The Phnom Penh Post

Even though the trial proper for "Comrade Duch" is expected to start around a month from now, that didn't stop journalists and spectators from flocking to the ECCC today for the torture chief's Initial Hearing. Foreigners and Cambodians packed the tribunal's main courtroom. Many came specifically to see Duch, who intently jotted notes during the procedural hearing and offered a traditional Som Pas to the audience whenever the court recessed.

During the morning session, Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit announced that he will once again raise the issue of Joint Criminal Enterprise in relation to Duch's case. Although the Pre-Trial Chamber already rejected a request that Duch be held accountable under the theory of JCE, Petit said the Trial Chamber would not be bound by this decision.

Lawyers and judges also reviewed new civil party requests, leading the defense to spar with prosecutors over whether a late application from professed Tuol Sleng survivor Norng Chan Pal should be considered by the chamber.

Court monitor ADHOC (the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association) has decried the tribunal's refusal to accept Tuol Sleng survivor Norng Chan Pal as a civil party in the case of "Comrade Duch."

Researchers for DC-Cam recently located Norng, one of five child survivors identified in archival footage of Tuol Sleng. He was detained there with his mother.

Despite his status as one of the torture center's few survivors, Norng has been told he cannot become a civil party in Duch's case. He missed the Feb. 2 filing deadline by two days.

Although she has been a relatively understated figure at the court, Cambodian Co-Prosecutor Chea Leang is attracting a good deal of attention at the moment. Her stand against additional investigations at the ECCC puts her at odds not only with her foreign counterpart, Robert Petit, but also with court watchers who suspect her decision is not wholly independent.

"The nature of Cambodian Co-Prosecutor Chea Leang's opposition to investigation of additional suspects beyond the five already charged has raised concern that she may not be free to act independently in determining appropriate targets for prosecution," tribunal monitor the Open Society Justice Initiative writes in its most recent report. "Her objections seemingly acknowledge the sufficiency of the evidence and legal basis for proceeding with the investigations, yet she refused to agree for reasons which are not factually supported and appear as pretext."

In its February 2009 report, the watchdog group highlights funding shortfalls, unresolved corruption allegations and the disagreement between prosecutors as to whether the court should pursue additional suspects. Petit filed an official "Statement of Disagreement" in early December and Chea issued a public response saying she feared additional investigations would jeopardize Cambodia's stability.

The Khmer Rouge Tribunal can be a daunting institution to understand, so I've created a guide that I hope will be of some help. The Tribunal Glossary will expand with time and I welcome your suggestions for important terms and people related to the tribunal that I might have missed.

Also, the story in today's Post about "Comrade Duch" by Georgia Wilkins and Neth Pheaktra features a timeline of major developments involving the ECCC. You may find this instructive as the court gears up for its first public trial hearing next week.

The last week of February is shaping up to be a busy one at the ECCC. In addition to appeal hearings for Ieng Thirith and Ieng Sary, judges have now scheduled a public hearing for Khieu Samphan on Feb. 27.

Khieu, like the other defendants, is appealing the extension of his provisional detention. Judges denied a request from Co-Prosecutors that the appeal decision be based on written submissions alone.

As you may have read in Monday's Post, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court has suspended a probe into corruption at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. This was a sudden reversal. Lawyers for defendant Nuon Chea -- who had filed the complaint -- had been informed shortly beforehand that the court would investigate the matter thoroughly.

"I would question [the municipal] court's motivations, considering that an investigation was abruptly terminated without a proper explanation," one of Nuon's lawyers told the Post.

This is hardly surprising, given that Cambodian courts are often accused of being corrupt and politically compromised. In fact, a recurring theme of negotiations surrounding the ECCC's creation involved the extent to which the tribunal should be insulated from the national court system. Representatives from the UN pushed for as much distance as possible.

In early December, a high-level UN delegation held a closed-door meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Sok An. A pressing issue on the agenda: unresolved corruption allegations at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. Although a press conference was scheduled for the meeting's conclusion, the event was called off at the last minute.

The UN delegation left Cambodia without speaking to the press or public, and instead issued a joint statement with the Cambodian government vowing to strengthen corruption mechanisms at the court. In that statement, the parties agreed to hold a series of discussions and then report the results of those sessions by the end of January.

The Cambodian government issued such a report Jan. 31. The UN has, so far, not provided its own report or comments to local media.

Judges at the tribunal have scheduled appeal hearings for married defendants Ieng Thirith and Ieng Sary for Feb. 24 and 26, respectively -- the week after "Comrade Duch" makes his first appearance before the Trial Chamber.

Both Iengs are appealing the court's recent decision to detain them for an additional year. Co-Prosecutors had argued that these appeals should be decided without an oral hearing, but lawyers for the defendants argued that this was "an important matter" that "should be dealt with appropriately."

Ieng Sary's lawyers also raised the importance of addressing their client's health issues in a hearing. The elderly defendant has repeatedly been hospitalized during his detention.

Co-Prosecutors at the tribunal have filed a motion to show archival Vietnamese footage of Tuol Sleng at the upcoming trial of "Comrade Duch."

Vietnamese authorities turned the films over to the Documentation Center of Cambodia in late December -- after prosecutors had already submitted the list of exhibits they planned to use at trial. While the motion is a relatively dry request that prosecutors be able to introduce these new exhibits, it includes some interesting details about the actual materials.

In the collection of films given to DC-Cam, prosecutors argue that two in particular have relevance to Duch's case:

An article in today's International Herald Tribune does an excellent job of summarizing the greater implications of the dispute over additional prosecutions at the tribunal.