Press Release of LAC

On behalf of Khmer Krom victims of the Khmer Rouge regime, the Access to Justice for the Minority Victims of the Khmer Rouge Project(“the Project”) of Legal Aid of Cambodia (LAC) would like to express its pleasure at yesterday’s public statement by International Co-Prosecutor, Andrew Cayley, in which he announced that he had filed a Request for Investigative Action and Supplementary Submission in Case 004. The Supplementary Submission adds additional crimes to Case 004, including crimes committed against the Khmer Krom population in Takeo and Pursat provinces. Cayley stated that the decision to add the crimes was based on civil party applications, complaints and other new evidence that the Office of the Co-Prosecutor became aware of after the original filing of the Case 004 Introductory Submission.

The Khmer Krom, and especially those in Pursat and Takeo, were targets of violent suppression and persecution during the Khmer Rouge time. They were screened, singled out and subjected to mass atrocities as the regime implemented its terrible policy of purging Cambodia of anyone they deemed potential traitors.

As of 18 May 2011, the deadline to apply for Civil Party status in Cases 003 and 004, more than 130 Khmer Krom victims from six provinces and abroad have applied to Extra-ordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) for Civil Party status in Cases 003 and 004.

The Project was heavily involved in facilitating these applications with the generous support of the German Development Service (DED) and Access to Justice Asia, LLP (AJA). Throughout 2008 and 2009, the Project conducted investigative research on minority persecution, and of prison sites and mass graves, interviewing 106 Khmer Krom and Vietnamese victims and Khmer witnesses. In 2010, the Civil Party Co-Lawyers of the Khmer Krom and Vietnamese submitted a 109-page report containing the findings of this research to the ECCC. Prosecutor Caylay’s statement implies that the report factored into the decision to file a Supplementary Submission seeking to add crimes against the Khmer Krom to Case 004.

This is a significant development in our mission to secure justice and truth for Khmer Krom victims, who have to date received little acknowledgement of the harm they suffered under the Khmer Rouge. It will also encourage Khmer Krom victims from Pursat and Takeo, as well as throughout Cambodia and abroad, to file Civil Party applications. Hopefully through their participation in the ECCC, they can obtain a much-deserved sense of justice and reconciliation in their heart.

We commend Co-Prosecutor Cayley for his decision and strongly encourage the Co-Investigating Judges to conduct a thorough and fair investigation resulting in indictments against perpetrators of crimes against the Khmer Krom.

For further information, please contact:

1- Mr. ANG Chanrith, Project Coordinator of theAccess to Justice for Minority Victims of the Khmer Rouge, Legal Aid of Cambodia, and former KKKHRA’s director, 012 934 802, chanrith.ang@gmail.com
2- Mr. Sam Sokong, national Civil Party Lawyer, 012 606 101, samsokong@yahoo.com
3- Mr. Mahdev Mohan, international Civil Party Lawyer & AJA Founder, mahdem@smu.edu.sg