Im Chaem
Related Case(s) : 004, 004/01
Alias : Yeay Chaem1
IM Chaem (Born 1946) was Secretary of Preah Net Preah District in Sector 5 (Northwest Zone). She was charged by the International Co-Investigating Judge in Case 004 (later 004/01). The Co-Investigating Judges jointly dismissed the charges against Im Chaem in 2017 for lack of personal jurisdiction.
Explore the Khmer Rouge hierarchy to understand her role in the secretive system.
Drag
1946
Born in Kbal O village, Tram Kak district in Takeo province.2
1978
Early/ Mid-1978
Appointed as Deputy Secretary of the Sector 5 Committee.9
1979
January
Fled to the forest following the fall of Democratic Kampuchea and may have remained near the Thai border during the 1980s.10
2008
20 November
Named in the International
Co-Prosecutor’s Third Introductory Submission.11
Co-Prosecutor’s Third Introductory Submission.11
2017
10 July
Charges dismissed by the
Co-Investigating Judges for lack of personal jurisdiction.12
Co-Investigating Judges for lack of personal jurisdiction.12
Charges
Initially charged by International Co-Investigating Judge with:
13
- Crimes against humanity: murder, enslavement, imprisonment, other inhumane acts (enforced disappearances and attacks against human dignity), extermination and persecution on political grounds
- Violations of the 1956 Penal Code: homicide
- All allegations dismissed by the Co-Investigating Judges for lack of personal jurisdiction. 14
- The Pre-Trial Chamber did not attain the required supermajority majority for a decision on the International Co-Prosecutor’s appeal of the Dismissal Order, meaning that the Dismissal Order stood and the charges against Im Chaem were ultimately dismissed. 15
Key Findings
Role and Responsibilities
The Co-Investigating Judges in the Case 004/1 Closing Order found that there was sufficient evidence that Im Chaem:
- Was Secretary of Sector 13’s Women’s Association, responsible for political education of women in the various districts of the sector. 16
- Was appointed to Secretary of the Preah Net Preah District in the Northwest Zone in March 1977, being in overall in charge of the district (including its communes and villages). 17
- Had direct contacts with Ta Mok, the “main engineer of transfer of Southwest Zone cadres to the Northwest Zone and of the entire purge”. 18
Criminal Responsibility
The Co-Investigating Judges in the Case 004/1 Closing Order found that there was sufficient evidence that Im Chaem:
- Participated in and spoke at meetings in the Angkor Chey District Sector 13, where she was in charge of the district’s women as well as in other districts in the same sector. 19
- Had authority over security centres and worksites in Preah Net Preah District and the power to order arrests. 20
- Visited the Trapeang Thma Dam construction site, although the extent of her involvement in the project is unclear. 21
- Was involved in a systematic campaign of arrests targeting Northwest Zone cadres at the cooperative, commune, district, and sector levels in mid-1977. 22
- Ran Phnom Trayoung Security Centre, had overall authority over the prison, issued the prison’s regulations, and held monthly or bi-monthly meetings to determine who had to be sent to the Security Centre. 23
- Had authority to order the arrest and execution of people in her district and over 2,000 people from different districts in Sector 5 who were detained at Phnom Trayoung Security Centre. 24
- Initiated and directed the extension of an existing canal and water reservoir at the Spean Sreng canal worksite, where thousands of workers, including former Northwest Zone cadres, were forced to work there. 25
- Received reports on people’s backgrounds and decided on disciplinary measures including detention. 26
- Instructed workers to work hard and to be vigilant against possible enemies and warning them that those who fail to work hard would be detained or killed. 27
- Carried out a systematic campaign of arrests and killings of Northwest Zone cadres, workers who committed mistakes, people with ties to Vietnam, and former Khmer Republic officials. 28
Reasons why Im Chaem did not fall within the ECCC’s personal jurisdiction
The Co-Investigating Judges in the Case 004/1 Closing Order found that Im Chaem did not fall within the ECCC’s personal jurisdiction because she was neither a senior leader nor among those most responsible for DK-era crimes and dismissed the charges against, reasoning that she:
29
- Was not a senior leader, although there is evidence that she was a “rising star” in the DK hierarchy at the time and have become a senior leader if the DK continued existing and enjoyed access to senior leaders. 30
- Contributed to crimes mainly in one district, even though she may have been a member of a zone-wide joint criminal enterprise. 31
- Was one of more than a hundred other district secretaries, and the fact that she may have been an official at sector level in the Southwest Zone before she arrived in the Northwest Zone (and again became involved at the sector level in the Northwest Zone) is not itself determinative of her position at the time of the Northwest Zone purges. 32
On Appeal of the Closing Order
The Pre-Trial Chamber did not attain the required supermajority majority for a decision on whether Im Chaem falls within the personal jurisdiction of the ECCC.
33
- The National Pre-Trial Chamber Judges found that Im Chaem does not fall within the personal jurisdiction of the ECCC and upheld the Co-Investigating Judges’ to dismiss the charges against her. 34
- The International Pre-Trial Chamber Judges found Im Chaem to be amongst the most responsible and thus fell within the ECCC’s personal jurisdiction, and that the Co-Investigating Judges failed to take into account the full magnitude of the gravity of the crimes alleged or charged against Im Chaem, and of her full role and responsibilities during the DK regime. 35
Counsel
Mr. Bit Seanglim, Mr. John Jones, Mr. Wayne Jordash