Weekly e-newsletter on Khmer Rouge Trial

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- Toul Sleng Chief Trial Closed Phnom Penh: Khmer Rouge tribunal has opened a hearing of case 001 concerning former Khmer Rouge Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, for 72 days and closed the case on 17 September 2009. Dim Sovannarom, tribunal press officer, told the Kampuchea Thmey that Duch trial process regarding case 001 commenced from 30 March 2009 to 17 September 2009 [72 days] with testimonies of nine expert witnesses, 17 fact witnesses, seven character witnesses and 22 civil parties. A total of 2,374 visitors observed the trial chamber proceedings of the case. Around 3,000 journalists attended the hearing. On average, the trial attracted 330 visitors a day… 2- Duch’s family ‘tragedy’ TUOL Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, said Tuesday that fear of punishment from Khmer Rouge leaders prompted him to implement an order that led to the detention, interrogation, torture and execution of his own brother-in-law. The brother-in-law, who married one of Duch’s younger sisters, was deputy chief of the security office in Kampong Thom province when Central Zone Secretary Kae Pok arrested him in 1977. Through a prison guard, the brother-in-law sent a secret letter to Duch in Phnom Penh saying he had been detained and was suffering from dysentery… 3- Heritage body planned OFFICIALS from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said they plan to establish a UNESCO-affiliated committee to preserve documentary information about Cambodia, after the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Archives were officially inscribed into UNESCO’s Memory of the World register last week. At a Memory of the World Programme workshop held in Phnom Penh on Thursday, Minister of Culture and Fine Arts Him Chhem said the government hopes to expand its preservation efforts through the new heritage body… 4- KRT ends evidence phase in Duch trial THE Khmer Rouge tribunal concluded its hearing of evidence in the trial of Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, commandant of the infamous Tuol Sleng prison where thousands were tortured and consigned to execution. “I would like to declare the adjournment to this morning’s proceedings now,” chief Judge Nil Nonn told the court, officially ending testimony. Since the substantive portion of the trial began March 30, the tribunal has heard testimony from seven character witnesses, nine expert witnesses, 17 fact witnesses and 22 civil parties, with 23,742 visitors having observed the tribunal from the public gallery, a statement from the tribunal said… 5- Don’t try just Duch: witness AN expert witness told Cambodia’s war crimes court Monday that the directors of other Khmer Rouge-era detention facilities that claimed more lives than the notorious Tuol Sleng prison were still alive and suggested they be prosecuted for war crimes.“There were nine centres where there were more victims than [Tuol Sleng], and from those centres no one is before this court,” said Raoul Marc Jennar, a Belgian academic who testified at the request of defence lawyers for former Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch. “My concept of justice is not to have scapegoats. It’s to treat everyone the same way,” Jennar said… 6- On Trial: The Khmer Rouge Accountability Process This book is dedicated to the victims of Democratic Kampuchea and to promoting a legal accountability process that will honor their memory and provide their families with justice. This invaluable collection of essays, sponsored by the Cambodian NGO that has pioneered research on the Khmer Rouge era, provides a wealth of information about the so-called Khmer Rouge Tribunal. On Trial is accessible, well researched, and passionately engaged with the innumerable tragedies of the Khmer Rouge period. Its authors argue that the ongoing trials may possibly lead toward deeper reconciliation and certainly a deeper knowledge of what happened throughout the country in those horrific years… 7- Over 100,000-Page Khmer Rouge Commerce Ministry’s Original Documents Displayed at National Archives of Cambodia Phnom Penh: Almost general documents of Democratic Kampuchea, DK, were considered confidential by its leaders. However, at the National Archives of Cambodia, NAC, situated behind the National Library [Wat Phnom], over 100,000-page Khmer Rouge Commerce Ministry’s original documents are displayed for national and international research. Chhun Lim, director of management office at the NAC, said this less-known site contains numerous documents and is nationally, historically valued for national and international visitors to do research, especially for the students and civil servants. The documents have been designed at village, communal, provincial, and national level since 1863 French protectorate, being preserved at the NAC…