On Wednesday, 2 March 2016, the Trial Chamber will begin hearing evidence on the fourth trial topic in Case 002/02: Security Centres and Internal Purges. According to the Closing Order charging NUON Chea and KHIEU Samphan, the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) destroyed Cambodia’s legal and judicial structures and replaced them with a network of security centres and execution sites in order to detain and reeducate or kill those suspected of engaging in hostile activities. By 1979, approximately 200 security centres and countless execution sites are alleged to have been established, located in every Zone throughout Cambodia and at various levels of the CPK’s civilian and military hierarchy.
Starting on Wednesday 2 March 2016, the Chamber will hear evidence on three such security centres, namely Au Kanseng Security Centre, located in Ratanakiri Province; Phnom Kraol located in Mondulkiri Province and S-21 located in Phnom Penh. This adds to three other security centres covered earlier in Case 002/02: Kraing Ta Chan security centre, located in Takeo province, Wat Au Trakuon in the Central zone and Trea Village security centre in the Eastern zone.
The Trial Chamber has heard a total of 68 witnesses, 37 Civil Parties and 2 experts over the course of 150 hearing days. After the Trial Chamber finishes hearings on security centres and internal purges, the next (fifth) trial topic will relate to allegations of forced marriage under the Khmer Rouge. After that, the Trial Chamber will hear evidence on the conflict between Cambodia and Vietnam, before finally shifting its focus to the role of NUON Chea and KHIEU Samphan. It is expected that evidentiary hearings will conclude later this year, with a judgement to follow in 2017.