Report on History Forum of Genocide Education Project

By Marquita Smith
November 24, 2009

The History Forum of the Genocide Education Project began with a speech on
the history of the Khmer Rouge by Professor David Chandler translated by Mr.
Kok-Thay Eng. Professor Chandler has been researching Cambodian history for
almost 50 years and is considered an expert in the field. Chandler described
A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) as a thematic narrative
history of the regime written in a way for high school students and
Cambodians in general to relate. He also hopes Khamboly Dy's research will
inspire others to research the past in a systematic way. Chandler said
writing history is a way of gaining possession of the past and though
foreign analysis may be helpful, he hopes Cambodians will write their own
history. He said it is important to know the why, who, what, where, and how
of the Khmer Rouge but because of the horrors it is difficult to write about
it in a literary way.

Chandler compared the leaders of the Khmer Rouge to the heroes of a
tragedy-never stepping back from what they were doing-but unlike tragic
heroes, most of the leaders survived. He stressed the importance of
considering the international aspect as well as the Cambodian one when
studying the Khmer Rouge. Chandler referenced the CPK's erasure of
individuality and the destruction of families, noting that their actions
were executed more drastically and destructively than were those of their
counterparts in the Soviet Union. Chandler has written elsewhere that
Democratic Kampuchea was a Cambodian-imported Communist phenomenon, a unique
mixture of Cambodian and foreign elements and finished by saying the "wheel
of history," often referred to by the Khmer Rouge, had begun to roll past
the leaders of Democratic Kampuchea and the almost 2 million Cambodians
killed in less than 4 years.

Afterwards, the Q & A portion opened with approximately ten teachers asking
questions. One teacher who was evacuated from Phnom Penh to Kandal province
on April 17, 1975 asked why food rations were different for people from the
city. Chandler responded that this difference was most likely due to the
valuing of "base people" over "17 April" or "new" people. Others asked about
the DK regime's interactions with China and Vietnam and the reason for the
lack of intervention from the United Nations. Chandler explained that the UN
did not then have peacekeeping machine it does now and it could not have
voted to intervene in Cambodia. Another asked why these international crimes
were not being tried in The Hague, to which Chandler responded that the
Cambodian government did not want the trial to take place outside the
country and that such an occurrence could have been considered an
infringement on Cambodian sovereignty. The last and most open-ended question
asked was why the Khmer Rouge did what they did during their reign of power.
Chandler responded by telling the teachers it is their responsibility to
think about the history to be prepared to answer students' questions as that
is the purpose of the forum.

Following Prof. Chandler was former S-21 guard Him Huy. The audience
listened carefully as Mr. Huy detailed how he arrived at S-21, some of his
experiences while there, and what happened after he left the prison. He
arrived in Phnom Penh on April 17th as part of Division 703. As a guard, he
says he never killed anyone personally but he was responsible for
transporting prisoners to Cheung Ek. He described the day-to-day life of a
cadre as "waiting for your turn to be killed." He says he was transferred to
a rice field in 1978 and when the Vietnamese came, he fled with other
cadres. Many of the questions asked during the Q & A session revolved around
Huy's personal feelings about his role as a guard. One teacher mentioned
that Huy did not look like a murderer. Huy stressed that he never killed
anyone and the orders to kill prisoners came from Duch. When asked about his
desire for the future Huy stated that he does public speaking events such as
the forum because he wants people to know about the Khmer Rouge and to teach
the younger generation.

Professor Laura Summers's presentation (translated by Terith Chy) about the
local history of Pai Lin offered an analysis of the economic success of the
short-lived capital city of Democratic Kampuchea, which, in her opinion,
showed some of the first steps towards national reconciliation. In 1992,
Summers spent two days in Pailin and showed the audience a number of
personal photographs of the city as she saw it. Pailin was deserted until
the National Army of Democratic Kampuchea reoccupied it in order to prepare
it for a visit from the Prince Head of State Norodom Sihanouk. The abandoned
homes were repaired by soldiers, each family being responsible for
completing the repairs with the materials purchased from Thailand. One photo
of Summers and army commanders atop Phnom Yat, a treasured ancient temple,
was especially important since the commanders wanted to prove that the
temple was not badly damaged and that they were repairing the existing
damage. They wanted Cambodians to know that the national heritage was safe
in their hands. The city was slowly being revived with a small hotel,
apartment building, and pharmacy in place. By 1995, it was an economic
success with three thousand people moving to the city each year. The
economic and social order of Pailin was a big change from the failed
policies of the wartime institution of Democratic Kampuchea. When Pol Pot
called for re-nationalization and re-collectivization in 1996 the army
commanders in Pailin refused his order. Twenty thousand people abandoned the
Democratic Kampuchea movement at this time. Summers says, "The social
realities of economic success obliged the commanders to obey the will of
their people; they behaved as democrats." By 1998, the population of Pailin
was 70, 486, making it the fastest growing province in the country. In
closing, Summers said political and economic development is "spontaneous,
accidental, cumulative, and hardly ever planned." During the Q & A session,
one teacher asked about funding sources besides China for the Khmer Rouge.
In response, Summers stated that during the 1980s a small amount of funding
was received from a few ASEAN countries but not from any others. Another
teacher asked if, based on the information presented, he could deduce that
the failure of Democratic Kampuchea was a result of the conflict between
China and the Soviets. Summers responded no because that conflict was
resolved in 1989 and stressed that Democratic Kampuchea failed mostly for
internal, national reasons.

The last speaker of the day was Mr. Norng Chanphal, an S-21 survivor. Norng
was one of four child survivors. His father was a cadre in Kampong Speu and
in mid-1978, his family received a letter of invitation to come to Phnom
Penh. His mother was sick at the time and he recalls S-21 cadre shouting for
his family to get out of car when they arrived at Toul Sleng. His sick
mother was having difficulty following their orders and he witnessed cadre
hit and push her to the ground. After witnessing these actions, he was
afraid of what was to come. He and his brother were separated from his
mother upon entry to the prison and aside from one very brief glance, he
never saw his mother again. Sometime close to the liberation date he hid in
a pile of clothes, afraid that if he left he would not be able to find his
mother. When Vietnamese soldiers came, they found him and three other
surviving children. From his memory, Norng says he was at S-21 for no more
than a month but according to documents, he was there for a week or less.
During the Q & A session, one audience member asked about the food rations
at S-21. Norng says he starved for maybe 4-10 days as all cadres had fled in
advance of the Vietnamese arrival. He only remembers having a little water
to drink and his brother almost died due to starvation. Another asked if his
mother died due to starvation or if she was killed. Norng does not know for
sure but said if the Khmer Rouge did not kill her, she would have died due
to her sickness. The pain of remembering was still palpable as Norng became
teary-eyed while speaking. The final question was whether he was satisfied
with the court proceedings. Norng is not satisfied and he says he cannot
accept Duch's apology. His beloved mother's suffering is too deeply
engrained in his memory. He has waited a long time for this trial and he is
hoping for a verdict that will bring justice. After Norng's speech, Khamboly
Dy asked all to stand and share condolences for the suffering of Norng's
mother.

In close to the day, Dy and Peoudara Vanthan gave thanks to all the
international speakers who have helped with the forum. In addition, they
gave thanks to all teachers present highlighting that they are an integral
part of making the Genocide Education Project effective.