A picture of Nuon Chea (top) and
Ieng Sary (bottom).
Nuon Chea accused of aiding genocide during Khmer Rouge's rule
Corinne Purtill, Chronicle Foreign Service
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- The top surviving Khmer Rouge leader appeared this week for the first time at the U.N.-backed tribunal probing the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people during the Maoist government's 1975-1979 rule.
Nuon Chea, 81, appeared alert and answered questions in a clear voice as his lawyers argued successfully Monday for a postponement of his pretrial hearing for war crimes and crimes against humanity. They cited the absence of foreign counsel.
The hearing resumes Thursday.
The judicial delay angered many Cambodians in the courtroom, some of whom had traveled miles to witness the prosecution of the man they believe is most responsible for the murder of their loved ones.
"I felt angry seeing his face ... protected by lots of bodyguards, sitting in an air-conditioned room," said Sok Sour, 68, whose husband, Phann Sopha, was executed by the Khmer Rouge in 1977. "I suffered too much from what they did to us."
The former chief ideologist of the Khmer Rouge is expected to ask to be released on bail from the detention facility adjacent to the courtroom, where he has been held since his arrest Sept. 19. He remains in prison pending the outcome of today's hearing.
Nuon Chea is one of five aging former Khmer Rouge leaders on trial for war crimes. The others include former head of state Khieu Samphan, ex-foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, who were arrested late last year. Just this week, Ieng Sary, 82, was hospitalized after urinating blood, according to his lawyer.
The last defendant is Kaing Guek Iev, also known as Duch, who was arrested in 1999. He was the director of the notorious secret Phnom Penh torture center known as S-21. Out of 20,000 prisoners, only seven walked out alive.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, known as "Brother Number One," died in 1998 from natural causes while under house arrest.
The $56 million tribunal was created in 2003 after years of contentious negotiations between the United Nations and the Cambodian government. Since then, the court has moved at a snail's pace. A pretrial hearing for Duch just got underway in November, and prosecutors say there are no scheduled dates for other trials.
"There will be a trial this year. When, I don't know," said U.N. co-prosecutor Robert Petit, a Canadian.
Nuon Chea, known as "Brother Number Two," was Pol Pot's most trusted deputy and is credited with helping to orchestrate genocide against those deemed a threat to the Khmer Rouge revolution. The Maoists emptied cities and drove the population into work camps as part of a radical social upheaval. As a result, an estimated 1.7 million people died from starvation, execution, disease and overwork.
Nuon Chea left the Khmer Rouge in 1998 and has since lived in the town of Pailin near the Thai border. He has denied taking part in genocide.
Dressed in a long-sleeved blue button-down shirt with his white hair neatly brushed back, Nuon Chea asked the judges to adjourn the Monday hearing. "If this proceeding goes ahead, I believe it is not fair for me," he read in a prepared statement.
His Cambodian lawyers agreed, citing the absence of their client's two Dutch attorneys. Victor Koppe had yet to be authorized by the Cambodian Bar Association and Michiel Pestman remained in Amsterdam, unable to attend the proceedings. Tribunal rules allow each defendant to be represented by Cambodian and foreign counsel.
Koppe, who finally received authorization in time for today's hearing, believes the bar association delayed the authorization after he filed a motion to remove Judge Ney Thol. Koppe believes Thol, a member of Cambodia's military that fought the Khmer Rouge in the 1990s, will be influenced by his military past before rendering a decision.
Koppe's concern of judicial bias echoes widespread belief that the nation's courts are notoriously corrupt and are regarded with little esteem by most Cambodians.
Last year, a U.N. report criticized the Cambodian administration of the tribunal for hiring unqualified staff, raising salaries for some employees by more than 300 percent and employing judges who had paid off officials for their positions on the court. In response, the government called the study an "unbalanced account."
Meanwhile, the tribunal's budget is in the red, and potential donors, including the United States, are adamant about the court meeting international standards before infusing the court with more money.
"The State Department is not going to seek funding ... until we can show the American people and Congress that the tribunal will meet that standard," said Jeff Daigle, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh.
At the same time, prosecutors are worried that most of the elderly Khmer Rouge defendants will die before facing the tribunal, a concern magnified by Ieng Sary's hospitalization this week.
"Any delay in getting to the truth of this matter and getting justice for the victims is regrettable," said prosecutor Petit.
Ieng Sary (bottom).Nuon Chea accused of aiding genocide during Khmer Rouge's rule
Corinne Purtill, Chronicle Foreign Service
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- The top surviving Khmer Rouge leader appeared this week for the first time at the U.N.-backed tribunal probing the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people during the Maoist government's 1975-1979 rule.
Nuon Chea, 81, appeared alert and answered questions in a clear voice as his lawyers argued successfully Monday for a postponement of his pretrial hearing for war crimes and crimes against humanity. They cited the absence of foreign counsel.
The hearing resumes Thursday.
The judicial delay angered many Cambodians in the courtroom, some of whom had traveled miles to witness the prosecution of the man they believe is most responsible for the murder of their loved ones.
"I felt angry seeing his face ... protected by lots of bodyguards, sitting in an air-conditioned room," said Sok Sour, 68, whose husband, Phann Sopha, was executed by the Khmer Rouge in 1977. "I suffered too much from what they did to us."
The former chief ideologist of the Khmer Rouge is expected to ask to be released on bail from the detention facility adjacent to the courtroom, where he has been held since his arrest Sept. 19. He remains in prison pending the outcome of today's hearing.
Nuon Chea is one of five aging former Khmer Rouge leaders on trial for war crimes. The others include former head of state Khieu Samphan, ex-foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, who were arrested late last year. Just this week, Ieng Sary, 82, was hospitalized after urinating blood, according to his lawyer.
The last defendant is Kaing Guek Iev, also known as Duch, who was arrested in 1999. He was the director of the notorious secret Phnom Penh torture center known as S-21. Out of 20,000 prisoners, only seven walked out alive.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, known as "Brother Number One," died in 1998 from natural causes while under house arrest.
The $56 million tribunal was created in 2003 after years of contentious negotiations between the United Nations and the Cambodian government. Since then, the court has moved at a snail's pace. A pretrial hearing for Duch just got underway in November, and prosecutors say there are no scheduled dates for other trials.
"There will be a trial this year. When, I don't know," said U.N. co-prosecutor Robert Petit, a Canadian.
Nuon Chea, known as "Brother Number Two," was Pol Pot's most trusted deputy and is credited with helping to orchestrate genocide against those deemed a threat to the Khmer Rouge revolution. The Maoists emptied cities and drove the population into work camps as part of a radical social upheaval. As a result, an estimated 1.7 million people died from starvation, execution, disease and overwork.
Nuon Chea left the Khmer Rouge in 1998 and has since lived in the town of Pailin near the Thai border. He has denied taking part in genocide.
Dressed in a long-sleeved blue button-down shirt with his white hair neatly brushed back, Nuon Chea asked the judges to adjourn the Monday hearing. "If this proceeding goes ahead, I believe it is not fair for me," he read in a prepared statement.
His Cambodian lawyers agreed, citing the absence of their client's two Dutch attorneys. Victor Koppe had yet to be authorized by the Cambodian Bar Association and Michiel Pestman remained in Amsterdam, unable to attend the proceedings. Tribunal rules allow each defendant to be represented by Cambodian and foreign counsel.
Koppe, who finally received authorization in time for today's hearing, believes the bar association delayed the authorization after he filed a motion to remove Judge Ney Thol. Koppe believes Thol, a member of Cambodia's military that fought the Khmer Rouge in the 1990s, will be influenced by his military past before rendering a decision.
Koppe's concern of judicial bias echoes widespread belief that the nation's courts are notoriously corrupt and are regarded with little esteem by most Cambodians.
Last year, a U.N. report criticized the Cambodian administration of the tribunal for hiring unqualified staff, raising salaries for some employees by more than 300 percent and employing judges who had paid off officials for their positions on the court. In response, the government called the study an "unbalanced account."
Meanwhile, the tribunal's budget is in the red, and potential donors, including the United States, are adamant about the court meeting international standards before infusing the court with more money.
"The State Department is not going to seek funding ... until we can show the American people and Congress that the tribunal will meet that standard," said Jeff Daigle, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh.
At the same time, prosecutors are worried that most of the elderly Khmer Rouge defendants will die before facing the tribunal, a concern magnified by Ieng Sary's hospitalization this week.
"Any delay in getting to the truth of this matter and getting justice for the victims is regrettable," said prosecutor Petit.
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