Evidentiary hearings in the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s Case 002/02
could come hot on the heels of the August 7 verdict in Case 002/01,
starting as early as “late September”, parties to the proceedings
confirmed at the case’s initial hearing yesterday.
When prompted by trial chamber president Nil Nonn to “explore the
possibility of commencing evidentiary hearings in late September”,
national co-prosecutor Chea Leang said that her team had been waiting
for the start of the case and would be available through 2015.
Nuon Chea defender Victor Koppe concurred, and new civil party lead
co-lawyer Marie Guiraud said that her team could start in “September or
October”. Khieu Samphan counsel Anta Guisse, however, reregistered her
team’s position that the next case shouldn’t begin until lingering legal
issues are resolved.
The potential time frame for opening Case 002/02 was just one of many
glimpses of the upcoming trial offered by yesterday’s initial hearing.
Civil parties spent a portion of the morning session outlining
potential reparations projects they intend to seek. “Bolstered by the
lessons” of Case 002/01, in the words of Guiraud, the team laid out
proposals for both physical and mental health initiatives, vocational
training for the children of forced marriages and a plan to help
Vietnamese civil parties regain Cambodian citizenship lost as a result
of forced deportations under the Khmer Rouge.
Parties also obliquely referenced the imminent resignation of judge
Silvia Cartwright, the first public acknowledgement of her long-rumoured
departure. Court legal communications officer Lars Olsen confirmed
yesterday that Cartwright had “resigned, effective the 1st of
September”.
On the subject of the sequence of the trial, the prosecution and
defence yesterday put forth essentially opposing plans. The prosecution
argued that evidence of the roles of the accused in an alleged joint
criminal enterprise (JCE) should be the first order of business,
followed by segments pertaining to each charge.
Koppe, however, suggested ending the case on the subject of JCE, and
beginning with evidence of international and internal armed conflicts in
Democratic Kampuchea, hinting at the team’s plan to argue that the
Khmer Rouge faced a legitimate security threat and was riven by rogue
factions.
The nature of the conflict, he said, could “fundamentally affect the
arguments parties may put forth” and was furthermore “at the very heart
of our case”.
Yesterday’s session ended with prolonged wrangling over witness
lists, most notably over three witnesses on the Nuon Chea defence team’s
list who declined to appear when summonsed in Case 002/01 – senior
government officials and former Khmer Rouge cadres Heng Samrin and Chea
Sim, and former justice minister Ouk Bunchhoeun.
The refusal of government officials to answer summonses has long been
a source of criticism for the court, but Leang, the national
prosecutor, unilaterally objected to their inclusion in Case 002/02.
International co-prosecutor Nicholas Koumjian, meanwhile, noted that he hadn’t objected to any of the defence’s witnesses.
Sourced by Phnom Penh Post
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