on 12:13 AM
Ka-set
http://cambodia.ka-set.info
By Stéphanie Gée
20-08-2009
Without exception, civil parties, who started testifying at the stand since
Monday, have all prepared questions to the accused. With the same objective:
to find out precisely what happened to their relatives disappeared at S-21,
to end with nightmarish speculations, and to understand how their beloved
ended up crushed by that killing machine. But the answers they were given by
Duch were evasive or even off-topic. Wednesday August 19th, the court heard
the testimonies of the wife and daughter of Professor Phung Ton, who died at
S-21 and whose shadow has hung over the trial since its start. This
particular case seemed to embarrass the accused, who showed great
consideration for the intellectual, former university dean and professor. An
Achilles’ heel in Duch that revealed cracks in his armour. However, the
confrontation hoped for between the accused and the two women, who have
assiduously attended the trial, day after day, did not happen.
The courage to speak, a legacy of the father
The mother was the first to share her testimony. Im Sunthy, 70 years old and
retired from the Ministry of Public Transports, was the wife of Professor
Phung Ton. When she arrived, Duch stood up to welcome her. It was the first
time he showed such sign of respect for a witness. The civil party’s lawyer,
Silke Studzinsky, launched into a protracted listing of documents and
reference numbers proving the imprisonment of Phung Ton at S-21, already
revealing the contents of her client’s testimony and thereby severely
denting the magic of that moment.
Mrs Im Sunthy had psychological support by her side. Her health was fragile
and the evocation of her husband during the trial had already caused her to
faint. Her voice trembled but she held up. For one hour. Like Mrs Lefeuvre,
who appeared Monday, her testimony took the shape of an impassioned
declaration of love to a husband who was “understanding and loving” and
offered her twenty years of life together that were never clouded by any
argument. She shared everything, including the distressing Khmer Rouge
period.
“I don’t know how to describe to the Chamber that immense sadness caused by
the loss of a husband I loved,” said Mrs Im Sunthy. “It has been more than
thirty years now, but time only deepens my grief. I have never been happy
since. I have lived in terror and trauma. Each passing minute, I think of
him. […] I have sometimes thought about suicide, because I wanted to get it
over with and end this sorrow. It is impossible for me not to think about
the torture endured by my husband during his captivity under the Khmer
Rouge. […] Today, I see that my children are brave, they dare to speak, they
were raised like that by their father. Some people see it as aggressiveness,
but that’s not it. It’s courage and it’s a legacy of their father. As for
me, I can’t help crying but I hide from my children to do so…” Today, she is
“surviving” thanks to medication, she confided.
Testifying to receive justice, not vengeance
To conclude, she explained her action, keen to dismiss any misunderstanding
about her intentions. “Here, I wish to pay tribute to the souls of my
disappeared father and husband, as well as to all the other relatives who
also died. Some might think I am here to seek vengeance. That is not true. I
am here to ask justice for my husband, so the truth is revealed, so we are
told why all these people were killed and why all that barbarism was
inflicted upon the victims. Was it because of lust for power, personal greed
or other reasons? I believe a professor must act ethically and participate
to the country’s reconstruction, not aspire to personal power.”
A man who came back to Cambodia to meet his death
Her daughter, Mrs Phung-Guth Sunthary, 53 years old, took over. For months,
she has prepared that moment. She also came to honour the memory of a
beloved father and “give a face to prisoner no. 17,” through words, through
old family pictures that were preciously kept and which she showed to the
court. She listed endless qualities – “humble,” “wise,” “attentive,” “good,”
“just,” etc – though it seemed there were not enough of them to convey
properly the image of the one who remained a “model” for her. Pastel-tinted
childhood memories associated with the figure of her generous father crowded
her memory.
She explained her father could have escaped the Khmer Rouge. He was on a
mission to Europe when Pol Pot took power. Nothing obliged him to return to
a Cambodia that was taking a direction he saw with suspicion, except his
family whom he could not leave on their own, left to themselves, he confided
in letters to friends before his departure.
“Unimaginable that intellectuals are responsible for the death of my father”
In 1975, the family lost all contact with Phung Ton and did not know what
happened to him during the whole regime. “One day, late October or early
November 1979, by the end of the rainy season, Mum and I went to visit a
cousin. On our way back, Mum saw a farmer selling palm sugar. She gave her a
little bit of rice for sugar. The woman wrapped the palm sugar in a sheet of
paper. As we hadn’t seen any newspaper since 1975, we unfolded the sheet and
saw the picture of my father among other photos of victims of Tuol Sleng.
First, I refused to believe it was my father, though his name was written
under the picture. I thought it was a mistake. But Mum said it was him. We
were both very pale, unable to say one word. We had no idea about the
existence of the Tuol Sleng prison, as we knew nothing of the scope of the
massacres perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge. On that picture, my father was
unrecognisable, thinner, with hollow eyes and wearing a sign bearing the
number 17 around his neck. But because he knew most Khmer Rouge leaders, we
could not understand how that could have happened. These people were either
old students (including Mam Nay and Kang Guek Eav [Duch]) or fellow
professors, like Son Sen or Khieu Samphan. As for Ieng Sary and his wife,
they knew us very well and used to live a few hundred meters away from our
house. It was unimaginable for us that these intellectuals could have been
responsible for the death of my father.”
“Until now, the accused has said nothing to solve this mystery”
The mystery surrounding the last months of her father’s life was unbearable
for her. “The loss of my father is a suffering that nothing can erase, an
incurable wound.”
No full confession of her father was found. Yet, he had been detained almost
seven months at S-21. “According to the interrogators’ testimony, prisoners
usually survived only about two months and were killed after writing their
confession.” However, a medical report on Phung Ton was recovered. It
mentioned diarrhoeas, respiratory problems and thinness. The document must
have been presented to the accused, Sunthary hypothesised, as her father was
one of the important prisoners at S-21. “The accused controlled everything
that happened at S-21. Meticulous and conscientious as he was, what did he
decide and who did he report to about my father’s state? Kang Guek Eav is
familiar with mathematical logic, so he will understand as each and everyone
of us that my father, who was imprisoned at S-21 on December 12th 1976 and
last seen alive on July 6th 1977, did not stay two months like most
prisoners or twenty months, like the accused declared to confuse the facts
and clear his responsibility. The accused has said nothing until now to
solve this mystery.”
That was precisely what she expected from the trial. “Since the trial opened
on March 30th 2009, I have attended every day of hearings. I have seen and
heard experts and witnesses. I have heard the answers of the accused, his
contradictions, his lies. I have seen his signs of emotion, real or faked.
To this day, I have obtained no clear answer to the questions relating to my
father’s death. Mam Nay recognised he was the one who wrote the
interrogation of prisoner Phung Ton and Suos Thy confirmed he had registered
Phung Ton’s name. But no S-21 staff member gave me any detail on the
sufferings my father endured and the conditions in which he died. Yet, they
know about this, especially Mam Nay. Prak Khan, Him Huy, Nhiep Ho confirmed
to me that only the accused knew everything about my father’s case and could
shed more light on the circumstances of his death since he was the director
of S-21.” Sunthary was convinced that Duch knew, but wanted to hide it.
“After lying several times, the accused finally confessed that my father was
at S-21,” she said. “He even theatrically ordered Mam Nay to tell the truth
on the place where my father died, without ever giving himself any detail or
recognising his responsibility for the killing of my father.”
If the accused does not speak, the family will close the gates of
forgiveness forever
Sunthary warned Duch: she would not be satisfied with “general answers about
Democratic Kampuchea” or “a shift of responsibility on the leaders who have
already died.” “The accused presents himself as a repented man and claims he
cooperates with justice and cares about the victims. As for me, I have
followed this trial since the start and I am not at all convinced that the
accused is making sincere efforts to help discover the truth. Quite on the
contrary, he has done everything to prevent the truth from coming out. He is
seeking to not answer for the crimes he committed. The accused knows very
well the answers to my questions. If he claims not to know anything, then he
is not the great intelligence service chief he is described to be, the
meticulous director of S-21, and he is only a puppet and a coward. If he is
in denial despite everything, the accused must then renounce his remorse. I
am not here to cry for vengeance but to find out the truth. If the accused
refuses to answer my questions, I close the gates of forgiveness forever. I
wish the accused to live a long time, in good health, so that, placed before
his soul, he ends up becoming human again, in the noble sense of it. I wish
he realises that the crimes he committed against my father, against all the
victims, against mankind, are also crimes against his own children and
grandchildren.”
Then, she addressed the nation: “The tragedy and misery experienced during
Democratic Kampuchea have absolutely nothing to do with the concept of karma
taught by Buddhism. I am Buddhist like my fellow citizens, but this
blood-thirsty regime was led by a clan that used an insane and satanic
ideology. The use of Buddhist principles and beliefs was only a façade to
minimise the fault of the leaders of that regime. I would also like to tell
the young people in my country that sometimes, even in the depths of
darkness, some men can cast a light by their courage, their convictions,
their sense of honour. My father, Phung Ton, was one of these men. The Khmer
Rouge killed him but they failed to crush his soul and wisdom.”
Duch’s answers: a disappointment
Duch brought nothing new in his answers to her precise questions. He said he
did not know the professor had been sent to S-21. Evidence of it was that no
document regarding Mr Phung Ton bore any handwritten notes by him, he added.
Otherwise, he would have intervened “to make sure he lived in more decent
conditions,” as he did for another detainee he respected as highly. However,
he thought the former dean was not tortured during the interrogations and
referred to Mam Nay, the one who interrogated him, “the only one who can
enlighten us on what his fate was.” Finally, he argued that he was only the
deputy director of S-21 back then. Yet, the analysis of existing documents
established that the professor was imprisoned on December 12th 1976, at a
time when the accused had already succeeded Nath at the head of S-21. Called
to explain himself on this inconsistency, Duch alleged he made a mistake in
the dates… and maintained he did not know.
In his conclusions, the accused said he measured the two women’s
disappointment about not obtaining the answers they expected. “I can tell
you that if I can be of any assistance to help establish the facts, I will
do my best to do so. I will seek any supplementary information available
concerning your husband and your father.” Words that left the two women in
stark disappointment.
May my brother’s soul know that I joined as civil party
Next was Mr Sa Vandy. He was ready, with the text of his statement in his
hands and glasses on his nose. He recently found out that one of his
brothers, Pon, was detained and executed at S-21, in a magazine, “Searching
for the truth,” published by the Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DC-Cam),
while another brother remained “disappeared” to this day. Since, Sa Vandy
imagined the suffering that must have been inflicted upon at least one of
his brothers and heard them in his sleep calling for help. He woke up with a
feeling of powerlessness. Later, he read in another magazine an article
discussing survivors’ trauma and inviting them to join as civil parties with
the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Sa Vandy did so.
The moving 63-year-old retired teacher concluded his testimony by invoking
aloud the spirit of the beloved brother. “Brother Pon, I truly believe you
are here and you are listening the debates before this Chamber. This
afternoon, I pray for you to be here, for you to participate to the trial so
that you can hear and see I tried to seek justice for the criminal acts you
suffered. May your soul rest in peace.”
Sa Vandy also stressed the limits of the apologies of the accused. “Each
time I attend the trial, the accused always recognises his guilt before the
public. He joins his hands before the television cameras and that is
supposed to allay our suffering. Yet, the crime cannot be forgiven. The
tribunal must judge his acts in accordance with the laws applied by the
Chamber.”
Duch never claimed to be a patriot
Finally, he had this question for Duch: “The accused said he was a patriot.
How can he claim to be a patriot if all he did was to kill Cambodians?” The
president invited the accused to answer, while reminding him of his right to
remain silent. The remark was unnecessary. Duch hardly satisfied the victims’
quest. But before them, he took great care not to keep silent. “I would like
to repeat that I never claimed to be a patriot,” he answered.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Looking to the Future Justice and Reconciliation in Cambodia
Kiel Stroupe
University of Southern California
As my plane touched down in Cambodia almost a month ago, I was prepared to witness the detrimental affects that genocide had imposed on the country. Two weeks of classes prior to my arrival made me expect the worst. Ready to walk into Cambodia circa 1979, I imagined Phnom Penh as I had seen it in pictures; a desolate city with blank, desperate expressions upon the faces of all of its war weary inhabitants, bodies lying on the side of the road, bomb shells littering the countryside. To my surprise, Phnom Penh was a noisy, bustling city packed with people and motorcycles speeding by. The people on those motorcycles mostly looked happy, with their families and loved ones enjoying an evening ride. Although poverty is all around, the city seems to overcome this with the bustling activity of its inhabitants and the fixed smiles painted on their faces. I realized that I was no longer in a country enveloped in a culture of fear and constant war; it was clear to me that a new dawn was rising in Cambodia, and that the youthful and motivated population were ready to pick up the pieces of its shattered past.
Although Cambodia has come a long way since the nightmare of the Khmer Rouge, it still faces many issues that continue to hinder its development and the vitality of its people. One of the major issues facing Cambodia today is how to continue the transition towards justice and reconciliation in a post-genocidal society. Thirty years after the complete obliteration of modern Cambodian society and the death of one-fourth of the population, Cambodia must strike a balance between facing the past and looking hopefully towards the future. After talking with several survivors of Pol Pot’s genocidal regime, it became clear that in order to move forward, the country must adopt two models of transitional justice: restorative and retributive justice.
According to the International Center for Transitional Justice, transitional justice “is a response to systematic or widespread violations of human rights.”[1] The Center has highlighted several approaches which can aid in this transitional process and which can be adopted and applied on a case-by-case basis. These include criminal prosecution, memorialization efforts, truth commissions, reparations programs and security system reform.
In terms of criminal prosecution, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia has the jurisdiction to put the most senior Khmer Rouge officials on trial. It has taken thirty years and countless obstacles to bring about a process of criminal prosecution in Cambodia , and yet, despite the delay, it seems that there is broad public support for the ECCC. According to Craig Etcheson in After the Killing Fields, public opinion surveys show “strong majorities of from 75 to 85 percent of respondents favoring a tribunal for the Khmer Rouge leadership.”[2] During my time in Cambodia , my team members and I were lucky enough to interview both survivors and perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge. Our interview process revealed that all of those we interviewed as a group, either victim or perpetrator, were in favor of criminal prosecutions, believing that they would help provide justice of some sort. After examining the interviews of the other teams, it is also apparent that many Cambodians are apprehensive about the success of the trials as well as how long the process will take. Although there are mixed responses towards the ECCC, the majority of those interviewed thought the trials could bring a sense of hope to the population. It is also the intention of the courts to provide varying forms of justice to the people of Cambodia that expand beyond the boundaries of retributive justice. Looking back at the different forms of transitional justice outlined above, the ECCC will be able to provide the Cambodian people with three of those forms; criminal prosecution, truth commissions and reparations. While the Court does not formally function as a state sponsored truth commission or a financial reparations program, the trial proceedings will also allow for elements of each to take place in a public setting.
While the ECCC performs criminal prosecutions, it also has the means to serve as a truth commission and provide reparations in terms of apologies and explanations by the accused for those affected by the genocide. While viewing the trial proceedings, it was evident that apart from establishing Duch’s guilt, the Tribunal also endeavors to inform the public about what exactly happened under the DK regime (April 1975 and January 1979). A former commune cook, Nao Okn, said during his interview that he believes justice is the full truth, being honest. When it comes to the ECCC, he believes it will bring truth out of the top DK leadership.[3]
The Court also explicitly covers reparations. A passage in the introductory pamphlet explains, “…the judges may award collective and moral reparations such as an order to publish the judgment in any appropriate news or other media at the convicted person’s expense, or an order to fund any non profit activity or service that is intended for the benefit of victims.”[4] While the court will not provide individual financial reparations for each person affected by the genocide, they are dedicated to funding organizations that can further the reconciliation process, such as the Documentation Center of Cambodia and other NGO’s in the field.
The court also hopes to provide reparations in the form of formal apologies from the accused and explanations for their wrongdoings. While we were attending the Duch trial, he mentioned several times how sorry he was for what he had done. While this may satisfy some survivors, there are others such as Kung Suor who believe that, “the trials seem to have given people like Duch another way out by allowing them to blame their superiors for their crimes.[5]”
Disappointment with the trial process has also been expressed in reference to two major complications: corruption and the length of the process. In a pamphlet distributed at the ECCC to all visitors, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan wrote a message declaring the existence of the ECCC as, “signaling that the sinister culture of impunity is, indeed, being replaced by a culture of accountability.” Yet it seems that even this “beacon”[6] has fallen prey to charges of corruption. Unfortunately, the corruption within the administration is affecting the legitimacy of the trial process and causing many to lose faith in its ability to provide justice. Ang, a female survivor of the DK regime in the Eastern province of Svay Rieng , expressed her disappointment with the Court. She said, “I believe justice will be achieved, but I have doubts [about the trials] because they are taking a long time without any concrete results, and the accused are still trying to find ways to go free—I look behind you at [those] skulls, evidence of what they did.”[7]
One of my team members interviewed a former Khmer Rouge soldier who was imprisoned for three months in Chilone prison. His name was Sanhim and he came to see Duch’s trial. He expressed some disappointment with the trials on the day he visited, explaining, “Today there is not enough said during the trials,” and “that there are still so many more details that go unstated and unheard.”[8] The legal process can seem confusing and drawn out to many Cambodians. Translation issues with documents and other pertinent legal files are also stalling the process because of the trials international component which requires that proceedings take place in three different languages; Khmer, English and French. While they know that the trials will take time, there is a sense of urgency among the Cambodian people who see that it has taken thirty years for this process to begin, and therefore do not want to waste any more time. Khmer Rouge survivor and former monk Kung Suor expressed this frustration, explaining that he would like the tribunal to speed up the already delayed trials because even if there are reparations, they are not meaningful to the victims who are dying every day because they are old, and want to see schools and pagodas built.[9]
Despite the Court’s shortcomings, it has been relatively successful in promoting reconciliation. According to one of the survivors we interviewed, Norng Chanpal, there is a belief that the trial is providing a means for all those affected by the Khmer Rouge to come to terms with their past. In his interview, this Tuol Sleng survivor stated that, “the trials give the survivors spirit to live and they can start new lives.”[10] He said that he had been trying to avoid all journalists until he heard about Duch’s trial and then decided to speak to journalists because he wanted to provide information to ensure that Duch ends up in jail.
The trials are also addressing the idea of criminal accountability. When I asked Noung Chounpal who he felt was responsible for the loss of his family members he stated that he believes that those who were considered to be the top leadership, like Pol Pot, should be brought to justice. Many of those interviewed shared this belief and, in fact, few people felt the need to try anyone besides the five senior leaders who are scheduled for trial. During an interview, former Khmer Rouge soldier Sok Phat stated that he “agrees 100 percent that the top five who are being tried are enough for justice.[11]” He said it is important to try those at the top; low-level perpetrators, who were often coerced into performing criminal acts, are useful for providing information to bring top officials to justice. On the other hand, survivor Ang expressed a desire to try more perpetrators. She said that she disagrees that an expansion of the trial would destabilize Cambodia and argued that the top leaders’ accomplices should be tried. She added that no one in her village should be tried, noting that she would have dealt with anyone within her own village after [the liberation] if they were responsible.[12] In all, it seems that there are varying opinions on who is responsible, and while most will find peace with the trial of the top officials, others yearn to see low-level perpetrators brought to justice.
While retributive justice may be limited to the criminal prosecution of a handful of top Khmer Rouge officials, it is still an important step towards ensuring accountability through the rule of law. It may be difficult, though, to identify those who are criminally responsible for the actions taken between 1975-79. Due to the overwhelming culture of fear that encompassed every aspect of life under the Khmer Rouge, it is difficult to distinguish perpetrator from victim. In his memoir Survival in the Killing Fields, Hang Ngor describes the pervasive apprehension and terror that was everyday life under the Khmer Rouge; “The Khmer Rouge’s greatest strength was propaganda. They knew that a small lie can be caught and that a big lie is easier to get away with. Their system was so different from anything we had known before, and so complete, that we gave in without really knowing how to resist. Even if we had been allowed to speak out publicly, which we weren’t- and if we did, they tied us up and marched us away- there was something inadequate about trying to counter their words with arguments of our own. It just didn’t help.”[13]
The system of identifying enemies during this time also lent to the culture of fear. According to official Khmer Rouge document D01791, an “Enemy” is anyone who is non-revolution and against the revolution.”[14] This broad definition for identifying potential enemies of the state points to the idea that anyone, regardless of whether they were a “new” person or a Khmer Rouge cadre, could be deemed an “enemy”. Therefore, while retributive justice must take its course, pursuits of restorative justice should be the main focus due to the effects that the genocide had on all of Cambodian society.
Memorialization efforts have been hugely successful in Cambodia to date. Visits to Cheung Ek and the former S-21 prison at Tuol Sleng allowed me to examine the efforts put forth to preserve the mass graves that claimed thousands of lives and the actual rooms in which the torture of victims took place. There were museums at each location with information about the Khmer Rouge regime and the horrific effects of the massive labor, famine and execution that was imposed upon Cambodia . Non-governmental organizations such as the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) have been extremely active in documenting and uncovering the truth about what took place during the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) era, as well as educating the public and youth about the past in order to prevent its recurrence in the future.
There has been a huge focus on genocide education in Cambodia recently, and hopefully this trend will continue and allow the next generation of Cambodians to learn from the past and look towards a brighter future. A program that I found especially inspiring was called “Breaking the Silence,” which is a play written by DC-Cam staff members and performed in villages. Its purpose is to encourage people to talk about their experiences during the Khmer Rouge regime and facilitate the sharing of stories within families and villages to assist in the reconciliation process. I found this performance very effective in promoting reconciliation and healing in Cambodia , as those in the audience seemed to have few other opportunities to share recollections of their painful past.
It is my belief that Cambodia will continue to move in the right direction towards a more prosperous future. While there are many aspects that hold back Cambodia developmentally, I have seen that the people of the country seem happy to just be living in a relatively peaceful country. They are content to be living in a home with their family, tending to their animals and rice fields, conversing with neighbors, and showing affection to the ones they love. The simple things in life hold so much meaning because many in Cambodia know what it is like to be stripped of the things that others take for granted.
After half a decade of genocide and two more decades of war, Cambodia is finally at peace and ready to remain there. The foundations of Cambodian society were shaken to the core and almost completely eliminated by the ruthless social experiment of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge leadership. After such a drastic reversal of all aspects of modern life from 1975-1979, it is only natural that it has taken time for the infrastructure of the country to build up once again and for the Cambodian people to overcome the wounds of the past. I believe that Norng Chanpal expressed the sentiments of many fellow Cambodians when he stated that time is the only real answer to achieving reconciliation. In a moment of touching candor, he said quietly that the memories of the Khmer cadre beating and kicking his mother will be hard to forget.[15] Memories cannot be erased and they need to be preserved in order to record and document what happened during the DK era. Although the past carries with it horrific scenes of death, fear and desperation, the new generation has begun to heal these wounds through processes of education and a constant search for the truth. It is my deep hope that both truth and lasting peace will come to Cambodia.
University of Southern California
As my plane touched down in Cambodia almost a month ago, I was prepared to witness the detrimental affects that genocide had imposed on the country. Two weeks of classes prior to my arrival made me expect the worst. Ready to walk into Cambodia circa 1979, I imagined Phnom Penh as I had seen it in pictures; a desolate city with blank, desperate expressions upon the faces of all of its war weary inhabitants, bodies lying on the side of the road, bomb shells littering the countryside. To my surprise, Phnom Penh was a noisy, bustling city packed with people and motorcycles speeding by. The people on those motorcycles mostly looked happy, with their families and loved ones enjoying an evening ride. Although poverty is all around, the city seems to overcome this with the bustling activity of its inhabitants and the fixed smiles painted on their faces. I realized that I was no longer in a country enveloped in a culture of fear and constant war; it was clear to me that a new dawn was rising in Cambodia, and that the youthful and motivated population were ready to pick up the pieces of its shattered past.
Although Cambodia has come a long way since the nightmare of the Khmer Rouge, it still faces many issues that continue to hinder its development and the vitality of its people. One of the major issues facing Cambodia today is how to continue the transition towards justice and reconciliation in a post-genocidal society. Thirty years after the complete obliteration of modern Cambodian society and the death of one-fourth of the population, Cambodia must strike a balance between facing the past and looking hopefully towards the future. After talking with several survivors of Pol Pot’s genocidal regime, it became clear that in order to move forward, the country must adopt two models of transitional justice: restorative and retributive justice.
According to the International Center for Transitional Justice, transitional justice “is a response to systematic or widespread violations of human rights.”[1] The Center has highlighted several approaches which can aid in this transitional process and which can be adopted and applied on a case-by-case basis. These include criminal prosecution, memorialization efforts, truth commissions, reparations programs and security system reform.
In terms of criminal prosecution, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia has the jurisdiction to put the most senior Khmer Rouge officials on trial. It has taken thirty years and countless obstacles to bring about a process of criminal prosecution in Cambodia , and yet, despite the delay, it seems that there is broad public support for the ECCC. According to Craig Etcheson in After the Killing Fields, public opinion surveys show “strong majorities of from 75 to 85 percent of respondents favoring a tribunal for the Khmer Rouge leadership.”[2] During my time in Cambodia , my team members and I were lucky enough to interview both survivors and perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge. Our interview process revealed that all of those we interviewed as a group, either victim or perpetrator, were in favor of criminal prosecutions, believing that they would help provide justice of some sort. After examining the interviews of the other teams, it is also apparent that many Cambodians are apprehensive about the success of the trials as well as how long the process will take. Although there are mixed responses towards the ECCC, the majority of those interviewed thought the trials could bring a sense of hope to the population. It is also the intention of the courts to provide varying forms of justice to the people of Cambodia that expand beyond the boundaries of retributive justice. Looking back at the different forms of transitional justice outlined above, the ECCC will be able to provide the Cambodian people with three of those forms; criminal prosecution, truth commissions and reparations. While the Court does not formally function as a state sponsored truth commission or a financial reparations program, the trial proceedings will also allow for elements of each to take place in a public setting.
While the ECCC performs criminal prosecutions, it also has the means to serve as a truth commission and provide reparations in terms of apologies and explanations by the accused for those affected by the genocide. While viewing the trial proceedings, it was evident that apart from establishing Duch’s guilt, the Tribunal also endeavors to inform the public about what exactly happened under the DK regime (April 1975 and January 1979). A former commune cook, Nao Okn, said during his interview that he believes justice is the full truth, being honest. When it comes to the ECCC, he believes it will bring truth out of the top DK leadership.[3]
The Court also explicitly covers reparations. A passage in the introductory pamphlet explains, “…the judges may award collective and moral reparations such as an order to publish the judgment in any appropriate news or other media at the convicted person’s expense, or an order to fund any non profit activity or service that is intended for the benefit of victims.”[4] While the court will not provide individual financial reparations for each person affected by the genocide, they are dedicated to funding organizations that can further the reconciliation process, such as the Documentation Center of Cambodia and other NGO’s in the field.
The court also hopes to provide reparations in the form of formal apologies from the accused and explanations for their wrongdoings. While we were attending the Duch trial, he mentioned several times how sorry he was for what he had done. While this may satisfy some survivors, there are others such as Kung Suor who believe that, “the trials seem to have given people like Duch another way out by allowing them to blame their superiors for their crimes.[5]”
Disappointment with the trial process has also been expressed in reference to two major complications: corruption and the length of the process. In a pamphlet distributed at the ECCC to all visitors, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan wrote a message declaring the existence of the ECCC as, “signaling that the sinister culture of impunity is, indeed, being replaced by a culture of accountability.” Yet it seems that even this “beacon”[6] has fallen prey to charges of corruption. Unfortunately, the corruption within the administration is affecting the legitimacy of the trial process and causing many to lose faith in its ability to provide justice. Ang, a female survivor of the DK regime in the Eastern province of Svay Rieng , expressed her disappointment with the Court. She said, “I believe justice will be achieved, but I have doubts [about the trials] because they are taking a long time without any concrete results, and the accused are still trying to find ways to go free—I look behind you at [those] skulls, evidence of what they did.”[7]
One of my team members interviewed a former Khmer Rouge soldier who was imprisoned for three months in Chilone prison. His name was Sanhim and he came to see Duch’s trial. He expressed some disappointment with the trials on the day he visited, explaining, “Today there is not enough said during the trials,” and “that there are still so many more details that go unstated and unheard.”[8] The legal process can seem confusing and drawn out to many Cambodians. Translation issues with documents and other pertinent legal files are also stalling the process because of the trials international component which requires that proceedings take place in three different languages; Khmer, English and French. While they know that the trials will take time, there is a sense of urgency among the Cambodian people who see that it has taken thirty years for this process to begin, and therefore do not want to waste any more time. Khmer Rouge survivor and former monk Kung Suor expressed this frustration, explaining that he would like the tribunal to speed up the already delayed trials because even if there are reparations, they are not meaningful to the victims who are dying every day because they are old, and want to see schools and pagodas built.[9]
Despite the Court’s shortcomings, it has been relatively successful in promoting reconciliation. According to one of the survivors we interviewed, Norng Chanpal, there is a belief that the trial is providing a means for all those affected by the Khmer Rouge to come to terms with their past. In his interview, this Tuol Sleng survivor stated that, “the trials give the survivors spirit to live and they can start new lives.”[10] He said that he had been trying to avoid all journalists until he heard about Duch’s trial and then decided to speak to journalists because he wanted to provide information to ensure that Duch ends up in jail.
The trials are also addressing the idea of criminal accountability. When I asked Noung Chounpal who he felt was responsible for the loss of his family members he stated that he believes that those who were considered to be the top leadership, like Pol Pot, should be brought to justice. Many of those interviewed shared this belief and, in fact, few people felt the need to try anyone besides the five senior leaders who are scheduled for trial. During an interview, former Khmer Rouge soldier Sok Phat stated that he “agrees 100 percent that the top five who are being tried are enough for justice.[11]” He said it is important to try those at the top; low-level perpetrators, who were often coerced into performing criminal acts, are useful for providing information to bring top officials to justice. On the other hand, survivor Ang expressed a desire to try more perpetrators. She said that she disagrees that an expansion of the trial would destabilize Cambodia and argued that the top leaders’ accomplices should be tried. She added that no one in her village should be tried, noting that she would have dealt with anyone within her own village after [the liberation] if they were responsible.[12] In all, it seems that there are varying opinions on who is responsible, and while most will find peace with the trial of the top officials, others yearn to see low-level perpetrators brought to justice.
While retributive justice may be limited to the criminal prosecution of a handful of top Khmer Rouge officials, it is still an important step towards ensuring accountability through the rule of law. It may be difficult, though, to identify those who are criminally responsible for the actions taken between 1975-79. Due to the overwhelming culture of fear that encompassed every aspect of life under the Khmer Rouge, it is difficult to distinguish perpetrator from victim. In his memoir Survival in the Killing Fields, Hang Ngor describes the pervasive apprehension and terror that was everyday life under the Khmer Rouge; “The Khmer Rouge’s greatest strength was propaganda. They knew that a small lie can be caught and that a big lie is easier to get away with. Their system was so different from anything we had known before, and so complete, that we gave in without really knowing how to resist. Even if we had been allowed to speak out publicly, which we weren’t- and if we did, they tied us up and marched us away- there was something inadequate about trying to counter their words with arguments of our own. It just didn’t help.”[13]
The system of identifying enemies during this time also lent to the culture of fear. According to official Khmer Rouge document D01791, an “Enemy” is anyone who is non-revolution and against the revolution.”[14] This broad definition for identifying potential enemies of the state points to the idea that anyone, regardless of whether they were a “new” person or a Khmer Rouge cadre, could be deemed an “enemy”. Therefore, while retributive justice must take its course, pursuits of restorative justice should be the main focus due to the effects that the genocide had on all of Cambodian society.
Memorialization efforts have been hugely successful in Cambodia to date. Visits to Cheung Ek and the former S-21 prison at Tuol Sleng allowed me to examine the efforts put forth to preserve the mass graves that claimed thousands of lives and the actual rooms in which the torture of victims took place. There were museums at each location with information about the Khmer Rouge regime and the horrific effects of the massive labor, famine and execution that was imposed upon Cambodia . Non-governmental organizations such as the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) have been extremely active in documenting and uncovering the truth about what took place during the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) era, as well as educating the public and youth about the past in order to prevent its recurrence in the future.
There has been a huge focus on genocide education in Cambodia recently, and hopefully this trend will continue and allow the next generation of Cambodians to learn from the past and look towards a brighter future. A program that I found especially inspiring was called “Breaking the Silence,” which is a play written by DC-Cam staff members and performed in villages. Its purpose is to encourage people to talk about their experiences during the Khmer Rouge regime and facilitate the sharing of stories within families and villages to assist in the reconciliation process. I found this performance very effective in promoting reconciliation and healing in Cambodia , as those in the audience seemed to have few other opportunities to share recollections of their painful past.
It is my belief that Cambodia will continue to move in the right direction towards a more prosperous future. While there are many aspects that hold back Cambodia developmentally, I have seen that the people of the country seem happy to just be living in a relatively peaceful country. They are content to be living in a home with their family, tending to their animals and rice fields, conversing with neighbors, and showing affection to the ones they love. The simple things in life hold so much meaning because many in Cambodia know what it is like to be stripped of the things that others take for granted.
After half a decade of genocide and two more decades of war, Cambodia is finally at peace and ready to remain there. The foundations of Cambodian society were shaken to the core and almost completely eliminated by the ruthless social experiment of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge leadership. After such a drastic reversal of all aspects of modern life from 1975-1979, it is only natural that it has taken time for the infrastructure of the country to build up once again and for the Cambodian people to overcome the wounds of the past. I believe that Norng Chanpal expressed the sentiments of many fellow Cambodians when he stated that time is the only real answer to achieving reconciliation. In a moment of touching candor, he said quietly that the memories of the Khmer cadre beating and kicking his mother will be hard to forget.[15] Memories cannot be erased and they need to be preserved in order to record and document what happened during the DK era. Although the past carries with it horrific scenes of death, fear and desperation, the new generation has begun to heal these wounds through processes of education and a constant search for the truth. It is my deep hope that both truth and lasting peace will come to Cambodia.
VICTIM FAMILIES REFUSE TO FORGIVE DUCH
August 20, 2009
By Michael Saliba, J.D. (Northwestern Law ’09), Consultant to the Center for
International Human Rights, Northwestern University School of Law
The first civil party to testify this morning in the trial of Kaing Guek Eav
(alias Duch) was Chum Sirath. He lost two of his brothers, his
sister-in-law, and her unborn child during the period of Democratic
Kampuchea. He was in Europe on April 17, 1975, when Phnom Penh fell to the
Khmer Rouge. He decided not to return home for fear of being arrested by the
Khmer Rouge as an enemy of the regime. Instead he moved to France and was
granted French citizenship.
The rest of his family was not so lucky. His family was very poor but they
were a very happy family. His parents wanted to educate their children so
that their children could lead a better life. Chum Sirath had been awarded a
scholarship to study in France from 1960 until 1968. His younger brother,
also a bright student, was awarded a similar scholarship during that time,
but he decided not to travel to France so that he could take care of his
family. As a primary school teacher, he was the breadwinner of the family.
On October 29, 1976, Chum Sirath’s two brothers and sister-in-law were
arrested and sent to Tuol Sleng prison (S-21) for allegedly opposing the
system of collectivization. His brothers were 28 and 33 years old, and like
virtually every other prisoner at S-21, they never made it out alive. Chum
Sirath visited S-21 upon his first return to Cambodia in October 1993 and
found a record that one of his brothers had been executed on the first of
January, 1977. The name of his other brother also appeared in the detention
records of S-21 but no date of entry or death was ever recorded.
Chum Sirath has lived with sorrow and pain for over 30 years. This pain
seemed to manifest itself in the courtroom today as his testimony
transitioned into an emotional condemnation of the accused. He stared
directly at Duch, pointed toward him, and spoke forcefully. He accused Duch
of pure theatrics. He stated that he did not believe Duch to be truly
remorseful. He criticized Duch’s conversion to Christianity as nothing more
than an attempt to have his sins absolved, which he could not accomplish as
a Buddhist. He emphatically stated that on behalf of his brother,
sister-in-law, and her unborn daughter, he would never accept Duch’s
disingenuous apology.
The defense counsel interrupted Chum Sirath twice and asked the court to
preserve the serenity and dignity of the hearing by reminding him to speak
about only facts related to his particular case. The President acknowledged
Chum Sirath’s suffering but asked him to refocus his testimony on the
relevant facts. The main purpose of the tribunal, he explained, was to find
justice and not to affront anybody, including the accused.
When given a chance to respond, Duch reiterated his sympathy and remorse. He
explained that he knew Chum Sirath’s brothers and considered them friends.
However, he consciously avoided them because he could not stand to face the
former friends and colleagues he had betrayed.
Live Testimony from France via Video Conference
The trial chamber began the afternoon session by receiving the testimony of
civil party Ou Savrith. He testified live by video conference from France.
(While in-person testimony is favored, the Internal Rules at the ECCC permit
testimony by video conference so long as the witness can be interviewed live
by the judges and testimony in this manner would not be seriously
prejudicial to, or inconsistent with defense rights.)
Just like Chum Sirath, who testified in the morning session, Ou Savrith lost
a brother at S-21. Ou Savrith also escaped the brutality of the Khmer Rouge
regime because he was living abroad during the period of Democratic
Kampuchea. He explained that his brother was a very gifted student and was
on track for a brilliant career. He was married and left three children
behind. Ou Savrith described his brother as affectionate and attentive. In
fact, his eldest brother was his ultimate role model.
Ou Savrith explained that he has missed his brother at all stages of his
life. He has spent roughly 10,950 days and nights (30 years) thinking about
what happened inside the walls of S-21. He would wake up in the middle of
the night sobbing uncontrollably. The rest of his family suffered in the
similar ways. He read aloud a letter from his niece explaining the
difficulties she has experienced growing up without a father.
Ou Savrith explained that he was only seeking moral redress. He wanted
simply to know what happened during his brother’s detention, during his 97
days of suffering. He remarked that the handwriting in his brother’s
confession was strong and harmonious. He did not believe that such writing
could have been made under torture. In what must have been a very difficult
moment for Ou Savrith, Duch stated that he could not confirm Ou Savrith’s
conclusion. He explained that torture methods were often employed by
interrogators and Ou Savrith’s brother could certainly have been subjected
to such practices.
Asked whether he was ready to forgive the accused, Ou Savrith responded that
the answer was clear – on behalf of his entire family there would be no
forgiveness. All that they were left with was despair. Now, all that they
seek is justice.
Abrupt Conclusion to Day’s Proceedings
The trial chamber then recalled civil party Chum Neou to the stand. She had
been introduced at the very end of the morning session but had not been
given a chance to begin her substantive testimony. She explained that in
1971 she voluntarily joined the revolution. In the years that followed she
served as a chairwoman of her village, a combatant in the armed forces, and
finally as a guard to an ammunition warehouse in Phnom Penh.
She worked in these various roles until August 9, 1977. On that date, her
husband was arrested, loaded onto a truck, and taken to S-21. Three days
later, she was arrested and sent to a different detention camp. She was
detained there for five months during which time she gave birth to a baby
boy. Despite her pregnancy she was still put to work cutting firewood and
fetching water. After the five month period she was transferred to the Prey
Sar reeducation camp (S-24), where her baby eventually died of illness.
The audio on the headsets abruptly stopped working as she began to describe
her detainment at S-24. The technical personnel of the court could be seen
running around the chamber in an attempt to correct this problem. It was
very late in the afternoon and the large audience in the public viewing room
became visibly restless. After about 15 minutes, the judges stood up and
adjourned the session but no one outside the courtroom could hear what had
been said. Unfortunately, Chum Neou’s testimony was cut short for the second
time and she will have to resume when the court reconvenes.
By Michael Saliba, J.D. (Northwestern Law ’09), Consultant to the Center for
International Human Rights, Northwestern University School of Law
The first civil party to testify this morning in the trial of Kaing Guek Eav
(alias Duch) was Chum Sirath. He lost two of his brothers, his
sister-in-law, and her unborn child during the period of Democratic
Kampuchea. He was in Europe on April 17, 1975, when Phnom Penh fell to the
Khmer Rouge. He decided not to return home for fear of being arrested by the
Khmer Rouge as an enemy of the regime. Instead he moved to France and was
granted French citizenship.
The rest of his family was not so lucky. His family was very poor but they
were a very happy family. His parents wanted to educate their children so
that their children could lead a better life. Chum Sirath had been awarded a
scholarship to study in France from 1960 until 1968. His younger brother,
also a bright student, was awarded a similar scholarship during that time,
but he decided not to travel to France so that he could take care of his
family. As a primary school teacher, he was the breadwinner of the family.
On October 29, 1976, Chum Sirath’s two brothers and sister-in-law were
arrested and sent to Tuol Sleng prison (S-21) for allegedly opposing the
system of collectivization. His brothers were 28 and 33 years old, and like
virtually every other prisoner at S-21, they never made it out alive. Chum
Sirath visited S-21 upon his first return to Cambodia in October 1993 and
found a record that one of his brothers had been executed on the first of
January, 1977. The name of his other brother also appeared in the detention
records of S-21 but no date of entry or death was ever recorded.
Chum Sirath has lived with sorrow and pain for over 30 years. This pain
seemed to manifest itself in the courtroom today as his testimony
transitioned into an emotional condemnation of the accused. He stared
directly at Duch, pointed toward him, and spoke forcefully. He accused Duch
of pure theatrics. He stated that he did not believe Duch to be truly
remorseful. He criticized Duch’s conversion to Christianity as nothing more
than an attempt to have his sins absolved, which he could not accomplish as
a Buddhist. He emphatically stated that on behalf of his brother,
sister-in-law, and her unborn daughter, he would never accept Duch’s
disingenuous apology.
The defense counsel interrupted Chum Sirath twice and asked the court to
preserve the serenity and dignity of the hearing by reminding him to speak
about only facts related to his particular case. The President acknowledged
Chum Sirath’s suffering but asked him to refocus his testimony on the
relevant facts. The main purpose of the tribunal, he explained, was to find
justice and not to affront anybody, including the accused.
When given a chance to respond, Duch reiterated his sympathy and remorse. He
explained that he knew Chum Sirath’s brothers and considered them friends.
However, he consciously avoided them because he could not stand to face the
former friends and colleagues he had betrayed.
Live Testimony from France via Video Conference
The trial chamber began the afternoon session by receiving the testimony of
civil party Ou Savrith. He testified live by video conference from France.
(While in-person testimony is favored, the Internal Rules at the ECCC permit
testimony by video conference so long as the witness can be interviewed live
by the judges and testimony in this manner would not be seriously
prejudicial to, or inconsistent with defense rights.)
Just like Chum Sirath, who testified in the morning session, Ou Savrith lost
a brother at S-21. Ou Savrith also escaped the brutality of the Khmer Rouge
regime because he was living abroad during the period of Democratic
Kampuchea. He explained that his brother was a very gifted student and was
on track for a brilliant career. He was married and left three children
behind. Ou Savrith described his brother as affectionate and attentive. In
fact, his eldest brother was his ultimate role model.
Ou Savrith explained that he has missed his brother at all stages of his
life. He has spent roughly 10,950 days and nights (30 years) thinking about
what happened inside the walls of S-21. He would wake up in the middle of
the night sobbing uncontrollably. The rest of his family suffered in the
similar ways. He read aloud a letter from his niece explaining the
difficulties she has experienced growing up without a father.
Ou Savrith explained that he was only seeking moral redress. He wanted
simply to know what happened during his brother’s detention, during his 97
days of suffering. He remarked that the handwriting in his brother’s
confession was strong and harmonious. He did not believe that such writing
could have been made under torture. In what must have been a very difficult
moment for Ou Savrith, Duch stated that he could not confirm Ou Savrith’s
conclusion. He explained that torture methods were often employed by
interrogators and Ou Savrith’s brother could certainly have been subjected
to such practices.
Asked whether he was ready to forgive the accused, Ou Savrith responded that
the answer was clear – on behalf of his entire family there would be no
forgiveness. All that they were left with was despair. Now, all that they
seek is justice.
Abrupt Conclusion to Day’s Proceedings
The trial chamber then recalled civil party Chum Neou to the stand. She had
been introduced at the very end of the morning session but had not been
given a chance to begin her substantive testimony. She explained that in
1971 she voluntarily joined the revolution. In the years that followed she
served as a chairwoman of her village, a combatant in the armed forces, and
finally as a guard to an ammunition warehouse in Phnom Penh.
She worked in these various roles until August 9, 1977. On that date, her
husband was arrested, loaded onto a truck, and taken to S-21. Three days
later, she was arrested and sent to a different detention camp. She was
detained there for five months during which time she gave birth to a baby
boy. Despite her pregnancy she was still put to work cutting firewood and
fetching water. After the five month period she was transferred to the Prey
Sar reeducation camp (S-24), where her baby eventually died of illness.
The audio on the headsets abruptly stopped working as she began to describe
her detainment at S-24. The technical personnel of the court could be seen
running around the chamber in an attempt to correct this problem. It was
very late in the afternoon and the large audience in the public viewing room
became visibly restless. After about 15 minutes, the judges stood up and
adjourned the session but no one outside the courtroom could hear what had
been said. Unfortunately, Chum Neou’s testimony was cut short for the second
time and she will have to resume when the court reconvenes.
Women in Cambodia : Looking at the Status of Cambodian Females through HDR Statistics
Megan McAdams
The Kingdom of Cambodia displays the incredible achievements but also the hateful atrocities of which humankind is capable. On the one hand, the country showcases the magnificent architectural marvel, Angkor Wat, one of the ancient wonders of the world. However, Cambodia also became the site of horrific crimes against humanity under the Maoist Khmer Rouge regime. Just as the country itself showcases conflicting images, expectations surrounding Cambodian women are similarly bifurcated. While Khmer (the term used to describe Cambodian citizens) girls are taught to be shy, obedient, and acquiescent, they are also expected to be strong, competent, and expressive (Hill and Ly 2004). To situate the discussion to follow historically, this paper presents a description of Cambodia ’s recent past. After giving this background, I analyze statistics from the United Nations’ Human Development Report to investigate the experience of women in Cambodia .
The Kingdom of Cambodia
The Kingdom of Cambodia is located in Southeast Asia and home to about 14 million people. Cambodia gained independence and became a constitutional monarchy in 1953 under Prince Norodom Sihanouk (Duggan 1997). In 1970, Prime Minister General Lon Nol took advantage of Sihanouk’s absence to stage a military coup. Following this political move, the country plunged into civil war for the next five years (Duggan 1997). The Khmer Rouge, a Maoist regime, took control of the country in 1975. This group of rural rebels, led by the tyrannical Pol Pot, forced urban dwellers to leave their homes behind for the countryside in an attempt to purge Cambodia of its corrupting Western ways (Hill and Ly 2004). Khmer Rouge soldiers rolled through the country killing or imprisoning anyone with an education who might threaten their regime. The Khmer Rouge directly, or indirectly through starvation and unsanitary conditions, caused the deaths of about 2 million men, women, and children (DCCam). The Documentation Center of Cambodia provides a wealth of information on the genocide including: a history of the Khmer Rouge, updates on the legal proceedings, genocide education, and survivor stories (www.dccam.org).
The Khmer Rouge’s violent regime finally came to an end in 1979 after a successful campaign led by the Vietnamese-backed socialist government (Hill and Ly 2004). This victory, however, failed to bring stability to the region as the country plunged, yet again, into civil war. Scholarship regarding Cambodia tends to focus on the genocide rather than more recent events (Duggan 1997; Ayres 2000). In 1991, through the Paris Peace Accords, the United Nations gave the first documented recognition of Cambodia in the international sphere (Hilly and Ly 2004). With the support of the UN, Cambodia held its first national elections between the Cambodia People’s Party and FUNCINPEC, supporters of the royal family, in 1993. Following the United Nations’ recognition of the country, development assistance and the presence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has increased significantly (Hill and Ly 2004). Currently, these organizations are working to address the many years of instability and past injustices and give Cambodians a brighter future.
Cambodia and Development
Given this brief introduction to Cambodia ’s recent past, this paper uses available statistics from the United Nation’s Human Development Report (HDR). To understand these statistics, I present information about Cambodia ’s neighboring Southeast Asian countries: Thailand , Burma (officially known as Myanmar ), and the Lao People’s Republic (commonly known as Laos ). First, this paper looks at these countries’ demographics in terms of development indicators. After presenting this general information, I examine the status of women in Cambodia in comparison to these other nations on a variety of economic, social, political, and educational indicators. (For more information regarding the calculation of these indicators and others please see the UN’s HDR website at http://hdr.undp.org.)
Examining Cambodia ’s level of development in terms of its Human Development Index (HDI), percentage of population living below $2 a day, population under 15 years of age, electrification rate, life expectancy, and refugees fleeing the country paints a dire picture. A complete summary of these statistics is presented in Table 1. First, the HDI measures “three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living” (HDR). Cambodia ’s HDI of 0.6 places this country within the UN’s loose definition of a “medium developed” nation. Neighboring Thailand falls into the same category despite a significantly higher HDI of 0.78. Burma (HDI = 0.58) ranks slightly below Cambodia while Laos (HDI = 0.6) falls slightly above. Globally, Cambodia ranks in the bottom quarter of the UN’s recognized nations (HDI ranking = 131).
Other statistics further illuminate the level of development within Southeast Asia and the Kingdom of Cambodia . More than three quarters of Khmer people lives on less than $2 a day. In contrast, only one quarter of Thailand ’s population clings to survival in this way. Of these countries, Cambodia is home to the youngest population with two of every five Khmer citizens under the age of 15. In both Burma and Thailand , the population is much older with only one in every five Thai or Burmese citizens being children. The youth of the Cambodian population puts a lot of strain on family relationships and could also account for the large number of children on the streets of the capital city of Phnom Penh and the growing sex trade involving minors (Hill and Ly 2004).
The access of a country’s citizens to electricity also demonstrates a nation’s level of development. Compared to Thailand where nearly all Thai citizens have access to electrical power, only 20 percent of Cambodians have electricity. With almost 19.7 percent of the population residing in urban areas, this statistic indicates that the countryside has very limited access to electricity. Nearby, Burma has a strikingly lower electrification rate of only about 11 percent. This darkness in the rural areas could preclude important activities like schoolwork for children and also enable more harmful acts to be carried out against women in the shadows.
A country’s life expectancy points to the nation’s level of development in terms of healthcare. Cambodians born today have a life expectancy of only 58 years compared to Thai citizens expectancy of 69 years. Burma and Laos both have higher life expectancies than Cambodia which indicates the need for an improved healthcare system in the country.
The number of individuals seeking asylum for political, social, or economic reasons points to instability within a country. Due to the recent situation in Burma this country has the highest number, about 203,000, of people fleeing the country. Laos has the second highest incidence of asylum seekers with about 26,000 refugees. Cambodia , however, still has about 18,000 people fleeing the situation, most likely bound for neighboring Thailand or the United States . Adding further to Cambodia ’s refugee situation is the country’s history of genocide. After the Khmer Rouge’s devastation, countries like Thailand , the United States , and Canada opened their border to take in survivors of the genocide. As a result, Cambodians leaving the country may also be trying to reconnect with family who previously emigrated. Largely as a result of the country’s less fortunate neighbors, Thailand accepted about 133,000 refugees in 2004. In comparison, the United States became the new home of 844,000 individuals seeking asylum. This general analysis of some of Cambodia ’s demographics thus completed, I focus on the status of Cambodia women.
Cambodian Women
I examine HDR indicators to illustrate the status of Cambodian women, including: the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) and economic, social, educational, political and material resources. According to the HDR website, the GEM “is a composite indicator that captures gender inequality in three key areas: the extent of women's political participation and decision-making, economic participation and decision making-power and the power exerted by women over economic resources” (HDR). Cambodia has a lower value (GEM = 0.38) than neighboring Thailand (GEM = .47). These GEM values are significantly lower than that of the United States (GEM = 0.76). To better capture the experience of Cambodian women, more indicators are taken into account and compared to neighboring countries.
In the employment sector, Cambodian women appear to be important participants in economic activity and earn a reasonable salary in comparison to men. Table 2 shows that women’s economic activity is nearly 93 percent of men’s participation. This high rate could be due to the driving force of poverty. Since such a high percentage of the population lives below $2 a day, all able-bodied women would be put to work to keep their family alive. Furthermore, much of this work is occurring in the agricultural sector. In neighboring Thailand , only 81 percent of the female population is working in comparison with the male employment. This finding points to the lack of economic necessity in the country and also the shift away from agricultural work towards more of a service industry. The United States has a comparable female economic activity rate to that of Thailand further illustrating the effect of a decreased economic need on a subsequent decrease in women’s work. Compared to both Thai and American women, Cambodian females make almost three quarters of what men earn in the country. In Thailand and the U.S. , women’s income makes up a smaller share of the overall household earning.
Socially, a woman’s use of contraceptives points to the ability of these individuals to control when to have children and how large her family will be. This indicator thus provides an indication of both the amount of knowledge regarding sexual behavior, the influence of Western family planning practices, and the degree to which women have control over their bodies (Kulig 1988). Only about one quarter of married Cambodian women of childbearing years use contraception. Both Burma and Laos report comparable percentages. This statistic points to a combination of the lack of knowledge regarding sexual behavior, the lack of awareness of Western family planning practices, and Cambodian women’s reliance on traditional methods to prevent conception (Kulig 1988). Furthermore, this data demonstrates the lack of control women in Cambodia have other their own bodies. Women who become pregnant often must give up any hope of pursuing higher education or gaining employment outside the household sphere. In comparison, the vast majority of Thai women, about 80 percent, use condoms. This high level of contraceptive use also points to the impact of the sex industry and the response to the threat of HIV in Thailand .
Both Thailand and Cambodia have become attractive not only for natural wonders but also the growing sex tourism industry (Biemann 2002). The unsafe conditions in the brothels and on the streets have led to an HIV/AIDS epidemic that spread from heterosexual men, to their wives at home, and finally their unborn, innocent children (Ayres 2000). As a result, NGOs in Thailand have worked to educate prostitutes and the rest of the population about safe sex and family planning strategies. While these initiatives have been successful among Thai women, more work must be done to educate Khmer women and their partners about condoms and other forms of contraceptives.
Education is fundamental to the empowerment of women in developing nations. The adult literacy ratio is one way to compare women’s education to that of them men in each country. A lower score indicates women are much less likely to be literate than male citizens. Cambodia ’s adult literacy ratio of 0.76 demonstrates that men have the most access to education of the countries surveyed. As following statistics support, Cambodian women do not have as many opportunities to pursue an education.
This trend is further supported by looking at female enrolment at the secondary and tertiary levels of education. Of its neighboring countries, Cambodia has the least number of women pursuing a high school or college education. Only one quarter of Cambodian high school students are women. Compared to other countries, 40 percent of women in Laos and Burma have the opportunity to attend high school. Thailand , of the countries surveyed, has the highest rate of female students. Nearly three quarters of Thai girls pursue a high school degree. In all the countries with available data, women represent a far smaller proportion of college and university students. That being said, nearly one half of Thai women are pursuing a college degree. In Cambodia , only 2 percent of the female population has access to higher education. From the stance of an American citizen, one who often takes her education for granted, this statistic is staggering.
This paper now focuses on Cambodia ’s material resources, in the population’s access to water, and women’s political voice within the country. Historically, women’s roles as subsistence farmers and mothers tie them intricately to the land (Fedirici 2004). Scholarly work also suggests that women, in particular, are more affected by the location of a water source and the quality of that water because they are in charge of providing safe water to their families and caring for their children during sickness (e.g. Fuentes et al. 2006a; Fuentes et al. 2006b; Schneiderman and Reddock 2004). Therefore, the more access a woman has to an improved water source, the more freedom she has to attend school and pursue employment. Of the Southeast Asian countries in this study, Cambodia has the lowest access to safe water, compared to neighboring Thai citizens who all have such access. As a result, when a polluted water pump sickens children, women must give up their opportunities elsewhere to nurse them back to health. Therefore, this finding could, in part, explain the lack of women able to pursue higher education.
Calls for women’s rights are most effective coming from within the government. However, in Cambodia , as in many developing nations, women have a very limited political voice. Hill and Ly (2004) note that the Cambodian constitution outlines certain guidelines for women’s rights. However, political leaders have proven inactive on issues of domestic violence, rape, and the sex tourism industry (Hill and Ly 2004). With 93 percent of Cambodia ’s government being male, women lack the political voice within the government to change their situation effectively. In the United States , a country valuing equality above all else, only 14 percent of government officials are female. NGOs in Cambodia focused on women’s rights are working to find a political voice but they are meeting resistance from the present male-dominated regime (Hill and Ly 2004).
Khmer Women and Development
Cambodia’s status as a “medium developed” country creates a dire situation for women. For the global capitalist machine to be successful, it must locate the cheapest labor force possible. Companies draw on the fact that women and children in developing nations work for the least amount of money. As a result of this trend, Cambodia , a country where people fight to survive on less that $2 a day, has become a prime location for these transnational companies (Duggan 1997). Blumberg (1995) focuses on the “gendered nature of economic transformation” in developing countries (1). She argues that “women’s control of economic resources, especially income, relative to men is the single most important” indicator of gender equality (3). The key issue for Blumberg is that women, rather than their husbands, must be in control of their economic capital. She continues to say that this type of control then increases women’s self-confidence, their input in household decisions, and also their control over “life options” like divorce and marriage (1995: 5). Therefore, while Cambodian women do make a large part of the family income, this finding does not necessarily translate to increased autonomy for these women.
Cambodian women, unwittingly or explicitly, have become part of the “patriarchal bargain” (Blumberg 1995, 47). Blumberg (1995) uses this term to describe how women choose subordination over freedom so that the men will protect and care for them. For example, Cambodian women often defer to men regarding economic and family planning issues (Kulig 1988). Furthermore, the assumption that men must be the primary providers of income underlies this patriarchal bargain. In Cambodia , as in other developing countries, families without a male present are often the poorest households (Chow and Berheide 1994). This deference to male authority and lack of household income also has implications in the growing sex trade industry in the country (Biemann 2002).
While the sex trade’s presence in Cambodia is almost taken for granted, levels of prostitution and human trafficking are on the rise (Hill and Ly 2004). This industry’s prevalence comes from the driving force of poverty. Fathers, forced by dire economic necessity, give their daughters away in return for false assurances of their safety (Hill and Ly 2004). This industry’s impact is being felt not only by these girls’ parents but also the men, women, and children finding out they are HIV positive. Hill and Ly (2004) write that there are almost 20 new HIV infections per day in Cambodia . With nearly 97 percent of these infections through heterosexual intercourse, more women and unborn children are becoming exposed to the epidemic (Hill and Ly 2004). Without sufficient anti-retrovirals, parents pass away, leaving young children behind. The HIV/AIDS epidemic could be one factor in the large proportion of Cambodia ’s population under 15 years of age. Work must be done to provide these women with information regarding the disease.
Furthermore, the sex tourism industry speaks to the larger situation in the country. Women’s commercialization of their bodies speaks to a lack of economic alternatives. This analysis has demonstrated that despite assurances from the United Nations, much work still must be done in Cambodia . In terms of Khmer women, their status in regards empowerment, economic, social, educational, material, and political factors indicates that development in Cambodia must include women.
TABLES
Table 1. HDR Indicators in the United States , Thailand , Cambodia , Laos , and Burma
Table 2. Gender Empowerment and Economic, Social, and Political Indicators in the United States , Thailand , Cambodia , Laos and Burma
Bibliography
Ayres, David M. "Tradition, Modernity, and the Development of Education in Cambodia ." Comparative Education Review 44(2000): 440-463.
Biemann, Ursula. "Remotely Sensed: A Topography of the Global Sex Trade." Feminist Review 70(2002): 75-88.
Blumberg, Rae Lesser. 1995. “Introduction: Engendering Wealth and Well-Being in an Era of Economic Transformation.” EnGENDERing Wealth & Well-Being: Empowerment for Global Change. pp. 1-14
Chow, Esther Ngan-ling, and Catherine White Berheide. Women, The Family, and Policy: A Global Perspective. 1st ed. Albany , NY : State University of New York Press, 1994.
Duggan, Stephen J. "The Role of International Organisations in the Financing of Higher Education in Cambodia ." Higher Education 34(1997): 1-22.
Fuentes, Ricardo and Pfutze, Tobias, Seck, Papa. 2006a. “Does Access to Water and Sanitation Affect Child Survival? A Five Country Analysis.” Human Development Report.
Fuentes, Ricardo and Pfutze, Tobias, Seck, Papa. 2006b “A Logistic Analysis of Diarrhea Incidence and Access to Water and Sanitation.” Human Development Report. 2-12.
Hill, Peter S., Heng Thay Ly. "Women are Silver, Women are Diamonds: Conflicting Images of Women in the Cambodian Print Media." Reproductive Health Matters 12(2004): 104-115.
Kulig, Judith C. "Conception and Birth Control Use: Cambodian Refugee Women's Beliefs and Practices." Journal of Community Health Nursing 5(1988): 235-246.
Schneiderman, Jill S. and Reddock, Rhoda. 2004 “Water, women, and community in Trinidad, West Indies .” National Resources Forum. pp. 179-188.
The Kingdom of Cambodia displays the incredible achievements but also the hateful atrocities of which humankind is capable. On the one hand, the country showcases the magnificent architectural marvel, Angkor Wat, one of the ancient wonders of the world. However, Cambodia also became the site of horrific crimes against humanity under the Maoist Khmer Rouge regime. Just as the country itself showcases conflicting images, expectations surrounding Cambodian women are similarly bifurcated. While Khmer (the term used to describe Cambodian citizens) girls are taught to be shy, obedient, and acquiescent, they are also expected to be strong, competent, and expressive (Hill and Ly 2004). To situate the discussion to follow historically, this paper presents a description of Cambodia ’s recent past. After giving this background, I analyze statistics from the United Nations’ Human Development Report to investigate the experience of women in Cambodia .
The Kingdom of Cambodia
The Kingdom of Cambodia is located in Southeast Asia and home to about 14 million people. Cambodia gained independence and became a constitutional monarchy in 1953 under Prince Norodom Sihanouk (Duggan 1997). In 1970, Prime Minister General Lon Nol took advantage of Sihanouk’s absence to stage a military coup. Following this political move, the country plunged into civil war for the next five years (Duggan 1997). The Khmer Rouge, a Maoist regime, took control of the country in 1975. This group of rural rebels, led by the tyrannical Pol Pot, forced urban dwellers to leave their homes behind for the countryside in an attempt to purge Cambodia of its corrupting Western ways (Hill and Ly 2004). Khmer Rouge soldiers rolled through the country killing or imprisoning anyone with an education who might threaten their regime. The Khmer Rouge directly, or indirectly through starvation and unsanitary conditions, caused the deaths of about 2 million men, women, and children (DCCam). The Documentation Center of Cambodia provides a wealth of information on the genocide including: a history of the Khmer Rouge, updates on the legal proceedings, genocide education, and survivor stories (www.dccam.org).
The Khmer Rouge’s violent regime finally came to an end in 1979 after a successful campaign led by the Vietnamese-backed socialist government (Hill and Ly 2004). This victory, however, failed to bring stability to the region as the country plunged, yet again, into civil war. Scholarship regarding Cambodia tends to focus on the genocide rather than more recent events (Duggan 1997; Ayres 2000). In 1991, through the Paris Peace Accords, the United Nations gave the first documented recognition of Cambodia in the international sphere (Hilly and Ly 2004). With the support of the UN, Cambodia held its first national elections between the Cambodia People’s Party and FUNCINPEC, supporters of the royal family, in 1993. Following the United Nations’ recognition of the country, development assistance and the presence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has increased significantly (Hill and Ly 2004). Currently, these organizations are working to address the many years of instability and past injustices and give Cambodians a brighter future.
Cambodia and Development
Given this brief introduction to Cambodia ’s recent past, this paper uses available statistics from the United Nation’s Human Development Report (HDR). To understand these statistics, I present information about Cambodia ’s neighboring Southeast Asian countries: Thailand , Burma (officially known as Myanmar ), and the Lao People’s Republic (commonly known as Laos ). First, this paper looks at these countries’ demographics in terms of development indicators. After presenting this general information, I examine the status of women in Cambodia in comparison to these other nations on a variety of economic, social, political, and educational indicators. (For more information regarding the calculation of these indicators and others please see the UN’s HDR website at http://hdr.undp.org.)
Examining Cambodia ’s level of development in terms of its Human Development Index (HDI), percentage of population living below $2 a day, population under 15 years of age, electrification rate, life expectancy, and refugees fleeing the country paints a dire picture. A complete summary of these statistics is presented in Table 1. First, the HDI measures “three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living” (HDR). Cambodia ’s HDI of 0.6 places this country within the UN’s loose definition of a “medium developed” nation. Neighboring Thailand falls into the same category despite a significantly higher HDI of 0.78. Burma (HDI = 0.58) ranks slightly below Cambodia while Laos (HDI = 0.6) falls slightly above. Globally, Cambodia ranks in the bottom quarter of the UN’s recognized nations (HDI ranking = 131).
Other statistics further illuminate the level of development within Southeast Asia and the Kingdom of Cambodia . More than three quarters of Khmer people lives on less than $2 a day. In contrast, only one quarter of Thailand ’s population clings to survival in this way. Of these countries, Cambodia is home to the youngest population with two of every five Khmer citizens under the age of 15. In both Burma and Thailand , the population is much older with only one in every five Thai or Burmese citizens being children. The youth of the Cambodian population puts a lot of strain on family relationships and could also account for the large number of children on the streets of the capital city of Phnom Penh and the growing sex trade involving minors (Hill and Ly 2004).
The access of a country’s citizens to electricity also demonstrates a nation’s level of development. Compared to Thailand where nearly all Thai citizens have access to electrical power, only 20 percent of Cambodians have electricity. With almost 19.7 percent of the population residing in urban areas, this statistic indicates that the countryside has very limited access to electricity. Nearby, Burma has a strikingly lower electrification rate of only about 11 percent. This darkness in the rural areas could preclude important activities like schoolwork for children and also enable more harmful acts to be carried out against women in the shadows.
A country’s life expectancy points to the nation’s level of development in terms of healthcare. Cambodians born today have a life expectancy of only 58 years compared to Thai citizens expectancy of 69 years. Burma and Laos both have higher life expectancies than Cambodia which indicates the need for an improved healthcare system in the country.
The number of individuals seeking asylum for political, social, or economic reasons points to instability within a country. Due to the recent situation in Burma this country has the highest number, about 203,000, of people fleeing the country. Laos has the second highest incidence of asylum seekers with about 26,000 refugees. Cambodia , however, still has about 18,000 people fleeing the situation, most likely bound for neighboring Thailand or the United States . Adding further to Cambodia ’s refugee situation is the country’s history of genocide. After the Khmer Rouge’s devastation, countries like Thailand , the United States , and Canada opened their border to take in survivors of the genocide. As a result, Cambodians leaving the country may also be trying to reconnect with family who previously emigrated. Largely as a result of the country’s less fortunate neighbors, Thailand accepted about 133,000 refugees in 2004. In comparison, the United States became the new home of 844,000 individuals seeking asylum. This general analysis of some of Cambodia ’s demographics thus completed, I focus on the status of Cambodia women.
Cambodian Women
I examine HDR indicators to illustrate the status of Cambodian women, including: the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) and economic, social, educational, political and material resources. According to the HDR website, the GEM “is a composite indicator that captures gender inequality in three key areas: the extent of women's political participation and decision-making, economic participation and decision making-power and the power exerted by women over economic resources” (HDR). Cambodia has a lower value (GEM = 0.38) than neighboring Thailand (GEM = .47). These GEM values are significantly lower than that of the United States (GEM = 0.76). To better capture the experience of Cambodian women, more indicators are taken into account and compared to neighboring countries.
In the employment sector, Cambodian women appear to be important participants in economic activity and earn a reasonable salary in comparison to men. Table 2 shows that women’s economic activity is nearly 93 percent of men’s participation. This high rate could be due to the driving force of poverty. Since such a high percentage of the population lives below $2 a day, all able-bodied women would be put to work to keep their family alive. Furthermore, much of this work is occurring in the agricultural sector. In neighboring Thailand , only 81 percent of the female population is working in comparison with the male employment. This finding points to the lack of economic necessity in the country and also the shift away from agricultural work towards more of a service industry. The United States has a comparable female economic activity rate to that of Thailand further illustrating the effect of a decreased economic need on a subsequent decrease in women’s work. Compared to both Thai and American women, Cambodian females make almost three quarters of what men earn in the country. In Thailand and the U.S. , women’s income makes up a smaller share of the overall household earning.
Socially, a woman’s use of contraceptives points to the ability of these individuals to control when to have children and how large her family will be. This indicator thus provides an indication of both the amount of knowledge regarding sexual behavior, the influence of Western family planning practices, and the degree to which women have control over their bodies (Kulig 1988). Only about one quarter of married Cambodian women of childbearing years use contraception. Both Burma and Laos report comparable percentages. This statistic points to a combination of the lack of knowledge regarding sexual behavior, the lack of awareness of Western family planning practices, and Cambodian women’s reliance on traditional methods to prevent conception (Kulig 1988). Furthermore, this data demonstrates the lack of control women in Cambodia have other their own bodies. Women who become pregnant often must give up any hope of pursuing higher education or gaining employment outside the household sphere. In comparison, the vast majority of Thai women, about 80 percent, use condoms. This high level of contraceptive use also points to the impact of the sex industry and the response to the threat of HIV in Thailand .
Both Thailand and Cambodia have become attractive not only for natural wonders but also the growing sex tourism industry (Biemann 2002). The unsafe conditions in the brothels and on the streets have led to an HIV/AIDS epidemic that spread from heterosexual men, to their wives at home, and finally their unborn, innocent children (Ayres 2000). As a result, NGOs in Thailand have worked to educate prostitutes and the rest of the population about safe sex and family planning strategies. While these initiatives have been successful among Thai women, more work must be done to educate Khmer women and their partners about condoms and other forms of contraceptives.
Education is fundamental to the empowerment of women in developing nations. The adult literacy ratio is one way to compare women’s education to that of them men in each country. A lower score indicates women are much less likely to be literate than male citizens. Cambodia ’s adult literacy ratio of 0.76 demonstrates that men have the most access to education of the countries surveyed. As following statistics support, Cambodian women do not have as many opportunities to pursue an education.
This trend is further supported by looking at female enrolment at the secondary and tertiary levels of education. Of its neighboring countries, Cambodia has the least number of women pursuing a high school or college education. Only one quarter of Cambodian high school students are women. Compared to other countries, 40 percent of women in Laos and Burma have the opportunity to attend high school. Thailand , of the countries surveyed, has the highest rate of female students. Nearly three quarters of Thai girls pursue a high school degree. In all the countries with available data, women represent a far smaller proportion of college and university students. That being said, nearly one half of Thai women are pursuing a college degree. In Cambodia , only 2 percent of the female population has access to higher education. From the stance of an American citizen, one who often takes her education for granted, this statistic is staggering.
This paper now focuses on Cambodia ’s material resources, in the population’s access to water, and women’s political voice within the country. Historically, women’s roles as subsistence farmers and mothers tie them intricately to the land (Fedirici 2004). Scholarly work also suggests that women, in particular, are more affected by the location of a water source and the quality of that water because they are in charge of providing safe water to their families and caring for their children during sickness (e.g. Fuentes et al. 2006a; Fuentes et al. 2006b; Schneiderman and Reddock 2004). Therefore, the more access a woman has to an improved water source, the more freedom she has to attend school and pursue employment. Of the Southeast Asian countries in this study, Cambodia has the lowest access to safe water, compared to neighboring Thai citizens who all have such access. As a result, when a polluted water pump sickens children, women must give up their opportunities elsewhere to nurse them back to health. Therefore, this finding could, in part, explain the lack of women able to pursue higher education.
Calls for women’s rights are most effective coming from within the government. However, in Cambodia , as in many developing nations, women have a very limited political voice. Hill and Ly (2004) note that the Cambodian constitution outlines certain guidelines for women’s rights. However, political leaders have proven inactive on issues of domestic violence, rape, and the sex tourism industry (Hill and Ly 2004). With 93 percent of Cambodia ’s government being male, women lack the political voice within the government to change their situation effectively. In the United States , a country valuing equality above all else, only 14 percent of government officials are female. NGOs in Cambodia focused on women’s rights are working to find a political voice but they are meeting resistance from the present male-dominated regime (Hill and Ly 2004).
Khmer Women and Development
Cambodia’s status as a “medium developed” country creates a dire situation for women. For the global capitalist machine to be successful, it must locate the cheapest labor force possible. Companies draw on the fact that women and children in developing nations work for the least amount of money. As a result of this trend, Cambodia , a country where people fight to survive on less that $2 a day, has become a prime location for these transnational companies (Duggan 1997). Blumberg (1995) focuses on the “gendered nature of economic transformation” in developing countries (1). She argues that “women’s control of economic resources, especially income, relative to men is the single most important” indicator of gender equality (3). The key issue for Blumberg is that women, rather than their husbands, must be in control of their economic capital. She continues to say that this type of control then increases women’s self-confidence, their input in household decisions, and also their control over “life options” like divorce and marriage (1995: 5). Therefore, while Cambodian women do make a large part of the family income, this finding does not necessarily translate to increased autonomy for these women.
Cambodian women, unwittingly or explicitly, have become part of the “patriarchal bargain” (Blumberg 1995, 47). Blumberg (1995) uses this term to describe how women choose subordination over freedom so that the men will protect and care for them. For example, Cambodian women often defer to men regarding economic and family planning issues (Kulig 1988). Furthermore, the assumption that men must be the primary providers of income underlies this patriarchal bargain. In Cambodia , as in other developing countries, families without a male present are often the poorest households (Chow and Berheide 1994). This deference to male authority and lack of household income also has implications in the growing sex trade industry in the country (Biemann 2002).
While the sex trade’s presence in Cambodia is almost taken for granted, levels of prostitution and human trafficking are on the rise (Hill and Ly 2004). This industry’s prevalence comes from the driving force of poverty. Fathers, forced by dire economic necessity, give their daughters away in return for false assurances of their safety (Hill and Ly 2004). This industry’s impact is being felt not only by these girls’ parents but also the men, women, and children finding out they are HIV positive. Hill and Ly (2004) write that there are almost 20 new HIV infections per day in Cambodia . With nearly 97 percent of these infections through heterosexual intercourse, more women and unborn children are becoming exposed to the epidemic (Hill and Ly 2004). Without sufficient anti-retrovirals, parents pass away, leaving young children behind. The HIV/AIDS epidemic could be one factor in the large proportion of Cambodia ’s population under 15 years of age. Work must be done to provide these women with information regarding the disease.
Furthermore, the sex tourism industry speaks to the larger situation in the country. Women’s commercialization of their bodies speaks to a lack of economic alternatives. This analysis has demonstrated that despite assurances from the United Nations, much work still must be done in Cambodia . In terms of Khmer women, their status in regards empowerment, economic, social, educational, material, and political factors indicates that development in Cambodia must include women.
TABLES
Table 1. HDR Indicators in the United States , Thailand , Cambodia , Laos , and Burma
Table 2. Gender Empowerment and Economic, Social, and Political Indicators in the United States , Thailand , Cambodia , Laos and Burma
Bibliography
Ayres, David M. "Tradition, Modernity, and the Development of Education in Cambodia ." Comparative Education Review 44(2000): 440-463.
Biemann, Ursula. "Remotely Sensed: A Topography of the Global Sex Trade." Feminist Review 70(2002): 75-88.
Blumberg, Rae Lesser. 1995. “Introduction: Engendering Wealth and Well-Being in an Era of Economic Transformation.” EnGENDERing Wealth & Well-Being: Empowerment for Global Change. pp. 1-14
Chow, Esther Ngan-ling, and Catherine White Berheide. Women, The Family, and Policy: A Global Perspective. 1st ed. Albany , NY : State University of New York Press, 1994.
Duggan, Stephen J. "The Role of International Organisations in the Financing of Higher Education in Cambodia ." Higher Education 34(1997): 1-22.
Fuentes, Ricardo and Pfutze, Tobias, Seck, Papa. 2006a. “Does Access to Water and Sanitation Affect Child Survival? A Five Country Analysis.” Human Development Report.
Fuentes, Ricardo and Pfutze, Tobias, Seck, Papa. 2006b “A Logistic Analysis of Diarrhea Incidence and Access to Water and Sanitation.” Human Development Report. 2-12.
Hill, Peter S., Heng Thay Ly. "Women are Silver, Women are Diamonds: Conflicting Images of Women in the Cambodian Print Media." Reproductive Health Matters 12(2004): 104-115.
Kulig, Judith C. "Conception and Birth Control Use: Cambodian Refugee Women's Beliefs and Practices." Journal of Community Health Nursing 5(1988): 235-246.
Schneiderman, Jill S. and Reddock, Rhoda. 2004 “Water, women, and community in Trinidad, West Indies .” National Resources Forum. pp. 179-188.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
FAMILIES STILL SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS
August 19, 2009
By Michael Saliba, J.D. (Northwestern Law ’09), Consultant to the Center for
International Human Rights, Northwestern University School of Law
The trial of Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch) resumed this morning with the
testimonies of Im Sunthy and her daughter, Phung Guth Sunthary. Im Sunthy
took the stand first, accompanied by her medical assistant. Appearing in the
courtroom to speak about her husband’s death was extremely difficult. In
fact, she had collapsed earlier this week when she saw the photo of an
unnamed prisoner at Tuol Sleng prison (S-21) lying in a pool of his own
blood. The picture conjured up memories of her husband, Phung Ton, and the
painful thought that he may have also been one of those victims similarly
struggling for his life. Accordingly, her lawyer informed the court that she
would only be making a brief statement regarding her pain and suffering, and
her daughter would represent the family by delivering a comprehensive
account surrounding the fate of Phung Ton and the suffering that the family
consequently endured.
Im Sunthy’s husband, Phung Ton, was a highly respected professor and former
university dean. In fact, his former students include Duch’s co-counsel as
well as the accused himself. On March 16, 1975, Phung Ton left his family to
attend several conferences in Europe. His family never saw him again. One
month after his departure, the Khmer Rouge took full control of Phnom Penh
and forcibly relocated all families, Im Sunthy’s included, to the
countryside where they were put to work in the fields. During this
evacuation, she was forced to destroy all of the photographs of her husband
that she had brought with her. Im Sunthy described this period as one of
extreme hardship; a period during which they were mistreated and suffered
from a lack of food. When the Khmer Rouge regime fell in 1979, she returned
to Phnom Penh with her family in hopes of being reunited with her husband
with whom she had lost contact. She learned later that shortly after his
return to Cambodia he had been sent to S-21, the prison where, she said, no
one survived.
The news completely shocked her. She fell into a state of utter distress and
tremendous grief. She even attempted to commit suicide to escape the extreme
sorrow. Now she can only live by consuming medication. She explained that
not a minute or a day goes by when she does not think of him, and the grief
only intensifies as time passes.
She explained that she had joined as a civil party not to seek vengeance and
revenge but rather to find justice for her husband and to pay homage to his
lost soul. She wanted to preserve the memory of her husband and sought to
uncover the truth relating to his death, many details of which still remain
hidden.
Phung Ton’s daughter, Phung Guth Sunthary, then took the stand and provided
an in-depth account relating to the disappearance and death of her father.
She described her father as a gentle and humble man who always made time for
his children despite his busy schedule. He was the kind of father who always
sent his kids gifts when he traveled abroad. He earned the respect of all
the people he met. He was open-minded, loved humankind, and carried himself
with a great deal of dignity.
Upon her family’s return to Phnom Penh after the fall of the Khmer Rouge
regime, she began searching for her father. She always believed that her
father would remain untouched because he had never hurt nor mistreated
anyone. Her family received conflicting reports about Phung Ton, none of
which indicated that he had been sent to S-21. They all held out hope, until
one fateful day she discovered the picture of her father in a local
newspaper. She and her mother were exchanging rice for palm sugar which was
given to them wrapped in a newspaper. She recalled that she had not been
able to read anything during the previous four years because of the policies
of the Khmer Rouge, so she removed the newspaper to see what was written.
What she discovered left her and her mother pale and speechless. Jumping
right off the page was a picture of her father with a placard hanging from
his neck – a photograph that was taken at S-21.
Phung Guth Sunthary and her mother then visited S-21 in search of the truth.
There, they found only a depressing place where the stench of blood and of
dying people lingered, many months after it had been abandoned. They were
shocked beyond belief. Her mother could not even move. They left with
despair and wept quietly all night.
She later found out more information from letters her father had sent to
friends, and documentation made available to her by the Documentation Center
of Cambodia (“DC-Cam”). Her father did not trust the Khmer Rouge regime but
felt compelled to return to his country to be with his family. According to
him, to do otherwise would be a crime. He returned to Cambodia on Christmas
day, 1975 where he was immediately detained and sent to several different
detention camps before his final transfer to S-21 in December 1976.
Documentation suggests that he was detained for at least seven months during
which, she testified, he was surely tortured, terrorized, and ultimately
“smashed.”
Phung Guth Sunthary explained that the loss of her father was a severe
psychological shock. She explained that her father was the person she always
turned to when she had a problem. She described nightmares where she would
see only her father’s body floating in the sky. The loss of her father
filled her heart with suffering – a wound which cannot be cured – and one
which only intensifies as she gets older.
She then put several questions to Duch in an attempt to fill in the details
surrounding her father’s death. She noted that she was there seeking the
truth, not revenge, and despite the fact that she consistently attended
trial proceedings, she has not received answers to her questions. (She is
one of the very few of the nearly 100 civil parties that has attended the
trial virtually every day.) She prefaced her questions by noting that her
father’s fate was in the hands of Duch, a meticulous and thorough man.
Therefore, he necessarily had the answers to her questions and if he did
provide them he should never be allowed to claim that he is remorseful.
Specifically she sought to ascertain who ordered the arrest and eventual
execution of her father. She also asked what kind of torture was
administered to a liberal, open-minded, and progressive man like her
father – a man who was the antithesis of everything the Khmer Rouge
represented.
Duch responded by noting that he had a deep respect for Phung Ton, who had
been his professor and had defended him when he was a student. Duch
maintained that he was never aware of Phung Ton’s presence at S-21. He
insisted that if he had known of Phung Ton’s presence he would have ensured
that Phung Ton received adequate food and accommodations, as Duch had done
with another former professor. (Despite this deep respect Duch noted that he
could never have spared Phung Ton’s life because official policy required
that every prisoner at S-21 be executed.) Duch recognized the fact that he
did not provide sufficient and satisfactory answers to the questions posed
to him by Phung Guth Sunthary and asserted that he would continue to try to
ascertain this information as best he could.
The day’s proceedings concluded with the testimony of the civil party Seang
Vandy. Before the revolution, he and his brothers worked as farmers. He
chose to join the army in 1972. The following year, his father, brothers,
and other men from his village were forced to join the army, at which point
they lost continuous contact with their families. After the fall of the
Khmer Rouge regime, the men began to return to the village. Seang Vandy
expected to see his two brothers return home. They never did.
He and his family worried because they had heard rumors about mass arrests
and executions but they held out hope. That hope began to fade when a friend
who served in the same military unit told Seang Vandy that his brother had
been detained, sent away, and never returned. He lost the little hope that
remained when he discovered a photograph of his brother taken at Tuol Sleng
prison in the DC-Cam magazine Searching for the Truth. His other brother’s
fate remains unknown as he never came home and no evidence of his
whereabouts has ever surfaced.
Seang Vandy was extremely shocked to learn that his brother had been
detained and executed at S-21. His parents also felt a sense of despair and
hopelessness. He described his difficult visit to S-21 where he saw the
remnants of the barbarity and cruelty of the Khmer Rouge regime. He could
not hold back his tears after reading his brother’s confession. He
experienced recurring nightmares where his brother would call out to him for
help. Despite his tragic loss, he attested that this trial was easing his
pain because it was helping achieve justice for the crimes perpetrated
against his brother.
By Michael Saliba, J.D. (Northwestern Law ’09), Consultant to the Center for
International Human Rights, Northwestern University School of Law
The trial of Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch) resumed this morning with the
testimonies of Im Sunthy and her daughter, Phung Guth Sunthary. Im Sunthy
took the stand first, accompanied by her medical assistant. Appearing in the
courtroom to speak about her husband’s death was extremely difficult. In
fact, she had collapsed earlier this week when she saw the photo of an
unnamed prisoner at Tuol Sleng prison (S-21) lying in a pool of his own
blood. The picture conjured up memories of her husband, Phung Ton, and the
painful thought that he may have also been one of those victims similarly
struggling for his life. Accordingly, her lawyer informed the court that she
would only be making a brief statement regarding her pain and suffering, and
her daughter would represent the family by delivering a comprehensive
account surrounding the fate of Phung Ton and the suffering that the family
consequently endured.
Im Sunthy’s husband, Phung Ton, was a highly respected professor and former
university dean. In fact, his former students include Duch’s co-counsel as
well as the accused himself. On March 16, 1975, Phung Ton left his family to
attend several conferences in Europe. His family never saw him again. One
month after his departure, the Khmer Rouge took full control of Phnom Penh
and forcibly relocated all families, Im Sunthy’s included, to the
countryside where they were put to work in the fields. During this
evacuation, she was forced to destroy all of the photographs of her husband
that she had brought with her. Im Sunthy described this period as one of
extreme hardship; a period during which they were mistreated and suffered
from a lack of food. When the Khmer Rouge regime fell in 1979, she returned
to Phnom Penh with her family in hopes of being reunited with her husband
with whom she had lost contact. She learned later that shortly after his
return to Cambodia he had been sent to S-21, the prison where, she said, no
one survived.
The news completely shocked her. She fell into a state of utter distress and
tremendous grief. She even attempted to commit suicide to escape the extreme
sorrow. Now she can only live by consuming medication. She explained that
not a minute or a day goes by when she does not think of him, and the grief
only intensifies as time passes.
She explained that she had joined as a civil party not to seek vengeance and
revenge but rather to find justice for her husband and to pay homage to his
lost soul. She wanted to preserve the memory of her husband and sought to
uncover the truth relating to his death, many details of which still remain
hidden.
Phung Ton’s daughter, Phung Guth Sunthary, then took the stand and provided
an in-depth account relating to the disappearance and death of her father.
She described her father as a gentle and humble man who always made time for
his children despite his busy schedule. He was the kind of father who always
sent his kids gifts when he traveled abroad. He earned the respect of all
the people he met. He was open-minded, loved humankind, and carried himself
with a great deal of dignity.
Upon her family’s return to Phnom Penh after the fall of the Khmer Rouge
regime, she began searching for her father. She always believed that her
father would remain untouched because he had never hurt nor mistreated
anyone. Her family received conflicting reports about Phung Ton, none of
which indicated that he had been sent to S-21. They all held out hope, until
one fateful day she discovered the picture of her father in a local
newspaper. She and her mother were exchanging rice for palm sugar which was
given to them wrapped in a newspaper. She recalled that she had not been
able to read anything during the previous four years because of the policies
of the Khmer Rouge, so she removed the newspaper to see what was written.
What she discovered left her and her mother pale and speechless. Jumping
right off the page was a picture of her father with a placard hanging from
his neck – a photograph that was taken at S-21.
Phung Guth Sunthary and her mother then visited S-21 in search of the truth.
There, they found only a depressing place where the stench of blood and of
dying people lingered, many months after it had been abandoned. They were
shocked beyond belief. Her mother could not even move. They left with
despair and wept quietly all night.
She later found out more information from letters her father had sent to
friends, and documentation made available to her by the Documentation Center
of Cambodia (“DC-Cam”). Her father did not trust the Khmer Rouge regime but
felt compelled to return to his country to be with his family. According to
him, to do otherwise would be a crime. He returned to Cambodia on Christmas
day, 1975 where he was immediately detained and sent to several different
detention camps before his final transfer to S-21 in December 1976.
Documentation suggests that he was detained for at least seven months during
which, she testified, he was surely tortured, terrorized, and ultimately
“smashed.”
Phung Guth Sunthary explained that the loss of her father was a severe
psychological shock. She explained that her father was the person she always
turned to when she had a problem. She described nightmares where she would
see only her father’s body floating in the sky. The loss of her father
filled her heart with suffering – a wound which cannot be cured – and one
which only intensifies as she gets older.
She then put several questions to Duch in an attempt to fill in the details
surrounding her father’s death. She noted that she was there seeking the
truth, not revenge, and despite the fact that she consistently attended
trial proceedings, she has not received answers to her questions. (She is
one of the very few of the nearly 100 civil parties that has attended the
trial virtually every day.) She prefaced her questions by noting that her
father’s fate was in the hands of Duch, a meticulous and thorough man.
Therefore, he necessarily had the answers to her questions and if he did
provide them he should never be allowed to claim that he is remorseful.
Specifically she sought to ascertain who ordered the arrest and eventual
execution of her father. She also asked what kind of torture was
administered to a liberal, open-minded, and progressive man like her
father – a man who was the antithesis of everything the Khmer Rouge
represented.
Duch responded by noting that he had a deep respect for Phung Ton, who had
been his professor and had defended him when he was a student. Duch
maintained that he was never aware of Phung Ton’s presence at S-21. He
insisted that if he had known of Phung Ton’s presence he would have ensured
that Phung Ton received adequate food and accommodations, as Duch had done
with another former professor. (Despite this deep respect Duch noted that he
could never have spared Phung Ton’s life because official policy required
that every prisoner at S-21 be executed.) Duch recognized the fact that he
did not provide sufficient and satisfactory answers to the questions posed
to him by Phung Guth Sunthary and asserted that he would continue to try to
ascertain this information as best he could.
The day’s proceedings concluded with the testimony of the civil party Seang
Vandy. Before the revolution, he and his brothers worked as farmers. He
chose to join the army in 1972. The following year, his father, brothers,
and other men from his village were forced to join the army, at which point
they lost continuous contact with their families. After the fall of the
Khmer Rouge regime, the men began to return to the village. Seang Vandy
expected to see his two brothers return home. They never did.
He and his family worried because they had heard rumors about mass arrests
and executions but they held out hope. That hope began to fade when a friend
who served in the same military unit told Seang Vandy that his brother had
been detained, sent away, and never returned. He lost the little hope that
remained when he discovered a photograph of his brother taken at Tuol Sleng
prison in the DC-Cam magazine Searching for the Truth. His other brother’s
fate remains unknown as he never came home and no evidence of his
whereabouts has ever surfaced.
Seang Vandy was extremely shocked to learn that his brother had been
detained and executed at S-21. His parents also felt a sense of despair and
hopelessness. He described his difficult visit to S-21 where he saw the
remnants of the barbarity and cruelty of the Khmer Rouge regime. He could
not hold back his tears after reading his brother’s confession. He
experienced recurring nightmares where his brother would call out to him for
help. Despite his tragic loss, he attested that this trial was easing his
pain because it was helping achieve justice for the crimes perpetrated
against his brother.
The Path To Reconciliation In Cambodia
Anne Niroshika Vaz, University of Southern California
Thirty years ago Cambodia endured a nightmare lasting for 45 months. Orchestrated by the Khmer Rouge, during these dark and terrifying months, more than three million people lost their lives. Today, many approaches have been suggested for seeking justice and healing after the Khmer Rouge genocide. Personally, I believe there are several approaches the Cambodian government may use to achieve these goals, including criminal prosecutions, memoralizational programs, and reparation programs. Furthermore, in order for a country to recover and progress, its people must heal first. Therefore, in addition to these transitional methods, I believe the role of religion is important for individual healing, and will thereby promote greater reconciliation.
Retributive versus Restorative Justice
Transitional justice may be divided among two major schools of thought: retributive justice and restorative justice. Retributive justice focuses on criminal prosecution and punishment (1). In a traditional sense, the “eye for an eye” approach. In contrast, restorative justice seeks reconciliation through processes, such as victim empowerment programs that restores their dignity and promote healing (1).
An application of retributive justice to Cambodia would require line-drawing between the perpetrators and victims of the Khmer Rouge. However, everyone was affected by the dark years of the past and lost loved ones. It does not appear to be a clear distinction between the victims and the perpetrators, especially among lower level cadres. One statement by the Khmer Rouge defines the enemy as “everything which is non-revolution and against the revolution.” Thus, many Khmer cadres, fearing for their lives, would have felt they had no choice but to follow orders. Therefore, instead of attempting to distinguish perpetrators and victims, I believe justice and reconciliation is best achieved through a combination of retributive justice and restorative justice.
Restorative justice focuses on healing and reconciliation for the individual and community. In response to the traumas of genocide, institutions should be established in Cambodia to promote national unity. During the Khmer Regime, people were stripped of their identities and forced to ignore their respective cultures. Restorative justice will enable people to reconnect with their past while mending the wounds of the society. Restorative Justice programs allow victims to have their voices heard, their questions answered, and provide a space for those who would be viewed as perpetrators to “confront their humanity” (1). While it may be too much to ask from the victims to forgive the perpetrators, restorative justice provides the tools necessary to bridge the gap between the two groups; allowing for healing and movement towards national reconciliation (1).
Reconciliation
Amstuz introduces reconciliation as a process or condition (1). He states that that “as a process, reconciliation is viewed as a tool to heal broken relationships by replacing anger and enmity with empathy, tolerance and trust” Whereas reconciliation as a condition, “is conceived as a state of peaceful, harmonious relationships and as an environment where former enemies express mutual trust, demonstrate cooperation, and work out disagreements peacefully.” I believe Amstuz’s definition of reconciliation overlaps with restorative justice. According to Elizabeth Kiss, there are four elements of restorative justice: “the restoration of victims’ human dignity, accountability for offenses, restoring respect for human rights, and the promotion of reconciliation” (1). Consequently, both approaches promote understanding, and may lead Cambodia towards reconciliation.
Suggestions for Reconciliation
In addition, I believe that a combination of memoralizational efforts, criminal prosecutions and reparation programs Cambodia will be able to achieve reconciliation. I believe that this combination includes the elements of restorative justice that Elizabeth Kiss brings to our attention, and is the most applicable and appropriate for Cambodia .
Memoralizational efforts
Memoralizational efforts or programs are crucial to bring together a nation to confront its past. I believe that such programs have greater effect on an individual and societal level, rather than on a national level. Several such Cambodian-initiated programs are currently underway. I have faith that these programs will only increase with time due to the dedicated work of NGOs such as the Documentation Center of Cambodia. Sites like the Toul Sleng genocide museum, and Choeung Ek, the former Khmer Rouge killing field-turned memorial site, provide spaces where people can convene and mourn. By grieving together, they may be strengthened by realizing they are not alone, and that those who are lost are not forgotten. In an interview with Norng Chanpal, a Toul Sleng survivor, Chanpal stated how he would visit Toul Sleng after 1979 to try and remember his past. Chanpal is an example of how facing the past bravely is one of the initial steps in reconciliation and recovery.
Additionally, memorial sites give victims dignity and respect in their death. Today these physical spaces have become tourist destinations and thereby increase international awareness. While many survivors are attempting to move on with their lives, most of them do not want their loved ones to be forgotten. Norng Chanphal states that he “believed that it is very important to educate the youth of today about the past especially since this was an incident where Cambodians killed other Cambodians” (5).
Memoralizational programs are not limited physical sites. May 20th is honored as the “Day of Hatred” in memory of those who were killed by the Khmer Rouge. This year, approximately 2000 people gathered at a Choeung Ek to watch students reenact the torture and killings which occurred there (6). These events bring communities together and educate on a larger platform. Currently, the majority of Cambodia ’s population is born after the Khmer Regime and therefore knows very little of its brutal past. Therefore such events maintain the memory of those lost and educate a large people of all ages. While memoralizational efforts can be presented to the public in many forms, all efforts will further the healing process and initiate steps necessary for national reconciliation.
Reparation Programs
Reparation programs are programs aimed at rebuilding and repairing the damage caused. According to the International Center of Transitional Justice, reparation programs “are state-sponsored initiatives that help repair the material and moral damages of past abuse” (4). However, I believe programs initiative by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) carry more hope and promise in Cambodia , given its past success. In my view, if the government was to be solely in charge of all the projects, bureaucracy and governmental politics would inhibit the success of these programs. The Documentation Center of Cambodia has proven to be a success with regards to reparation programs. From my experience at the center, I have found the center to be a group of passionate people who are willing go the extra mile to reach more people. They deeply care for DC-Cam’s causes and are driven by humanitarian reasons rather than financial reasons. It is clear that the DC-Cam staff is the key to their success of reaching people and sharing their stories. For example, DC-Cam has dedicated a unit to increasing victim empowerment through victim participation, and uses the media and publications to educate them about the trial process. DC-Cam is an example of how NGOs may assist in reconciliation and healing for individuals and the nation. DC-Cam’s projects educate, increase awareness of the genocide, and help people find answers to the questions they have about their loved ones and about their past. Without the efforts of such NGOs to find out and record information about the past, these answers would never be found.
Truth Commissions
Truth commissions are also useful for survivors. Truth Commissions provide a forum where people can come and confess about their offenses as well as shed light onto a troubled and murky past of a nation that has suffered human rights violations. Based on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa , a similar commission may assist the reconciliation process in Cambodia (1). Survivors are most interested in understanding what took place. Since past perpetrators are given amnesty from their confessed crimes, I believe that they will be more open to providing victims with the truth. In South Africa , the TRC was able to bring the community together and raise awareness through to widespread media coverage (1). While truth commissions have the potential to reveal the buried stories of the past, I believe that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia would be insufficient for this forum. It seems unlikely that there would be adequate support from the government, media coverage, the public, or adequate financial resources, while the ECCC is in session.
Criminal Prosecutions
His Excellency Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia , stated that the ECCC “is a Cambodian court with international participation that is applying international standards” (7). The ECCC has the power to unleash the truth to a huge audience since information about the proceedings are being televised, played on the radio, and accessible on line (7). Additionally, the ECCC presents a model of law proceedings in open court, has implemented youth outreach programs, and allows victims to reconcile with their past by viewing the perpetrators on trial (7).
However, the ECCC also has its shortcomings. First, I believe that certain offices of the court are not prepared and this causes delay. Information is not always ready and the entire process of translation into three languages causes further delays. People have been waiting for more than thirty years for a proper form of justice, and I believe such delays must not be tolerated.
Second, while there appears to be a lot of media coverage, many living in remote areas outside of the capitol are unaware of the proceedings. Several NGOs, such as DC-Cam, have been working to raise awareness on the trial. While these efforts need to increase, the location of the trial itself presents a challenge. The trial takes place just outside of the capital, Phnom Penh , in the Dangkor District. It is not easily accessible to all especially by those living in the provinces that are away from the capital.
Third, the ECCC is creating a significant financial burden to the nation. I propose that international pressure be placed on ASEAN to play a role in the ECCC and provide financial support.
Fourth, corruption allegations could threaten the integrity of the court. For example, that certain court officials have received financial resources in exchange for jobs in the court (2). The defense lawyers have used this information as evidence that their clients are not being fairly tried since the judges could be involved in this corruption scandal (3). I feel an “independent” body should investigate this issue and resolve this matter so the defense lawyer cannot use this as a means to deter a just a sentence towards the accused (3).
Despite such shortcomings, I believe that the ECCC holds much promise and is a big step towards national reconciliation. Kofi Annan stated that “The success of the Extraordinary Chambers will stand as a beacon in the region, signaling that the sinister culture of impunity, is indeed, being replaced by a culture of accountability.” And I believe the ECCC represents a fresh chapter in Cambodian history and will provide the platform and the foundation that is essential for the nation to move on.
Buddhism and Reconciliation
From my own experience in Sri Lanka , I have seen the power of religion to heal those who have endured years of suffering. Similarly, I believe religion plays an important role in Cambodia . Theravada Buddhism is the most practiced religion in Cambodia . This religion teaches compassion, forgiveness, and believes good deeds can “win over” the bad deeds (8). Buddhism also teaches that “doing good” to all will overcome a horrendous past and repel desires of vengence. In one DC-Cam survey, an individual stated that “We suppress vindictiveness by not being vindictive”.
The Buddhist teachings also advocate for a fair trial. Suzannah Linton, in her book “Reconcilliation in Cambodia ” discusses the effect Buddhism may have on reconciliation. Linton compiles quotes from Cambodian spiritual leaders to show Buddhist principles align with proceedings of a fair trial; “When the accused are charged with their crimes, people will be happy and stop worrying and accusing each other. Only then will Cambodians begin to think about long-lasting peace and national reconciliation, befriend one another, have pity on each other, and rebuild the county towards prosperity” (8).
Buddhism is not the only religion that will help with reconciliation. Cambodia is home to many practicing religions. All religions teach similar principals of peace, forgiveness, tolerance and compassion. This nation was radically changed when people were forced to forgo their identity, religion and culture during the Khmer Regime. Now, people can practice the religion they wish and embrace their culture. Therefore, by embracing their religion, culture, and identity, Cambodians are another step away from those dark years of the Khmer Regime.
The Role of Youth
National reconciliation will require a combination of the ECCC, memoralization efforts, reparation programs and the personal practice of religion. Consequently, each method will play a role in educating Cambodians about the past. I believe that educating Cambodia ’s youth about the Khmer Regime is crucial for the future of Cambodia . By educating the youth about the past we can make sure this does not happen again. If Cambodia is to achieve national reconciliation, I believe it depends on the passion of the people. Education initiatives will teach students about justice and reconciliation to become just and fair leaders. Cambodian youth are a treasure chest with the potential to make Cambodia into a prosperous nation. The future of Cambodia lies with the youth of today and education is the key to unlocking their potential.
Bibliography
March R. Amstutz, “Restorative Justice, Political Forgiveness, and the Possibility of Political Reconciliation,” Ch. 6 in The Politics of Past Evil: Religion, reconciliation and the dilemmas of transitional justice, ed. Daniel Philpot (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press , 2006), pp. 151-188.
Wilkins, Georgia . "Judges must address alleged ECCC kickback scheme, lawyers say." The Phnom Penh Post 7 May 2009.
"Corruption Allegations at Khmer Rouge Court Must Be Investigated Thoroughly." Open Society Justice Initiative. 22 June 2009
"What is Transitional Justice? - International Center for Transitional Justice." International Center for Transitional Justice. 23 June 2009
Chanphal, Norng. Interview with Kiel Stroupe. Boeng Chumpun , Cambodia : 1 June 2009.
"'Day of Anger' in Cambodia ." The Strait Times 20 May 2009.
An Introduction to The Khmer Rouge Trials. Phnom Penh : Public Affairs Section, ECCC, 2008.
Linton, Suzannah. Reconcilliation in Cambodia . Phnom Penh : Documentation Center of Cambodia , 2004.
Thirty years ago Cambodia endured a nightmare lasting for 45 months. Orchestrated by the Khmer Rouge, during these dark and terrifying months, more than three million people lost their lives. Today, many approaches have been suggested for seeking justice and healing after the Khmer Rouge genocide. Personally, I believe there are several approaches the Cambodian government may use to achieve these goals, including criminal prosecutions, memoralizational programs, and reparation programs. Furthermore, in order for a country to recover and progress, its people must heal first. Therefore, in addition to these transitional methods, I believe the role of religion is important for individual healing, and will thereby promote greater reconciliation.
Retributive versus Restorative Justice
Transitional justice may be divided among two major schools of thought: retributive justice and restorative justice. Retributive justice focuses on criminal prosecution and punishment (1). In a traditional sense, the “eye for an eye” approach. In contrast, restorative justice seeks reconciliation through processes, such as victim empowerment programs that restores their dignity and promote healing (1).
An application of retributive justice to Cambodia would require line-drawing between the perpetrators and victims of the Khmer Rouge. However, everyone was affected by the dark years of the past and lost loved ones. It does not appear to be a clear distinction between the victims and the perpetrators, especially among lower level cadres. One statement by the Khmer Rouge defines the enemy as “everything which is non-revolution and against the revolution.” Thus, many Khmer cadres, fearing for their lives, would have felt they had no choice but to follow orders. Therefore, instead of attempting to distinguish perpetrators and victims, I believe justice and reconciliation is best achieved through a combination of retributive justice and restorative justice.
Restorative justice focuses on healing and reconciliation for the individual and community. In response to the traumas of genocide, institutions should be established in Cambodia to promote national unity. During the Khmer Regime, people were stripped of their identities and forced to ignore their respective cultures. Restorative justice will enable people to reconnect with their past while mending the wounds of the society. Restorative Justice programs allow victims to have their voices heard, their questions answered, and provide a space for those who would be viewed as perpetrators to “confront their humanity” (1). While it may be too much to ask from the victims to forgive the perpetrators, restorative justice provides the tools necessary to bridge the gap between the two groups; allowing for healing and movement towards national reconciliation (1).
Reconciliation
Amstuz introduces reconciliation as a process or condition (1). He states that that “as a process, reconciliation is viewed as a tool to heal broken relationships by replacing anger and enmity with empathy, tolerance and trust” Whereas reconciliation as a condition, “is conceived as a state of peaceful, harmonious relationships and as an environment where former enemies express mutual trust, demonstrate cooperation, and work out disagreements peacefully.” I believe Amstuz’s definition of reconciliation overlaps with restorative justice. According to Elizabeth Kiss, there are four elements of restorative justice: “the restoration of victims’ human dignity, accountability for offenses, restoring respect for human rights, and the promotion of reconciliation” (1). Consequently, both approaches promote understanding, and may lead Cambodia towards reconciliation.
Suggestions for Reconciliation
In addition, I believe that a combination of memoralizational efforts, criminal prosecutions and reparation programs Cambodia will be able to achieve reconciliation. I believe that this combination includes the elements of restorative justice that Elizabeth Kiss brings to our attention, and is the most applicable and appropriate for Cambodia .
Memoralizational efforts
Memoralizational efforts or programs are crucial to bring together a nation to confront its past. I believe that such programs have greater effect on an individual and societal level, rather than on a national level. Several such Cambodian-initiated programs are currently underway. I have faith that these programs will only increase with time due to the dedicated work of NGOs such as the Documentation Center of Cambodia. Sites like the Toul Sleng genocide museum, and Choeung Ek, the former Khmer Rouge killing field-turned memorial site, provide spaces where people can convene and mourn. By grieving together, they may be strengthened by realizing they are not alone, and that those who are lost are not forgotten. In an interview with Norng Chanpal, a Toul Sleng survivor, Chanpal stated how he would visit Toul Sleng after 1979 to try and remember his past. Chanpal is an example of how facing the past bravely is one of the initial steps in reconciliation and recovery.
Additionally, memorial sites give victims dignity and respect in their death. Today these physical spaces have become tourist destinations and thereby increase international awareness. While many survivors are attempting to move on with their lives, most of them do not want their loved ones to be forgotten. Norng Chanphal states that he “believed that it is very important to educate the youth of today about the past especially since this was an incident where Cambodians killed other Cambodians” (5).
Memoralizational programs are not limited physical sites. May 20th is honored as the “Day of Hatred” in memory of those who were killed by the Khmer Rouge. This year, approximately 2000 people gathered at a Choeung Ek to watch students reenact the torture and killings which occurred there (6). These events bring communities together and educate on a larger platform. Currently, the majority of Cambodia ’s population is born after the Khmer Regime and therefore knows very little of its brutal past. Therefore such events maintain the memory of those lost and educate a large people of all ages. While memoralizational efforts can be presented to the public in many forms, all efforts will further the healing process and initiate steps necessary for national reconciliation.
Reparation Programs
Reparation programs are programs aimed at rebuilding and repairing the damage caused. According to the International Center of Transitional Justice, reparation programs “are state-sponsored initiatives that help repair the material and moral damages of past abuse” (4). However, I believe programs initiative by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) carry more hope and promise in Cambodia , given its past success. In my view, if the government was to be solely in charge of all the projects, bureaucracy and governmental politics would inhibit the success of these programs. The Documentation Center of Cambodia has proven to be a success with regards to reparation programs. From my experience at the center, I have found the center to be a group of passionate people who are willing go the extra mile to reach more people. They deeply care for DC-Cam’s causes and are driven by humanitarian reasons rather than financial reasons. It is clear that the DC-Cam staff is the key to their success of reaching people and sharing their stories. For example, DC-Cam has dedicated a unit to increasing victim empowerment through victim participation, and uses the media and publications to educate them about the trial process. DC-Cam is an example of how NGOs may assist in reconciliation and healing for individuals and the nation. DC-Cam’s projects educate, increase awareness of the genocide, and help people find answers to the questions they have about their loved ones and about their past. Without the efforts of such NGOs to find out and record information about the past, these answers would never be found.
Truth Commissions
Truth commissions are also useful for survivors. Truth Commissions provide a forum where people can come and confess about their offenses as well as shed light onto a troubled and murky past of a nation that has suffered human rights violations. Based on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa , a similar commission may assist the reconciliation process in Cambodia (1). Survivors are most interested in understanding what took place. Since past perpetrators are given amnesty from their confessed crimes, I believe that they will be more open to providing victims with the truth. In South Africa , the TRC was able to bring the community together and raise awareness through to widespread media coverage (1). While truth commissions have the potential to reveal the buried stories of the past, I believe that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia would be insufficient for this forum. It seems unlikely that there would be adequate support from the government, media coverage, the public, or adequate financial resources, while the ECCC is in session.
Criminal Prosecutions
His Excellency Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia , stated that the ECCC “is a Cambodian court with international participation that is applying international standards” (7). The ECCC has the power to unleash the truth to a huge audience since information about the proceedings are being televised, played on the radio, and accessible on line (7). Additionally, the ECCC presents a model of law proceedings in open court, has implemented youth outreach programs, and allows victims to reconcile with their past by viewing the perpetrators on trial (7).
However, the ECCC also has its shortcomings. First, I believe that certain offices of the court are not prepared and this causes delay. Information is not always ready and the entire process of translation into three languages causes further delays. People have been waiting for more than thirty years for a proper form of justice, and I believe such delays must not be tolerated.
Second, while there appears to be a lot of media coverage, many living in remote areas outside of the capitol are unaware of the proceedings. Several NGOs, such as DC-Cam, have been working to raise awareness on the trial. While these efforts need to increase, the location of the trial itself presents a challenge. The trial takes place just outside of the capital, Phnom Penh , in the Dangkor District. It is not easily accessible to all especially by those living in the provinces that are away from the capital.
Third, the ECCC is creating a significant financial burden to the nation. I propose that international pressure be placed on ASEAN to play a role in the ECCC and provide financial support.
Fourth, corruption allegations could threaten the integrity of the court. For example, that certain court officials have received financial resources in exchange for jobs in the court (2). The defense lawyers have used this information as evidence that their clients are not being fairly tried since the judges could be involved in this corruption scandal (3). I feel an “independent” body should investigate this issue and resolve this matter so the defense lawyer cannot use this as a means to deter a just a sentence towards the accused (3).
Despite such shortcomings, I believe that the ECCC holds much promise and is a big step towards national reconciliation. Kofi Annan stated that “The success of the Extraordinary Chambers will stand as a beacon in the region, signaling that the sinister culture of impunity, is indeed, being replaced by a culture of accountability.” And I believe the ECCC represents a fresh chapter in Cambodian history and will provide the platform and the foundation that is essential for the nation to move on.
Buddhism and Reconciliation
From my own experience in Sri Lanka , I have seen the power of religion to heal those who have endured years of suffering. Similarly, I believe religion plays an important role in Cambodia . Theravada Buddhism is the most practiced religion in Cambodia . This religion teaches compassion, forgiveness, and believes good deeds can “win over” the bad deeds (8). Buddhism also teaches that “doing good” to all will overcome a horrendous past and repel desires of vengence. In one DC-Cam survey, an individual stated that “We suppress vindictiveness by not being vindictive”.
The Buddhist teachings also advocate for a fair trial. Suzannah Linton, in her book “Reconcilliation in Cambodia ” discusses the effect Buddhism may have on reconciliation. Linton compiles quotes from Cambodian spiritual leaders to show Buddhist principles align with proceedings of a fair trial; “When the accused are charged with their crimes, people will be happy and stop worrying and accusing each other. Only then will Cambodians begin to think about long-lasting peace and national reconciliation, befriend one another, have pity on each other, and rebuild the county towards prosperity” (8).
Buddhism is not the only religion that will help with reconciliation. Cambodia is home to many practicing religions. All religions teach similar principals of peace, forgiveness, tolerance and compassion. This nation was radically changed when people were forced to forgo their identity, religion and culture during the Khmer Regime. Now, people can practice the religion they wish and embrace their culture. Therefore, by embracing their religion, culture, and identity, Cambodians are another step away from those dark years of the Khmer Regime.
The Role of Youth
National reconciliation will require a combination of the ECCC, memoralization efforts, reparation programs and the personal practice of religion. Consequently, each method will play a role in educating Cambodians about the past. I believe that educating Cambodia ’s youth about the Khmer Regime is crucial for the future of Cambodia . By educating the youth about the past we can make sure this does not happen again. If Cambodia is to achieve national reconciliation, I believe it depends on the passion of the people. Education initiatives will teach students about justice and reconciliation to become just and fair leaders. Cambodian youth are a treasure chest with the potential to make Cambodia into a prosperous nation. The future of Cambodia lies with the youth of today and education is the key to unlocking their potential.
Bibliography
March R. Amstutz, “Restorative Justice, Political Forgiveness, and the Possibility of Political Reconciliation,” Ch. 6 in The Politics of Past Evil: Religion, reconciliation and the dilemmas of transitional justice, ed. Daniel Philpot (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press , 2006), pp. 151-188.
Wilkins, Georgia . "Judges must address alleged ECCC kickback scheme, lawyers say." The Phnom Penh Post 7 May 2009.
"Corruption Allegations at Khmer Rouge Court Must Be Investigated Thoroughly." Open Society Justice Initiative. 22 June 2009
"What is Transitional Justice? - International Center for Transitional Justice." International Center for Transitional Justice. 23 June 2009
Chanphal, Norng. Interview with Kiel Stroupe. Boeng Chumpun , Cambodia : 1 June 2009.
"'Day of Anger' in Cambodia ." The Strait Times 20 May 2009.
An Introduction to The Khmer Rouge Trials. Phnom Penh : Public Affairs Section, ECCC, 2008.
Linton, Suzannah. Reconcilliation in Cambodia . Phnom Penh : Documentation Center of Cambodia , 2004.
CIVIL PARTIES SHARE STORIES OF SORROW
August 18, 2009
By Michael Saliba, J.D. (Northwestern Law ’09), Consultant to the Center for
International Human Rights, Northwestern University School of Law
Today, the court continued to hear testimony from the civil parties in the
trial of Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch). During the last two days, the court
has received the testimony of seven civil parties and is thus progressing at
a quicker pace than scheduled.
“Never, never will I forgive him”
The morning session began with the testimony of Antonia Tioulong, a French
national of Cambodian parents. Her sister, Raingsy Tioulong and her brother
in law, Lim Ki-Mari, were both detained as prisoners at Tuol Sleng prison
(S-21) and executed. Antonia Tioulong testified in her capacity as a civil
party, but was also there as a spokesperson for her entire family.
Her father was a high ranking official affiliated with the government of
Prince Sihanouk. Due to his prominent role in that government, the Tioulong
family was exiled from Cambodia in 1970 after Lon Nol took control of the
country. Despite this order, Raingsy Tioulong decided to stay in Cambodia
and was able to do so by using her husband’s name. Raingsy and her husband
did not want to uproot their life in Cambodia where she worked as an anchor
for a French radio station and he worked as a banker. However, as the
political and security situation deteriorated in Cambodia , Raingsy sent her
children to Paris to receive a good education in a safe environment. The
family last heard from Raingsy in March of 1975. Thereafter they endured
many difficult years of silence. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, France
opened its borders to many Cambodian refugees. However, Raingsy and her
husband were not among those who made it to French soil for they had already
perished at the hands of the horrific regime.
The Tioulong family was later reunited with cousins who had made it to
France as refugees. The stories they recounted were horrifying. They had
gone through hell – but they could be considered the lucky ones. The family
had to relay the terrible news that Raingsy and her husband were not so
lucky, for they had not survived the brutal regime. They had been imprisoned
and executed at S-21. This news was devastating and came as a tremendous
shock to the Tioulong family.
The family members had a very difficult time coping with their loss and
everyone managed to grieve in their own way. Raingsy’s children developed
many psychological problems. Psychiatrists confirmed that their symptoms
were directly linked to the trauma relating to the death of their parents.
They could not appear in court because they were not ready to face the
accused. Antonia Tioulong had lost a sister, her parents had lost a
daughter, and her nieces and nephews had lost a mother.
She emphasized that an apology is not enough for justice to be done and she
urged the tribunal to punish Duch in a manner which is commensurate with the
crimes he committed. She noted that during the Nuremberg trials, many of
those who were found guilty were sentenced to death. She did not seem to be
insinuating that she hoped this tribunal would mimic the Nuremburg courts in
its sentencing, but rather was simply illustrating the gravity of his crimes
from a historical perspective. (The death penalty is a prohibited form of
punishment in this tribunal.) She lamented the fact that while Duch was
receiving a fair trial and being given adequate accommodations, all of his
victims were denied those basic rights. For that, she stated emphatically,
“Never, never will I forgive him.”
Cambodian Civil Parties Testify
The chamber then called Hav Sophea to testify about the loss of her father,
Chan Sea , at S-21. Her father was a soldier but was arrested in 1976 and was
executed on the 15th of May of the same year. Just like Ouk Neary, one of
yesterday’s civil parties, Sophea never knew her father, but still suffered
terribly from his disappearance and death. She was born 21 days subsequent
to Chan Sea ’s arrest. She and her mother had to wait many years before
receiving information regarding the circumstances of his death.
Sophea tearfully described growing up without a father as a “struggle to
hold on to life.” The absence of her father caused the family financial,
physical, and emotional hardship. Her dream was to become a school teacher
but she had to quit school at grade seven because her mother had no more
money to continue funding her studies. When her mom finally received
documentation showing that her husband had been executed at S-21, she burst
into tears. Her mother did not apply to become a civil party because she
still cannot face the accused. Sophea described her own suffering and the
pain that she felt – a pain that was magnified by the realization that her
father died under such cruel circumstances. After her own visit to S-21, she
sustained recurring and vivid nightmares. She explained emotionally that she
had never seen his face when he was alive, but could not escape his image
after his death.
The third civil party called to testify was So Song. Like countless others,
she lost her brother-in-law at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime. Before
her testimony got underway, the civil party and defense lawyers held an
intensive exchange over the admissibility of the civil party’s testimony.
The defense argued that there were enough discrepancies with the documents
provided to call into question the civil party’s actual relationship to the
brother in law, and whether he was in fact detained and executed at S-21.
Despite the fact that it is the civil party who bears the burden of proof to
provide a link between the civil party and the accused, the President
decided first to hear the testimony and only later to determine the
probative value of such testimony based on the veracity of the witness.
So Song represented her sister as a civil party because her sister was too
ill to testify on her own. She explained that she had been living with her
sister and her brother-in-law since she was seven years old. Her
relationship with them was as much a relationship of parent-child as it was
of sibling-sibling. Song explained that after they learned of her
brother-in-law’s death, her and her sister’s life began to deteriorate. She
concluded emotionally, “He was a dear husband, a dear father, and a dear
brother – we all cried.”
The final civil party to be called was Neth Phally. Both he and his brother
were in the same military unit. His brother was seriously wounded in battle
in 1978 and was sent to the hospital in Phnom Penh . There, Neth went to see
him twice. Upon his third visit, Neth found only an empty hospital room. No
one could tell him where his brother was transferred. He never saw his
brother again. He searched for his brother for many months with no success.
Evidence surfaced in 2004 demonstrating that Neth’s brother had been sent to
S-21 and executed. This news deeply saddened Neth and his family. Neth
Phally still lives with great suffering with the knowledge that his brother
perished at S-21, a prison where detainees were not only executed, but were
tortured in a most horrific manner.
By Michael Saliba, J.D. (Northwestern Law ’09), Consultant to the Center for
International Human Rights, Northwestern University School of Law
Today, the court continued to hear testimony from the civil parties in the
trial of Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch). During the last two days, the court
has received the testimony of seven civil parties and is thus progressing at
a quicker pace than scheduled.
“Never, never will I forgive him”
The morning session began with the testimony of Antonia Tioulong, a French
national of Cambodian parents. Her sister, Raingsy Tioulong and her brother
in law, Lim Ki-Mari, were both detained as prisoners at Tuol Sleng prison
(S-21) and executed. Antonia Tioulong testified in her capacity as a civil
party, but was also there as a spokesperson for her entire family.
Her father was a high ranking official affiliated with the government of
Prince Sihanouk. Due to his prominent role in that government, the Tioulong
family was exiled from Cambodia in 1970 after Lon Nol took control of the
country. Despite this order, Raingsy Tioulong decided to stay in Cambodia
and was able to do so by using her husband’s name. Raingsy and her husband
did not want to uproot their life in Cambodia where she worked as an anchor
for a French radio station and he worked as a banker. However, as the
political and security situation deteriorated in Cambodia , Raingsy sent her
children to Paris to receive a good education in a safe environment. The
family last heard from Raingsy in March of 1975. Thereafter they endured
many difficult years of silence. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, France
opened its borders to many Cambodian refugees. However, Raingsy and her
husband were not among those who made it to French soil for they had already
perished at the hands of the horrific regime.
The Tioulong family was later reunited with cousins who had made it to
France as refugees. The stories they recounted were horrifying. They had
gone through hell – but they could be considered the lucky ones. The family
had to relay the terrible news that Raingsy and her husband were not so
lucky, for they had not survived the brutal regime. They had been imprisoned
and executed at S-21. This news was devastating and came as a tremendous
shock to the Tioulong family.
The family members had a very difficult time coping with their loss and
everyone managed to grieve in their own way. Raingsy’s children developed
many psychological problems. Psychiatrists confirmed that their symptoms
were directly linked to the trauma relating to the death of their parents.
They could not appear in court because they were not ready to face the
accused. Antonia Tioulong had lost a sister, her parents had lost a
daughter, and her nieces and nephews had lost a mother.
She emphasized that an apology is not enough for justice to be done and she
urged the tribunal to punish Duch in a manner which is commensurate with the
crimes he committed. She noted that during the Nuremberg trials, many of
those who were found guilty were sentenced to death. She did not seem to be
insinuating that she hoped this tribunal would mimic the Nuremburg courts in
its sentencing, but rather was simply illustrating the gravity of his crimes
from a historical perspective. (The death penalty is a prohibited form of
punishment in this tribunal.) She lamented the fact that while Duch was
receiving a fair trial and being given adequate accommodations, all of his
victims were denied those basic rights. For that, she stated emphatically,
“Never, never will I forgive him.”
Cambodian Civil Parties Testify
The chamber then called Hav Sophea to testify about the loss of her father,
Chan Sea , at S-21. Her father was a soldier but was arrested in 1976 and was
executed on the 15th of May of the same year. Just like Ouk Neary, one of
yesterday’s civil parties, Sophea never knew her father, but still suffered
terribly from his disappearance and death. She was born 21 days subsequent
to Chan Sea ’s arrest. She and her mother had to wait many years before
receiving information regarding the circumstances of his death.
Sophea tearfully described growing up without a father as a “struggle to
hold on to life.” The absence of her father caused the family financial,
physical, and emotional hardship. Her dream was to become a school teacher
but she had to quit school at grade seven because her mother had no more
money to continue funding her studies. When her mom finally received
documentation showing that her husband had been executed at S-21, she burst
into tears. Her mother did not apply to become a civil party because she
still cannot face the accused. Sophea described her own suffering and the
pain that she felt – a pain that was magnified by the realization that her
father died under such cruel circumstances. After her own visit to S-21, she
sustained recurring and vivid nightmares. She explained emotionally that she
had never seen his face when he was alive, but could not escape his image
after his death.
The third civil party called to testify was So Song. Like countless others,
she lost her brother-in-law at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime. Before
her testimony got underway, the civil party and defense lawyers held an
intensive exchange over the admissibility of the civil party’s testimony.
The defense argued that there were enough discrepancies with the documents
provided to call into question the civil party’s actual relationship to the
brother in law, and whether he was in fact detained and executed at S-21.
Despite the fact that it is the civil party who bears the burden of proof to
provide a link between the civil party and the accused, the President
decided first to hear the testimony and only later to determine the
probative value of such testimony based on the veracity of the witness.
So Song represented her sister as a civil party because her sister was too
ill to testify on her own. She explained that she had been living with her
sister and her brother-in-law since she was seven years old. Her
relationship with them was as much a relationship of parent-child as it was
of sibling-sibling. Song explained that after they learned of her
brother-in-law’s death, her and her sister’s life began to deteriorate. She
concluded emotionally, “He was a dear husband, a dear father, and a dear
brother – we all cried.”
The final civil party to be called was Neth Phally. Both he and his brother
were in the same military unit. His brother was seriously wounded in battle
in 1978 and was sent to the hospital in Phnom Penh . There, Neth went to see
him twice. Upon his third visit, Neth found only an empty hospital room. No
one could tell him where his brother was transferred. He never saw his
brother again. He searched for his brother for many months with no success.
Evidence surfaced in 2004 demonstrating that Neth’s brother had been sent to
S-21 and executed. This news deeply saddened Neth and his family. Neth
Phally still lives with great suffering with the knowledge that his brother
perished at S-21, a prison where detainees were not only executed, but were
tortured in a most horrific manner.
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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.