Judges dismiss case against mid-level Khmer Rouge cadre

PHNOM PENH: A UN-backed court on Wednesday dismissed a case against a former Khmer Rouge cadre charged with crimes against humanity, highlighting the difficulties of bringing lower level members of the brutal regime to justice. The Khmer Rouge dismantled modern society in Cambodia in their quest for an agrarian Marxist utopia, killing up to two million people.

Only a handful of senior leaders have been jailed by the special court set up to deliver justice to the regime’s victims. But a string of recent cases had raised hopes of new convictions in a country where thousands of regime officials have never paid for their crimes.

Mid-ranking cadre Im Chaem, a former district official, was among four Khmer Rouge members facing prosecution for charges including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Prosecutors and survivors accused her of being a key player in overseeing regime policies that led to the deaths of tens of thousands.

But on Wednesday two judges — a Cambodian and a German national — threw out the prosecution against her, ruling the court did not have the remit to pursue lower level cadres.

“Im Chaem is not subject to the (tribunal’s) personal jurisdiction, which means she was neither a senior leader nor otherwise one of the most responsible officials of the Khmer Rouge regime,” the court said.

The decision illustrates both the limits of the court’s powers as well as the Cambodian government’s public unease over pursuing fresh trials.

Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which researches the Khmer Rouge atrocities, said he was dismayed by the decision. —AFP