Khmer Rouge Tribunal: The Trial of S-21

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000626 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, P, D, DRL, S/WCI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KJUS PREL EAID CB SUBJECT: Khmer Rouge Tribunal: The Trial of S-21 Interrogation Center Head Kaing Guek Eav, Week 17 REF: PHNOM PENH 596 AND PREVIOUS ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Embassy staff routinely observes the proceedings of the trial against the notorious Khmer Rouge torture center head, widely known as Duch, at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) (Reftel). This report summarizes the 17th week of activities inside the court at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. More technical accounts of the proceedings can be found at: www.csdcambodia.org; www.kidcambodia.org and at http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~warcrime/. END SUMMARY. Emotional Week of Civil Party Testimony -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Several days of angry and emotional testimony marked Week 17, in which civil parties again took the stand to air grievances over the fates of family members detained at S-21 and later executed. Several civil parties were given the opportunity to pose questions directly to the defendant. The overall tone of the proceedings was more confrontational than in past weeks. The wife of an executed Cambodian diplomat called Duch's actions "unforgivable" and suggested he should have committed suicide if he truly did not want to carry out his duties as head of S-21. New Zealander Robert Hamill gave some of the most emotionally charged testimony of the week, describing in detail how he imagined and hoped that Duch would suffer as Hamill's brother Kerry had suffered at the prison. ¶3. (SBU) Herewith are observation notes for the week beginning August 17, 2009: Monday, August 17: Civil Parties Direct Their Anger at Duch -------------- Three civil party witnesses testified today in front of a full audience of mostly Cham men. French witness Martine Lefeuvre testified regarding the death of her husband, former Cambodian diplomat Ouk Ket. Their daughter, Ouk Neary, also spoke. Ouk was a Cambodian embassy official in Senegal when he was called to return to Cambodia to help rebuild the country in 1977, after which his family lost contact. Lefeuvre discovered his confession documents in S-21 and confirmed his death at the prison. New Zealander Robert Hamill testified regarding the imprisonment and execution of his brother Kerry at S-21. Kerry Hamill had been sailing in the Gulf of Thailand when he was captured by the Khmer Rouge Navy. Kerry was sent to S-21, tortured until he confessed that he was a CIA operative, and then executed. Robert Hamill was very emotional during his testimony, saying angrily that he imagined and hoped Duch would feel the pain the Hamill family had experienced, and that Duch would be tortured and "smashed" like S-21's detainees. At one point when he began using strong language, the judges had to ask Hamill to abide by the court's internal regulations. Tuesday, August 18: Approximately 400 observers, mostly from Kompong Thom and Kandal provinces, observed the day's proceedings, in which four civil parties testified. The witnesses included Antonya Tioulong, daughter of former Cambodian Minister of National Defense and acting Prime Minister Nhiek Tioulong (1962),who testified regarding the death of her sister and brother-in-law. Although the trial process ran smoothly, one of the civil party witnesses seemed to have trouble understanding the translation and repeated her answers several times. The Court sound system - usually loud and clear - did not broadcast clearly during Duch's remarks. Wednesday, August 19: 300 observers attended the trial. Most were from Kratie Province. Several complained that they had not been prepared for the trip to Phnom Penh and the length of the proceedings; several did not have money or food with them for lunch, and a Court staffer later provided them with bread. (NOTE: The ECCC Public Outreach Office had arranged to provide lunches for several groups transported from rural areas, but had inadvertently missed a group in this case. END NOTE.) Civil Parties Have Trouble Keeping Focused -------------- Several civil party witnesses testified regarding the fates of their family members. One of the witnesses had to be reminded by her attorney to stay focused on her testimony when she drifted off topic PHNOM PENH 00000626 002 OF 002 to describe her 20-year marriage before her husband was executed. However, the dramatic culminating testimony regarding her husband's fate was all the more powerful for her detailed description. The wife and daughter of one of Duch's former professors, who was detained and executed in S-21, also testified. The translators seemed to have some trouble keeping up with the wide-ranging and emotional witness testimony. The audience was generally quiet, although several murmured to each other during one witness' description of her family's ordeal under the Khmer Rouge that everyone had suffered the same; the witness' experience was not unique. Thursday, August 20: The courtroom was nearly full, with a large group of students from a youth association in Kandal Province and a group of farmers from Kompong Thom Province taking up the largest sections. The farmers said they had left their villages at about 2 AM to take the ECCC buses to the court. Three civil parties testified. Mr. Chhum Sirath angrily testified regarding the detentions and deaths of his two brothers. At times he veered away from the focus of the questioning as he described how he had suffered, drifting into discussions of history, poetry, and religion, until Court President Nil Nonn instructed him to stay on the topics of questioning. Another civil party, Ou Savorith, testified via live video conference from Paris regarding the death of his brother at S-21. The Defense Team requested that the civil party lawyers provide evidence that Ou Savorith was in fact related to the individual he claimed to be his brother. There were several technical issues with the translation system during the afternoon. Proceedings were stopped for about 10 minutes mid-afternoon and then again about an hour later, forcing the Court to end the session early. RODLEY