CHRONOLOGY OF THE KHMER ROUGE TRIBUNAL

Compiled from newsclips of the Documentation Center of Cambodia

April 30, 1994

The US Congress passes the Cambodian Genocide Justice Act, which states “it is the policy of the United States to support efforts to bring to justice members of the Khmer Rouge for their crimes against humanity committed in Cambodia between April 17, 1975, and January 7, 1979.”

January 13, 1995

The Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) is officially established pursuant to the Cambodian Genocide Justice Act, with a two-year, $499,283 grant to the Yale Cambodian Genocide Program.

(Office of Cambodian Genocide Investigations, EAP/CGI, Bureau of Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State, document in the possession of DC-Cam)

September 14, 1996

The Cambodian government grants amnesty to Ieng Sary, former deputy prime minister of Democratic Kampuchea (DK). The amnesty covered his 1979 conviction (Ieng Sary had been sentenced to death and the confiscation of his personal property by the People’s Revolutionary Tribunal).

(Royal Decree, 0996/72)

April 11, 1997

The UN Commission on Human Rights adopts Resolution 1997/49. The resolution requested the Secretary-General, through his special representative, to examine any request for assistance in responding to past serious violations of Cambodian and international law.

May 12, 1997

King Norodom Sihanouk says he was willing to be judged alongside Khmer Rouge leaders to answer his critics, who claimed he was partly responsible for the genocide that took place between 1975 and 1978.

(Cambodia Times, May 12, 1997)

June 11, 1997

Former DK State Presidium Chairman Khieu Samphan announces that senior rebel Son Sen and his wife Yun Yat were arrested for espionage and treason against the Khmer Rouge movement. The Khmer Rouge had accused the two of being spies for Second Prime Minister Hun Sen and the government of Vietnam.

(The Cambodia Daily, June 12, 1997)

June 15, 1997

Son Sen, Yun Yat [Son Sen’s wife], and eight of their relatives are massacred.

(The Nation, June 25, 1997)

June 21,1997

First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh and Second Prime Minister Hun Sen request the assistance of the UN and international community “in bringing to justice those persons responsible for the genocide and crimes against humanity” during the Khmer Rouge regime. The following is the detailed content of the request for assistance:

Dear Mr. Secretary-General,

On behalf of the Cambodian Government and people, we write to you to ask for the assistance of the United Nations and the international community in bringing to justice those persons responsible for the genocide and crimes against humanity during the rule of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979.

The April 1997 resolution on Cambodia of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights requests: “the Secretary-General, through his Special Representative, in collaboration with the Centre for Human Rights, to examine any request by Cambodia for assistance in responding to past serious violations of Cambodian and international law as a means of bringing about national reconciliation, strengthening democracy and addressing the issue of individual accountability.”

Cambodia does not have the resources or expertise to conduct this very important procedure. Thus, we believe it is necessary to ask for the assistance of the United Nations. We are aware of similar efforts to respond to the genocide and crimes against humanity in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, and ask that similar assistance be given to Cambodia.

We believe that crimes of this magnitude are of concern to all persons in the world, as they greatly diminish respect for the most basic human right, the right to life. We hope that the United Nations and international community can assist the Cambodian people in establishing the truth about this period and bring those responsible to justice. Only in this way can this tragedy be brought to a full and final conclusion.

Please, Mr. Secretary-General, accept the assurances of our highest consideration.

(signed): Prince Norodom Ranariddh

First Prime Minister

(signed): Hun Sen

Second Prime Minister

(http://www.khmerinstitute.org/docs/UNKRreportx.htm)  

June 23, 1997

The Secretary-General transmits the letter from the two prime ministers to the presidents of the General Assembly and Security Council.

(A/51/930-S/1997/488 of 24 June 1997)

December 12, 1997

The UN General Assembly adopts Resolution 52/135, which called on the Secretary-General to examine the request of Cambodian authorities for assistance in responding to past serious violations of Cambodian and international law. Below are some parts of the Resolution:

Desiring that the tragic history of Cambodia requires special measures to assure the protection of the human rights of all people in Cambodia and the non-return to the policies and practices of the past, as stipulated in the Agreement signed in Paris in 1991;

…        

Endorses the comments of the Special Representative that the most serious human rights violations in Cambodia in recent history have been committed by the Khmer Rouge and that their crimes, including the taking and killing of hostages, have continued to the present; and notes with concern that no Khmer Rouge leader has been brought to account for these crimes;

Requests the Secretary-General to examine the request by the Cambodian authorities for assistance in responding to past serious violations of Cambodian and international law, including the possibility of the appointment, by the Secretary-General, of a group of experts to evaluate the existing evidence and propose further measures, as a means of bringing about national reconciliation, strengthening democracy and addressing the issue of individual accountability.

April 15, 1998

Pol Pot dies of heart attack at the age of 73 at Anlong Veng near the Thai border, where he had been detained following his one-day trial on July 25, 1997.

(Bangkok Post, April 17, 1998)

July 13, 1998

Pursuant to General Assembly Resolution 52/135 of 12 December 1997, the Secretary-General appoints a three-member Group of Experts for Cambodia to evaluate the existing evidence, to assess the feasibility of bringing Khmer Rouge leaders to justice, and to explore options for bringing Khmer Rouge leaders to justice before an international or national jurisdiction.

(A/52/1007 of 7 August 1998)

July 31, 1998

The UN Secretary-General creates the Group of Experts consisting of Sir Ninian Stephen (Australia, chairman), Judge Rajsoommer Lallah (Mauritius), and Professor Steven Ratner (USA) to assess the feasibility of bringing Khmer Rouge leaders to justice.

November 14, 1998

The Group of Experts visits Cambodia and assessed the evidence held by the Documentation Center of Cambodia.

(Raksmei Kampuchea Daily, November 11, 1998)

December 26, 1998

The Cambodian government announces the defection to the government of the two top Khmer Rouge leaders, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan.

(The Cambodia Daily, December 28, 1998)

February 4, 1999

23 Cambodian families file a complaint in the Belgian court against former Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, and Ieng Sary, accusing them of committing crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The plaintiffs were encouraged to lay charges after Belgian-based victims of Pinochet successfully applied for an international arrest warrant for the former Chilean dictator.

(Phnom Penh Post, February 19 – March 4, 1999)

February 5, 1999

China voices opposition to the establishment of an international tribunal for former Khmer Rouge leaders, saying it is an internal matter for Cambodia. China’s Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said that the trial of Khmer Rouge leaders in an international court brokered by the UN was the idea of Western countries, particularly the United States.

(Reported by Rita Patiyasevi and Marisa Chimprabha on February 6, 1999)

February 7, 1999

Ieng Thirith, Ieng Sary’s wife and Minister of Social Action and Education during DK, writes a letter in response to a February 5 article in The Cambodia Daily entitled “Ieng Sary Warns of New Unrest over KR Trial.” The article stated that Ieng Thirith is one of the four surviving Khmer Rouge central committee members living in Pailin.

(Raksmei Kampuchea Daily, February 11, 1999 &

The Cambodia Daily, February 5, 1999)

February 12, 1999

The Cambodian government incorporates what it calls the last remnants of the Khmer Rouge into the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.

February 18, 1999

The Report of the Group of Experts for Cambodia Pursuant to General Assembly Resolution 52/135 is published. The report recommended the creation of an international tribunal and truth commission to deal with crimes of the Khmer Rouge period.

March 6, 1999

Former Communist Party of Kampuchea Standing Committee Member Chhit Choeun, alias Mok and Ta Mok, is arrested by the Cambodian army under the 1994 Cambodian law banning the Khmer Rouge.

(Bangkok Post, March 7, 1999)

March 15, 1999

The Report of the Group of Experts for Cambodia Pursuant to General Assembly Resolution 52/135 is submitted to both the Security Council and the General Assembly. In its report, the Group recommended the establishment of an international tribunal to try the Khmer Rouge officials for crimes against humanity and genocide committed from 17 April 1975 to 7 January 1979.

(A/53/850-S/1999/23/1)

May 5, 1999

Kaing Guek Eav (aka Duch), former Khmer Rouge chief of Tuol Sleng Prison, is quoted as saying that Nuon Chea ordered him to kill the foreigners at Tuol Sleng and “burn their bodies with tires to leave no bones.”

(Far Eastern Economic Review, May 13, 1999)

July 29, 1999

In a meeting with the Cambodian Permanent Representative, the Office of Legal Affairs presents the UN proposal on the establishment of a mixed tribunal for the prosecution of the Khmer Rouge leaders. (A note setting out the main elements of the mixed tribunal was distributed.)

August 12, 1999

The Cambodian National Assembly approves a new law extending the period of pre-trial detention from six months to three years for people charged with war crimes, crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity.

(Raksmei Kampuchea Daily, August 14, 1999)

August 13, 1999

A UN human rights official criticizes legislation approved by the Cambodian National Assembly that allows a three-year pre-trial detention period for suspects charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Rosemary McCreery, director of the Cambodia office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that a three-year detention period violates international standards of justice.

(The Cambodia Daily, August 13, 1999)

The Cambodian government says it wants to maintain overall control of a UN-backed international-style tribunal. Senior Minister Sok An says the tribunal will take place in Cambodian court, but the participation of foreign judges and legal experts will be accepted.

(The Cambodia Daily, August 16, 1999)

August 20, 1999

The Royal Government creates its “Task Force for Cooperation with Foreign Legal Experts and Preparation of the Proceedings for the Trial of Senior Khmer Rouge Leaders,” of which Sok An was appointed the chairman.

The Task Force commenced its work by drafting the law. This first draft law was produced in August 1999 and presented to a United Nations delegation led by H.E. Ralph Zacklin, deputy of Under Secretary-General Hans Corell, in charge of legal affairs of the United Nations.

The Cambodian Draft Law received legal and other technical contributions from experts from France, India, Russia and Australia, and the United States, in addition to input from the United Nations.

The first UN delegation, sent in August 1999, studied the first draft law and presented its own draft. At that time there was no consensus. One major difference was that Zacklin wanted foreign judges to hold the majority, while Cambodia claimed that Cambodian judges must be in the majority.

(www.cambodia.gov.kh/krt/english/chrono.htm)

August 25-31, 1999

The first UN mission to Cambodia is proposed to conduct negotiations on the legal and practical aspects of establishing a mixed tribunal under Cambodian law and meeting international standards of justice; comments on the draft Cambodian law were submitted.

August 31, 1999

UN and Cambodian officials end a week of negotiations without reaching an agreement on how to set up a genocide tribunal. UN Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs Ralph Zacklin said that if the Cambodian government does not meet conditions that the UN believes necessary for a tribunal, “The UN will simply cease to follow this process.” The UN delegation summarized its main message:

...If the trial of the Khmer Rouge leaders is to meet international standards of justice, fairness and due process of law, and gain the support and legitimacy of the international community, it is vital that the international component of the tribunal be substantial and that it be seen to be effective on the international as well as the national plane. This cannot be achieved by merely adding a number of foreign judges to the composition of the existing court system. Only a special, sui-generis tribunal, separate from the existing court system, in which Cambodians and non-Cambodians would serve as judges, prosecutors and registry staff accomplish this.”

(click here to get full text)

September 6, 1999

Ta Mok and Duch are charged with “genocide” under Decree No. 1 issued on August 15, 1979.

(Prosecutor’s Order No. 044/99, Military Court)

September 18, 1999

Former Khmer Rouge leaders Ieng Sary and Nuon Chea, now allies of the Hun Sen government, issue a statement suggesting the possibility of a return to civil war if a tribunal is held. The statement also criticized demands by human rights groups and opposition politicians that Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary be tried.

September 20, 1999

While attending the 54^th UN General Assembly, Hun Sen delivers a document to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan outlining three options for UN involvement in a tribunal: 1) provide a legal team and participate in a tribunal conducted in Cambodia’s existing courts; 2) provide legal advice without direct participation in the tribunal; 3) withdraw completely from the proposed tribunal.

(The Cambodia Daily, September 20, 1999)

September 23, 1999

Returning from talks with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on how to try Pol Pot’s former henchmen, top government officials vow to proceed with a trial on their own terms. Instead of assembling an international-style tribunal proposed by the UN, Cabinet Minister Sok An said the government will seek advice from independent US and French legal experts to secure the legitimacy critics say Cambodian courts lack. “We will continue to work on our own draft,” said Sok An, “I promise to keep [the UN] informed on our progress.”

(The Cambodia Daily, September 24, 1999)

October 8, 1999

The US State Department drops the Khmer Rouge from their list of terrorist organizations, because “it no longer exists as a viable terrorist organization.”

(The Cambodia Daily, October 8, 1999)

October 19, 1999

Hun Sen endorses a US proposal for a tribunal with three Cambodian judges and two UN-appointed judges. Decisions would require a “supermajority,” in which at least one of the UN-appointed judges would have to agree with any verdict handed down by the tribunal.

(The Cambodia Daily, October 20, 1999)

December 20, 1999

The Cambodian government sends the UN the draft law outlining how to try one-time Khmer Rouge leaders in a special session of Phnom Penh court with a majority of Cambodian judges and a prosecuting team of one foreign judge and one Cambodian. Cambodia will adopt the law with or without UN approval, said Prime Minister Hun Sen.

(The Cambodia Daily, December 22, 1999)

December 23, 1999

Sok An says, “UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan made his comments on the draft, indicating that the UN chose the second option of our memorandum.” (He was referring to the three options Hun Sen proposed to Annan in September 20^th.)

December 24, 1999

The Cambodian government amends the draft tribunal law so that tribunal expenses previously to be paid by the UN trust fund would be paid for by a combination of donations from the UN, NGOs and individual countries, and would include an effort from the Cambodian government. The amendment stated that if other countries want to send judges or prosecutors to the proceedings, those countries must pay their own expenses.

(The Cambodia Daily, December 25-26, 1999)

December 27, 1999

Benson Samay, Ta Mok’s lawyer, says he plans to issue subpoenas to several former world leaders, including three former US presidents, in order to question them on their support of the DK regime from 1975 to 1979. Among those he planned to subpoena are Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George Bush, as well as Margaret Thatcher and Henry Kissinger.  

December 28, 1999

A second draft tribunal law is sent to the UN Secretariat with another request to respond promptly.

January 5, 2000

UN Legal Counsel Hans Corell meets with Ambassador Ouch Borith, the permanent representative of Cambodia to the UN, to hand over the UN’s comments on the second draft law concerning the tribunal.

(The Associated Press, January 6, 2000)

January 6, 2000

The Cambodian Cabinet approves the draft law to try surviving Khmer Rouge leaders for genocide, despite lingering UN concerns over the limits placed on international jurists.

(South China Morning Post, January 7, 2000)

January 14, 2000

The Cambodian Cabinet amends the draft tribunal law to allow for the participation of one foreign judge in the investigation process.

January 18, 2000

The UN receives the translation of the amended draft law for a Khmer Rouge tribunal.

January 19, 2000

Sok An tells reporters that he submitted the draft tribunal law to Prince Norodom Ranariddh for debate in the Cambodian National Assembly.

(Kyodo, January 19, 2000)

January 27, 2000

Cambodia’s first public forum for discussion of a Khmer Rouge tribunal is held in the northwestern town of Battambang. About 100 people, including former mid-ranking Khmer Rouge officials, attended the talk.

(Reuters, January 27, 2000)

February 4, 2000

Former top Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan says he is willing to come forward and speak out in a public forum.

(Phnom Penh Post, February 4-17, 2000)

February 8, 2000

Prime Minister Hun Sen gives the strongest signal yet he is not prepared to surrender control of a Khmer Rouge trial to the United Nations, dimming hopes of an international genocide tribunal. Speaking to reporters after a closed-door party meeting, Hun Sen blasted UN demands for an international “killing fields” trial as hypocrisy, and urged the world to pay more attention to Cambodia’s appalling poverty instead. “I have a strongest message: the world should pay attention to peace, national reconciliation, national unity, economic development and reducing poverty rather than the Khmer Rouge trial,” said the prime minister.

(AFP, February 9, 2000)

Kofi Annan says that he does not agree with the draft tribunal law approved by the Cambodian government. He identified four fundamental issues: guarantees that those indicted would be arrested; no amnesties or pardons; the appointment of independent, international prosecutors; and the appointment of a majority of foreign judges.

(Kyodo News Agency, February 10, 2000)

February 10, 2000

Hun Sen rejects Kofi Annan’s response on Cambodia’s draft law on Khmer Rouge trials, saying it was unfair to Cambodia. In a letter to the Secretary-General, the prime minister stated that he did not welcome the gap in the positions between the UN and Cambodia, in particular, in the light of the positions taken by other Member States.

(Xinhua, February 10, 2000)

February 12, 2000

On the sidelines of a UN trade conference in Bangkok, Kofi Annan says he is optimistic that a new UN mission to Cambodia will resolve differences with the government over establishing a tribunal.

(AFP, February 11, 2000)

February 14, 2000

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger scoffs at suggestions that he should testify for the defense in a Khmer Rouge genocide trial, saying his Cold War policies sought to stop the Cambodian guerrillas. “I would be a much better witness for the prosecution than I would be for the defense,” Kissinger says. “And I believe all the people in this region who know anything about Cambodia would support this.”

(Associated Press, February 14, 2000)

March 6, 2000

Hun Sen criticizes the UN saying that three former UN Secretaries General should be held accountable for the Khmer Rouge’s occupation of Cambodia’s UN seat during the late 1970s and 1980s. Prince Ranariddh told reporters that he understood the “reality” of Hun Sen’s position, but that he and his father, King Sihanouk, hoped a compromise could be reached.

March 16, 2000

UN and Cambodian negotiators hold their first meeting in the latest round of negotiations to discuss outstanding differences on the format of a Khmer Rouge tribunal. Four critical issues were on the table: who will name the suspects in the trial, whether the Cambodian government will arrest all suspects, whether lingering government deals with the Khmer Rouge will protect some former rebels from being prosecuted, and how the trial’s foreign and Cambodian judges will be appointed.

(The Cambodia Daily, March 16, 2000)

March 21, 2000

Letters are exchanged between UN Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs Hans Corell and Sok An on the questions of amnesty, co-prosecutors and their power to act independently in case of disagreement; the question of the dispute-settlement mechanism was still pending.

March 22, 2000

Following a week of negotiations, Cambodia and the UN announce that they failed to reach agreement on how to convene a joint tribunal of Khmer Rouge leaders.

April 10, 2000

King Sihanouk declares he is willing to face either a Cambodian-run or international genocide tribunal to explain his role during the DK regime.

(The Nation, April 11, 2000)

April 19, 2000

Annan writes to Hun Sen in response to the Cambodian leader’s expressed backing of a US plan to resolve the sensitive issue of how to handle indictments in the proposed joint tribunal. “I have not examined it yet,” Cambodian chief negotiator Sok An said of Annan’s letter. “Only thoroughly examining it will give comments and elaboration on the process.” Annan told reporters at UN headquarters, “There have been several proposals put on the table to break the one impasse we have – the impasse on how you handle a situation where one of the prosecutors disagrees with the other” and how an effective review mechanism could work.

(The Cambodia Daily, April 22-23, 2000)

April 22, 2000

Hun Sen responds to the Secretary-General’s letter of 19 April in which he stated that the exchange of letters between the UN and Cambodia could not be executed before the Law is adopted. He proposed a “special chamber” formula to settle disagreements between the co-prosecutors.

April 25, 2000

Annan sends a second letter to Hun Sen in response to his letter of 22 April urging him to accept the UN proposal.

April 27, 2000

Hun Sen responds to Annan’s April 25 letter requesting an extension of the temporal jurisdiction of the Extraordinary Chambers to begin in 1970.

Apri1 29, 2000

Hun Sen agrees to accept a proposal put forward by US Senator John Kerry. Under the proposal, a panel of judges — three Cambodian and two foreign—would rule on disputes regarding indictments. Four judges would need to be in agreement to block a case from proceeding.

May 17, 2000

Annan writes to Hun Sen seeking confirmation that Hun Sen accepts, through Senator Kerry, the proposal made in the Secretary-General’s letter of April 19 regarding the mechanism to resolve any differences between the co-investigating judges and the co-prosecutors, and that the temporal jurisdiction of the Extraordinary Chambers be limited to 1975-1979.

May 19, 2000

Hun Sen sends a letter to Kofi Annan expressing his support for the compromise formula brokered by Kerry in April to try Khmer Rouge leaders.

(Raksmei Kampuchea Daily, May 26, 2000)

July 6, 2000

The UN and Cambodian government finalize the details of a draft accord for the tribunal. The envisaged tribunal would be a Cambodian court with the participation of international judges and prosecutors.

July 7, 2000

Hans Corell presents a draft Memorandum of Understanding that would govern cooperation between the UN and Cambodia on the establishment and operation of a tribunal. The Memorandum was to be signed by the UN and Cambodia after the Cambodian parliament passed the tribunal into law. Corell and Om Yintieng, a top advisor to Hun Sen, toured the Chaktomok Theater, a possible venue for the tribunal, before the UN legal team leaft Cambodia.

September 24, 2000

Hun Sen indicates that former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary should not be brought to trial on charges of genocide. (In 1979, Ieng Sary was sentenced to death in absentia along with Pol Pot, but was granted amnesty by King Sihanouk after he defected to the government in 1996.) He added that it would be up to the courts and the National Assembly, which was considering a draft law on a Khmer Rouge tribunal, on what to do with Ieng Sary.

(The Cambodia Daily, September 25, 2000)