Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Khmer Rouge Tribunal
Case 001
Case 001, the trial of Kaing Guek Eav, aka Comrade Duch, began in 2009. Duch was seen
as a key figure as he provided the link between the regime and its crimes in his role as head
of S-21 prison. Duch was sentenced to 35 years in 2010, but this was reduced to just 19
years in lieu of time already served and his cooperation with the investigating team. For
many Cambodians this was a slap in the face, as Duch had already admitted overall re-
sponsibility for the deaths of about 17,000 people. Convert this into simple numbers and it
equates to about 10 hours of prison time per victim. However, an appeal verdict announced
on 3 February 2012 extended the sentence to life imprisonment.
Pol Pot travelled up the Ho Chi Minh trail to visit Beijing in 1966, at the height of the Cultural
Revolution there. He was obviously inspired by what he saw, as the Khmer Rouge went even
further than the Red Guards in severing links with the past.
Case 002
Case 002 began in November 2011, involving the most senior surviving leaders of the
Democratic Kampuchea (DK) era: Brother Number 2 Nuon Chea (age 84), Brother Num-
ber 3 and former foreign minister of Democratic Kampuchea Ieng Sary (age 83), and
former DK head of state Khieu Samphan (age 79). Justice may prove elusive, however, due
to the slow progress of court proceedings and the advancing age of the defendants. Ieng
Sary died on 14 March 2013 and his wife and former DK Minister of Social Affairs Ieng
Thirith (age 78) was ruled unfit to stand trial due to the onset of dementia. To keep abreast
of developments in Case 002, visit the official Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of
CAmbodia (ECCC) website at
www.eccc.gov.kh
or the Cambodian Tribunal Monitor at
Case 003
Case 003 against head of the DK navy, Meas Muth, and head of the DK air force, Sou Met,
is politically charged; it threatened to derail the entire tribunal during 2011. Investigations
into this case stalled back in 2009 under intense pressure from the Cambodian government,
which wanted to draw a line under proceedings with the completion of Case 002. Prime
