KRT TRIAL MONITOR Case 002/02 ■ Issue No. 22 ■ Hearings on Evidence Week 19 ■ 9-12 June 2015 Case of Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan Asian International Justice Initiative (AIJI), a project of East-West Center and the WSD Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Stanford University (previously known as the UC Berkeley War Crimes Studies Center) I thought that I would die from overwork or exhaustion, and that I would go and meet my parents...I was thinking of them, and sometimes I wept while I was about to sleep, and I was hopeless, because of the working conditions on site. - Witness Keo Leou I. OVERVIEW This week, the Trial Chamber commenced the next segment of the proceedings in Case 002/02 with testimony from three witnesses on the Kampong Chhnang Airport Construction site (KCA). This trial segment covers the second of three worksites to be discussed in the trial, and it relates to charges of crimes against humanity of enslavement, extermination, murder, and persecution on political grounds, as well as other inhumane acts, through “attacks against human dignity,” enforced disappearances, and forced marriage.1 The KCA was located in DK’s Central Zone under the alleged oversight of the DK Air Force, also known as Division 502. All three witnesses who testified this week were originally members of the Khmer Rouge military who were later transferred to work at the KCA in different capacities. Mr. Chan Mân, Mr. Keo Kin, and Mr. Keo Leou all spoke about their background, their experiences at the worksite, and their knowledge of DK military structures. Parties raised only a few minor objections during this week’s proceedings, but monitors noted some issues with the Chamber’s time management, and a Judge reprimanded Defense Counsel for problematic questioning of a Witness. II. SUMMARY OF WITNESS TESTIMONY This week, the Trial Chamber heard the testimony of three witnesses. All three were soldiers in the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea (RAK), and, at different points after the 1975 Khmer Rouge takeover of the country, were sent to work at the KCA. A. Summary of Testimony by Witness Chan Mân The first witness to testify before the Trial Chamber this week was 61-year old Chan Mân, a civil servant born in Kampong Chhnang Province. He provided the Chamber with information on his 1 KRT Trial Monitor Case 002/02 ■ Issue 22 ■ Hearings on Evidence Week 19 ■ 9-12 June 2015 roles within the military and his experiences at the KCA. He testified on the working and living conditions, as well as arrests, at the site.2 1. Witness’ Positions with the Khmer Rouge Chan Mân joined the Revolution in 1970, at the age of fourteen.3 The Witness testified that, from 1972 to 1975, he was assigned to be a military messenger by Lvey, a RAK group chief. According to the Witness, in early 1976, Lvey assigned him to accompany a Chinese delegation to measure the land at the future Kampong Chhnang Airport, as the Witness "was familiar with the geography." He eventually became the delegation's driver. At the airfield, Chan Mân received orders from Met, the chief of the DK Air Force (also known as Division 502), who informed him about his duties and asked about the results.4 The Witness testified that Met "knew him well compared to others," as they had met frequently when the Witness was a soldier. Met assigned the Witness to carry out many tasks at the Airfield. Chan Mân told the Prosecution that he was also instructed to transport equipment from the seaport at Kampong Som to the Airport construction site. 2. Work at the Kampong Chhnang Airport Construction Site Chan Mân first arrived at the KCA before construction began, when there were not many workers. The Witness estimated the worksite grew to host approximately 1000 workers. The Witness confirmed the presence of Chinese engineers at the site and testified that the worksite received Chinese aid in the form of material and equipment such as steel, trucks, and earth- carrying baskets. Apart from the Chinese delegation, only soldiers from various units, including Division 502, worked at the airfield. Chan Mân did not recall any civilians the site, and he added that the project was very secretive. In relation to the authority at the KCA, the Witness recalled that the office chief was named Yeng, and although he had heard about senior DK leaders coming to visit the site, he did not directly witness any visits. Chan Mân stated that there was no individual work quota at KCA, as quotas existed only for full units. He testified that the workday lasted from 7:00AM to 5:30PM, with a two-hour lunch break from 11:30AM to 1:30PM. According to the Witness, the food during this lunch break was better for the Chinese technicians than Khmer soldier-workers at the KCA.5 The Witness also noted that, while the Chinese technicians were given days off, the Khmer workers received no holidays except on the national holiday of 17 April. a) Accidents and Suicides at the Kampong Chhnang Airport Construction Site The Witness claimed that many people were killed by falling rock fragments at the rock- breaking unit.6 He also claimed that, “out of starvation and desperation,” women committed suicide at the KCA by throwing themselves under the wheels of the heavy equipment. Under examination by Khieu Samphan's Defense Counsel, Anta Guissé, Chan Mân confirmed that he had never witnessed such an incident himself, but that he once saw a woman's body being picked up by an ambulance, and a colleague told him that she was a suicide victim. He also testified that Ta Khut, a member of the “protection unit,” informed him that suicides and accidents happened "many times."7 The Witness noted that no compensation was provided when a worker died. The Witness also mentioned that, during this period, "work and tools were more important than human life." The Witness gave the example that, when a car rolled off the road, the driver would be accused of delaying the work, even if the passengers were injured. For instance, when the Witness broke a truck headlight lamp, he was told that the lamp could keep a village running for a month and that "[A] lamp could be sold and used to feed the whole people in Kampong Cham. And it was said that one life could not be compared with that lamp." 2 KRT Trial Monitor Case 002/02 ■ Issue 22 ■ Hearings on Evidence Week 19 ■ 9-12 June 2015 b) Refashioning and Arrests at the Kampong Chhnang Airport Construction Site The Witness testified that other workers revealed to him that they had ended up at the site for refashioning and that "half of the people sent from their Zone had disappeared." The Witness told the Prosecution that he "personally saw people being trucked away" at night. He also testified that he heard screams and smelled decomposed bodies near his quarters.8 He emphasized that the increasing number of arrests at the site led to a state of fear, and that simply mentioning the wrong word could make someone an enemy and lead to their arrest.9 Chan Mân claimed that he was eventually arrested for false reasons related to his delivery of rice to East Zone soldier-workers and was taken to S-21, from which he managed to escape.10 3. Witness Demeanor and Credibility Throughout his testimony, the Witness provided detailed answers and copious amounts of information. However, he frequently stated that events had taken place “a long time ago" and explained that injuries he sustained during a landmine explosion had impaired his memory and hearing.11 Chan Mân also contradicted himself several times, especially regarding the story of his arrest and escape from S-21. B. Summary of Testimony by Witness Keo Kin From 10 to 11 June, 49-year-old Keo Kin, from Kampong Chhnang Province, testified about his work during the Revolution and at the KCA from after the fall of Phnom Penh until the 1979 Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia.12 1. Life as a Revolutionary Soldier from 1973 to 1975 In 1973, the Witness responded to King Sihanouk’s call to join the Revolution against the Lon Nol regime, and he eventually joined Ta Lvey in Regiment 502 of Division 1 in Kampong Speu. He received approximately three days of training on how to hold and fire his rifle, and he was then sent to fight in the battlefield. Keo Kin fought at Tuol Leap battlefield and said that he saw his comrades injured and killed in the fighting, but he himself was not injured in combat. By the end of 1974, he was serving as a messenger for Lvey. 2. Work at the Kampong Chhnang Airport Construction Site In mid- to late-1975, the Witness arrived at the KCA to guard a garage. He stated that he was sent to the KCA because he was “accused of having tendencies”. He considered that this was likely because his father was a former deputy village chief. As a result of these “tendencies”, the Witness was removed from his position as a messenger for Ta Lvey and ordered to assist in clearing trees at the KCA. Later, he saw machinery compress the ground in the same cleared areas. He stated that his main tasks included building garages at the KCA, growing vegetables, and helping villagers grow and collect rice for the soldiers, which he estimated to number around 1000, if the on-site Chinese technicians were included.