Chhang Youk
Pseudonym: TCW-793
Cases: Case 002/01
Category: Witness
Chhang Youk is the Director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (“DC-Cam”).
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He was called to testify in Case 002/01 and testified over three days
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on how documents were received, managed, and catalogued by DC-Cam.
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In significant part because of his testimony, the Trial Chamber rejected all objections to the provenance of DC-Cam documents, finding the methodology used in obtaining, archiving, and preserving the contemporaneous DK-era documents to have been reliable and it afforded the documents a rebuttable presumption of prima facie relevance and reliability.
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Mission:
It is DC-Cam’s goal to collect all DK and DK-related documents, with three objectives: to provide to an independent court to ascertain the truth; to ensure Cambodian students learn accurate history; and to be a center that compiles all historical information for future use.
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Documents from 1975-1979 and other relevant documents are collected regardless of content or whether they relate to an accused at the ECCC; every document from that era is important.
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Neutrality / Assistance to Parties:
DC-Cam assisted all parties neutrally and treated them equally with regard to document requests.
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If any party wished to verify copied documents against originals held by DC-Cam, DC-Cam would assist.
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As of the date of testimony, the Co-Prosecutors (OCP) and Co-Investigating Judges (OCIJ) had never requested the verification of copies, but DC-Cam scanned documents for the OCIJ from the originals, as requested.
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For each OCP document request, DC-Cam issued a certificate certifying whether the documents were copies of originals or copied documents.
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Chhang Youk met Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit once. They did not discuss which documents DC-Cam would provide the OCP or which individuals should be considered for prosecution.
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However, between 1995-1996, Ben Kiernan was director of DC-Cam and published a list called “Biographies of the Khmer Rouge Leaders” of more than 20 Khmer Rouge leaders who should be prosecuted.
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DC-Cam prepared case files on Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, and other individuals upon request. It retained these files after their creation, anticipating other researchers would make the same requests.
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Process When Receiving Documents:
When DC-Cam receives documents, Chhang Youk reads them, then gives them to his deputy to be processed, scanned, and archived.
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A document is read, summarized, translated if necessary, and verified against other copies.
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It is then categorized into one of five categories for the database, which also lists the document’s source.
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Original documents are not written on; the codes for category and source are only put on the copy of a document.
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However, some scholars annotated original documents and the Ministry of Interior put numbers on documents.
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A group inputs data onto a worksheet then enters it into the computer, maintaining the hard copy worksheet.
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The worksheet has columns for name, address, summary of the document, source, and whether it is handwritten, print, a transcript, or photocopy.
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All documents follow the same standard.
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After a document is coded, it is microfilmed, then placed in a cabinet which is coded, then the document is registered in a worksheet and translated, then returned to the cabinet.
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Experts were consulted as to the document storage method.
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DC-Cam has around 1 million documents that are considered original.
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It also has some copies where the originals could not be located.
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Original documents include documents not available in Cambodia but where the copy is considered authentic, and DC-Cam annotates in red that the documents are copied from the original documents held overseas.
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Authenticity:
DC-Cam does not have a dedicated team specializing in authenticating documents, but works with the National Archives to verify authenticity.
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DC-Cam has guidelines they follow in receiving documents, such as asking about the document’s source.
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DC-Cam staff has been trained in Australia and has 17 years’ experience.
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To ascertain if a document is fabricated, DC-Cam considers the color, date, author, content, and language use.
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It is not a forensic examination.
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They look at the visual presentation of the document as a whole, and at the document in conjunction with other documents.
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The content, physical appearance, and source of DC-Cam’s documents indicate whether they are from the DK-period.
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Chhang Youk occasionally doubted a document’s authenticity, such as one about kidnapping foreigners in Kampot that turned out to be fake.
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DC-Cam tried to implement a procedure with the ECCC to ensure the authenticity of documents but Office of Administration officials did not respond or seem interested.
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Vietnamese experts:
Some documents have Vietnamese annotations. Chhang Youk tried to locate a Vietnamese expert who collected documents for the Ministry of Interior, but he was deceased.
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Other Vietnamese experts used to work together with the Cambodians.
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Chhang Youk thinks it impossible that the Vietnamese experts could have fabricated the DK-era documents collected.
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The Trial Chamber referred to this testimony in determining that DC-Cam’s processes for collecting and storing documents “provide[d] no reasonable apprehension that documents originating from [DC-Cam] could have been subject to tampering, distortion or falsification”.
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Sources of Documents:
DC-Cam collected roughly 60% of the documents in its possession and 40% were given to it.
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The witness usually collects documents himself from overseas, although sometimes staff help.
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DC-Cam was given the entire original collection of David Hawk and the Cambodian Documentation Commission.
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It included photos of prisoners and staff from Tuol Sleng, photos of mass graves taken by David Hawk, audio records including interviews, and other types of documents.
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They had compiled prisoner lists taken from Tuol Sleng into a booklet.
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Gunnar Bergstrom, a DK activist who came to Cambodia in 1978, gave DC-Cam all his documents and explained the provenance of each.
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Domestically, documents came from the Ministry of Interior, National Archives, Tuol Sleng Museum, Central Education and Propaganda Office (part of the Ministry of Information), and Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport, as well as personal archives and provincial or district offices.
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Ministry of Interior: these include around 1,000 original documents collected probably in 1999 – videos, photographs, and paper documents including biographies of cadres and detainees, correspondence (including meeting minutes), and confessions.
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They were discovered in a house near the US Ambassador’s residence around 1982-1983 and were transferred to the Ministry.
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It is unknown who used the house during the DK period.
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They are considered by Professor Kiernan to be “Santebal” documents – documents from the police or security force.
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National Archives: DC-Cam began research there in 1995.
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The documents, including Department of Commerce documents, biographies, and meeting minutes, appeared to be originals, and DC-Cam photocopied them.
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They were first kept at the Ministry of Propaganda and Information until the National Archives were established.
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Tuol Sleng Museum: DC-Cam took photocopies, not original documents.
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Chhang Youk asked to clean the stockroom at Tuol Sleng himself to check for documents and found 400 records of cadres arrested and imprisoned at S-21 and other documents.
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Cornell microfilmed the documents at Tuol Sleng and thus must have believed they were authentic.
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Chhang Youk believes they are real documents from the DK period.
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Documents from the Ministry of Interior, Tuol Sleng Museum, and National Archives were collected or copied in full; DC-Cam did not pick through them for important documents.
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Types of Documents:
Confessions: DC-Cam does not believe it has all confessions from S-21 and still searches for the remainder.
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There are about 4,000 confessions from Tuol Sleng from about 12,000 detainees at that prison.
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DC-Cam received about 1,000 confessions from the Ministry of Interior, which are not duplicates of the confessions found at Tuol Sleng, and are from S-21 and other detention centres.
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Democratic Kampuchea magazines: These were bulletins published during DK times.
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DC-Cam has originals and copies.
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Some copies came from Gunnar Bergstrom and Lund University and originals came from France, from Civil Parties and others.
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Revolutionary Flag Magazines: Some originals are at DC-Cam and some are at the Tuol Sleng Museum.
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DC-Cam has several Revolutionary Flags from 1976-1978 and could have between 20-25 originals, but it does not have all issues.
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In Case 002/02 the Trial Chamber referred to Chhang Youk’s testimony in stating that it was satisfied that the copies on the Case File were authentic copies of the original Party magazines.
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Standing Committee Meeting Minutes: In Case 002/02, the Trial Chamber “note[d] that the DC-Cam archive contains a number of original, contemporaneous versions of Standing Committee minutes [and that they] were available for examination at DC-Cam”, citing testimony by Chhang Youk to this effect.
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It also stated that “it is not clear how many original Standing Committee minutes were given to DC-Cam by KHIEU Kanharith”, referring to Chhang Youk’s testimony that Khieu Kanharith told him that original notes of Standing Committee meetings were given to Ben Kiernan, but that he does not know whether Khieu Kanharith still has some original DK-era documents in his possession.
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Telegrams: The Trial Chamber in Case 002/02 referred inter alia to Chhang Youk’s testimony when stating that it had before it “official correspondence in the form of telegrams between members of the CPK, including reports to superiors and directives to subordinates. Many of these documents were discovered by a team of Vietnamese experts in a villa located on Street 240 in Phnom Penh sometime between 1979 and 1983.”
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Tram Kak District Records: In Case 002/02 the Trial Chamber noted that Chhang Youk was not examined on the Tram Kak District Records,
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but considered that he “substantially confirmed how DC-Cam came into possession of [certain Tram Kak District Records] around 1995. He visited the Tuol Sleng Museum with Ben KIERNAN and found a pile of documents under a ‘wooden cabinet’.”
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It considered that this testimony, taken together with Professor Kiernan’s account, explains the provenance of certain documents but not all of them.
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Videos
