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Monitoring at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)

Florian Hansen an den ECCC — Foto: Florian Hansen

In 2009, Florian Hansen, as part of the international team of the Asian International Justice Initiative (AIJI), observed the trial against Kaing “Duch” Guek Eav at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). In 2013, students from Peace and Conflict Studies and Law, Anne Lang and Tobias Römer, participated in trial monitoring in the proceedings against Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan. This task was continued in 2014 by monitors Thilo and Vanessa, followed in 2015 by Judith Kaiser and Alexander Benz. Florian Hansen’s experiences working in Cambodia were also reported by the Oberhessische Presse in April 2016. In 2016, Lena Harris-Pomeroy and subsequently Louise Rettweiler were sent from Marburg as monitors to the ECCC. The trial observations in Cambodia were made possible thanks to financial support from the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV). On March 18, 2016, the then-State Secretary at the BMJV, Dr. Stefanie Hubig, invited a delegation from the Marburg project to the Ministry in Berlin to present the results of the trial monitoring conducted at the ECCC. Among the approximately 30 invited guests were representatives from various departments of the BMJV as well as from different federal authorities and institutions.

The "Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia"

After an initial trial against senior Khmer Rouge leaders in 1979, the Cambodian government, following protracted negotiations with the United Nations, signed an agreement in June 2003 establishing a hybrid criminal tribunal. The court’s substantive jurisdiction covers the prosecution of atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge leadership between April 17, 1975, and January 6, 1979.

Ein Blick in den Zuschauerraum der ECCC am 27. Juni 2011 — Foto: Florian Hansen

“Hybrid” in reference to the tribunal, also known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, means that while it is integrated into Cambodia’s judicial system, it has a strong international dimension. Trials are conducted based on both Cambodian and international law. The Cambodian component involves the application of criminal provisions on murder, torture, and “religious persecution.” The internationally derived provisions cover crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes. The procedural law, known as the “Internal Rules” (IR), is primarily shaped by Cambodian national law, which in turn is modeled on the French Code of Criminal Procedure.

This hybrid structure is also reflected in the personnel. Both the Trial and the Appeal Chambers include international judges alongside their Cambodian counterparts. While Cambodia provides the majority of judges, decisions in the chambers are made according to the so-called “super-majority” rule, meaning that at least some of the international judges must concur with the chamber’s consensus. Additionally, the functions of the prosecution as well as those of the investigating judge are carried out jointly by two co-prosecutors, consisting of one Cambodian and one international component.

Case 001, Kaing Guek Eav

Die Marburger Monitors des ICWC präsentierten die Prozessbeobachtung am „Rote-Khmer-Tribunal“ in Kambodscha auf Einladung der Staatssekretärin im Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz — Foto: Tobias Römer

After the investigating judges initiated their first inquiries, they completed the investigation in Case 001 against Kaing Guek Eav (Duch) on August 8, 2008, confirmed the indictment, and subsequently transferred it to the prosecution office. Duch was charged in his capacity as the head of the S-21 prison, “Tuol Sleng,” with crimes against humanity, serious violations of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and violations of both national and Cambodian law. The first hearings in the trial commenced on February 17, 2009, under the leadership of Cambodian presiding judge Nil Nonn. On July 26, 2010, Kaing Guek Eav was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Given the tensions between the Cambodian government and the United Nations during the negotiations to establish the tribunal—which at times seemed capable of derailing the ECCC project entirely—and due to the organizational challenges of such an internationalized tribunal, the War Crimes Studies Center at the University of California (WCSC) decided to accompany Case 001 at the ECCC with a monitoring program.

To prepare the participating trial monitors, decentralized short workshops were first conducted in various countries from which the future monitors were expected to come. These workshops covered substantive legal issues of Case 001, introduced the principles of trial monitoring, and, with the assistance of psychologists, addressed the potential for monitors to experience trauma as a result of observing the proceedings. Immediately before the start of the first trial, a four-day intensive workshop was held on-site in Cambodia with all participants of the monitoring program, based on the indictment that was already available at that time. This workshop included an in-depth learning unit on substantive and procedural law and also provided preparation for handling interactions with the press.

Case 002/1, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan

Anne Lang (Dritte von rechts) mit dem AIJI Monitoring Team am Gericht in Kambodscha — Foto: Florian Hansen

After the defendant Kaing Guek Eav, alias “Duch,” was legally convicted in Case 001, Case 002 brought charges in June 2011 against four former senior Khmer Rouge officials. Two of the defendants have since withdrawn due to illness or death, leaving Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan on trial. By subdividing Case 002 into separate proceedings, the first phase addresses the defendants’ responsibility for forced relocations, including from Phnom Penh, as well as killings related to crimes against humanity and the defendants’ roles in Khmer Rouge politics, insofar as these matters remain relevant for subsequent phases. Thanks to financial support from the Federal Ministry of Justice, it became possible in 2013 to send students from Marburg, trained under the ICWC Trial Monitoring Program, to Cambodia to observe proceedings at the ECCC. Since April 2013, Anne Lang has been monitoring Case 002 at the ECCC; more information on her role and stay in Cambodia can be found here. She was followed in July of the same year by Tobias Römer. Among other activities, the Marburg students prepared monitoring reports summarizing the trial proceedings on a weekly basis.

Below you will find the 2013 monitoring reports for Case 002/1 at the ECCC:

Anne Lang, a student at Philipps University Marburg and graduate of the ICWC Trial Monitoring Program, observed the proceedings at the ECCC as a trial monitor from April 2013 and summarized the trial activities in weekly reports. Additional reports were provided by Tobias Römer, who followed her in the same role as a Marburg student and monitor.

Case 002/02, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, and the appellate proceedings in Case 002/01

After both defendants in the first phase were sentenced to life imprisonment in August 2014, the main trial for Case 002/02 began in October of the same year. The proceedings address genocide against Vietnamese people in Cambodia and the Muslim Cham population, as well as crimes against humanity including forced marriages and rapes, internal purges, persecution of Buddhists, and forced labor in work camps and cooperatives. This trial is also monitored and analyzed by AIJI, with AIJI’s monitoring reports available here. The international team was supported by Vanessa and Thilo from Marburg. During their assignment, the Marburg trial monitors maintained regular contact with their German fellow students and provided detailed reports on their activities.

Additionally, a Marburg ICWC trial monitor prepared an information sheet on the “killing fields,” which can be accessed here.

Judith Kaiser und Alexander Benz in Phnom Penh — Foto: Alexander Benz

In the following year, Judith Kaiser and Alexander Benz (see report by the Oberhessische Presse), with support from the BMJV, were again sent to Phnom Penh as students of Peace and Conflict Studies and Law. In 2016, Lena Harris-Pomeroy and Louise Rettweiler followed. Case 002/02 addresses, for the first time, the legal question of whether various acts of the Khmer Rouge constitute genocide. In parallel, the appellate proceedings for Case 002/01 are taking place. The reports can be found here.

Here you can first access a monitor’s experience report.

Below you will find the 2015 and 2016 monitoring reports for Case 002/02 at the ECCC:

In 2015 and 2016, Marburg students Louise Rettweiler, Lena Harris-Pomeroy, Judith Kaiser, and Alexander Benz observed the proceedings against Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan at the ECCC. This includes Case 002/02, which for the first time addresses charges of genocide against certain minority groups, as well as Case 002/01, which is being heard and monitored at the appellate level before the Appeals Chamber. The following reports were prepared for both cases:

Here you can find a report on the appellate proceedings in Case 002/01.

2015:

Bericht Nr. 2: Verhandlungswoche 23 (10.-13. August)
Bericht Nr. 3: Verhandlungswoche 24 (17.-20. August)
Bericht Nr. 4: Verhandlungswoche 25 (24.-27. August)
Bericht Nr. 5: Verhandlungswoche 26 (01.-02. September)
Bericht Nr. 6: Verhandlungswoche 27 (7.-10. September)
Bericht Nr. 7: Verhandlungswoche 28 (14.-17. September)
Bericht Nr. 8: Verhandlungswoche 29 (28.-30. September)
Bericht Nr. 9: Verhandlungswoche 30 (05.-08. Oktober)
Bericht Nr. 10: Verhandlungswoche 31 (26.-28. Oktober)
Bericht Nr. 11: Verhandlungswoche 32 (30. November - 03. Dezember)
Bericht Nr. 12: Verhandlungswoche 33 (07.-11. Dezember)
Bericht Nr. 13: Verhandlungswoche 34 (14.-16. Dezember)

2016:

Bericht Nr. 14: Verhandlungswoche 35 (05.-08. Januar)
Bericht Nr. 15: Verhandlungswoche 36 (11.-14. Januar)
Bericht Nr. 16: Verhandlungswoche 37 (18.-21. Januar)
Bericht Nr. 17: Verhandlungswoche 38 (25.-28. Januar)
Bericht Nr. 18: Verhandlungswoche 39 (01.-03. Februar)
Bericht Nr. 19: Verhandlungswoche 40 (09.-10. Februar)
Bericht Nr. 20: Verhandlungswoche 47 (04.-07. April)
Bericht Nr. 21: Verhandlungswoche 48 (18.-21. April)
Bericht Nr. 22: Verhandlungswoche 49 (25.-28. April)
Bericht Nr. 23: Verhandlungswoche 50 (02.-05. Mai)
Bericht Nr. 24: Verhandlungswoche 51 (23. Mai)
Bericht Nr. 25: Verhandlungswoche 52 (02.-03. Juni)
Bericht Nr. 26: Verhandlungswoche 53 (06.-09. Juni)
Bericht Nr. 27: Verhandlungswoche 54 (13.-16. Juni)
Bericht Nr. 28: Verhandlungswoche 55 (20.-23. Juni)
Bericht Nr. 29: Verhandlungswoche 56 (27.-30. Juni)
Bericht Nr. 30: Verhandlungswoche 57 (26.-29. Juli)
Bericht Nr. 31: Verhandlungswoche 64 (13.-16. September)
Bericht Nr. 32: Verhandlungswoche 65 (19.-22. September)
Bericht Nr. 33: Verhandlungswoche 66 (10.-14. Oktober)
Bericht Nr. 34: Verhandlungswoche 67 (17.-20. Oktober)
Bericht Nr. 35: Verhandlungswoche 68 (24.-27. Oktober)
Bericht Nr. 36: Verhandlungswoche 69 (31. Oktober - 03. November)
Bericht Nr. 37: Verhandlungswoche 70 (07.-11. November)
Bericht Nr. 38: Verhandlungswoche 71 (21.-23. November)
Bericht Nr. 39: Verhandlungswoche 72 (28. November - 02. Dezember)