Yesterday, the Acting International Co-Prosecutor filed with the Office of
the Co-Investigating Judges the Second and Third Introductory Submissions so
that judicial investigations are opened into the criminal acts alleged
therein. This filing was done in accordance with the directions given by the
Pre-Trial Chamber in its Considerations Regarding the Disagreement Between
the Co-Prosecutors Pursuant to Internal Rule 71 (Disagreement No.
001/18-11-2008-ECCC/PTC), received by the Co-Prosecutors on 2 September
2009.
Introductory Submissions are, by law, confidential documents. Recognizing,
however, the importance of the work of this Court and the need for the
public to be informed of the progress of its proceedings, the Internal Rules
allow the Co-Prosecutors to provide the public with an objective summary of
their submissions, while protecting the integrity of the investigation, the
identity of the victims and witnesses, and the presumption of innocence of
the suspects.
The Second and Third Introductory Submissions cover crimes that were
committed as part of a joint criminal enterprise constituting a systematic
and unlawful denial of the rights of the Cambodian population, and identify
a total of five (5) suspects.
Based on a preliminary investigation, the Second Introductory Submission
requests judicial investigation of eight (8) distinct factual situations of
murder, torture, unlawful detention, forced labour and persecution. The
factual allegations in this Introductory Submission, if proved, would
constitute crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions
and violations of the 1956 Cambodian Penal Code. The Third Introductory
Submission requests judicial investigation of thirty-two (32) distinct
factual situations of murder, torture, unlawful detention, forced labour,
and persecution. The factual allegations in the Third Introductory
Submission, if proved, would constitute crimes against humanity, violations
of the 1956 Cambodian Penal Code and genocide.
The Acting International Co-Prosecutor has no plans to conduct any further
preliminary investigations into additional suspects at the ECCC. In
forwarding to the Co-Investigating Judges these 5 new suspects for judicial
investigation, the Acting International Co-Prosecutor agrees with the
statement of the former International Co-Prosecutor of 5 January 2009 that
this last set of cases to be prosecuted would lead to a more comprehensive
accounting of the crimes that were committed under the DK regime during
1975-79.
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About Me
- Duong Dara
- Dara Duong was born in 1971 in Battambang province, Cambodia. His life changed forever at age four, when the Khmer Rouge took over the country in 1975. During the regime that controlled Cambodia from 1975-1979, Dara’s father, grandparents, uncle and aunt were executed, along with almost 3 million other Cambodians. Dara’s mother managed to keep him and his brothers and sisters together and survive the years of the Khmer Rouge regime. However, when the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia, she did not want to live under Communist rule. She fled with her family to a refugee camp on the Cambodian-Thai border, where they lived for more than ten years. Since arriving in the United States, Dara’s goal has been to educate people about the rich Cambodian culture that the Khmer Rouge tried to destroy and about the genocide, so that the world will not stand by and allow such atrocities to occur again. Toward that end, he has created the Cambodian Cultural Museum and Killing Fields Memorial, which began in his garage and is now in White Center, Washington. Dara’s story is one of survival against enormous odds, one of perseverance, one of courage and hope.
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