The Court Report

NOVEMBER 2015 / Issue 91 The Court Report The Extraordinary Chambers In this issue in the Courts of Cambodia Moving forward through justice News & notes 1-2 Eploring Justice at the ECCC 2-3 Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea appear before the ECCC during the Appeal Hearings on 17 Nobember (Photo credit: ECCC) Supreme Court Chamber adjourns during Appeal Hearings for Case 002/01 The Supreme Court Chamber decided to Koppe. Inter alia, he issued the following adjourn on Tuesday, 17 November, during regarding his instructions to his lawyers: the Appeal Hearings in Case 002/01 follow- Judicial Updates 3-7 ing Nuon Chea’s instruction that his inter- “Following a discussion with me, my in- national and national lawyers, Mr. Victor ternational lawyer Victor Koppe is not par- ticipating in these hearings. I will also leave Koppe and Mr. Son Arun, not participate in Decisions/orders 7 the proceedings. these proceedings once I have finished making my comments and I would also like In the beginning of the hearing, Mr. to instruct my national lawyer Mr. Son Arun Nuon Chea was given permission by the not to participate in these proceedings any Supreme Court judges to make a remark further and not to respond to any kind of ECCC outreach 8 on his appeal, ostensibly to explain the ab- questions by the judges or the other par- sence of his international co-lawyer, Victor ties. We choose instead to rest on the argu- Continued to page 2 Contact information 9 2 News & notes News & Notes / Judicial Updates 3 Continuation from page 1 Continuation from page 2 ments made in my appeal brief.” Samphan and Nuon Chea, the two accused in Case 002/01, are 84 and 89 years old, respec- Chea also criticized the proceedings and tively. Our respondents shared the belief that judgement in Case 002/01 which sentenced the value of these trials is beyond the identity him to life imprisonment. He claimed that of the people put on trial. In one of the stu- his rights as an Accused had been violated dent’s words, “Judging the most responsible on multiple occasions. people for the Cambodian Genocide in a fair and open trial teaches the Cambodian youth Chea cited the refusal of his team’s re- that justice will always be met despite one’s quest to call Heng Samrin and filmmakers age”. Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath as witnesses as evidence of the purported violations. He Because proceedings in the ECCC’s hybrid stated that allowing these witnesses would tribunal have stretched over an extended pe- “confirm that Vietnam attempted a coup riod of time, the ECCC has been subjected to d’etat during the Democratic Kampuchea heavy criticism. However, success, like justice period.” As a result of these and other per- is a relative term. The fact that more than ceived injustices, Nuon Chea claimed that 180,000 people have attended public hearings “The outcome of the appeal is now irrele- held at the ECCC and at least 4,800 people vant to me.” have applied to become civil parties in cas- Although warned by the court that his es under investigation speak volumes to the the refusal to participate in the proceed- court’s popular influence. And while the cost ings could amount to contempt of court or has been huge, we are effectively a step closer obstruction of justice, counsel Son Arun A group of all ages and professions attends an outreach tour in Battambang Province held by DIM Sovannarom. (Photo Credit: ECCC) to closure than we’d be if nothing had hap- did not return to the courtroom after the pened. morning recess. In the absence of Mr. Chea’s Chief of Public Affairs DIM Sovannarom gives a lecture on the ECCC at Beltei University on 13 November. (Photo Credit: ECCC) counsel, the court heard the parties - Inter- Exploring transgenerational justice national Civil Party Lead Co-Lawyer Marie Judicial Updates Guiraud and International Co-Prosecutor or statements before testifying and asking wit- statements before testifying and to be asked Nicholas Koumjian who argued that the at the ECCC nesses to confirm the accuracy of their prior questions to confirm the accuracy of their presence of the Accused within the ECCC’s Supreme Court Chamber statements. The Trial Chamber reminded the prior statements at the beginning of their tes- premises was sufficient for hearings to pro- Trauma can be transferred across genera- years between 1975 and 1979 were to the Parties that under the ECCC legal framework, timony, which conforms to the ECCC’s legal ceed as scheduled, and again recessed to tions. Whether it is the experience of a disap- Cambodians. It was then and under the Khmer The Supreme Court Section has not yet most individuals are provided with copies of framework. The Trial Chamber reminded the deliberate. As the proceedings resumed, Mr. pointment or a response to a shared societal Rouge regime that nearly 2 million Cambo- submitted a judicial update. their statements at the time they are made Parties that they should not repetitively or- ex Son Arun returned to the courtroom and re- suffering such as mass deportations and gen- dians died and some of the most gruesome and that Civil Parties (and their lawyers) have tensively read from such statements in court mained silent as Supreme Court Chamber ocide, legacies are often passed through psy- crimes against humanity were perpetrated, the right to obtain their prior statements. The and should only refer to prior statements for president Kong Srim gave a brief summary of chological cues and anxieties are transferred including unlawful imprisonment, enslave- Trial Chamber Trial Chamber found that providing witnesses limited purposes such as clarifying or supple- the morning’s proceedings and announced from one generation to the next through sto- ment, political and cultural persecution, tor- with their prior statements before they ap- menting the information in the statements, The Trial Chamber sat for 6 hearing days in the decision to adjourn and seek the stand- ries told. But just like trauma, healing and jus- ture and inhumane treatment, displacement pear in court is consistent with international refreshing a witness or Civil Party’s memory October, during which it heard 4 witnesses on by counsel for Noun Chea. tice are also transferrable from adult to young. as well as mass killings. Young Cambodians are practice and reaffirmed that, under the ECCC and testing the credibility of a witness or Civil Trapeang Thma Dam worksite and the treat- The PAS team separately interviewed a group more likely to have learned about the Khmer legal framework, there is no requirement for Party. ment of the Cham and Vietnamese. Two days after the adjournment, Mr. of high school students from the Kampong Rouge regime from their elders who experi- Civil Parties to take an oath before appearing Son Arun issued a response to the oral de- Thom province and another group of senior enced the suffering first-hand. All high school before the Trial Chamber. Also on 20 October, the Trial Chamber is- On 7 October, the Trial Chamber notified cision,stating, “Due to warning from the citizens from Kampot, both of which recent- students who were interviewed attested to sued Amended Guidelines on the Use of Writ- the Parties that there would be no trial hear- Chamber,I decided to return to the court- ly visited the Court as part of its outreach being related to victims and/or survivors of Also on 9 October, in order to facilitate ten Records of Interview (WRIs) from Cases ings during the week 19-22 October 2015 im- room in the afternoon session and continue efforts into Cambodia’s provinces, to assess the Khmer Rouge regime to the third degree. tracking of admitted new documents, the Trial 003 and 004. Having been alerted to apparent mediately following the Pchum Ben recess. to follow my client’s instruction not to re- the shared perspectives of trauma and justice In other words, their grandparents suffered at Chamber decided to reinstitute its prior prac- violations of its 29 December 2014 Order on The Trial Chamber found that an adjournment spond to questions.However, the Chamber from senior citizens to the Cambodian youth. the hands of the Khmer Rouge. tice of allocating E3 numbers to new docu- the use of WRIs from Cases 003 and 004, the was necessary based upon the requests of the ignored my presence and did not give me ments which are admitted pursuant to Internal Chamber decided that the only way to ensure Parties to be given additional time to prepare an opportunity to speak despite me having Unlike the ICTR which was established Both young and old echoed the Court’s Rule 87(4). that the Order is respected in its entirety is for the appeal hearings in Case 002/01 and to requested to do so. Instead, it ruled that my around 5 months after the Rwandan geno- aim and interest in civil party participation and to hear witnesses and Civil Parties who have permit the Trial Chamber to finalise decisions act might constitute misconduct which could cide and the ICTY established 2 years after commended the public nature of the hearings. On 20 October, the Trial Chamber reject- been interviewed in Cases 003 or 004 in closed on a number of pending motions from the lead to disciplinary sanctions… even though the end of the Yugoslav Wars and the events To them, telling the stories as the witnesses ed the Joint Defence Team Request to revisit session. Further, where a Party seeks to ques- Parties prior to continuing to hear further wit- Mr.

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