ECCC, Case 001, Issue 18

Thirteen Civil Parties took the stand and recounted the loss of their loved ones to the crimes committed at S 21. The resulting psychological trauma ran extraordinarily deep because of the knowledge that their loved ones, being S21 detainees, were possibly, perhaps likely, subjected to inhumane treatment, painful torture, and cruel execution.In addition, the Civil Parties often posed questions to the Accused, asking if their loved ones had been subjected to torture, how they had died, and where their bodies had been interred. In response, however, the Accused maintained his stance that he had little knowledge of the fate of individual prisoners.

The Chamber also anticipated that Civil Parties would possibly require professional psychological support when testifying. A staff of TPO, an organization that provides psychological assistance to victims, was on standby in the Courtroom. Unfortunately, this attentiveness to the needs of Civil Parties was less apparent on Thursday, when the Chamber decided to put Chum Neou on the stand despite it being obvious that her testimony would be interrupted by a scheduled video-conference to hear another Civil Party’s testimony.  Significantly, proceedings throughout the week were plagued with time-consuming technical problems. Matters reached a low on Thursday, when the last thirty minutes of the proceedings were spent in silent confusion, at least to the viewing public, as audio system problems rendered all goings-on in the Courtroom inaudible. This led to an abrupt end to the week’s proceedings.