EU hails Khmer Rouge verdict in 'fight against impunity'

The European Union yesterday hailed the guilty verdict against two Khmer Rouge leaders as a victory for the fight against impunity.

The life sentences pronounced against Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan are “an important positive step in the global fight against impunity”, a statement from the office of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.

“It demonstrates that any political leaders can be held accountable for their acts, even decades after they were committed.”

The two were found guilty of crimes against humanity, in the first sentences against top figures of a regime responsible for the deaths of up to 2 million Cambodians by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).

The EU has contributed substantially to the functioning of the court over several years and the statement said it would continue its support “in the interest of justice for victims of the Khmer Rouge regime and to contribute to the national reconciliation process in Cambodia”.

Neither “Brother No 2” Nuon Chea, 88, nor former head of state Khieu Samphan, 83, betrayed any hint of emotion as the sentences were handed down.

But outside the UN-backed court, regime survivors applauded, many weeping after a 35-year wait for justice.

Meanwhile, the Cambodia Herald reported that the Khmer Rouge tribunal has endorsed the inclusion of a chapter on forced population movement and executions at Tuol Po Chrey within the Cambodian school curriculum.

As it sentenced Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan to life in prison for crimes against humanity, the Trial Chamber announced that 11 reparation projects would be implemented.

The projects aim to “acknowledge the harm suffered by civil parties as a result of the commission of the crimes at issue in this trial and to provide benefits to the civil parties that address this harm”, a statement said. 

In addition to the curriculum, the chamber also endorsed a National Remembrance Day, a memorial in Phnom Penh, a therapy project, self-help groups, a permanent exhibition, a mobile exhibition and education project and a peace-learning centre. It also endorsed a booklet on adjudicated facts and civil party participation in the trial, two editions of the verdict and civil-party names on the tribunal’s website.

Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were found to have committed murder and extermination through executions of Khmer Republic officials at Tuol Po Chrey.

They were also found to have planned, instigated, aided and abetted political persecution at Tuol Po Chrey, to where at least 250 officials of the former government were transported from Pursat and executed immediately after the Khmer Rouge victory on April 17, 1975.

In announcing the sentence, the tribunal found that Nuon Chea was responsible for all crimes committed in the course of movements of population and at Tuol Po Chrey.