Cambodian War Crimes Tribunal Convicts Two for Cambodian Genocide Crimes (November 16, 2018) [1]
On November 16, 2018, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia delivered its judgment [3] in Case 002/02, convicting former senior Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan of genocide, crimes against humanity, and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and sentencing them to life in prison. The Court found that Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan participated in a joint criminal enterprise during the Cambodian genocide, with crimes taking place between April 1975 and January 1979 that included genocide of the Vietnamese, murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, imprisonment, torture, forced disappearances, as well as forced marriage and rape within forced marriage. The Court also found them responsible for enacting Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) policies that included forcing people to work in inhumane conditions; establishing security centers to identify, arrest, and execute those considered enemies of the regime; and targeting Vietnamese, Cham, Buddhists, and former Khmer Republic officials and their families for torture and execution. As noted in the press release [4], Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were convicted on August 7, 2014, of crimes against humanity in relation to forced movements of the population and sentenced to life imprisonment for those crimes.