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002/19-09-2007-ECCC/SC
Doc No. F26/12
Chea's case, would be to establish that an internal conflict existed within the Communist
Party of Kampuchea in the period relevant to the charges. 53 The Supreme Court Chamber
infers that NUON Chea intends to use the S-2l Statements when questioning the witnesses at
the July 2015 Hearing based on the same justification. The Chamber will therefore consider
his arguments contained in the Appeal Brief when ruling on the objections to the use of the
S-2l Statements at that hearing. 54
29.
The Co-Prosecutors' position is that the S-2l Statements may not be used to prove the
truth of matters extracted through torture. 55 They argue, however, that the S-2l Statements
may be used to prove other relevant facts, such as that the prisoners were accused of and
interrogated about hiding or failing to kill LON Nol officers, or that killing LON Nol officers
was within the regime's policies. 56 The Co-Prosecutors incorporate their arguments submitted
earlier before the Trial Chamber57 which, in short, seek to demonstrate that the exception to
the prohibition of the use of torture-tainted statements, which is contained in the second
sentence of Article 15 of the CAT, must be read broadly, in order to facilitate proving crimes
committed by the alleged torturers. 58 They add that a statement should only be excluded on
the basis of Article 15 of the CAT if it has been found that it was, in fact, derived from
torture. 59
30.
On the basis of these submissions, the Supreme Court Chamber frames the following
three principal questions for consideration of the issue before it: (1) whether it has been
established that the S-2l Statements were made as a result of torture; (2) whether NUON
Chea may use the S-2l Statements to assist his defence; and (3) whether the Co-Prosecutors
may be use the S-2l Statements to prove facts unrelated to the truth of the contents thereof.
First, however, the Supreme Court Chamber shall set out the applicable law.
NUON Chea Appeal Brief, paras 706-722. See also NUON Chea's Case 002/02 Submissions, paras 13-28.
NUON Chea specifies that the Trial Chamber's alleged error in holding that evidence produced by torture is
inadmissible under all circumstances for the truth of its contents does not invalidate the Trial Judgment, but that
the issue is of general importance to the jurisprudence of the ECCe. See NUON Chea Appeal Brief, para. 707.
In light of these submissions, the admissibilty of these arguments on appeal is open to debate. The Supreme
Court Chamber's consideration of NUON Chea's arguments on appeal in respect of torture-tainted evidence
should not be interpreted as predeteriming its decision on the admissibility thereof on appeal.
55 Co-Prosecutors' Objections, para. 5.
56 Co-Prosecutors' Objections, paras 5, 6, fu. 11.
57 Co-Prosecutors' Objections, fn. 9-10.
58 Co-Prosecutors' Case 002/02 Submissions, para. 7.
59 Co-Prosecutors' Objections, para. 7.
53
54
DECISION ON OBJECTIONS TO DOCUMENT LISTS - FULL REASONS
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