The Phnom Penh Post

A great article appeared recently in the LA Times about the capture and trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, who I have mentioned several times in relation to "Comrade Duch." Read it here.

A commenter suggested a few days ago that Duch might also have some traits in common with Franz Stangl, commandant of the Treblinka extermination camp. I do not know much about him, but will definitely read Gitta Sereny's Into that Darkness, in which she probes Stangl's influences and motivations, as soon as I can get my hands on a copy.

As testimony for the week wrapped up Thursday, defense attorney Francois Roux raised an issue that has noticeably impeded proceedings the last few days: translation. As the chamber finished its questioning about M-13 detention camp and moved on to interrogating Duch about S-21, a good deal of what was said was lost in the semi-simultaneous Khmer-English-French translation.

I hate to spend too much time dwelling on this issue, because, in many ways translation is a thankless job and it seems the translators at the court are probably stretched to their limits. However, there were numerous times this week when the entire meaning of an exchange would be lost to French and English speakers -- and, when actors in the courtroom itself had trouble understanding each other.

For example, late Wednesday afternoon Duch kept trying to explain the modes of horizontal and vertical communication available when he was chief of S-21. But "horizontal" and "vertical" kept getting bungled in the translation, relaying the exact opposite meaning of what Duch was saying to English/French speakers.

As you may have noticed, the tribunal (and I) have been on break for the Khmer New Year holiday. But after a one-week recess, the trial of "Comrade Duch" resumed Monday with testimony from former staffers at detention center M-13. Chan Voeun told the court Duch was "happy like a madman" while torturing prisoners and that he had seen the torture chief burn a female detainee's breasts with a lit torch. Questioning of Chan Khorn, who was only around 14 or 15 when he worked for Duch at M-13, took up all of Tuesday's session, although, as Ka-set pointed out in an interesting post, it's unclear how helpful either witness' testimony will be to the prosecution. Both seemed somewhat unsure of their answers and contradicted themselves at different points. (This may be partly due to audio translation issues, however, which I will address in an upcoming post.)

Meanwhile, outside of the courtroom the tribunal continues to be plagued by unresolved corruption allegations. Local NGOs released a statement April 17 (the anniversary of the Khmer Rouge takeover of Phnom Penh) demanding that all charges be thoroughly investigated, with results made available to the public.

The declaration from the Asian Human Rights Commission and Cambodian Center for Human Rights was prompted by a recent decision made by Co-Investigating Judges at the tribunal. On April 3, they rejected a request from defense lawyers to publicly release the findings of a UN corruption probe. Co-Investigating Judges claimed that investigating corruption was outside their jurisdiction.

The day before Francois Bizot was released from M-13 prison, "Comrade Duch" allowed him to organize a farewell party for his co-detainees. The French scholar was granted leave to accompany one of the prison guards to his home village, where they purchased dozens of chickens. Later, the fowl was made into chicken soup, which Bizot ate along with his fellow inmates, who were still in restraints.

"French comrade, don't forget us, please," they pleaded with him. It must have been a surreal experience.

"It is on behalf of all those people that I would like to give testimony today," Bizot told tribunal judges Wednesday, as he became the first witness to testify at Duch's trial. His story was fascinating, and stretched into Thursday morning's session.

A recent article in the New York Times raises the ongoing issue of corruption at the ECCC. You can check it out here. My thoughts on last week's testimony are forthcoming -- like many, I have been somewhat preoccupied with Khmer New Year festivities!

As you may have read in today's Post, the UN and Cambodian government have failed to reach an agreement on anti-corruption mechanisms at the court. The latest round of talks was seen by many as a "last ditch effort" to resolved the nagging corruption issue, which would unfreeze funds that are being withheld from the ECCC's Cambodian side.

Now the UN has said there will be no more negotiations.

Peter Taksoe-Jensen, UN Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs, said the UN has left a proposal with Deputy Prime Minister Sok An to consider. What will happen if this proposal is not accepted in unclear.

When Kaing Guek Eav was young, he admired a character in one of his schoolbooks. The fictional boy, named "Duch," always stood straight and spoke clearly, the former torture chief explained to judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal Monday.

"I wanted to be a well-disciplined boy," he said, "who respected the teachers and did good deeds."

When Kaing Guek Eav joined the Khmer Rouge revolution and had to choose a nom de guerre, he was immediately drawn to the name that had inspired him as a child.

The latest news on the corruption dispute at the court is in today's Post.

Co-Investigating Judges at the tribunal denied a request Friday that they investigate allegations of corruption at the court. The request had been lodged by Nuon Chea's defense team, and was supported by two other defense teams.

The Co-Investigating Judges wrote that probing such allegations was outside their jurisdiction.

"Whilst reiterating their desire for an irreproachable Court, they noted that the primary condition for fair trials is that the judges themselves respect the Law, particularly the jurisdictional limits laid down by their founding documents," according to a release from the court. "Accordingly, they were obliged to note that they did not have jurisdiction, under the 27 October 2004 Law and Internal Rules, to conduct the action requested by the Defence."

In arguments both Thursday and Friday, lawyers debated the relevance of an altercation that took place between civil parties and Khieu Samphan's defense lawyers last December.

It was the first time hostilities at the court boiled over into public dissent -- and near violence. Angered by the provocative Jacques Verges, and his Cambodian co-lawyer Sa Sovan, Khmer Rouge victims began a shouting match. Sa, as civil party lawyer Silke Studzinksy pointed out Thursday, "did not have the necessary distance to calm the situation," and various parties had to be physically restrained.

To defense lawyers' dismay, attorneys for the civil parties have now argued that the clash proves defendants cannot be released on bail. Anger directed toward the Khmer Rouge is still too raw, they say.