Organization

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia is a court set up to try leaders of the Khmer Rouge for crimes of their rule, from 1975 to 1979.[1] It is a hybrid court, created under a 2003 agreement between the United Nations and the Cambodian government, with Cambodian and international judges and lawyers working side by side.[2][3] It gave its last judgment in September 2022,[4] and since January 1, 2023 it has carried out only residual functions.[1]

Founding

A long cream-colored building with rows of windows and a long wing to the right, topped by a red and gold roof with three tall golden spires, stands behind a metal fence across a wide dirt lot with crowd barriers, a few people and parked motorbikes, under a blue sky.
The main building of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, 2009. Photo: Henning Blatt, CC BY-SA 3.0

Cambodia passed a law to set up the court on August 10, 2001, and signed its agreement with the United Nations on June 6, 2003.[1] UN News dates the court's start to 2006.[5] The United Nations sent international judges, prosecutors and staff through its Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials.[5] The court's address is National Road 4, Chaom Chau, Porsenchey, Phnom Penh.[6] Its public gallery has about 550 seats.[6]

Mandate and structure

The court was set up to try senior leaders of Democratic Kampuchea (the Khmer Rouge state) and others who were most responsible for its crimes. Its reach is limited to the period from April 17, 1975 to January 6, 1979. Its law covers genocide and crimes against humanity, serious violations of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and homicide, torture and religious persecution as defined in Cambodia's 1956 penal code.[1] Each case has two co-prosecutors and two co-investigating judges, one Cambodian and one international. Above them sit a Pre-Trial Chamber, a Trial Chamber and a Supreme Court Chamber.[1][6]

People who suffered under the regime could take part in the trials as civil parties. The court admitted 74 civil parties in Case 001 and 3,869 in Case 002.[7][8]

Cases

Case 001

Case 001 tried Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, who ran the S-21 security center, now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, from 1976 to early 1979. He was charged with crimes against humanity and with serious violations of the Geneva Conventions.[7] The Trial Chamber convicted him on July 26, 2010 and sentenced him to 35 years. On February 3, 2012 the Supreme Court Chamber upheld the conviction and raised the sentence to life in prison.[2][7] UN News put the number of people who died at S-21 at 12,272 or more.[2]

Case 002

Case 002 was brought against four senior leaders: Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith.[8] In November 2011 the court found Ieng Thirith unfit to stand trial.[8] The proceedings against Ieng Sary ended in March 2013 after his death, and those against Ieng Thirith ended in August 2015 after hers.[8]

The court split the case into two trials. Case 002/01 dealt with the forced movement of people out of Phnom Penh in April 1975 and later, and with executions at Tuol Po Chrey. On August 7, 2014 the Trial Chamber convicted Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan of crimes against humanity and sentenced each of them to life in prison.[8][5] UN News counted about 100,000 people who came to the court to watch the trial.[5]

Case 002/02 dealt with security centers, work sites and cooperatives, the treatment of the Vietnamese and the Cham, forced marriage and purges within the party.[4] On November 16, 2018 the Trial Chamber found both men guilty of genocide of the Vietnamese, of crimes against humanity and of serious violations of the Geneva Conventions, and Nuon Chea also of genocide of the Cham. It joined the sentences of both trials into one term of life in prison for each.[6] Nuon Chea died in August 2019, while his appeal was pending, and the court ended the proceedings against him without a final judgment on his guilt.[6] On September 22, 2022 the Supreme Court Chamber upheld the convictions and the life sentence of Khieu Samphan, the former head of state.[6][3] That judgment completed Case 002.[4]

Cases 003 and 004

Two further cases were opened in 2009 against five former Khmer Rouge commanders and officials.[9][10] In most of them, the two co-investigating judges, one Cambodian and one international, disagreed on whether the suspect fell within the court's reach as one of those most responsible. The Supreme Court Chamber ended the cases between 2020 and 2021, finding that no valid indictment existed, and one was dismissed by the co-investigating judges. None reached trial.[6] More than 2,000 people had applied to join these cases as civil parties.[6]

Residual functions

Under an addendum to the agreement with the United Nations, in force from December 2021, the court has kept a set of residual functions. They include protecting witnesses and civil parties and supervising the sentences of those convicted. The court also keeps its archives and answers requests to see them, informs the public and follows the reparations awarded to civil parties.[1][6] Between 2018 and 2022 the court declassified more than 4,000 documents.[6] UN News wrote that the court reportedly cost a total of 330 million US dollars.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, About the ECCC (undated)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 UN News, UN-backed court sentences key Khmer Rouge figure to life in prison on appeal (February 3, 2012)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 UN News, Cambodia: UN-backed tribunal ends with conviction upheld for last living Khmer Rouge leader (September 22, 2022)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Case 002/02 (undated)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 UN News, UN-backed tribunal sentences Khmer Rouge leaders to life in prison (August 7, 2014)
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, The Court Report 2018-2022 (2022)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Case 001 (undated)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Case 002/01 (undated)
  9. ↑ Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Case 003 (undated)
  10. ↑ Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Case 004 (undated)
Retrieved from "https://khmerconnection.com/w/index.php?title=Extraordinary_Chambers_in_the_Courts_of_Cambodia&oldid=13259"
This page was last edited on 10 October 2026, at 00:04.