Cambodian justice moves forward

Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, was the first Khmer Rouge leader to appear publicly before the UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh Tuesday.

from the November 21, 2007 edition

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Prosecutors are investigating more suspects, and UN officials at the court have made clear they want to go as far as the evidence demands. But Cambodian officials have been resolute in resisting too broad a scope of prosecution. They argue that digging too deeply into the Khmer Rouge killing machine could undermine the nation's hard-won peace because so many people – including ranking members of the government – were once Khmer Rouge members themselves.

The tribunal is legally restricted to trying top leaders and those most responsible for Khmer Rouge crimes. But just what "most responsible" means has yet to be tested.

"As stipulated in the convention, the ECCC is intended to bring to trial the 'mastermind' of the genocide and all human right violation," Information Minister Khieu Kanharith wrote in a recent e-mail.

"We do not intend to go deeper, this [is] for the sake of national reconciliation. If you want to go further it means you have to judge all the past three regimes, plus whoever cooperate[d] with the Khmer Rouge after 1979. Nobody wants that," Mr. Khieu added.

ECCC justice model put to the test

The ECCC is the only international tribunal in history with a majority of national judges and an administration controlled by Cambodians. Many have questioned the wisdom of this model, but Phnom Penh insists it's the best way to render meaningful local justice. And despite unresolved allegations that Cambodian staff had to pay kickbacks in exchange for their tribunal jobs , as well as two recent excoriating reviews that recommended that the UN consolidate its control of the court, Cambodia has made clear that it won't cede its position at the helm.

Still, Tuesday's hearing brought hope to survivors who thought Khmer Rouge leaders would all die, like Pol Pot – who passed away in 1998 – before the secrets of the regime can be vetted.

Of the 14,000 or more people tortured at S21, only a handful survived. Chum Mey was among them. He said his thumbnails were ripped out and he was electrocuted during his three-month incarceration, but he was always too afraid to look his guards in the face. On Tuesday, he sat not 15 feet away from the slim, calm man who allegedly masterminded his suffering. And when Duch looked at him, he looked back. Then he closed his eyes and sat for a few long minutes with his hands clenched in his lap. "I am not afraid anymore," he said after the hearing.

 

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