KASUMI Nakagawa
Pseudonym: 2-TCE-82
Cases: Case 002/02
Category: Expert
Kasumi Nakagawa began her university degree in Japan in 1991 and finished it in 1995.
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Her studies focused on Pol Pot - known as Brother Number 1 - and addressed how he was able to take power, from a political science and an international relations perspective.
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She commenced her master’s degree at Osaka University in 1996 and completed it in 2000.
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She conducted three research projects: “I want to tell you-Stories of Sexual Violence during the Democratic Kampuchea”; “Gender-Based Violence during the Khmer Rouge - Stories of Survivors from the Democratic Kampuchea”; and “Motherhood at War”
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before she gave expert testimony before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.
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Kasumi Nakagawa appeared before the Trial Chamber in Case 002/02 as an expert witness providing insights into forced marriage and consummation of forced marriage, forms of punishment imposed by the Khmer Rouge on those who refused consummation and the impact of forced marriage and consummation on victims, as well as “authorized marriage” during the Khmer Rouge regime.
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Forced marriage
Kasumi Nakagawa described “forced marriage” as being when a person did not want to marry but was forced or instructed to do so by the Khmer Rouge.
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In late 1977 and 1978, the Khmer Rouge organized mass weddings for forced marriage couples after informing them 24 hours before their weddings took place.
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Forced marriages took place regardless of age or social status.
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People did not know in advance who their future spouses were going to be.
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When they were brought to the wedding venue, the Khmer Rouge ordered women to sit in one line and men to sit in another line in front of them.
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Normally, the person that a woman was marrying was in front of her, as Angkar had already selected the couples.
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The wedding ceremony was very short, lasting maximum an hour.
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Every couple was required to make an oath that they were voluntarily getting married for Angkar.
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If there were 100 couples, there would be a representative making the oath.
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Parents rarely attended the ceremonies, and it was also rare that usual rituals took place.
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It was more like a meeting.
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Although there was a possibility for both men and women to refuse to marry, they did not dare to do so as they were aware - particularly in 1977-1978 - that refusal could cost their lives.
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Kasumi Nakagawa identified two types of threat.
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The first was where the Khmer Rouge explicitly said that an individual or family member would be killed if that individual refused to marry.
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The second related to individuals who were already terrified and were living under extreme fear that if they went against the Khmer Rouge, they would be killed.
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There was a silent pressure during the Khmer Rouge period, which meant that people could not reject marriage.
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While confirming that forced marriages occurred in many Cambodian provinces during the Democratic Kampuchea period,
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Kasumi Nakagawa concluded that she did not have enough evidence to say whether there was a policy from the top level to organize forced marriage as it had not formed part of her studies.
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Forced consummation of forced marriages
After wedding ceremonies, the Khmer Rouge provided a small hut for newlywed couples to spend a few nights (up to a week).
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Most of those forced couples were monitored at night by “Chlop”, the spies, to ensure that they consummated their marriage.
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Men and women did not want to consummate their marriages, but had to for their survival.
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Kasumi Nakagawa explained that individuals did not consent to marriage of their own free will and that consequently the decision to have sexual intercourse was also not their own.
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Individuals were terrified and therefore neither men nor women genuinely consented.
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She called consummation in forced marriage “legalized rape”, with “rape” describing the penetrative act which had to be done by male husband victims to female wife victims in order to follow the instructions from the Khmer Rouge.
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Forms of punishment for those who refused consummation
In the eyes of the Khmer Rouge, consummation was a duty and responsibility for married couples.
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Failing to consummate the marriage led to consequences ranging from punishment in the form of detention in the re-education center, sexual violence against either the wife or husband (or both) or death.
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It was simply impossible for any men or women to report the abuse or “rape” (meaning the consummation of marriage) because the Khmer Rouge did not recognize it as a crime.
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Impact of forced marriage and forced consummation on victims
For a woman, the impact was huge when she was forced to marry against her will without her parents’ consent to her husband.
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Being forced to have a sexual relationship with a man by losing her virginity without her parent’s consent was another traumatic experience.
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It was a huge terror imposed on a woman who may not have been previously experienced with sexuality.
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Men also suffered greatly when they had to force themselves to “rape” their wives.
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“Forcing a man to rape somebody is [an] inhuman act. Not all men could do it […], but they were forced to do that. And the fear is unmeasurable how he was scared if he failed to do it. And many women apparently were very scared or they were showing the emotion that they don’t want to accept the husband. And under such terrible circumstances, men had to complete it. […] I cannot imagine how some men could have done that, and maybe that’s why many men were sent to re-education for failing to rape the wife. And I’m sure that it impacted over the marriage life, that the husband might have been feel[ing] guilty to the wife or he [was] worried or scared that his wife would never love him and that might have remained as a scar or a trauma for along period of time until he could recover his masculinity.[…] So, the impact was huge and it’s really [an] inhuman act against the man.”
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Another impact of forced marriages was the destruction by the Khmer Rouge of the “safety net” inherent in marriages - men and women lost the protection of their families because they were separated from them and parents were deprived of the opportunity to organize, bless or welcome the weddings of their children.
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Authorized marriage
Kasumi Nakagawa described “authorized marriage” as being when “women who were willing to have husbands chosen by either their parents or the Khmer Rouge and they would have accepted those marriages”.
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Couples had to seek approval from the Khmer Rouge before their marriage.
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The parents of both parties had to agree and then sought permission from the Khmer Rouge.
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Sometimes, individual women would approach the Khmer Rouge.
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The decision-making process was done on the village-level. Some authorities did not allow a couple to marry, if they were too young.
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Unlike ordinary civilians, injured Khmer Rouge combatants had more privilege in relation to marriage.
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They were usually allowed to choose a wife.
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Once that choice was made, the woman had to accept the decision without any question.
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The practice was nationwide.
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While the process of marriages varied in many ways, the Khmer Rouge had the absolute right to authorize marriages.
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“If anyone wanted to marry, they had to seek permission from the Khmer Rouge,”
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Findings
The Trial Chamber relied on Kasumi Nakagawa’s testimony having considered that she followed a strict methodology in her research and demonstrated her specialized knowledge throughout her testimony;
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that her opinion was generally well reasoned and consistent;
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and that she demonstrated caution in reaching conclusions.
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The Trial Chamber considered her evidence when finding that: (i) individuals were not consulted about their weddings during the Democratic Kampuchea period;
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(ii) individuals were usually given instructions before the wedding ceremony on what to do during the ceremony;
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(iii) collective weddings were a widespread practice across Cambodia;
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(iv) the organization of weddings and wedding practices varied over time and according to locations;
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(v) the duration of wedding ceremonies ranged from 30 minutes to a few hours;
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(vi) cadres monitored newlyweds to ensure their consummation and the only way to avoid consummating a marriage was to hide the fact that consummation had not taken place;
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(vii) genuine consent to consummation of a marriage was not possible in an environment where couples had not consented to enter into same marriage in the first place;
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(viii) the absence of parents and family members during wedding ceremonies affected couples emotionally;
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(ix) the loss of virginity featured prominently in the mind of female victims;
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and (x) forced sexual intercourse had serious and long-lasting traumatizing effects on the victims.
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The Supreme Court Chamber cited Kasumi Nakagawa’s testimony, among other evidence, in finding that: (i) when coerced sexual intercourse between forcibly married couples involved both male and female victims, the coercive environment was gender neutral,
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and (ii) male victims of the policy of forced consummation of marriage, were, at minimum, seriously mentally harmed when they were forced to have sexual intercourse.
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