News

First Judgement by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)
2 August 2010

Karim A. A. Khan was lead counsel for the largest group of victims in the case against  KAING Guek Eav (alias Duch) in the first case before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). Duch was found guilty of crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and sentenced to 35 years imprisonment by the ECCC, set up by the United Nations and Camodian Government to try those "most responsible"  for crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge regime. This is the first international judgement where the victims of crimes and surviving close relatives (Civil Parties) have been independently represented in proceedings with the right to call evidence, make submissions and question the accused and other witnesses appearing before the court. 

Duch served as Deputy and then Chairman of S-21, a security centre tasked with interrogating and executing persons perceived as enemies of Democratic Kampuchea by the Communist Party of Kampuchea. S-21 was operational between 1975 and 1979. The Chamber found that every individual detained within S-21 was destined for execution in accordance with the Communist Party of Kampuchea policy to "smash" all enemies. In addition to mass executions, many detainees died as a result of torture and their conditions of detention. Although finding a minimum of 12,272 individuals to have been detained and executed at S-21 on the basis of prisoner lists, the Chamber indicated  that the actual number of detainees is likely to have been considerably greater.

Karim will continue to act as lead counsel to Civil Party Group 1 in the appeal of this matter before the Supreme Court Chamber of the ECCC.