Khmer Rouge Tribunal

The list below details the counts against each individual indicted in the Court and his or her current status. The column titled CCL lists the number of counts (if any) of crimes under Cambodian law with which an individual has been charged. G the number of counts of the crime of genocide, H the number of counts of crimes against humanity, W the number of counts of war crimes, DCP the number of counts of destruction of cultural property, and CAD the number of crimes against diplomats. Note that these are the counts with which an individual was indicted, not convicted.

Kang Kek Iew before the tribunal on 20 July 2009

Kang Kek Iew, or "Comrade Duch", was one of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge. He headed the Santebal—a special branch of the Khmer Rouge in charge of internal security and running prison camps. In addition, Kang Kek Iew ran the notorious Tuol Sleng (S-21) prison in Phnom Penh.[53]

Kang Kek Iew was the first of the five brought before the tribunal. His hearings began on 17 September 2009 and concluded on 27 November 2010. Seven areas of relevance resurfaced frequently during Kang Kew Lew's trial: issues relating to M-13, the establishment of S-21 and the Takmao prison, the implementation of CPK policy at S-21, armed conflict, the functioning of S-21, the establishment and functioning of S-24; and issues relating to character of Kang Kek Iew himself. His lieutenant Mam Nay, the feared leader of the interrogation unit of the Santebal, gave testimony on 14 July 2009 and, although implicated in hands-on torture and execution along with Duch, he was not charged.[54][55]

On 26 July 2010, the tribunal found Kang Kek Iew guilty of crimes against humanity, and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. Initially, Kang Kek Iew was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment. However, this was reduced owing to his illegal detention by the Cambodian Military Court between 1999 and 2007 and time already spent in the custody of the ECCC.[56] The sentence was extended to life in prison on appeal.[57]

Nuon Chea before the tribunal on 5 December 2011

During the rule of the Khmer Rouge, Nuon Chea, party's chief ideologist, acted as the right-hand man of leader, Pol Pot. Allegations against Nuon Chea included crimes against humanity (murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation imprisonment, torture, persecution on political, racial, and religious grounds), genocide, and serious breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (willful killing, torture or inhumane treatment, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, willfully depriving a prisoner of war or civilian the rights of fair and regular trial, unlawful deportation or unlawful confinement of a civilian).[58]

Nuon Chea joined the Communist Party of Kampuchea (the Khmer Rouge's official name) while studying law at Thammasat University in Bangkok.[58] In 1960, he was appointed Deputy Secretary to oversee the security of the party and the state. His charges included overseeing Phnom Penh's S-21 prison. It is estimated that Nuon Chea is responsible for the death of 1.7 million people during the rule of the Khmer Rouge.[59]

In 1998, Nuon Chea reached an agreement with the Cambodian Government which allowed him to live near the Thai border. He was arrested and put into custody in 2007. His case, number 002, has been under investigation since 2007 and hearings began in 2011.[60] Although Chea is the highest-ranking official to be detained he denies the majority of his involvement in the Khmer Rouge: "I was president of the National Assembly and had nothing to do with the operation of the government. Sometimes I didn't know what they were doing because I was in the assembly".[61]

On 7 August 2014, in Case 002/1, the Trial Chamber found Nuon Chea guilty of numerous crimes against humanity and sentenced him to life imprisonment.[33] On 23 November 2016, The Supreme Court Chamber, although reversing some of the convictions, upheld this sentence.[62] On 16 November 2018, in the second case opened against him before the ECCC (Case 002/02), the Trial Chamber found him guilty of genocide against the Vietnamese people and the Cham people.[63]

Nuon Chea died on 4 August 2019 while appealing his conviction for genocide against the Vietnamese people and the Cham people in Case 002/2.[64] The Supreme Court Chamber terminated these remaining proceedings against him on 13 August 2019[65] but his defense lawyers filed a request before the Supreme Court Chamber arguing that, in absence of any appeal judgment, Nuon Chea should be considered innocent and that trial judgement issued on 16 November 2018 against him should be vacated.[65][66] On 22 November 2019, the Supreme Court Chamber clarified notably that Nuon Chea's death did not vacate the trial judgment against him and that, although the presumption of innocence applies at the appeal stage, it does not equate to post mortem finding of not guilty.[39]

Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary during the third day of preliminary hearing on fitness to stand trial, 31 August 2011

Ieng Sary allegedly joined the Khmer Rouge in 1963. Before he studied in France where he joined the French Communist Party and upon his return to Cambodia, he joined CPK. When the Khmer Rouge took control in 1975, Ieng became the Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs. When the regime fell in 1979, Ieng fled to Thailand and was convicted of genocide and sentenced to death by the People's Revolutionary Tribunal of Phnom Penh. Ieng remained a member of the Khmer Rouge government in exile until 1996 when he was granted a royal pardon for his conviction and royal amnesty for this outlawing of the Khmer Rouge.[67]

Ieng Sary was arrested on 12 November 2007. He is alleged responsible (through his acts or omissions) for planning, instigating, ordering, aiding/abetting, or overseeing of the crimes of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. Allegations against Ieng Sary include crimes against humanity, genocide and breaches of the Geneva Convention.[68]

Ieng Sary died in March 2013 while the case against him was still ongoing and no verdict had yet been handed over.[69]

Ieng Thirith on trial in 2011

Ieng Thirith, wife of Ieng Sary and sister-in-law of Pol Pot, was a senior member of the Khmer Rouge. She studied in France and was the first Cambodian to receive a degree in English. Upon her return to Cambodia, she joined CPK and was allegedly appointed Minister of Social Affairs in Democratic Kampuchea.[70]

Thirith remained with the Khmer Rouge until her husband, Ieng Sary, was pardoned by the Cambodian government in 1998. After, she and Sary lived together near Phnom Penh until both were arrested by Cambodian police and tribunal officials on 12 November 2007.[71]

Thirith is allegedly responsible for the planning, instigating, and aiding/abetting the crimes of the Khmer Rouge against Cambodians during the time of Khmer Rouge control. Allegations against Thirith include crimes against humanity, genocide and breaches of the Geneva Convention. In November 2011, Ieng Thirith was found to be mentally unfit to stand trial, due to Alzheimer's disease.[72]

Ieng Thirith died in August 2015.[73]

Khieu Samphan before the Cambodia Tribunal in July 2009

Khieu Samphan acted as one of the Khmer Rouge's most powerful officials. Before joining the Khmer Rouge, Khieu Samphan was Secretary of State for Trade for the Sihanouk regime in 1962. Under threat of Sihanouk's security forces, Samphan went into hiding in 1969 and emerged as a member of the Khmer Rouge in the early 1970s. He was appointed Democratic Kampuchea's Head of State and succeeded Pol Pot as leader of the Khmer Rouge in 1987.[74]

Khieu Samphan pledged allegiance to the Cambodian government in 1998 and left the Khmer Rouge. He was arrested on 12 November 2007 on the allegations of the commission of crimes against humanity, genocide and violations of the Geneva Conventions.[74]

On August 7, 2014, he was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment, in Case 002/1.[33] The sentence was upheld on appeal.[75] In the second case against him, the Trial Chamber found him guilty of the crime of genocide against the Vietnamese people on 16 November 2018.[63] His appeal against this conviction for genocide was rejected on 22 September 2022, with the guilty verdicts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and grave breaches of the Geneva Convention confirmed.[76]

AO An served as the Central Zone Deputy Secretary and the Sector 41 Secretary during the Khmer Rouge regime.[77]

The investigation in Case 003 focuses on the crimes committed by Meas Muth, high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea (RAK) during the period from 17 April 1975 to 6 January 1979. Meas Muth was the Commander of Division 164, the largest division of the RAK that included the command of entire Navy, was a reserve member of the General Staff Committee and was the Secretary of the Kampong Som Autonomous Sector (which reported directly to the Party Center). Center for Justice & Accountability represents 76 Civil Party applicants to the Case 003 proceedings.[78] It was headquartered in the Kampong Saom area, with bases in several ports along the sea coast and on islands in the Gulf of Siam. Meas Muth had command of 10 000 forces. As Navy Commander, Meas Muth also delivered prisoners to the execution sites, including the infamous S-21 prison.

Meas Muth is also blamed for the deaths of 11 Westerners who were seized after their boats strayed into Cambodian waters. They were arrested and sent to S-21 where they perished.

On 18 November 2018, the Co-Investigating Judges issues their Closing Orders. The National Co-Investigating issued an order dismissing all the charges against MEeas Muth on the ground that he is not one of the most responsible for the crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge regime. Conversely, the International Co-Investigating Judge found Meas Muth to be one of the most responsible for war crimes and genocide and indicted him under the charges of genocide of the Thai and Vietnamese, crimes against humanity, war crimes and homicide under the 1956 Cambodian Penal Code. As Navy commander Meas Muth had sufficient authority and culpability to be considered “most responsible".[79]

On 7 April 2021, the Pre-Trial Chamber issued its Considerations on the Appeals against the Closing Orders. Firstly, the Chamber unanimously reiterated its findings that the issuance of two conflicting closing orders is illegal. Secondly, the National Judges found that both the Indictment and the Dismissal Order were valid and stood while the International Judges concluded that only the indictment was valid. Therefore, unlike in Case 004/2, all five of the Pre-Trial Chamber's Judges de facto reached the required supermajority on the validity of the indictment. The reinstated Office of the Co-Investigating Judges denied a request to transfer the Case File 003 to the Trial Chamber. The Defense and the Prosecutor filed requests before the Pre-Trial Chamber respectively asking to terminate the Case and to transfer the Case File to the Trial Chamber. The Pre-Trial Chamber unanimously responded that "having fulfilled all its duties in accordance with the ECCC’s legal framework, including the Cambodian Code of Criminal Procedure, intends to stand by its Considerations. It categorically refuses to be associated, through the actions of confused Co-Investigating Judges or requests that have already been granted, with malpractices that have provoked such failure that it now seems insurmountable to those who have caused it." The Chamber also "questions the reasoning of an Investigating Judge who after having ordered the trial of an accused person for genocide crimes against humanity war crimes and other crimes under Cambodian law and after ten years of investigation now declares himself, on imaginary legal grounds, unable to forward the case to the Trial Chamber and potentially ready to archive it."[80] The Prosecutor seised the Supreme Court Chamber of the Case.

When the Khmer Rouge took control of Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, Yim Tith was appointed as the party secretary for Kirivong district (in Sector 13). During the regime's power, Yim Tith rose to the position of Sector 13 secretary (until June 1978) and later became secretary of the North West Zone Sectors 1, 3 and 4. He is believed to responsible for crimes committed by Khmer Rouge cadres in Takeo Province from 1975 to 1978, in Pursat Province in 1978 to 1979 and later in Battambang Province in 1978 to 1979. He targeted Khmer Krom and Vietnamese communities for total elimination.

On 28 June 2019, the Co-Investigating Judges issues their Closing Orders. The National Co-Investigating issued an order dismissing all the charges against YIM Tith on the ground that he is not one of the most responsible for the crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge regime. Conversely, the International Co-Investigating Judge found YIM Tith to be one of the most responsible notably for the genocide of the Khmer Krom, crimes against humanity, war crimes as well as domestic offences under Cambodian law.[81]

On 17 September 2021, the Pre-Trial Chamber issued its Considerations on the Five Appeals against the Closing Orders. Firstly, the Chamber unanimously reiterated its findings that the issuance of two conflicting closing orders is illegal. Secondly, the National Judges found that the ECCC had no jurisdiction of the YIM Tith and that the Case should be terminated and archived while the International Judges found that only the Indictment stood valid and concluded their opinion saying that "at this stage, there is no doubt that the indictments are valid. There is no doubt that the principle of continuation of the investigation and prosecution applies to Case 004, as it applied to Case 003 before it. There is no doubt that the criminal facts brought to light in Case 004 and, prior to that in Cases 004/1 and 003, call for urgent consideration of the serious charges brought against the accused persons."[82]

In June 2011, the court experienced significant public controversy following the release of a public statement by International Co-Prosecutor Andrew Cayley criticising the Co-Investigating Judges for closing their investigation of Case 003 prematurely, including an accusation that the judges were attempting to "bury" the case.[84] The defendants charged in Case 003 are Meas Muth and Sou Met, two Khmer Rouge army commanders who allegedly oversaw the arrests and transportation of prisoners to the S-21 prison.[85] This statement followed international concerns that the court might succumb to government pressures not to indict additional defendants. German Co-Investigating Judge Siegfried Blunk criticised Cayley's statement as a violation of the court's internal confidentiality rules.[86]

After Siegfried Blunk resigned from his job unexpectedly in March 2012 over the government's statements opposing further prosecutions, it was said that while he was not influenced by political statements, "his ability to withstand such pressure by government officials to perform his duties independently, could always be called in doubt, and this would also call in doubt the integrity of the whole proceedings" of Cases 003 and 004. Judge Blunk had been a controversial figure since he assumed the seat of French judge Marcel Lemonde who resigned in 2010, to investigate cases 003 and 004.[87]

After international co-investigating Judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet (Swiss) left his job unexpectedly, it cast more doubt on the court's ability to pursue more cases such as Case 003 and 004 against the ailing Khmer Rouge leaders.[88]

Similar allegations of political pressure have been alleged in case 004. Case 004 involves former mid-level Khmer Rouge commanders Im Chaem, Ta Ann and Ta Tith. Chaem ran a forced labor camp involving a massive irrigation project in Preah Net Preah and Ta Ann and Ta Tith were two deputies who oversaw massacres in the camp. Since then, Ta Tith has become a wealthy businessman in Cambodia and Im Chaem has become a commune chief in Cambodia's Anlong Veng District, further speculating political pressure would come to drop charges if these three were ever tried together.[89]

As early as November 2010, the Defence Support Section attempted to assign lawyers to represent the interests of the suspects in Cases 003 and 004.[19]

Pre-Trial Chamber's Case 004 Considerations issued on 17 September 2021, Judges Kang Jin BAIK and Olivier BEAUVALLET underlined the continued absence of genuine prosecutorial effort by the Cambodian authorities and recalled that, as a state party to the Genocide Convention, the Royal Government of Cambodia has an obligation to ensure that Khmer Rouge cadres charged with genocide are prosecuted and tried by a competent court of justice. They added that considering the evidence collected in Cases 003 and 004, the national authorities are "indubitably obligated to take on the responsibility to prosecute the Defendants should the ECCC not proceed further".[90]