ECCC, Case 001, Issue 20

As scheduled, the examination of witnesses testifying about the Accused Person’s Character commenced this week. The proceedings saw the attendance of expert psychologists as well as former friends and colleagues of the Accused. Aside from some tendencies, which the experts attested were also found in many of the survivors of the regime, they found the Accused was not suffering from any mental disorder. This indicated that he was competent to stand for trial. The subsequent character witnesses that testified included former schoolmates and students from the pre-1975 period as well as former colleagues from the period after Democratic Kampuchea. All of them testified that Duch had been a man of a good character. All the character witnesses were surprised to find that the man they knew had served as the Director of S-21. 

The remainder of the week’s proceedings comprised further testimony from the Accused regarding his own character. Duch described his movements after the Liberation Day (6 January 1979), as well as reiterating his meticulous choice to convert to Christianity – a decision made based on his assessment of the religion’s utility in the post Khmer Rouge era. Civil Party absence this week signified a protest against the Chamber’s decision to preclude their lawyers from questioning both the Accused and certain witnesses on the Accused’s character. During the press conference held on Monday, the Civil Parties stated that they would continue to boycott the trial until their status as full-fledged parties was recognized and given proper effect. Their lawyers, however, continued to represent them in court this week, and took every possible opportunity to draw the Chamber’s attention to the stance their clients had taken with regard to this matter. Finally, this week, the ECCC made two noteworthy announcements – namely, the appointment of Mr. William Smith as the interim Co-Prosecutor (until Mr. Robert Petit’s replacement is appointed) and the failure of the Pre-Trial Chamber to reach a super-majority decision on the prosecution of additional suspects.