Four top Khmer Rouge leaders went on trial at Cambodia’s UN-backed war crimes court yesterday charged with genocide and other atrocities during the Maoist group’s reign of terror in the late 1970s.
The case, described as the most complex since the landmark Nazi trials after World War II, has been long awaited by survivors of the regime, which wiped out nearly a quarter of the population.
The elderly defendants, including “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea and former head of state Khieu Samphan, looked frail as they sat in the dock.
“The (court) opens the initial hearing of case 002,” chief judge Nil Nonn told the court.
In its first trial, the tribunal sentenced former prison chief Kaing Guek Eav – also known as Duch – to 30 years in jail last July for overseeing the deaths of 15,000 people.
The four accused face charges including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes over the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork, torture or execution during the Khmer Rouge’s brutal 1975-79 rule.
The genocide charges relate specifically to the murders of Vietnamese people and ethnic Cham Muslims. They deny the accusations and the trial, which has been long awaited by victims in the traumatised nation, is expected to be long and complex.
“I am not happy with this hearing,” Nuon Chea said in a brief and unexpected statement, wearing his trademark sunglasses. He added that his lawyer would explain why later.
The trial is seen as vital to healing the traumatised nation’s deep scars. “This trial is very important to find justice for those who died and for the survivors,” said Cambodian farmer Khem Nareth, 56, who lost his mother and brother under the regime.“I want the court to jail the four leaders for life. The regime was very cruel.”
The initial hearing is scheduled to last four days and will focus on expert and witness lists and preliminary legal objections. Full testimony from the suspects, held at a purpose-built detention centre since their 2007 arrests, will not take place until late August at the earliest. Hundreds of Cambodians travelled to the court early yesterday to see the four in the dock. The trial is the culmination of years of preparation by the war crimes tribunal, which was established in 2006 after nearly a decade of negotiations between Cambodia and the UN.
Factbox
The regime
The communist Khmer Rouge seized control of Cambodia in April 1975 and immediately began dismantling modern society in their drive to transform the country into an agrarian utopia.
Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork, torture or execution under the regime, which abolished religion, schools and currency. The Khmer Rouge were driven from power in 1979 by Vietnamese troops and former regime members who defected, including Hun Sen, now Cambodia’s Prime Minister. He was a mid-level military commander until fleeing to Vietnam in 1977. Under him, the Cambodian government fought the Khmer Rouge until the movement collapsed in the late 1990s.
The tribunal
Cambodia and the UN signed an agreement in 2003 to establish the tribunal. Known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), it is a complex hybrid court combining elements of international and domestic law.
Its mandate is to prosecute senior leaders and “those most responsible” for the crimes committed between 1975 and 1979. The court can impose a sentence of up to life in prison. There is no death penalty and no financial compensation for victims.
The tribunal has cost more than $110 million so far. It is funded almost entirely by foreign nations, the biggest donor being Japan.
It was widely praised for its first trial but it has come under fire from survivors in recent months who fear the court is bowing to political pressure to wind up proceedings after the second trial. Officially, the court is still looking into two more cases against five other unnamed Khmer Rouge suspects but observers widely expect these third and fourth cases to be dismissed.
Those who escaped justice
“Brother Number One” Pol Pot died in 1998 at the age of 73 while under house arrest by Khmer Rouge rebels who had turned against him.
Ta Mok, a feared military commander nicknamed “The Butcher” for the massacres and purges he ordered, was arrested in 1999. He was awaiting trial by the war crimes court but he died in 2006 at the age of 80.
Because of the tribunal’s limited scope, thousands of lower-level Khmer Rouge members and fighters who carried out the regime’s brutal acts will also never face the court.
Key dates
Key dates in the history of Cambodia since the Khmer Rouge took power in 1975:
April 17, 1975: The Khmer Rouge enter the capital Phnom Penh, beginning a reign of terror under leader Pol Pot that leaves up to two million dead.
1977: Cambodia launches bloody incursions into Vietnam and cuts off relations with Hanoi.
December 25, 1978: Vietnam invades Cambodia.
January 7, 1979: Phnom Penh falls to the Vietnamese, who install a new regime. Civil war begins, pitting the Khmer Rouge, nationalists and royalists against each other.
January 14, 1985: Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge cadre who defected, is appointed as Prime Minister of Cambodia’s Vietnam-installed government.
September 27, 1989: Vietnam says it has withdrawn from Cambodia.
October 23, 1991: A peace treaty is signed to end the conflict. Cambodia is placed under UN supervision until elections are held. UN peacekeepers begin operations almost five months later.
May 23, 1993: After decades of unrest, the first democratic elections are held, sponsored by the UN.
September 24, 1993: Prince Norodom Ranariddh of the royalist Funcinpec party becomes first Prime Minister, and Hun Sen of the Cambodian People’s Party is named second Prime Minister.
July 7, 1994: The Khmer Rouge is outlawed.
August 8, 1996: Former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary defects to the Cambodian government, bringing thousands of followers with him.
July 5-6, 1997: Hun Sen ousts Norodom Ranariddh from power after violent clashes between the two factions.
End of March, 1998: The Khmer Rouge’s last stronghold, Anlong Veng, falls to government forces but top leaders including Pol Pot escape.
April 15, 1998: Pol Pot dies.
December 25, 1998: Top Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea, Pol Pot’s deputy, defects to the government along with the regime’s ex-head of state Khieu Samphan.
March 6, 1999: Ta Mok, the last of the top Khmer Rouge rebels, is arrested.
May 10, 1999: Cambodian authorities arrest Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, for his role as head of the Khmer Rouge S-21 interrogation centre.
June 6, 2003: After tough negotiations, the UN and Cambodia agree to an international tribunal for former Khmer Rouge leaders.
July 3, 2006: Cambodian and international judges for the Khmer Rouge tribunal are sworn in.
July 21, 2006: Ta Mok, known as “The Butcher”, dies before appearing in front of the tribunal.
July 31, 2007: Duch is transferred to prison at the Khmer Rouge court.
September 19, 2007: “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea is arrested.
November 12, 2007: Former Khmer Rouge Social Affairs Minister Ieng Thirith is arrested along with her husband Ieng Sary.
November 19, 2007: Khieu Samphan is arrested.
February 17, 2009: Opening of Duch’s trial, the first at Cambodia’s UN-backed war crimes court.
March 31, 2009: Duch admits responsibility for his crimes and asks for forgiveness. He later asks to be acquitted on the grounds he was not a senior regime leader.
July 26, 2010: Duch sentenced to 30 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
September 16, 2010: Top former regime leaders Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Khieu Samphan are indicted for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
March 28-29, 2011: Duch’s lawyers call for his acquittal at an appeal hearing, saying the jailer falls outside the court’s jurisdiction. The prosecution demands a harsher sentence, saying Duch lacks remorse.
June 27, 2011: Start of the court’s second trial involving the regime’s four most senior surviving leaders.