KR-Trial for the week

This is weekly e-newsletter on Khmer Rouge Trial. The KRT web portal team had created "Blog" that allow all members can comment it. 1- Duch team disputes civil party eligibility The defence team for Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, on Wednesday challenged the applications of 18 civil parties, saying, among other things, that lawyers had failed to demonstrate kinship links between their clients and Tuol Sleng victims. In her rundown of the objections, international defence lawyer Marie-Paule Canizares repeatedly said the applications lacked documentation proving kinship links, and she challenged multiple applications in part because they were "only mentioning friends"… 2- UN Appoints Candidate To Replace Robert Petit Phnom Penh : Khmer Rouge tribunal public affairs officer announced that the UN had appointed a candidate to replace an international co-prosecutor Robert Petit. But, the new candidate’s identity had not been announced. Lars Olsen, tribunal legal communication officer, told reporters on 26 August that the UN had appointed a candidate to take office of Robert Petit who quitted in the past recent months… 3- Expert describes trauma felt by KR victims Mental health problems resulting from the trauma of the Khmer Rouge years have largely been ignored and, if untreated, could continue to fuel social ills such as alcoholism and domestic violence, a psychologist who has spent years counselling survivors and relatives of victims told Cambodia's war crimes court Tuesday. "Some foreigners probably are in doubt why, after 30 years or so, Cambodian people still suffer from this trauma, and the answer is that Cambodian people have not had the appropriate opportunities to be treated," said expert witness Chhim Sotheara, executive director of the mental health NGO Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation… 4- Khmer Rouge Infants Deemed As Angkar’s Ownership Phnom Penh : In Democratic Kampuchea (DK), all infants were separated from their parents and taught about atrocities according to what the regime wanted. This impact has continued until now, according to Transcultural Psycho-social Organization (TPO) executive director. On 25 August morning, the TPO Executive Director Chhim Sotheara, who works on psychosocial and mental health care, testified at the Khmer Rouge tribunal about numerous impact on the infants left behind by the DK… 5- More civil parties refuse to forgive S-21 commandant AFEMALE Khmer Rouge soldier described for Cambodia's war crimes court on Monday two events taking place shortly after the fall of the communist regime that she said stopped her from forgiving former Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, despite his many apologies. Civil party Chum Noeu, 60, whose husband was sent to Tuol Sleng in 1977 and killed, first told of an encounter with Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, while she and other comrades were fleeing Phnom Penh after the Vietnamese arrived in January 1979… 6- The KRT Trial Monitor A key legal issue that emerged this week was the extent to which the application of Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE) to the present proceedings would impact the witnesses’ right against self-incrimination. International Defense Counsel, Mr Francois Roux, argued that witnesses had a right to be adequately informed about the Office of the Co-Prosecutors’ (OCP) Submissions on the applicability of JCE. He intimated that the OCP’s Submissions might influence the manner in which former S-21 personnel chose to exercise their right against self-incrimination. Dismissing such arguments as “legal nonsense,” International Deputy Co-Prosecutor Mr William Smith noted that potential prosecutions of former S-21 personnel are “extremely remote.” He further contended that the legal landscape for future prosecutions stands unaltered by OCP’s submissions on JCE… 7- Duch’s Case Decision Set To Be Made Early Next Year Phnom Penh: Decision on case file of former Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, will be officially made by the Khmer Rouge tribunal early next year, according to a tribunal spokesperson. Kaing Guek Eav, 67, alias Duch, is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity together with torture and homicide at Tuol Sleng prison during Khmer Rouge regime. An estimated 16,000 inmates at Tuol Sleng were killed by torture to extract confessions, and some were driven to be killed at Choeung Ek killing at the outskirt of Phnom Penh…