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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 2408
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PHNOM PENH 000648 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, IO, S/WCI 
USUN FOR MARK SIMONOFF 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2019 
TAGS: PREL KJUS PHUM KTIA PINR PGOV CB
SUBJECT: KHMER ROUGE TRIBUNAL: FIVE MORE FOR PROSECUTION 
 
REF: A. PHNOM PENH 564 
     ¶B. PHNOM PENH 264 
     ¶C. PHNOM PENH 213 
     ¶D. 07 PHNOM PENH 1203 
     ¶E. 07 PHNOM PENH 956 
 
Classified By: DCM THEODORE ALLEGRA FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  The Pre-Trial Chamber at the Khmer Rouge 
Tribunal (KRT) will announce this week that five more 
high-level Khmer Rouge cadres will be prosecuted, although a 
small number of the proposed charges against some of the 
accused may be set aside for lack of evidence.  The decision 
on an appeal by the international co-prosecutor, who could 
not secure the support of the Cambodian co-prosecutor, 
vindicates the special "super-majority" provisions of the 
court's rules and is another sign of progress to try Khmer 
Rouge leaders and "those most responsible" for genocide and 
crimes against humanity during the KR regime. END SUMMARY. 
 
Confirmation of the Positive Decision Slow in Coming 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2.  (C) The announcement, expected as early as September 2, 
comes just as the court has appointed William Smith as acting 
co-prosecutor for the international side, replacing Robert 
Petit who recently resigned for personal reasons.  A new 
co-prosecutor will be named from among two UN nominees now 
before the Supreme Council of the Magistracy.  News of a 
positive Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) decision has been making the 
circuits in Phnom Penh since April (Ref B), but international 
sources at the court have stated that the timing of the 
announcement was the most crucial element for the judges and 
court administrators faced with a number of other burning 
issues, such as establishing an anti-corruption mechanism for 
the court.  News of a satisfactory solution to the corruption 
problem (with significant assistance from the USG - Ref A), 
allowed the court to shift its focus to the PTC decision. 
The last two weeks have been devoted to translating the 
decisions on the five cases and preparing for their release 
on the ECCC website.  ECCC Deputy Director Knut Rosandhaug 
(protect) told Pol/Econ Chief August 31 that the decisions 
would be released on September 2 without much fanfare. 
 
¶3.  (C) As with other prosecution-related decisions, the PTC 
will refer only to multiple cases of unidentified accused, 
and affirm co-prosecutor Robert Petit's contention that these 
cases fall within the carefully negotiated, narrow 
jurisdictional mandate of the court regarding KR senior 
leaders and "those most responsible" during the 1975-79 
period.  The identities of the accused will then go forward 
under seal to the Office of the co-Investigating Judges, who 
have the authority to sign off on preliminary indictments and 
call for the arrest and detention of the accused as part of a 
new Case 003. 
 
¶4.  (C) However, multiple sources at the court confirm that 
the co-investigating judges -- who are grappling with a 
massive, million-document case against four already accused 
KR leaders in the second indictment (Case 002 - Ref E) and 
trying to move that to a "Closing Order" by late summer 2010 
-- can not now spend precious resources on a new Case 003. 
Instead, the judges will likely first receive and employ 
already promised resources for Case 002 and then await 
decisions by UN donors on additional resources for Case 003 
when they convene at the KRT Steering Committee at the UN in 
the early fall. 
 
The Accused 
----------- 
 
¶5. (C) The five suspects, all of whom reside in Cambodia, are 
considered among the most brutal implementers of the policies 
set by the Khmer Rouge leadership to purge the Communist 
Party of Kampuchea of traitors and "smash" them and execute 
countless others based on mere suspicion or for petty 
offenses.  At least two of these five were closely associated 
with former KR Defense Minister Ta Mok, known as "The 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000648  002 OF 003 
 
 
Butcher".  Three of the newly accused are well known to the 
public and the other two are reportedly known well in their 
local communities but do not have the same notoriety as the 
others.  Newly accused Sou Met and Meas Muth headed KR 
military divisions and were known to send many to their 
deaths at the S-21 torture center.  Both retain positions in 
the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) gained with their 
defection from the KR in 1996.  Im Chaem was a Khmer Rouge 
District Chief in Banteay Meanchey province infamous for 
arbitrary executions.  An (or "Ta An") was the head of 
District 105 Security in Ta Mok's home area where communalist 
policies were most extreme, failed miserably, and the ensuing 
protests were brutally suppressed.  Little public information 
is available about a fifth accused known as Teut (or "Ta 
Teut"), but KRT prosecution sources refer to all of the 
accused as "command-level" associated with graphic evidence 
of mass murder and crimes against humanity.  A sixth accused 
presented to the Pre-Trial Chamber was Van Rith, the former 
KR Commerce Minister, who died last November at the age of 
¶70.  Short biographic sketches follow: 
 
-- Meas Muth (AKA Meah Mut):  aged 70, was the former Khmer 
Rouge Division 164 commander, which included the navy of 
Democratic Kampuchea (DK), the official state name of 
Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge.  As one of only nine division 
commanders, and as the son-in-law of Ta Mok, he was regarded 
as a fierce leader who sent many to their deaths.  After 
defection, Meas Muth was assigned an RCAF command position in 
Battambang and lives there today.  He is outspoken in denying 
his responsibility and has reportedly "made noises" about 
stirring up trouble if he is publicly accused. 
 
-- Sou Met headed Division 502, which included the DK air 
force.  He was allegedly directly involved in the transfer to 
S-21 of cadre who would later be executed.  The accused in 
case 001, Duch, has named Sou Met in his testimony.  Sou Met 
has also been in the RCAF in Battambang since his defection. 
 
-- Im Chaem, aged 65 and the only female among the newly 
accused, was a women's hero during the KR and the Khmer Rouge 
District Chief for Preah Net Preah in the province of Banteay 
Meanchey.  She allegedly used the death penalty to rigidly 
enforce the brutal demands made by the KR of every-day 
laborers in the fields.  She, too, has publicly protested any 
accusations against her. 
 
-- An (or "Ta An," which means uncle An) was the head of 
District 105 Security in Tram Krak, Takeo province, which had 
a reputation for extreme torture and punishment, not only 
against the educated, "class enemies" and poor performers, 
but also against the political rivals of Ta Mok, whose home 
village was in Tram Krak. 
 
-- Teut (or "Ta Teut") reportedly had a command level 
position.  There appear to be no public records on Teut. As 
one ECCC prosecution source stated, donor governments are 
going to have to dig deep into their intelligence archives to 
find more information on some of the newly accused. 
 
The former UN co-prosecutor, Robert Petit, had indicated in 
public remarks that these five would mark the end of 
prosecutions by the ECCC under the legal scope of 
jurisdiction, and ECCC sources confirm that there are no 
plans to add more accused beyond these five. 
 
Looming Questions: PTC Workload, Civil Parties 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶7.  (C) In addition to the immediate issues of wrapping up 
the trial of S-21 torture center head Duch (Case 001) and 
preparations for Case 002, the court is considering whether 
to make the temporary PTC -- whose international judges come 
every few months for brief sessions -- a full-time enterprise 
with permanently resident international judges.  Reportedly 
both of the current PTC judges (from the Netherlands and 
Australia) are nominally opposed to the move.  Australian 
Ambassador Margaret Adamson told the Ambassador recently that 
while Australia has not yet made a decision formally to 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000648  003 OF 003 
 
 
oppose the move, they do not support it at this time.  She 
believes that consultation with the pretrial chamber judges 
to date has been inadequate, that the costs of having the 
chamber meet fulltime have been substantially underestimated 
and that a stronger case needs to be made for why the PTC 
should be in Phnom Penh. If this can be done, and if the 
costs are laid out more accurately, then all of the donors 
should support the move. 
 
¶8.  (C) ECCC sources also note that the defense team in Case 
002 for "Brother Number 2," Nuon Chea, will unleash a tidal 
wave of appeals as soon as the co-investigating judges 
announce they are closing the investigation phase later this 
year.  The work that this "very sharp" team of Dutch defense 
lawyers will bring will more than be adequate to justify the 
full-time presence of the PTC, according to court sources. 
Reportedly the PTC to date has taken on average more than six 
months in each of its decisions.  In Case 002, where the 
accused are in precarious health, the court can no longer 
afford such long periods to prepare decisions, according to 
court administrators as well as international monitors.  In 
addition, the PTC requires its own full-time staff, including 
judges' clerks who can help prepare decisions in rapid order, 
court sources say.  These and other administrative issues, 
including funding, will be the subject of donor community 
discussion with ECCC officials in the third week of September 
as well as a meeting of the UN-based Steering Committee in 
early October. 
 
¶9.  (C) COMMENT: The confirmation of the prosecution of this 
group marks a very positive benchmark for the Khmer Rouge 
Tribunal and effectively fulfills the court's UN-supported 
mandate to bring not only Khmer Rouge leaders to justice, but 
also "those most responsible."  The criteria for selection of 
the accused is clear:  these are the surviving field 
commanders who took direct orders from the likes of DK 
Security Minister Son Sen and Pol Pot himself to carry out 
purges and "smashing" on a mass scale.  Now the focus must 
turn to the very real logistical and budgetary challenges 
facing the court -- especially given the pace of work 
expected for both the PTC and the co-investigating judges in 
the near term and the attention needed for a fledgling 
victims unit for the long-term -- to ensure that the ECCC 
structures can keep pace with the decisions its judges make. 
RODLEY