War Crimes

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.”

Cambodian and international officials convened in a hotel conference room to negotiate the ground rules for the special courts to try members of the Khmer Rouge regime for crimes against humanity.  The Khmer Rouge Tribunal is a mixed regime, with Cambodia holding jurisdiction under international assistance.  The proceedings have been under negotiation since a bill was introduced in Cambodian legislation in 1999 to enact the mixed system.

The Khmer Rouge was an extremist Communist power that was the ruling party, under Pol Pot, in Cambodia from 1975-1979.  The Khmer Rouge sought to establish a “New People” through isolation from outside influence.  They tried to exploit communist ideals to create a classless society by way of an agrarian utopia through isolation, hard labor, and extermination.  Following a Vietnamese ouster, the Khmer Rouge leaders were accused of the torture, starvation, and mass slaughter of over 1.7 million Cambodians, or nearly a quarter of the country’s population.  Many of the key former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, including Pol Pot, have died and many are in their late 70’s.  Only one, however, Kang Kek Ieu (“Duch”), chief executioner for the Khmer Rouge, is in custody.

The status of the court hangs in jeopardy.  The mixed nature of the tribunal has been the major issue of contention.  International monitors insist that international standards of justice be observed in all manners of the system, while Cambodian officials argue that their jurisdiction should hold precedent over the proceedings.   The Cambodian officials are accused of attempting to limit the scope of the investigations due to Khmer Rouge sympathetic views.  International officials have threatened to quit the tribunal if negotiations break down further.

AP/BBC

The Khmer Rouge was an extremist Communist power that was the ruling party, under Pol Pot, in Cambodia from 1975-1979. The Khmer Rouge sought to establish a “New People” through isolation from outside influence. They tried to exploit communist ideals to create a classless society by way of an agrarian utopia through isolation, hard labor, and extermination. Following a Vietnamese ouster, the Khmer Rouge leaders were accused of the torture, starvation, and mass slaughter of over 1.7 million Cambodians, or nearly a quarter of the country’s population. Many of the key former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, including Pol Pot, have died and many are in their late 70’s. Only one, however, Kang Kek Ieu (“Duch”), chief executioner for the Khmer Rouge, is in custody.

Then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan initiated an examination to prosecute the leaders of the Khmer Rouge, and in 1999, a bill was introduced in Cambodia to establish a mixed tribunal system there. The Khmer Rouge Tribunal commingles domestic law with international customs and treaties. For example, the definition of genocide has been altered according to the Khmer Rouge Statute, and does not correlate to the Genocide Convention per se. The Tribunal also prohibits foreigners from addressing the court, and only advises international criminal standards if there is a gap in existing Cambodian law.

There have been many obstacles to this tribunal and its fate hangs in the balance. There have been contentions from the Cambodians regarding an understanding of the intent of the Tribunal system, as well as the scope of indictments and the use of foreign counsel. The Cambodians are accused of attempting to limit the scope of the investigation and retain complete autonomy over the system. There have also been allegations questioning the independence and aptitude of Cambodian legal professionals. According to an article by The Guardian, an investigative judge involved with the process has stated that “if new rules … are not adopted we will not go forward because it would be useless. Then we would have to examine the possibility of the international judges asking the UN to withdraw the whole process. It’s now or never”. Thirty years after the atrocities, it appears that justice is on the verge of abandonment.

The mixed tribunal system raises many questions. According to the rules of the International Criminal Court, prosecution cannot proceed without invitation, and invokes a “principle of complimentarity”, which states that the ICC compliments a national system and does not replace that system. However, the ICC only holds jurisdiction over cases occurring after its establishment. Furthermore, mixed tribunals are not Security Council derived, but are the results of negotiations between states and the UN. While this system leaves the autonomous entity of the nation state in tact and coordinates with international standards, the logistics may prove overly burdensome, as in the case of the Khmer Rouge.

Yale has an excellent timeline of the Cambodian war crimes regime here
The website for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia is here
The United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials home page is here
The Guardian UK article is here
And National Public Radio has commentary here