The Phnom Penh Post

International Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit announced today that he is stepping down from his post at the Khmer Rouge tribunal. His last day will be Sept. 1, 2009. I've posted his statement below:

It is with the deepest regret that, for personal and family reasons, I must demit my position as International Co-Prosecutor effective 1 September 2009.

It has been the greatest privilege of my career to have the opportunity to bring some justice to the victims of the crimes of the Khmer Rouge. I remain convinced that Cambodia's hopes for a better future lie, in part, on true accountability for crimes. My staff and I have tried, within our jurisdiction, to contribute to that goal to the best of our abilities. I have no doubt that Deputy Prosecutor William SMITH and my staff shall, along with our Cambodian colleagues, continue to do so after I depart. My decision has been reached after months of deliberation and consultation.

According to a tentative schedule released by the court, the much-anticipated testimony of survivors of S-21 will begin around Tuesday, June 30. One witness will be slated to testify each day.

Of course, such scheduling is generally only a rough outline, but the chamber has been trying to expedite proceedings. In fact, proposed time limits on questioning have met with opposition from Comrade Duch's defense team.

Parties continued questioning Duch himself today about operations of S-21.

I haven't been able to post this week because I've been busy with a side project, but judges have been questioning Comrade Duch about the operations of S-21. So far, the testimony has been gruesome and emotional.

Wednesday, Duch became visibly upset -- which is unusual for the stoic defendant -- when describing the murder of his former teacher at Tuol Sleng. He said he was ashamed he had betrayed friends "to survive myself, to further see the sunlight," and begged forgiveness from his teacher's soul.

Judges denied Duch's request Monday for release from provisional detention. However, in their ruling, they wrote that his eight-year detention at the Cambodian Military Court had been unlawful, and that he might be eligible for a sentence reduction.?

The tribunal's security section has completed an investigation into the recent "Waterlilygate" controversy at the court, spokesman Lars Olsen told reporters Wednesday. He said no evidence of "foul play or theft" had been discovered.

Last week, defense lawyers for Nuon Chea said they believed there had been a security breach at the court after a confidential document from their office was found floating in a lily pond outside the ECCC.

Olsen said the security section is drafting a report about the recent investigation and will be strengthening security protocols.

The Trial Chamber will hold a trial management meeting tomorrow that will not be open to the public. Items on the agenda:

* The estimated duration of trial proceedings.

* Scheduled trial days and recesses.

The trial of Comrade Duch resumed today, as parties questioned the defendant about implementation of CPK policy at S-21. In perhaps the most disturbing testimony of the day, Duch described the policy of killing babies and children at the detention center so they would not seek revenge later in life.

Although anthropologist Alex Hinton has written about this phenomenon, describing the concept of "cutting trees at the roots" so no survivors will seek vengeance, the policy of child killing seems to contradict Khmer Rouge ideology. After all, weren't children "blank sheets of paper" ready to be molded by the revolution? Why would the Khmer Rouge believe ancestral ties would triumph over Angkar? It is interesting to note that S-21 apparently considered the babies of "traitors" so tainted that they could not be reeducated.

Also, in today's Post, more criticism for newly appointed Victims Unit head Helen Jarvis.

In a mini-scandal the Post has dubbed "Waterlilygate," defense attorneys for Nuon Chea are claiming they found a confidential document from their office floating in a lily pond outside the Khmer Rouge tribunal.

Lawyer Michiel Pestman told reporters Thursday that he believed the document had been stolen from the defense team's office. I was not able to attend the press conference where these allegations were made, but you can read the Post article here.

"We have no explanation," he said. "What we do know is that the documents should have been shredded. They were not, and they were most probably stolen from our office."

Since the recent announcement that Helen Jarvis would become head of the ECCC Victims Unit, the former court spokeswoman has come under increased scrutiny.

In today's Cambodia Daily, lawyers for defendant Nuon Chea said Jarvis' political beliefs were cause for concern, and cited an open letter she had signed in 2006 penned by the Leninist Party Faction.

The letter, which was signed by over 50 people, reads, "We too are Marxists and believe that 'the ends justify the means.' In time of revolution and civil war, the most extreme measures will sometimes become necessary and justified. Against the bourgeoisie and their state agencies we don't respect their laws and their fake moral principles."

During a press conference at the ECCC Wednesday, national Co-Prosecutor Chea Leang told reporters that her opposition to additional prosecutions at the court was not the product of political pressure. (Chea is the niece of Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.)

Of Hun Sen's public remarks that he would rather see the tribunal fail than pursue more suspects, Chea said, "I think it is his right to speak. ... But his speech is not related to our work here."

She said her opposition to additional prosecutions was firmly grounded in Cambodian law, which says prosecutors must "consider the public interest." Chea has contended that pursuing more suspects would lead to civil unrest.

From the start of Comrade Duch's trial, his defense attorneys have argued that their client is a scapegoat, that the former S-21 torture chief does not qualify as one of those "most responsible" for the atrocities committed during the period of Democratic Kampuchea. It is certainly true that there was an extensive network of detention centers throughout the country. Why aren't their chairmen on trial? Why is Duch being singled out for prosecution?

In his testimony before the tribunal last week, Khmer Rouge scholar Craig Etcheson thoroughly addressed these questions. Duch, he said, "was indeed different" from other chairmen. He makes a compelling case.

While there were more than 200 security centers throughout DK, S-21 was unique for a number of reasons, Etcheson said. It was the only prison that could arrest cadre from all echelons (even the all-powerful Standing Committee) and detain prisoners from throughout the entire country. In terms of staff, "S-21 was in a category all by itself," he continued. Over 2,000 people worked at S-21, making it 50 times to 200 times the size of other detention centers.