouge tribunal is admirable.  It was on the verge of collapse last fall because participants sympathetic to the Khmer Rouge regime sought to impose certain restrictions on the proceedings that would have significantly hampered the case, but it seems to be moving along as several high-ranking members of the Khmer Rouge now face prosecution. In January, the tribunal held a sort of town hall meeting introducing the proceedings of the tribunal to locals in a village ravaged by the Khmer Rouge. The audience watched a 25-minute film explaining how the tribunal process works and received a general panel discussion as well. 

But parading a 65-year-old man through a genocide museum 30 years after the atrocities?  This almost smacks of victor’s justice.  It’s certainly within the realm of remote possibility that the images running through Duch’s mind are enough torment, but then again, the Khmer Rouge are responsible for millions of deaths during their torturous rule.  It’s said the Duch converted to Christianity in the early 1990’s and considers himself a peaceful man, and it seems the tribunal is proceeding with the interest of the Cambodians in mind, but this tactic is questionable.  It’s easy to cry “bastard!” and shove their noses in it, so to speak but does reconciliation, which it seems this sort of prosecution aims for, include revisiting or reliving the atrocity?  In Iraq, the horrors of the al-Anfal campaign come up again and again, regarding Srebrenica, the graphic video of several young men being led to their execution serves as a reminder of the horrors of mankind, but a “re-enactment” tour of a genocide museum seems to be inflicting emotional trauma on the accused which hardly seems an act of pragmatic justice.

AP 

Officials and judges from the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal for former members of the Khmer Rouge traveled to one of the disposed regime’s villages to hold a town hall meeting for local residents. Five senior members of the Khmer Rouge were arrested in 2007 and charged with a variety of atrocities, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. It’s estimated than nearly 2 million people died in a quasi-eugenics campaign backed by the Khmer Regime to form an ultra-communist agrarian utopia through forced labor camps.

The senior members included 66-year old “Duch”, a former math teacher who lead the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, or S-21, where more than 14,000 people were tortured under his strict authority.

“Justice is not only for the victims, but also for those who have been charged. For truth to be found, your participation is needed,” said Cambodian tribunal judge, You Bunleng.

Villagers sat on a tile floor thumbing through a brochure titled “An Introduction to the Trial of Khmer Rouge Leaders” whose cover depicted villagers in the 1980s discovering the skulls of victims.

“I can’t read,” said one 50-year-old woman. “But this picture shows the killing during the Khmer Rouge era.”

The audience also watched a 25-minute film explaining how the tribunal process works.

Several members of the audience expressed outrage of the alleged unbalanced portrayal of the Khmer Rouge as the sole party responsible for the millions of deaths in Cambodia. The United States heavily bombarded Cambodia during the Vietnam War and the Vietnamese occupied Cambodia after toppling the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979.

“The Khmer Rouge is the victim,” one man declared to thunderous applause.

You know what? Good for him! Last year, this tribunal was on the verge of collapse. I remember studying this one in grad school and there was a boat load of criticism heaped on the tribunal’s hybrid system of justice for allowing undue Khmer Rouge sympathy to influence the legislative outlines of the tribunal. It’s refreshing to see such a transparent, grass-roots system emerging out of this one. It’s frustrating to see the opaque trials, such as the Iraqi Tribunal and some of the more sterile prosecutions, like the Yugoslavian examinations, take place without this sort of community town-hall effort. The tribunal examining Liberian President Charles Taylor is okay at this too. In that system, the heavy-hitters are being prosecuted in a hybrid system seated at the Hague because the domestic systems simply can’t handle that level of examination for several reasons. I’m a big fan of this bubble-up type of system … it seems to be helping things along in Iraq for whatever that’s worth. It’s striking how many lessons the Big Bad West can learn from countries typically seen as bass-ackwards. Let’s hope the Khmer Rouge system keeps this momentum up, albeit 30 some years after the atrocities were committed.

Kaing Guek Eav, known as “Duch,” walked into a courtroom to face charges for the deaths of 1.7 million people nearly 30 years after the atrocities in Cambodia came to an end. Duch, 66, is a former math teacher who lead the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, or S-21, where more than 14,000 people were tortured under his strict authority. Few survived the detention.

“Under his authority, countless abuses were committed, including mass murder, arbitrary detention and torture,” the presiding judge said. A former guard at the facility said Duch never directly participated in an execution, but was known to visit the Choeung Ek killing field to observe the executions.

The hearing Tuesday follows the arrest of the last of the former Khmer Rouge leaders, former president Kheiu Samphan. Ieng Sary, the former foreign minister, and his wife were arrested Nov. 12. Nuan Chea, the Khmer Rouge’s chief ideologist was arrested earlier this year. All face war crimes charges for atrocities committed during the Khmer Rouge regime.

The Khmer Rouge were an ultra-communist regime who ruled Cambodia from 1975-79 with the goal of creating a classless, utopian society based on an agrarian economy. The starvation, forced labor, and death camps allegedly resulted in the death of nearly 2 million people. The leader of the regime, Pol Pot, died in 1998 and his military advisor, Ta Mok, died in custody in 2006.

NYT

Cambodian police officials arrested the former foreign minister of the Khmer Rouge along with his wife Monday and brought before the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Officials detained Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, at the tribunal headquarters in Phnom Pehn at dawn. A filing by the prosecutor at the tribunal said Ieng Sary “promoted, instigated, facilitated, encouraged and/or condoned the perpetration of the crimes” during the Khmer Rouge reign including “policies of forcible transfer, forced labor and unlawful killings.”

The Khmer Rouge were an ultra-communist regime who ruled Cambodia from 1975-79 with the goal of creating a classless, utopian society based on an agrarian economy. The starvation, forced labor, and death camps allegedly resulted in the death of nearly 2 million people. The leader of the regime, Pol Pot, died in 1998 and his military advisor, Ta Mok, died in custody in 2006. Kaing Guek Eav, known as “Duch,” and Nuan Chea, a Khmer Rouge ideologists, were arrested earlier this year on war crimes charges. “Duch” was the chief overseer of operations at the notorious S-21 detention camp. (more…)

The former foreign minister for the Khmer Rouge, leng Sary, declared his innocence on Sunday. The former minister was in Thailand over the weekend on declining health issues. His comments reflect rumors regarding the U.N. war crimes tribunal examining the role of the Khmer Rouge in the deaths of some 1.7 million people when they ruled Cambodia during the late 1970’s. He claims he had done nothing wrong.

Leng Sary, 77, was in the Thai capital, Bangkok, over the weekend for a regular checkup for a health condition. He arrived being assisted in a wheel chair by his aide. He claimed to have heard about his possible role at the U.N. war crimes tribunal on the radio when he left Cambodia for Thailand.

The Khmer Rouge, led by its president Pol Pot, led Cambodia from 1975 - 1979 following the conflict spiral from U.S. operations in neighboring Vietnam. They sought to establish a “new people” through isolation and the creation of a classless agrarian utopia. Khmer Rouge leaders developed “killing fields” where the ultra-communist regime practiced a quasi-eugenics campaign through forced labor and extermination of Cambodian elites.

The tribunal has recommended prosecution for five former members of the Khmer Rouge. Only two, Nuan Chea - considered Pol Pot’s right-hand man, and Kaing Guek Eav, (”Duch”), who was the head of security at the notorious S-21 detention center - have been named by tribunal officials. The other suspects have not been identified, though it is believed leng Sary is among the unidentified suspects.

A previous tribunal set up in Cambodia in 1979 found Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge leader, and leng Sary guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. That tribunal, however, lacked the judicial strength to prosecute its conviction.

AP

Nuon Chea, the right-hand man to Cambodian President Pol Pot, was formally charged with war crimes and for crimes against humanity by the U.N. backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.  Nuon Chea, known as “Brother Number Two”, was detained and arrested Wednesday in connection with the deaths of nearly 1.7 million people during the Khmer Rouge’s reign from 1975 - 79.  Nuoan Chea was the Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (Cambodia), which held responsibility over party and state security.  He is 81.

According to the detention order,  Nuon Chea was complicit in “murder, torture, imprisonment, persecution, extermination, deportation, forcible transfer, enslavement and other inhumane acts.”  The charges allege that Nuon Chea was responsible for laying out the “master plan” of the Khmer Rouge that called for aggressions against ethnic Vietnamese and other elites deemed unfavorable by the extremist Beijing-backed Communist faction.  The detention order notes Nuon Chea’s counter to the charges, stating that he had no direct authority over military commanders and bears no responsibility for their action.

Nuon Chea did, however, hold authority of state security matters, including the notorious S-21 detention center.  Centered at the Tuol Sleng high school, the S-21 detention center was used to “re-educate” prisoners to the Khmer Rouge ideology of creating a “new people” in a classless agrarian utopia.  More than 14,000 people were killed in the detention center - 10 people survived their internment.  Kaing Guek Eav, known as “Duch”, headed the detention center and was charged with war crimes on July 31.  In an interview from 1999, Duch claims Nuon Chea ordered the execution of 300 soldiers in a party purge, stating “He called to meet me and said, ‘Don’t bother to interrogate them - just kill them.”

Nuon Chea faces life imprisonment of convicted of all charges.  As is consistent with the majority of modern society, Cambodia does not use capital punishment.

Reuters/AP

Nuon Chea, “Brother Number Two” of the Khmer Rouge regime, was arrested yesterday in his home in northeastern Cambodia.  Cambodian special forces officers surrounded the 82-year old’s home and served him with arrest warrants before he was taken to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia - the headquarters of the special tribunal there to examine alleged war crimes of the Khmer Rouge.  It is estimated that 1.7 million people had died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge during an extreme Marxist restructuring campaign in the late 1970’s.

The Khmer Rouge, led by its president Pol Pot, led Cambodia from 1975 - 1979 following the conflict spiral from U.S. operations in neighboring Vietnam.  They sought to establish a “new people” through isolation and the creation of a classless agrarian utopia.  Khmer Rouge leaders developed “killing fields” where the ultra-communist regime practiced a quasi-eugenics campaign through forced labor and extermination of Cambodian elites.

The Khmer Rouge Tribunal was introduced through a 1999 bill sponsored by the U.N. Secretary General, Kofi Annan.  The tribunal is a hybrid system where Cambodian judges hold the majority say in major developments and operates according to the Cambodian system of justice.  Cambodian judges, however, need one consenting vote from foreign participants for most decisions to hold.  The tribunal nearly dissolved recently as the independence and aptitude of Cambodian legal professions was questioned.

Nuon Chea, who was considered Pol Pot’s right-hand man, has denied responsibility for the atrocities in Cambodia.  He said in a an interview with the Associated Press recently that he would be ready to face questioning, stating; “I was president of the National Assembly and had nothing to do with the operation of the government.”

Prosecutors for the tribunal have indicated several top Khmer Rouge leaders are under investigation.  Though the court has not officially released their names, it is believed that they are the former President, Khieu Samphan,  former  Foreign Minister  leng Sary, and Meas Muth, the son in-law of a major military chief.  The chief executioner for the Khmer Rouge, Kang Kek Ieu, a/k/a “Duch”, was arrested earlier this year.  Pol Pot and other major Khmer Rouge leaders died before the tribunal was fully developed.

AP/Reuters

The first suspect appeared before the U.N. backed Cambodian genocide tribunal to investigate former members of the Khmer Rouge. Kaing Khek lev, better known as Duch, was questioned for his role as the former prison warden in the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh. The prison was notorious for being used as a torture chamber, where some 16,000 people were processed and turned over to slave labor or murdered at the infamous “killing fields.”

The “killing fields” were mass sites used by the ultra-communist Khmer Rouge regime to practice a quasi-eugenics campaign. They tried to exploit communist ideals to create a classless society by way of an agrarian utopia through isolation, hard labor, and extermination. Pol Pot, the leader of the regime, used the prison as a secret detention facility and slaughterhouse during his genocidal regime that lasted from 1975-1979. During his rule, nearly 2-million people died from starvation, disease, forced labor and execution.

Kaing Khek lev is among five other former Khmer Rouge leaders that were handed over to the U.N. tribunal on July 18, 2007. Part of the prosecutions evidence are prison records from S-21 maintained by Kaing Khek lev.

After maintaining an existence among leftist sympathizers since the Vietnamese overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979, he re-surfaced in 1999 after a photojournalist had a chance encounter with the man. He has been in military custody since then. He is 62.

AP

UPDATE: The BBC is reporting that “Duch” has been charged with crimes against humanity for his role in the Cambodian genocide. The UN tribunal was expected to hand down its charges at the end of this week, but todays developments signify that there is at least some willingness in Cambodia to face its tumultuous past. There has been criticism in the past of transparency at the hybrid tribunal and the entire system was on the verge of collapse. This signifies, according to one survivor of the S-21 prison, “immense progress.”