KRT Trial Monitor Case 002/02 – Issue 44 (23-26 February 2016)

As the segment on the treatment of targeted groups under the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) regime comes to a close, the Trial Chamber gave all Parties the opportunity to present key documents this week.  These constituted the third round of key document hearings in Case 002/02 and covered the treatment of the Cham Muslim minority, ethnic Vietnamese, and former officials of the Khmer Republic.  The Defense Team for Nuon Chea declined to participate in hearings this week, following a walkout from the previous set of hearings in early September 2015.  Other Parties participated actively in proceedings, presenting their key documents, which included book extracts, DK policy documents, telegrams, newspaper articles and copies of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) publication Revolutionary Flag.  The OCP presented documents to support claims that there was a national policy to target former Lon Nol soldiers and destroy the Cham and Vietnamese ethnic minorities as such.  The Defense for Khieu Samphan argued that these groups were only targeted because they posed threats to the regime and were not targeted for their ethnicity or religion.  The Defense also argued that there was insufficient evidence that Khieu Samphan had played a role in the DK regime to influence decisions regarding these three groups.  On Friday, Parties presented their responses to the documents presented by the opposing Parties, refuting their credibility variously based on the authorship, or on the context in which the document was created.  Unlike in previous key document hearings, there were no significant legal issues raised that impeded the progress of proceedings, and in the absence of participation by the Nuon Chea team, hearings concluded ahead of schedule this week.

KRT Trial Monitor No. 44 – Hearings on Evidence Wk 41 (23-26 February 2016)

English – Khmer (Summary)