ECCC, Case 001, Issue 8

Case 001

ECCC

Cambodia

English

This week, the Chamber and Parties proceeded to question the Accused on “The Implementation of CPK Policy at S-21” and the “Armed Conflict Between Vietnam and Cambodia” – two topic areas directly related to the charges Duch faces in the Closing Order. Consistent with his prior testimony, Duch further maintained that any active role he took to ensure the effective operation of S-21 was motivated by his fear of reprisal from the upper echelons of the command structure.

Despite the Accused Person’s insistence that he failed to proactively participate in the formative stages of policy implementation at S-21, Duch admitted, in response to questions from the Civil Parties, his personal role in eliciting and annotating prisoner’s confessions.  An important procedural issue regarding Rule 87 – the Rule pertaining to the admissibility of evidence - was scheduled to be discussed during a closed session trial management meeting on Thursday. As for trial management, the sessions generally commenced on time this week. Proactive steps were taken this week to interrupt repetitive lines of questioning. Finally, it is worth noting that the interpreters this week exhibited close communication with the Chamber. However, it is a source of concern that edited interpretation, along with inaccurate translation of documentary evidence, continues to adversely impact both the deliberation of the Chamber as well as the smooth running of the trial in general.