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| |  | | Kaing Guek Eav | | | context : | Cambodia  | | judgement place : | Cambodia | | status : | On trial | | particulars : | Detained by Cambodian authorities since 1999; Charged with crimes against humanity and provisionally detained by the Extraordinary Chambers (ECCC) on 31 July 2007; trial began on 30 March 2009; Duch formally accepted responsibility and apologized for the crimes on 31 March 2009 | | position : | Director of the S21/Tuol Sleng detention and torture center |
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| | | | Duch has been detained in a Cambodian military prison since May 1999 when a military court in Cambodia charged him with murder, torture and membership of an outlawed group.
Since the death of Ta Mok (see "related cases"), and before the provisional detention of Nuon Chea dating back to 19 September 2007 (see “related cases”), Duch was the only person of importance imprisoned in Cambodia. He was put under trial on 30 March 2009 before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC, see 'spotlight').
On 31 July 2007 Duch was the first suspect to be provisionally detained by the Co-investigating judges of the ECCC.
The Co-investigating judges of the ECCC informed him of the charges against him, namely Crimes against Humanity, under articles 5, 29 (new) and 39 (new) of the Law on the establishment of the ECCC dated 27 October 2004 and grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Convention. He was ordered to be provisionally detained for a period not exceeding one year. .
On 19 September 2007, the Co-Investigating Judges decided, in order to ensure good administration of justice, to separate the case of Duch regarding the alleged crimes attributed to him in connection with the S-21 detention centre on the one hand and the other alleged crimes referred to in the Introductory Submission (dated 18 July 2007) by the Co-Prosecutors on the other hand.
In addition to the crimes alleged to have been perpetrated in connection with the S21 detention centre, the ongoing judicial investigation covers three broad categories of alleged crimes: forced movements of the population; killings, torture and other abuses; and forced labour, unlawful detention and inhuman living conditions perpetrated alleged to have taken place in S-21 detention centre and in other locations.
On 20 November 2007 Duch’s lawyers appealed the Co-investigating judges’ order of provisional detention on the grounds that he was held without charge under the jurisdiction of another court for eight years. The Pre-Trial Chamber rejected this appeal in its decision dated 3 December 2007.
The office of the Co-investigating judges of the ECCC announced on 15 May 2008 that it had completed its investigations against Kaing Guek Eav with regard to his responsibility for the crimes allegedly committed in S-21.
On 8 August 2008, the ECCC issued a closing order to officially indict former Kaing Guek Eav. He is the first suspect to be charged since the establishment of the tribunal in 2006.
On 5 September 2008, the Co-Prosecutors of the ECCC appealed the Co-Investigating Judges’ Closing Order on the grounds that they failed to indict Duch to offences provided for in the Cambodian Penal Code; and that it did not indict him for commission of crimes through participation in a Joint Criminal Enterprise.
On 5 December 2008, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the ECCC decided that Duch should be indicted on certain grounds relating to Cambodian national Law. It also provides that the Co-prosecutors did not have a sufficient factual basis for indicting Duch for commission of crimes through participation in a Joint Criminal Enterprise.
His trial opened on 30 March 2009.
On 31 March 2009, Duch formally accepted responsibility and apologized for the torture and murder of an estimated 12'000 Cambodians.
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On 13 May 2003, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution approving a proposed agreement reached between the UN and Cambodia concerning the prosecution of those holding major responsibility for the crimes committed between 1975 and 1979 (A/RES/57/228/B). The agreement provides for the creation of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), integrated into the existing Cambodian judicial system, and among which International judges are also appointed.
On 4 October 2004, the Cambodian National Assembly ratified this treaty. On 27 October 2004, the treaty was proclaimed into law by the King.
By October 2006, the Court, was composed of 12 Cambodian and 9 foreign judges and prosecutors.
On 18 July 2007, the Co-prosecutors of the ECCC announced that they had transferred the files of five suspects, to the ECCC. The Co-investigating judges (a foreign and a Cambodian judge) will examine the cases and decide whether and which of the suspects will be tried by the ECCC.
The first trial, in the case of Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, began on 30 March 2009.
On 31 March 2009, Duch formally accepted responsibility and apologized for the torture and murder of an estimated 12'000 Cambodians.
On 27 November 2009, Duch completely departed from his defense strategy by pleading not guilty and requiring to be released at the close of his trial. | |     click for more... | | Trial Watch would like to remind its users that any person charged by national or international authorities is presumed innocent until proven guilty. | |  |  | | also known as : | | | Duch | | | last time seen : | | | Phnom Penh (Cambodia) | | | judgement period : | | | 30.03.2009 | | | charges : | | | Crimes against humanity
Torture | | | profile last modified : | | | 08.12.2009 |
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