The Voices of the ECCC Complainants:

The Voices of the ECCC Complainants:
Ten Days with the Victim Participation Team
in the Provinces of Kampong Thom & Siem Reap

Yannek Smith
Rutgers University

On May 21-31 2010 I joined the eight members of the Victim Participation
Team[1] (VPA) of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) on their trip
north to the provinces of Kampong Thom and Siem Reap. The objective of the
field trip was to deliver notification letters from the Office of the
Co-Prosecutors of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
(ECCC) to the complainants in these areas. The complainants are survivors of
Democratic Kampuchea (DK) who filed applications against the Khmer Rouge
approximately two years ago. The ECCC letters confirm to the complainants
that the court has received their applications, thanks them for their
contribution, and tells them about the progress that court has made as a
result of their contribution. Throughout our ten day trip, the Victim
Participation Team conducted video and recorder interviews of the villagers
who wished to have their experiences and opinions documented.

My personal goal during our daily trips to the villages was to conduct
ethnographically inspired interviews of the complainants to learn more about
how they feel about the ECCC trials, their personal experiences during the
DK regime, and hear their views on justice, punishment and forgiveness. The
purpose was mainly to gain a better understanding of how (and to what
extent) the court is meaningful to the survivors , how much they know about
what is going on with the legal process, and to look at individual notions
of justice and social reconciliation.

VPA Preparation and Introduction
Kampong Thom province, around a three and a half hour drive north of Phnom
Penh, has the distinction of being the birthplace of both Kaing Guek Eav,
otherwise known as "Duch", and Saloth Sar, more commonly known as Pol Pot.
The province is known for its dams, which were constructed during the
Democratic Kampuchea period; they are products of forced labor, starvation,
and extreme human suffering under the Khmer Rouge regime. During our trip we
travelled around Kampong Thom and Siem Reap, going to different villages
every day. We would generally meet the groups of complainants at the houses
of the local village chiefs.

To the meetings we would bring the notifications from the ECCC, booklets
with information on case 002, letters from DC-Cam's director Youk Chhang,
video and camera equipment, and plenty of durian cookies and water bottles.
This would be our routine preparation for the next nine days; the VPA's way
of setting up the villagers up for serious discussion about the ECCC and the
Khmer Rouge.

Team leader Chy Terith is the main speaker at the meetings. After taking
attendance, he begins by asking the villagers if they remember DC-Cam and
filling out the complaints against the Khmer Rouge. Most of the complainants
that we visited remembered DC-Cam, but many people had forgotten about the
complaints that they had filed in 2008. On day three of our trip a woman
told us that her faded memory was largely due to the busy work schedule of
the villagers. "How can we keep up with what is going on, when we have to
spend our days looking after the water buffalo?" she asked the VPA team.
Indeed, many villagers we talked to emphasized their difficult and demanding
lifestyles to explain why they could not follow up with the trials. Although
most villagers do have at least some access to television and radio, the
more immediate need of providing for their families takes up the bulk of
their time. In this context DC-Cam plays a very important role, as the
connection between the legal system and the victims that it is intended to
be working for.

Telling the People about the ECCC and Case 002

After reminding the villagers of what DC-Cam is and explaining the purpose
of the meeting, Terith goes over the backgrounds of the four Khmer Rouge
leaders on trial in case 002. For many complainants, seeing the large images
of Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Khieu Samphan marked the first
time that they put a face to the name of the infamous Khmer Rouge leaders.
For some, it was the first time that they had ever heard the names. Stung
district, where we spent our first few days, is the birthplace of Duch. The
VPA asked all of the complainant groups of this area if they knew Duch
personally or had seen him before. Although of them knew his name, few could
recall ever seeing the man. We did however come across a village chief who
said that he had known Duch and had seen him before.

Following the explanation of what the ECCC is doing and a brief overview of
case 002, the team hands out the letters from the Office of the
Co-Prosecutors to the complainants. After getting the letters, each
complainant is required to fill out a form, confirming that he or she has
received it. Most of the complainants cannot read or write, so the VPA reads
them the notification, and helps them fill out the confirmation form. This
generation, as a result of having lived through decades of war and
instability, received little or no formal education in their lives.

Findings from the Interviews:

The complainants from the provinces of Kampong Thom and Siem Reap were
generally receptive to doing interviews. The diverse opinions and
perspectives of the interviews were good indicators that the interviewees
were open about their feelings. It was very touching that the villagers
shared so much, many telling us about some of the most tragic and difficult
moments of their lives. Consistent with Chy Terith's findings[2], the
complainants were generally pleased to receive the ECCC confirmation
notifications and felt like they had a voice in trials.

From just fifteen interviews[3], it was clear that the complainants have
very different views when it comes to punishment. In many cases the
villagers said that they forgive the Khmer Rouge, seeing the emotion of
anger and the act of revenge as undesired and going against Buddhist
principles. This was the belief of Pot Som, a 56 year old woman from Phoeu
village in Siem Reap, whose father and brother were killed:

"There is no reason for revenge. Shortly after the collapse of the Khmer
Rouge I was still angry, but later on I practiced Buddhism to get rid of the
anger. I just want the Khmer Rouge to never come back."

Piousness did not always go hand in hand with forgiveness. Measkin Yon, a 60
year old woman from Kampong Kdy village in Kampong Thom, is a devout
follower of Buddhism who believes that "justice still needs to be served."
In her opinion the ECCC is too soft on the accused, making "their
participation optional." She told VPA that the accused former Khmer Rouge
members "do not answer all of the questions asked." Measkin, like Pot Som
and several other interviewees, does not consider anger to be an appropriate
response. But Measkin Yon, a woman who lost many relatives to the Khmer
Rouge, still suffers from trauma. Since Democratic Kampuchea, she tells us,
she has never stopped living in fear. "There is no particular reason why I
am still afraid, just that the fear is inside of me," she explained.

Yen Yat, the 65 year old village chief of Daun Laor village, says he is glad
that the ECCC will "help people find out who the real killers are", adding
afterwards that he "[hopes] that they find more top Khmer Rouge killers, so
that they can get what they deserve." For him, the long awaited prosecution
of top Khmer Rouge leaders will bring justice to the victims, not only
because it will punish the former leaders for the atrocities they committed,
but because it will spread awareness and official recognition of who these
people are and what they did.

There were a few people who did not give their opinion when asked questions
pertaining to the ECCC and the prosecution of the top Khmer Rouge leaders,
simply saying that "it is up to the court" to decide what to do. It was
unclear whether if this kind of response demonstrated trust in the court,
distrust, a sense of alienation from the legal process, or a way of avoiding
a strong emotional response[4].

An interesting finding of the interviews was that most of the survivors did
not like the idea of trying more Khmer Rouge members. While all of the
complaints felt good that the top Khmer Rouge leaders would finally be put
on trial, only three out of fifteen interviewees expressed a desire to see
more Khmer Rouge be put on trial. One man named Krouch Noeum (from Rokar
Thoun village, Srangae district, Siem Reap province) explained his
opposition to trying more Khmer Rouge in the following way:

"There are so many former Khmer Rouge living in this district. They all got
their orders from the top, so the court should not condemn them."

Another focus of the interviews was on the education of the genocide and the
Khmer Rouge. All of my interviewees were asked whether or not they play a
role in educating people about the Democratic Kampuchea period. Most of the
complainants said that their contribution is through the personal stories
that they tell to their families and relatives. Village chiefs Yen Yat and
But Ban both emphasized how important the education of what happened under
the Khmer Rouge is for their villages. Yen Yat of Daun La-or village told
the team how discussion about the Khmer Rouge is an important part of the
village meetings:

"I usually raise the issue of killing during every village meeting. During
the meetings I ask them about all the positive developments that have
happened since that time [Democratic Kampuchea]. We discuss how killing is
bad. Improvements are noticeable and there have been many developments in
the village."

The developments that Yen Yat is referring to are the roads, houses, and
schools of the area. But Ban, the village chief of Samprouch village, tells
us that "education in the schools is most important." Asked about the
education of the Khmer Rouge in his village's school, he told VPA, "There is
a teacher in school who talks about the DK regime, and this has been
effective." This is good news to hear, at a time when DC-Cam is launching
its national Genocide Education initiative.[5]

Despite this positive attitude and eagerness to teach young people about the
Khmer Rouge, there is continued doubt and disbelief among younger children
in both Kampong Thom and Siem Reap provinces. Not only are many young people
unaware of what happened under the Khmer Rouge, many do not even believe
that the stories that the older generation tell are true. Several of the
complainants said that children, sometimes even their own, did not believe
what had happened to them under the DK regime.

When asked why this is so, various explanations were offered. During one
meeting a woman said, that "it is hard for the young people to believe the
stories because the elderly people could be telling them anything." Saing
Sam Hor of Ampov Prey village, Stung district, Kampong Thom province says
that "it is because the young generation did not see these things for
themselves. Now they live comfortably, and cannot believe what it was like
under the Khmer Rouge." Perhaps it is because she is unable to convince
young people that her stories are true that she later says that "the role
[of educating the young] is best done by organizations outside of the
country and by the national government." There was a belief among many of
the survivors that the young generation cannot believe how the country was
during DK because they did not experience it themselves.

However there are numerous ways to convince the younger generation that the
Khmer Rouge did exist and did commit atrocities. Interviewee Pot Som touched
on the role of media in educating the younger generation, saying "[the
children] used to not believe me, but when they saw the things that I
started to talk about on television they started to believe." Village chief
But Ban has found other means to teach the children:

"The children do not fully believe what we say, so we give them examples
such as the dams that were built under the Khmer Rouge and the information
that is given out by DC-Cam. Once they see these things, they start to
believe as a result."

There are many channels that have the potential to teach young children
about the DK period: schools, family histories, commemorative ceremonies
(like the May 20th Day of Anger[6]), village meetings, television and radio,
and NGO initiatives. Hopefully, these sources will continue to progress and
spread knowledge of DK throughout the consciousness of the young Cambodian
population.

Conclusion

The DC-Cam Victim Participation Team has proved to be very adept at keeping
the process professional and organized, yet also connecting with the
villagers and creating a comfortable and productive atmosphere. With Duch's
verdict taking place on the 26th of July, the court confirmation notices are
reminders to the complainants that their stories are the reason that the
long awaited prosecution is possible. Over thirty years after the reign of
the Khmer Rouge, the villagers that I interviewed almost unanimously believe
that the trials have not lost their significance or importance. It has been
a very long road to get to this point in the legal process, but in their old
age many of the surviving complainants will finally see the results of their
testimony.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] The members of the Victim Participation team are Chy Terith, Seng
Kunthy, Sa Sengkea, Phat Piseth, Kimsroy Sokvisal, Sok Vannak, Ry Lakana and
Leng Ratanak.
[2] See Chy Terith's DC-Cam report on the VPA field trip to Kampong Thom and
Siem Reap: Khmer Rouge Survivors Still Resent Children of the Khmer Rouge.
2010.
[3] I conducted eleven interviews with VPA translators Seng Kunthy, Kimsroy
Sokvisal and Leng Ratanak, and obtained four live translations (by the
aforementioned members) of live video recordings conducted by Sok Vannak.
[4] For more on Cambodian cultural expressions of remorse and anger, see
Randel Defalco's Community Outreach Trip to Phnom Penh. Searching for the
Truth, February 2010
[5] See http://dccam.org/Projects/Genocide/Genocide_Education.htm
[6] Our field trip took place right after the national May 20th Day of
Anger, a ceremony which commemorates those who perished under the DK regime.
The ceremony includes a reenactment of the genocide and prayers for the
dead. As part of my interviews I asked the survivors if they celebrate this
day. The results were mixed: some know about it and participate in it, some
know about it but don't participate, and some have never heard about it. For
information on this day see Remembering May 20 - Day of Anger by Racheal
Huges.

Independently Searching for the Truth since 1997.
MEMORY & JUSTICE

“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”

Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia