On Tuesday, March 3, 2015, Khmer Rouge Tribunal International Co-Investigating Judge Mark Harmon officially brought charges against two suspects in controversial cases 003 and 004, progress for which he has been pushing for over the past two years. Without the approval of his Cambodian counterpart, You Bunleng, Judge Harmon charged mid-ranking Khmer Rouge officers, Mr. Meas Muth and Ms. Im Chaem, with crimes against humanity and war crimes charges in absentia.
These charges demonstrate the ECCC’s widening of scope to include the prosecution of mid-ranking officials of the Khmer Rouge, despite the Cambodian government’s assertion that no more than five Khmer Rouge leaders should be tried. This announcement of charges was the first time that either individual was named by the court.
Mr. Meas Muth, a Khmer Rouge naval commander charged in Case 003, stands accused of murder, extermination, enslavement, imprisonment, persecution on political and ethnic grounds, and other inhumane acts, which were perpetrated at the S-21 Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh and Wat Enta Nhien security center in Kratie province, as well as on other territory and islands that were controlled by the Khmer Rouge.
Ms. Im Chaem, 72 years old, stands accused of similar crimes, as well as leading purges and coordinating executions. Ms. Im Chaem was a Khmer Rouge district commander and is charged in Case 004 for perpetrating crimes against humanity at the Phnom Trayoung security center and Spean Sreng worksite in Banteay Meanchey province.
The unilateral charges issued by Harmon came days after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly opposed the ECCC’s expansion of scope to include the charging of mid-level Khmer Rouge officials. The prime minister warned that such expansion could push former Khmer Rouge soldiers “back to the jungles” and cause another war. A former Khmer Rouge cadre himself, the prime minister’s opposition to the expansion of the ECCC’s scope highlights the differences between the International Court’s preparedness to move forward with the prosecution of cases 003 and 004, and the Cambodian government’s reluctance to have justice brought to these two cases, which Judge Bunleng considers to be closed cases.
Reported by Kaitlyn
