PALGRAVE STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF GENOCIDE Illiberal Transitional Justice and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Rebecca Gidley Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide Series Editors Thomas Kühne Clark University, USA Deborah Mayersen University of New South Wales, Australia Tom Lawson Northumbria University, UK Genocide has shaped human experience throughout history and is one of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century. Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide is dedicated to the study of this phenomenon across its entire geographic, chronological and thematic range. The series acts as a forum to debate and discuss the nature, the variety, and the concepts of genocide. In addition to histories of the causes, course, and perpetration of genocide, the series devotes attention to genocide’s victims, its after- maths and consequences, its representation and memorialization, and to genocide prevention. Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide encom- passes both comparative work, which considers genocide across time and space, and specific case studies. More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14582 Rebecca Gidley Illiberal Transitional Justice and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Rebecca Gidley Australian National University Canberra, ACT, Australia Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide ISBN 978-3-030-04782-5 ISBN 978-3-030-04783-2 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04783-2 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018964259 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub- lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu- tional affiliations. Cover illustration: © eyesofalens / Alamy Stock Photo This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland To my parents, for always believing there would be a book to dedicate to them. A cknowledgements I have received help, guidance, and support from many sources over the course of this research journey and I gladly acknowledge many of them here. First and foremost, I thank Professor Robert Cribb for his probing comments that challenged me to write with clarity and precision, for always interesting conversations, and for the fact that I always left his office feeling better than when I went in. I am grateful to Dr Tyrell Haberkorn for being unfailingly enthusiastic and inspiring about the writing process and many other things. Her involvement helped me to consider more deeply the principles and concepts that underpin my research. Dr Deborah Mayersen provided early encouragement in the publishing process and I am indebted to her and to the staff at Palgrave. During my fieldwork I benefitted from generous engagement with my project from formal interviews through to incidental conversations. I am grateful to everyone with whom I had such fruitful conversations, whether they can be named in this book or not. The staff at the Documentation Center of Cambodia assisted with access to important documents. Dr Steve Heder unstintingly provided documents and contacts during my time in Phnom Penh. I have benefitted greatly from immensely patient Khmer teachers: Sam Samnang, Chanroeun Pa, Soda Sea, Y Socheat, and all the staff at LINK. They were kind enough to only occasionally laugh at my mispronunciations of their beautiful language. Y Socheat also assisted with the translation of some documents used in this book, helping me to develop the unusual set of vocabulary I needed for this work. vii viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The history writing group at the Australian National University School of Culture, History, and Language was a bastion of intellectual support. I am grateful to Chris Park, Dr Bryce Kositz, Mark Jones, Judith Pabian, Lina Koleilat, Andrew De Lisle, Yu-Hua Chen, Qin Yang, Orion Lethbridge, and Dr Philip Taylor for reading and commenting on some of these chapters. Professor David Chandler kindly offered to read several of the central chapters and provided fast and encouraging feedback. I also thank the thesis examiners and anonymous reviewers of this manuscript for their helpful suggestions and generous engagement with my work. I gratefully acknowledge the earlier editorial input of Maxine McArthur from the School of Culture, History, and Language. Attempting to list all those who have provided emotional support, wel- come distractions, or joyous moments is daunting but I am privileged to thank Ellen, Ruth, CC, Fa, Lina, Bec, Bruma, Joyce, Jewel, Sana, William, Annie, other Annie, Ros, Jodie, Meg, Maria, Evi, Keren, Maureen, Damien, Jess, Jesse, Laura, and Cristine. I am grateful for the love and support of my family and for the warmth (literal and figurative) of my escapes to Brisbane to visit them. My life is vastly enriched by my parents, Philip, Jeff, Kazue, Jeremy, Tracey, Jack, Hiromi, Hanna, and Mei. Finally, I would like to thank all those who have, in any capacity, had the patience to teach me. c ontents 1 Introduction 1 2 The State of Transitional Justice 17 3 Confronting the Past, 1975–1996 43 4 The Development and Evolution of the ECCC, 1997–2003 79 5 The ECCC in Action, 2003–2018 119 6 Breaking the Mould: Cambodia and the Transitional Justice Literature 157 7 Distinguishing Cambodia and Explaining the Existence of the ECCC 187 ix x CONTENTS 8 C onclusion 211 Bibliography 219 Index 247