Lawyers for civil parties in the Khmer Rouge tribunal are preparing for the upcoming trial of four jailed leaders of the regime.
Case No. 002 will try the senior-most leaders—Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith—for up to four atrocity crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture.
Civil parties constitute victims of the regime who file grievances or testimony with the UN-backed court. Civil party lawyers will be divided into 12 groups as they prepare for a trial that is expected next year.
Hong Kim Suon, a civil party lawyer, said he expected investigating judges to find criminal responsibility for the four when they close their investigation in December.
“We are preparing for Case No. 002 for clients who filed complaints successively for crimes against humanity, war crimes, crimes of genocide and crimes of torture, violating the treaty of Geneva,” he said.
The movement of work toward Case No. 002 comes as the tribunal finishes its first-ever trial, of prison chief Kaing Kek Iev, or Duch.
Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said the court has received 4,461 complaints from victims of the regime, 2,290 of those submitted by civil parties.
It was too early to tell which charges would be leveled against defendants in the upcoming case, he said.