The Prosecutor v. Ieng Thirith

Court	Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Cambodia
Case number	002
Decision title	Judgment yet to come
Parties	Office of the Co-Prosecutors Ieng Thirith alias Phea
Other names	Phea
Categories	Crimes against humanity, Genocide, War crimes
Keywords	crimes against humanity, deprivation of liberty, enslavement, extermination, genocide, inhuman treatment, kill, Murder, other inhumane acts, persecution, rape, torture, unlawful confinement, unlawful deportation, war crimes
Links	Case file of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodja

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Summary

After the fall of the Cambodian government in 1975, the Communist Party, under the leadership of Pol Pot, came to power and renamed the State the Democratic Kampuchea. An armed conflict broke out with Vietnam, which lasted until 1979. From 1975 until 1979, Pol Pot and the Communist Party of Kampuchea sought to establish a revolutionary State and introduced a policy of ‘smashing’ their enemies, a form of physical and psychological destruction that consisted of arbitrary detention, torture and execution. This policy lead to the deaths of an estimated two million people.

The Accused, Ieng Thirith, was the highest-ranking female in the regime, Pol Pot’s sister-in-law and the wife of Ieng Sary, the regime’s former Foreign Minister. Ieng Thirith was indicted in 2010 on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide for her role in the events. In September 2012, on the basis of repeated examinations by multiple medical experts, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia found the now 80-year-old Ieng Thirith unfit to stand trial due to her dementia and released her subject to certain conditions. Although the charges have not been withdrawn, a trial is unlikely to happen in the future considering her age and mental state.

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Procedural history

On 14 November 2007, the Accused, Ieng Thirith, was placed in provisional detention with her husband, Ieng Sary. She was charged by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia with crimes against humanity (murder, extermination, imprisonment, persecution and other inhumane acts).

On 14 January 2010, the Co-Investigating Judges concluded their investigation against former Khmer Rouge leaders including Ieng Thirith.

On 15 September 2010, Ieng Thirith was indicted on charges of crimes against humanity (murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, imprisonment, torture, rape, persecution, other inhumane acts), war crimes (wilful killing, torture or inhumane treatment, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or civilian of the rights of fair and regular trial, unlawful deportation or unlawful confinement of a civilian) and genocide committed against the Cham Muslims and Vietnamese populations of Cambodia. Furthermore, Ieng Thirith faced charges under the 1956 Cambodian Criminal Code (homicide, torture, religious persecution).

On 17 November 2011, the Trial Chamber of the ECCC found her unfit to stand trial and ordered her unconditional release.

On 13 December 2011, the decision of the Trial Chamber was set aside by the Supreme Court Chamber of the ECCC. The Trial Chamber was directed to request additional treatment and to order that Ieng Thirith undergo a new examination to determine whether she is fit to stand trial.

On 13 September 2012, the Trial Chamber concluded that Ieng Thirith remains unfit to stand trial and ordered again her unconditional release.

On 14 September 2012, the Co-Prosecutors appealed the decision on the grounds that the release should not have been ordered unconditionally.

On 16 September 2012, the President of the Supreme Court Chamber ruled as a provisional measure that Ieng Thirith be released conditionally, pending the decision of the Supreme Court Chamber on the merits of the appeal by the Co-Prosecutors.

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Legally relevant facts

Ieng Thirith, alias Phea, was the Minister of Social Action of Democratic Kampuchea. She is accused of having directed, encouraged, enforced or otherwise rendered support to Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) policy and practice between April 1975 and January 1979 which was characterized by murder, extermination, imprisonment, persecution and other inhuman acts such as forcible transfers of the population, enslavement and forced labour.

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Specific legal rules and provisions

• Articles 4, 5, 6, 29 and 39 of the Law to Amend the 2001 Law on Establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers.
• Articles 209, 210, 500, 501, 503 and 508 of the 1956 Penal Code of Cambodia.

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Instruments cited

• Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field (GC I), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 35, entered into force 21 October 1950.
• Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea (GC II), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 81, entered into force 21 October 1950.
• Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (GC III), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 135, entered into force 21 October 1950.
• Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (GC IV), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 287, entered into force 21 October 1950.

 

• 2001 Law on the Establishment of Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed During the Period of Democratic Kampuchea, as amended 27 October 2004, NS/RKM/1004/006, 5 October 2004.
• Penal Code of Cambodia, 1956.

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Related cases

• ECCC, The Prosecutor v. Pol Pot alias Saloth Sar and Ieng Sary alias Kim Trang, Judgement of the Revolutionary People’s Tribunal Held in Phnom Penh from 15 to 19 August 1979.

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Additional materials

• ECCC, Court Report, Special Edition – Case 002: Release of Ieng Thirith;
• ECCC, 'Ieng Thirith Released with Provisional Conditions', ECCC Press Release, 17 September 2012;
• AP, 'Khmer Rouge Figure Escapes Prosecution', Al Jazeera, 16 September 2012;
• AP, 'Cambodia’s War Crimes Tribunal Releases former Khmer Rouge Leader'. The Guardian, 16 September 2012;
• AP, 'Khmer Rouge’s Ieng Thirith Released', The Telegraph, 16 September 2012;
• BBC, 'Khmer Rouge Ex-Minister Ieng Thirith’s Release Delayed', BBC News, 14 September 2012;
• Amnesty International, 'Cambodia: Amnesty International Welcomes Ieng Thirith Decision', 13 September 2012;
• R. Shears, 'Did She Get Away with Genocide? First Lady of Khmer Rouge Released from UN Trial because of Health Problems', The Daily Mail, 13 September 2012;
• AP, 'Khmer Rouge Defendant Ieng Thirith Ruled Unfit for Genocide Trial', 13 September 2012.

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Social media links

• K. Sutherland, 'ECCC Orders Immediate Release of Ieng Thirith', International Criminal Law Bureau, 13 September 2012;
• M. Pomy, 'Cambodia Genocide Tribunal Releases former Khmer Rouge Leader', Jurist, 16 September 2012;
• J. Peake, 'Ieng Thirith Released by the ECCC as She Is Unfit to Stand Trial', iLawyer, 16 October 2012.