A Tribunal for the Victims

By: Documentation Center of Cambodia's Outreach Team

Keo Dacil, Kim Sovanndany, Sirik Savina, Ser Sayana, Sa Fatily

The Extraordinary Chambers’ (Khmer Rouge Tribunal) goal is to deliver justice to victims of the Khmer Rouge regime; as such this tribunal should be sensitive to the perspectives and the emotions of those it is suppose to serve. The tribunal should keep in mind that amidst all the legal, bureaucratic, procedural, and investigative details that it attends to, its ultimate purpose is to deliver justice to victims of one of the most horrific periods of the twentieth century.



During the trial hearings of Case 001 involving former S-21 leader Duch at the Extraordinary Chambers, an underlying but critical injustice persists noticeable to the observant eye. It is not an injustice of a legal or procedural nature as might be expected in a courtroom; rather, it an injustice of status and dignity. The tribunal, in its mission to deliver justice to victims of the Khmer Rouge regime, has sometimes forgotten to treat victims with dignity and respect.



A front profile inside the courtroom provides a simple illustration: a tall glass wall separates well-paid and well-dressed lawyers and judges, who sit above a raised platform, from victims of the Khmer Rouge regime, who predominantly are poor and dressed in simple clothing. In Cambodian culture, relative status and honor between individuals can be inferred simply by who sits higher than whom. This imposing glass wall extends the width and height of the wooden platform where tribunal officials sit, creating an absolute barrier between these stately officials and the thousands of ordinary Cambodian villagers that have attended Duch’s trial hearings from March 2009 to November 2009. The wall’s purpose, one guesses, is safety and organization. However, it can have the implied meaning that victims have the potential for violence and are likely to physically disrupt the trial proceedings. Villagers, whose horrific experiences defy human morality and conscience, are the real victims that need protection and respect, not court officials.



Further examples of insensitivity to victims include the busing in of villagers by the tribunal’s Public Affairs Office from far away provinces as early as 3 a.m. for a half a day program, the strict interpretation of the tribunal’s dress code, and chastising villagers for the way they sit in the courtroom. The middle of the night busing in of villagers fails to consider the mental and physical health and well-being of victims. Moreover, inadequate sleep and vehicle motion sickness makes it even harder for ordinary Cambodians to follow the already complex legal proceedings. In Cambodia, where almost a third of the population live below the national poverty line and nearly 70% earn less than $2 a day, villagers’ best attire might be a new t-shirt. While a dress code prohibiting clothing which shows partiality towards the prosecution or defense is understandable, prohibiting all t-shirts which say only “Case 002” seems unreasonably strict. In addition, after villagers pass through security checks in order to enter the courtroom, they are sometimes reprimanded during the trial hearings for sitting inappropriately.



Such barriers and reactions intimidate victims and further distinguish the backgrounds, knowledge, and privileges of the officials who sit comfortably inside the glass wall from the villagers who watch from the outside. Highly educated, scripted in legal terminology, and articulate in persuasive speech, the officials carry out their work in the language of criminal law that only an elite population of the world can fully comprehend. The villagers, many of whom lack a high school degree, find it difficult sometimes to follow the formal conversations between prosecutors, defense lawyers, and investigative judges.



The verdict of Duch (Kaing Guek Eav) will be delivered on July 26, 1010. This will be the first verdict of the Extraordinary Chambers and will be the first recognized verdict for crimes committed during Democratic Kampuchea. Survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime have waited for more than three decades for this moment. It is a moment that, given the poor health and old age of the defendants along with unyielding budgetary and temporal problems of the tribunal, could be survivors’ only chance at seeing a Khmer Rouge leader convicted. Case 002 involving the four highest-level living Khmer Rouge leaders is not expected to start until early 2012 and presumably the verdict for this case will be delivered no earlier than 2013.



Never has there been a more important time for the court to reach out and connect with the very people that it was created for. Therefore, the tribunal should give special attention and preparation to victims who attend the verdict reading. Such attention will demonstrate the tribunal’s respect and honor towards victims which has been lacking in the past. Such action will not only leave a good impression among survivors and all Cambodians alike, but it will also show the international community, which no doubt will also be watching the verdict delivery, that the tribunal cares about survivors and their dignity.



To give honor and respect to victims for their past sufferings, the Extraordinary Chambers can do a number of small but meaningful preparations. The tribunal can lay out a red carpet along the isles of the 500-seat courtroom. A red carpet in Cambodian culture represents respect and honor. The tribunal can also decorate the sections of the public seating area and entryways with flower bouquets and cloth ribbons. Special banners that focus on victim’s courage and strength can also be created to commemorate the historic moment. These and other preparations would only cost a tiny fraction of the court’s overall budget, but would have a tremendous and lasting impact on survivors. In the end, the tribunal will be remembered not only for how it handled the legal, procedural, and criminal aspects of the cases, but also for how it treated victims of the Khmer Rouge regime throughout its existence. After all, the court was created for the victims.



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MEMORY & JUSTICE

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