Cable 416: Khmer Rouge Trials Continue in Cambodia

8/6/2019 Cable 416: Khmer Rouge Trials Continue in Cambodia

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O 011044Z SEP 09

FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1136

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PHNOM PENH000648

SUBJECT: KHMER ROUGE TRIBUNAL: FIVE MORE FORPROSECUTION

REF: A. PHNOM PENH 564B. PHNOM PENH 264

C. PHNOM PENH 213

D. 07 PHNOM PENH 1203

E. 07 PHNOM PENH 956

Classified By: DCM THEODORE ALLEGRA FOR REASONS 1.4

(B, D)

1. (C) SUMMARY: The Pre-Trial Chamber at the

Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) will announce this week

that five more high-level Khmer Rouge cadres will

be prosecuted, although a small number of the

proposed charges against some of the accused may be

set aside for lack of evidence. The decision

on an appeal by the international co-prosecutor,

who could not secure the support of the Cambodianco-prosecutor, vindicates the special "super-

majority" provisions of the court's rules and is

another sign of progress to try Khmer Rouge leaders

and "those most responsible" for genocide and

crimes against humanity during the KR regime. END

SUMMARY.


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---------------------------------------------Confirmation of the Positive Decision Slow in

Coming---------------------------------------------

2. (C) The announcement, expected as early as

September 2, comes just as the court has appointed

William Smith as acting co-prosecutor for the

international side, replacing Robert Petit who

recently resigned for personal reasons. A new

co-prosecutor will be named from among two UN

nominees now before the Supreme Council of the

Magistracy. News of a positive Pre-Trial Chamber(PTC) decision has been making the circuits in

Phnom Penh since April (Ref B), but international

sources at the court have stated that the timing of

the announcement was the most crucial element for

the judges and court administrators faced with a

number of other burning issues, such as

establishing an anti-corruption mechanism for

the court. News of a satisfactory solution to the

corruption problem (with significant assistance

from the USG - Ref A), allowed the court to shift

its focus to the PTC decision. The last two weeks

have been devoted to translating the decisions on

the five cases and preparing for their release

on the ECCC website. ECCC Deputy Director Knut

Rosandhaug (protect) told Pol/Econ Chief August 31

that the decisions would be released on September 2

without much fanfare.

3. (C) As with other prosecution-related

decisions, the PTC will refer only to multiple

cases of unidentified accused, and affirm co-

prosecutor Robert Petit's contention that these


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cases fall within the carefully negotiated, narrow

jurisdictional mandate of the court regarding KR

senior leaders and "those most responsible" during

the 1975-79 period. The identities of the accused

will then go forward under seal to the Office of

the co-Investigating Judges, who have the authorityto sign off on preliminary indictments and call for

the arrest and detention of the accused as part of

a new Case 003.

4. (C) However, multiple sources at the court

confirm that the co-investigating judges -- who are

grappling with a massive, million-document caseagainst four already accused KR leaders in the

second indictment (Case 002 - Ref E) and trying to

move that to a "Closing Order" by late summer 2010

-- can not now spend precious resources on a new

Case 003. Instead, the judges will likely first

receive and employ already promised resources for

Case 002 and then await decisions by UN donors on

additional resources for Case 003 when they convene

at the KRT Steering Committee at the UN in the

early fall.

-----------The Accused-----------

5. (C) The five suspects, all of whom reside in

Cambodia, are considered among the most brutal

implementers of the policies set by the Khmer Rouge

leadership to purge the Communist Party of

Kampuchea of traitors and "smash" them and execute

countless others based on mere suspicion or for


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petty offenses. At least two of these five were

closely associated with former KR Defense Minister

Ta Mok, known as "The Butcher". Three of the newly

accused are well known to the public and the other

two are reportedly known well in their local

communities but do not have the same notoriety asthe others. Newly accused Sou Met and Meas Muth

headed KR military divisions and were known to send

many to their deaths at the S-21 torture center.

Both retain positions in the Royal Cambodian Armed

Forces (RCAF) gained with their defection from the

KR in 1996. Im Chaem was a Khmer Rouge District

Chief in Banteay Meanchey province infamous for

arbitrary executions. An (or "Ta An") was the headof District 105 Security in Ta Mok's home area

where communalist policies were most extreme,

failed miserably, and the ensuing protests were

brutally suppressed. Little public information

is available about a fifth accused known as Teut

(or "Ta Teut"), but KRT prosecution sources refer

to all of the accused as "command-level" associated

with graphic evidence of mass murder and crimes

against humanity. A sixth accused presented to the

Pre-Trial Chamber was Van Rith, the former KR

Commerce Minister, who died last November at the

age of 70. Short biographic sketches follow:

`-- Meas Muth (AKA Meah Mut): aged 70, was the

former Khmer Rouge Division 164 commander, which

included the navy of Democratic Kampuchea (DK),

the official state name of Cambodia under theKhmer Rouge. As one of only nine division

commanders, and as the son-in-law of Ta Mok, he

was regarded as a fierce leader who sent many to

their deaths. After defection, Meas Muth was

assigned an RCAF command position in Battambang

and lives there today. He is outspoken in


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denying his responsibility and has reportedly

"made noises" about stirring up trouble if he is

publicly accused.

-- Sou Met headed Division 502, which included

the DK air force. He was allegedly directlyinvolved in the transfer to S-21 of cadre who

would later be executed. The accused in case

001, Duch, has named Sou Met in his testimony.

Sou Met has also been in the RCAF in Battambang

since his defection.

-- Im Chaem, aged 65 and the only female among

the newly accused, was a women's hero during theKR and the Khmer Rouge District Chief for Preah

Net Preah in the province of Banteay Meanchey.

She allegedly used the death penalty to rigidly

enforce the brutal demands made by the KR of

every-day laborers in the fields. She, too, has

publicly protested any accusations against her.

-- An (or "Ta An," which means uncle An) was the

head of District 105 Security in Tram Krak,

Takeo province, which had a reputation for

extreme torture and punishment, not only

against the educated, "class enemies" and poor

performers, but also against the political

rivals of Ta Mok, whose home village was in Tram

Krak.

-- Teut (or "Ta Teut") reportedly had a commandlevel position. There appear to be no public

records on Teut. As one ECCC prosecution source

stated, donor governments are going to have to

dig deep into their intelligence archives to

find more information on some of the newly

accused.


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The former UN co-prosecutor, Robert Petit, had

indicated in public remarks that these five would

mark the end of prosecutions by the ECCC under the

legal scope of jurisdiction, and ECCC sources

confirm that there are no plans to add more accusedbeyond these five.

-----------------------------------------------Looming Questions: PTC Workload, Civil Parties-----------------------------------------------

7. (C) In addition to the immediate issues of

wrapping up the trial of S-21 torture center head

Duch (Case 001) and preparations for Case 002, the

court is considering whether to make the temporary

PTC -- whose international judges come every few

months for brief sessions -- a full-time enterprise

with permanently resident international judges.

Reportedly both of the current PTC judges (from the

Netherlands and Australia) are nominally opposed to

the move. Australian Ambassador Margaret Adamson

told the Ambassador recently that while Australia

has not yet made a decision formally to oppose the

move, they do not support it at this time. She

believes that consultation with the pretrial

chamber judges to date has been inadequate, that

the costs of having the chamber meet fulltime have

been substantially underestimated and that astronger case needs to be made for why the PTC

should be in Phnom Penh. If this can be done, and

if the costs are laid out more accurately, then all

of the donors should support the move.


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8. (C) ECCC sources also note that the defense

team in Case 002 for "Brother Number 2," Nuon Chea,

will unleash a tidal wave of appeals as soon as the

co-investigating judges announce they are closing

the investigation phase later this year. The work

that this "very sharp" team of Dutch defenselawyers will bring will more than be adequate to

justify the full-time presence of the PTC,

according to court sources. Reportedly the PTC to

date has taken on average more than six months in

each of its decisions. In Case 002, where the

accused are in precarious health, the court can no

longer afford such long periods to prepare

decisions, according to court administrators aswell as international monitors. In addition, the

PTC requires its own full-time staff, including

judges' clerks who can help prepare decisions in

rapid order, court sources say. These and other

administrative issues, including funding, will be

the subject of donor community discussion with ECCC

officials in the third week of September as well as

a meeting of the UN-based Steering Committee in

early October.

9. (C) COMMENT: The confirmation of the

prosecution of this group marks a very positive

benchmark for the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and

effectively fulfills the court's UN-supported

mandate to bring not only Khmer Rouge leaders to

justice, but also "those most responsible." Thecriteria for selection of the accused is clear:

these are the surviving field commanders who took

direct orders from the likes of DK Security

Minister Son Sen and Pol Pot himself to carry out

purges and "smashing" on a mass scale. Now the

focus must turn to the very real logistical and


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budgetary challenges facing the court -- especially

given the pace of work expected for both the PTC

and the co-investigating judges in the near term

and the attention needed for a fledgling victims

unit for the long-term -- to ensure that the ECCC

structures can keep pace with the decisions itsjudges make.

RODLEY

(Edited and reformatted by Andres for ease of

reading.)

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Cable 416: Khmer Rouge Trials Continue in Cambodia