February 10-13, 2010
Between February 10-13, 2010, DC-Cam invites 100 villagers from Preah Net Preah commune in Banteay Meanchey province, Sa-Ang Phnom commune in Kandal province and Svay Chek commune in Svay Rieng province to Phnom Penh. This invitation is a part of DC-Cam’s Living Documents project intending to provide a forum for which victims of the Khmer Rouge atrocities learn about the Khmer Rouge tribunal. Since 2006, DC-Cam invited about 10,000 villagers, community leaders and members of the Cham Muslim minority to attend the ECCC hearings and receive basic training on ECCC’s jurisdiction, procedures and biographies of persons charged by the court. The selection of the visitors is based on the relevance of their home villages and community to the Khmer Rouge history and their connection with the particular Khmer Rouge leaders.
Some people in Preah Net Preah commune used to work in the construction of Trapeang Thmar irrigation system in the nearby Phnom Srok district. This project included the construction of a huge water reservoir of 12 kilometer long and 10 kilometer wide with a 10-meter dike on the sides, irrigation canals and water gates to control and distribute water during the dry and rainy seasons. Thousands of people were forced to work on this location from 1976 to 1978. Some of the villagers invited to attend the hearing had experiences working on the construction of the reservoir during the Khmer Rouge. According to Im Chem, district chief of Preah Net Preah district during the Khmer Rouge regime, who DC-Cam interviewed in 2007, said that Khieu Samphan visited the site often. Im Chem supervised a few hundred workers at the site.
Svay Chek commune of Svay Rieng province is a supposed birthplace of Khieu Samphan. Sa-Ang Phnom commune is in Sa-Ang district where Khieu Samphan was a representative during Prince Sihanouk’s Sangkum Reastr Niyum regime. The visit is divided into two main parts. On the first day, the villagers attend a meeting at the Senate Library where they would listen to a presentation on the importance of Case 002 and its details. They would also watch Khmer Rouge documentary films and visit Cheung Ek and Tuol Sleng in the afternoon. On the second third days, the villagers attend the pre-trial hearing and see the performance, 'Breaking the Silence.'
February 10, 2010
08:00 Meeting at the Senate Library
08:15 Mr. William Smith, International Senior Deputy Co-prosecutor
Recent development at the Office of the Co-Prosecutors:
"The Challenges We Faced"
Mr. Dara P. Vanthan, DC-Cam’s Deputy Director
A Presentation on DC-Cam’s Outreach:
Genocide: Who are the Senior Khmer Rouge Leaders to be Judged? The importance of Case 002.
Participants: Villagers from Kandal, Svay Rieng and Banteay Mean Chey
09:15 Q&A session.
09:45 Break
10:00 Film Screening: “Tuol Sleng in 1979” and “Behind the Walls of S-21”
Guest speaker: Him Huy, former S-21 guard
10:45 Leave for Cheung Ek Killing Field
12:00 Lunch
14:00 Leave for Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
15:00 Visit the Royal Palace
18:00 Dinner
February 11, 2009
6:30 Breakfast (Package food)
7:00 Buses pick up participants from hotel
7:30 Depart to ECCC
9:00 Observe pre-trial hearing of Ieng Sary’s Appeal against extension of provisional detention.
12:00 Lunch
13:30 Observe pre-trial hearing of Ieng Sary’s Appeal against extension of provisional detention.
18:00 Dinner and Chapei with Singer Kong Nai
February 12, 2009
6:30 Breakfast (Package food)
7:00 Buses pick up participants from hotel
7:30 Depart to ECCC
9:00 Observe pre-trial hearing of Khieu Samphan’s Appeal against extension of provisional detention.
12:00 Lunch
13:30 Continue observing pre-trial hearing of Khieu Samphan’s Appeal against extension of provisional detention.
18:00 Dinner and entertainment with Comedian Prum Manh
20:00 Theatre: Breaking the Silence produced by Amrita Performing Arts; Directed by Annemarie Prins of The Netherlands.
Location: The National Institute of Education, near the Independence Monument, Phnom Penh
OPEN TO PUBLIC
February 13, 2009
6:30 Breakfast (Package food)
7:00 Villagers return home.
For more information:
Observing the Hearings, Savina Sirik, Tel: 012 688 046
Performance – Breaking the Silence; Sayana Ser, Tel: 092 763 272 or Suon Bunrith, Country Director of Amirita Performing Arts at Tel: 012 410 044.
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About Me
- Duong Dara
- Dara Duong was born in 1971 in Battambang province, Cambodia. His life changed forever at age four, when the Khmer Rouge took over the country in 1975. During the regime that controlled Cambodia from 1975-1979, Dara’s father, grandparents, uncle and aunt were executed, along with almost 3 million other Cambodians. Dara’s mother managed to keep him and his brothers and sisters together and survive the years of the Khmer Rouge regime. However, when the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia, she did not want to live under Communist rule. She fled with her family to a refugee camp on the Cambodian-Thai border, where they lived for more than ten years. Since arriving in the United States, Dara’s goal has been to educate people about the rich Cambodian culture that the Khmer Rouge tried to destroy and about the genocide, so that the world will not stand by and allow such atrocities to occur again. Toward that end, he has created the Cambodian Cultural Museum and Killing Fields Memorial, which began in his garage and is now in White Center, Washington. Dara’s story is one of survival against enormous odds, one of perseverance, one of courage and hope.
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