The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of
Cambodia (ECCC) on August 7, 2014 has reached a milestone with the delivery of
the verdict in case 002/01against Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea indicted for (i)
the evacuation of an estimate of between 1.5 to 2.6 million people of Phnom
Penh to the countryside from the morning of April 17, 1975, (ii) the subsequent
movement of nearly 1 million people between different regions of the country
between late 1975 and continuing to 1976 and 1977, and (iii) the execution of
former high ranking and provincial officials of Lon Nol regime at Tuol Po Chrey
execution site from 1975 through to 1977 where from 2,000 to 3,000 were massacred.
Tuol Po Chrey is located in the province of
Pursat. Khieu Samphan was the president of the state presidium of
Democratic Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge) from 1976 until 1979. Nuon Chea was former
chief ideologist of Khmer Rouge. Both were convicted life imprisonment for
crimes against humanity and war crimes.
It is worth mentioning that in
February 2012, the judgment of the case 001 was delivered with the conviction
of the director of the notorious S-21 prison Kaing Guek Eav, aka Duch for
crimes against humanity and war crimes.
In 1997 under the request of the
Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) with the United Nations (UN) to assist
Cambodia in establishing a trial to prosecute senior leaders of the Khmer
Rouge, the ECCC was established on the basis that there must be no impunity for
the most serious international crimes.
On various occasions, His
Excellency Dr. Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of the
Office of the Council of Ministers informed official foreign visitors and score
of meetings of Cambodian officials and people since the establishment of the
ECCC that the trial of the leaders of senior Khmer Rouge will leave a profound
“sense of remembrance and non-recurrence” of the regime of terror of the Khmer
Rouge in the heart and mind of the Cambodian people and all the people
worldwide.
Concerning the functioning of the
ECCC, the remarkable judicial process which had been proven to be independent
and meeting the international standard of due process for the defendants until
the delivery of the judgment are the affirmation that the efforts of the UN and
the RGC and the assistance by many countries, friends of the ECCC would have
been viewed to be a collective success of all the people involved in the
service of mankind.
His Excellency Dr. Sok An Deputy
Prime Minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia and Mr. Stephen Mathias,
Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs of the United Nations have issued
a Joint Statement soon after the delivery of the judgment to express their deep
appreciation to judges and prosecutors, lawyers, court officials and staff,
both national and international who have contributed to this process. They were
both optimistic about the long-term commitment, both internationally and
nationally, to provide ECCC with the necessary resources to ensure that justice
is done for the people of Cambodia.
Undoubtedly, the ECCC is the
model court that will leave a legacy in rendering justice to the victims of the
genocide. It is a warning that those who committed crimes against humanity and
war crimes wherever they are, on which continents they live, justice will find
them and through due process in the court of law they will pay for their crimes
like Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea.
August 7, 2014
Professor Pen Ngoeun, Advisor
University of Puthisastra, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Pngoeun@puthisastra.edu.kh