002/19-09-2007-ECCC-OCIJ ЮŲŠ / No: D427 stating “Every citizen of Kampuchea has the right to worship according to any religion and the right not to worship according to any religion. Reactionary religions which are detrimental to Democratic Kampuchea and Kampuchean people are absolutely forbidden”.716 However, it appears that the purported freedom of religion in this article was a deception and that all religions were deemed to be reactionary.717 All religion was prohibited by the CPK718 including Buddhism.719 Pagodas were destroyed,720 virtually all Buddhist monks and nuns were disrobed,721 and some monks were threatened with death or killed if they did not comply.722 People were told to follow, and put their faith in, Angkar rather than in religion.723 The abolition of Buddhism and the Buddhist monkhood was justified locally by reference to the notion that they were members of the “special class” which was said by local cadre to be an exploitative and oppressor class.724 This policy was implemented throughout Cambodia during the entire CPK regime. 211. With respect to the Cham, this policy began as early as 1970 in some areas725 and escalated throughout the CPK regime until at least 6 January 1979. Forced displacement of Cham villages began in approximately 1973726 and escalated after 1975,727 with some Cham being dispersed through ethnic Khmer villages.728 Telegram #15 dated November 1975 describes a decision of the CPK Centre regarding the policy to “break up”729 the Cham through displacement.730 Throughout the CPK regime, the CPK prohibited the Cham from practising their religion.731 The CPK imprisoned or killed Cham religious leaders and elders732 and Cham people who protested or continued to practice their religion.733 The CPK also prohibited the Cham culture, language and dress. 734 212. Beyond religious persecution, beginning in 1977 and generally from mid-1978, the CPK adopted a policy of destroying the Cham as a group in those parts of Cambodia where most Cham then lived. Mass executions of Cham occurred in 1977 and 1978735 in the Central (Old North) Zone and East Zone. Witnesses gave evidence that the Cham were considered to be an enemy of the revolution736 and that the CPK intended to destroy the group737 by 1980.738 There is evidence that Ke Pork, Secretary of the Central Zone739 and a member of the Central Committee and Centre Military Committee,740 and the district secretaries of the East and Central Zones personally participated in the destruction of the Cham along with Centre and other military units.741 213. With respect to the Vietnamese, this policy came into existence before 1975 and continued to escalate throughout the CPK regime until at least 6 January 1979. From 1973,742 the CPK expelled Vietnamese people from Cambodian territory and sent them back to Vietnam, a policy that had been first implemented by the Lon Nol government since 1970. Expulsions Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, National Road 4, Choam Chao, Dangkao Phnom Penh Mailing address: P.O. Box 71, Phnom Penh; Tel: +855(0)23 218914 Fax: +855(0) 23 218941. 57