A Day Only a Lawyer Could Love

A large group of Cambodians arrived by bus this morning. They took group photographs outside the court and appeared excited to take in the Duch trial. They observed nearly a full day of procedural disputes, so I doubt they will be back.

In the morning session, the Trial Chamber continued to question expert witness Craig Etcheson, an American scholar who has studied Democratic Kampuchea for three decades. In response to questions from Judge Cartwright, Dr. Etcheson reported that indeed there were widespread “purges” throughout the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea (RAK) across the divisions. As illustrative examples, he noted that 855 military personnel were purged from Division 310 starting in December 1976 and continuing throughout 1977 and at least 406 military personnel were purged from Division 703 in 1977 and 1978. Dr. Etcheson testified that while some of the military personnel were executed within their own units or sent to forced labor camps, many were sent to S-21. He cited a Division 502 Secretary report to Son Sen that mentioned more than fifty “no-goods” had been sent to S-21 as evidence that division commanders were aware of S-21 operations and actively sent people there. Dr. Etcheson testified that it was common practice for detainees sent to S-21 to be accompanied by a letter from a division secretary stating that they had been implicated as co-conspirators in confessions. Dr. Etcheson further reported that there were widespread arrests within government ministries and cited a report by a government minister that his day-to-day operations were made difficult by the fifteen-percent reduction in his staff…

Read more: ctm_blog_5-19-2009