ECCC, Case 002/02, Issue 18

Case 002/02

ECCC

Cambodia

English

From 4 to 8 May 2015, the Trial Chamber effectively completed the testimonies of two witnesses via video link to Battambang province, as they were unable to travel to the ECCC due to their advanced age and health conditions. For the third week in a row, Nuon Chea’s Defense Counsel again sought to use the torture-tainted confession of a DK cadre during witness examination, despite having been repeatedly rebuffed by the Chamber on previous such attempts. This prompted the Co-Prosecutor to request oral hearings before the Trial Chamber on this matter. The first witness heard this week, Ms. Khoem Boeun, alias Yeay Boeun, was the DK chief of Cheang Tong Commune, in Tram Kak District, and other witnesses have identified her as the final chief of the District before the fall of the regime in 1979. Her testimony covered her knowledge of Tram Kak administrative structure, DK policies to “clean up enemies” and regulate marriage, and her oversight of living and work conditions. The second witness, Mr. Aek Hoeun, was a former cadre who worked at the District office in Tram Kak. He detailed his knowledge of DK administrative structures in Tram Kak as well as arrests and executions, which he testified were overseen by the District. He also spoke about the people’s living conditions, forced marriage, and the targeting of former Lon Nol soldiers and ethnic Vietnamese people.