Life in Cambodia’s last Khmer Rouge for crimes against humanity

The special court that is trying the Khmer Rouge for the atrocities they had committed, in its last decision before disbanding, today upheld in the second instance the sentence of life imprisonment of Hieu Samphan, their last living official, who has been found guilty of genocide.

The former Cambodian head of state, aged 91, was also found guilty of crimes against humanity – murder, slavery, forced marriage, rape – and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions.

Hieu Samphan “had direct knowledge of the crimes and shared the intent to commit them with the other participants in the joint criminal enterprise” which claimed the lives of nearly two million people from 1975 to 1979, Judge Kong Srim recalled.

The charges against him were linked to “some of the most inhuman acts” of the dictatorship, the president of the Supreme Court insisted.

Hieu Samphan was present in his wheelchair in court during the two-hour verdict announcement.

Hieu Samphan, one of the few regime figures to appear in public, has always denied his involvement in the events he is accused of, mainly the genocide of the Vietnamese.

He is the third Khmer Rouge official to be convicted by this special court made up of Cambodian and international judges.

He had already been sentenced to life in 2014 – a verdict upheld in second degree in 2016 – for crimes against humanity committed during the forced evacuation of Phnom Penh’s residents, in the first phase of this river trial, which began in 2011.

Nearly 500 people, including victims’ relatives, Buddhist monks and diplomats, were in attendance on the “historic day,” according to court spokesman Neth Fektra.

RES-EMP

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