Trial Monitoring

ECCC, Case 001, Issue 12

July 09, 2009
ECCC, Case 001, Issue 12
Publication Documents
Case or Series

Case 001

Case or Series

ECCC

Country

Cambodia

Language

English

The Chamber continued to hear from survivors this week, with five Civil Parties testifying to alleged atrocities committed at S-21 and Prey Sar. Unlike last week, however, there appeared to be several inconsistencies in their statements, thus placing a question mark over their credibility as witnesses. According to several of the Civil Parties, S-24 was essentially a labour camp where detainees were forced to work with minimum food and rest. Further detailed evidence on Cheoung Eak also emerged this week, with Civil Party Pok Khorn detailing both the execution methods used there and his escape.

The discrepancies within Civil Parties' testimonies gave rise to concerns about the extent to which their lawyers had adequately prepared them to take the stand. This was further compounded by an oral submission given by Lawyer for Civil Party Group 2, Silke Studzinsky, in which counsel requested that her client be able to testify about facts which had recently been discovered for which neither the Defense nor the Prosecution were on notice. Judge Cartwright seemed to allude to the fact that a more diligent lawyer would have known about this new evidence at an earlier stage of the proceedings, and alerted the Parties accordingly. The Judge also commented on Civil Parties’ lack of preparation during Li Hor’s testimony. Finally, while attendance was impressive, the increase also highlighted an apparent lack of sufficient security facilities at the Court.