Cambodia welcomes United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to Cambodia. He is here in his role as the United Nations’ highest official, but he is also a citizen of our region. Significantly, during his short time in Phnom Penh, he is visiting both the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)—the former a memorial preserved by the Cambodian people for the past 30 years for the estimated 14,000 people who were tortured and killed there during the Khmer Rouge period, and the latter a joint United Nations/Cambodian effort to construct from Khmer Rouge horrors a future based on human rights and rule of law. His visit should be seen as a message to Asia, and especially to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, about the regional significance of the ECCC and its second case against Ieng Sary, Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, and Ieng Thirith—the first genocide trial to be held in Asia.
Given the ages of the four accused, the possibility that their trial could drag on for several years, the likelihood of appeals, and not least of all, the track record of the Cambodian legal system, it is unlikely that most Cambodians’ expectations for justice will be met. Nevertheless, the trial will provide three very important benefits for Cambodia. First, it can form a backdrop for helping people answer some of the questions they have about the tribunal and the Cambodian justice system. Second, it can stimulate a dialogue among Cambodians on whether their legal apparatus works and about what they want their justice system to become. And third, just a generation after the genocide, many young Cambodians simply can’t believe that their parents endured such hardships under the Khmer Rouge. Thus, the trial will help keep the memory of what happened in Cambodia alive and inspire people to work to prevent it from happening again. Whatever the outcome, the trial will be important for Cambodia’s understanding of justice and human rights, in particular the right to life.
Some Asian governments still view human rights as an issue that is largely Western in orientation. Over the past few decades, however, people in many Asian countries have progressively demonstrated their belief that these rights are universal in nature and that due process and the rule of law are critical elements of democracy. As Asian countries and those from ASEAN in particular are playing an expanded role in world politics and the international economy, it is critical that their conduct and performance reflect the changes that have been taking place in Asia.
Although ASEAN seeks to promote democracy and human rights in the region, no ASEAN member state has yet made a monetary contribution to the ECCC, which suffers from a chronic budget shortfall. Because of its mandate, more than any of the current state donors, ASEAN has an obligation to ensure that the ECCC process proceeds according to the rule of law and without financial obstacles. It is my hope that Ban Ki-Moon’s visit will spur other members of the ASEAN community to show their support for human rights in Asia by providing much-needed financial assistance for the Khmer Rouge tribunal.
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
Searching for the Truth.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Thursday, November 11, 2010
A Story of Khon Savin
By Farina So
In her early 40, Khon Savin, primary school teacher of Svay Daun Keo commune, Bakan district, Pursat province recalls a painful memory when her family was evacuated to Rumlech commune in front of Mr. Andrew Cayley, Khmer Rouge Tribunal's International Prosecutor, during a meeting with Khmer Kampuchea Krom survivors in Pursat province. The most salient memory of Savin is the deaths of her father, Suy Hong, and many other relatives during the Khmer Rouge regime. Hong was accused of eating human flesh and was sent to be killed during 1977.
Hong, age 30, was a tailor and had no blood with Khmer Krom or Vietnamese, but his wife. During the regime, he was told to bury the dead with several other men. Savin recalls that due to exhaustion, her father could not dig the pits deeply and bury the dead completely, so they were torn by wolfs or other similar kind of animals. He was then allegedly accused of eating the dead flesh. He was walked by two KR cadres with machetes in their hands at day time and Savin, as she already lost her mother, walked behind her father.
Her father pleaded and kneeled in front of her uncle, Khon, to let his daughter survive as she is his blood. As promised her uncle made every effort to keep Savin safe. Even one day Savin wanted to go along with people when they were called to grow corn, he did not let her go. During the regime a request to go to other place or grow things usually meant the evacuees would be killed.
Her mother was Khmer Krom. In less than one year after her evacuation to Rumlech, she looked exhausted as she was pregnant. The KR viewed her mother as unable-bodied person and needed to be rid as laid out in their plan. Savin was about six years old at that time and remembers that the KR would get rid of all Khmer Krom, for they were accused of having “Vietnamese brain.” One day her mother fell very ill and was hospitalized. Savin was told that her mother was injected with water and died immediately in the hospital.
As painful memory is still with her, Savin never forgets it but remembers as if the event was current. It is hard for her to let it go, she said. “Although I was young at that time, but I feel I can recall most of our account and suffering.”
Her family name is derived from her uncle’s name, Khon. She even calls his uncle “father” because he saves her life and raises her so far.
This story is very personal to her. I have observed, from one to another interview, that she can recall her story well without changing any information. The most memorable event which is saturated throughout the interviews is the story of her father.
---
Farina So, Team Leader, Cham Oral History Project of the Documentation Center of Cambodia
Searching for the Truth.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
In her early 40, Khon Savin, primary school teacher of Svay Daun Keo commune, Bakan district, Pursat province recalls a painful memory when her family was evacuated to Rumlech commune in front of Mr. Andrew Cayley, Khmer Rouge Tribunal's International Prosecutor, during a meeting with Khmer Kampuchea Krom survivors in Pursat province. The most salient memory of Savin is the deaths of her father, Suy Hong, and many other relatives during the Khmer Rouge regime. Hong was accused of eating human flesh and was sent to be killed during 1977.
Hong, age 30, was a tailor and had no blood with Khmer Krom or Vietnamese, but his wife. During the regime, he was told to bury the dead with several other men. Savin recalls that due to exhaustion, her father could not dig the pits deeply and bury the dead completely, so they were torn by wolfs or other similar kind of animals. He was then allegedly accused of eating the dead flesh. He was walked by two KR cadres with machetes in their hands at day time and Savin, as she already lost her mother, walked behind her father.
Her father pleaded and kneeled in front of her uncle, Khon, to let his daughter survive as she is his blood. As promised her uncle made every effort to keep Savin safe. Even one day Savin wanted to go along with people when they were called to grow corn, he did not let her go. During the regime a request to go to other place or grow things usually meant the evacuees would be killed.
Her mother was Khmer Krom. In less than one year after her evacuation to Rumlech, she looked exhausted as she was pregnant. The KR viewed her mother as unable-bodied person and needed to be rid as laid out in their plan. Savin was about six years old at that time and remembers that the KR would get rid of all Khmer Krom, for they were accused of having “Vietnamese brain.” One day her mother fell very ill and was hospitalized. Savin was told that her mother was injected with water and died immediately in the hospital.
As painful memory is still with her, Savin never forgets it but remembers as if the event was current. It is hard for her to let it go, she said. “Although I was young at that time, but I feel I can recall most of our account and suffering.”
Her family name is derived from her uncle’s name, Khon. She even calls his uncle “father” because he saves her life and raises her so far.
This story is very personal to her. I have observed, from one to another interview, that she can recall her story well without changing any information. The most memorable event which is saturated throughout the interviews is the story of her father.
---
Farina So, Team Leader, Cham Oral History Project of the Documentation Center of Cambodia
Searching for the Truth.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
The UN, Cambodia, and the Khmer Rouge: Politics Before Victims?
By: Dacil Keo
Beneath the upcoming high profile visit of UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon to Cambodia, upon request from Prime Minister Hun Sen, lies three decades of questionable UN efforts at mediating peace in Cambodia. The UN, known for both excellent health programs and embarrassing peace keeping missions, has a mixed record when it comes to dealing with the Khmer Rouge and promoting democracy in Cambodia. This mixed record- entailing official support and prosecution of the Khmer Rouge- is fresh in the minds of survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime. Consequently, survivors are both welcoming and weary of the UN. Given this, the UN should carefully assess if its agenda in Cambodia- whether to fashion a convenient peace or promote legal justice- is truly in the interest of survivors.
The UN has been involved in the Khmer Rouge issue on three prominent occasions. The first was after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979 when the UN supported the defeated Khmer Rouge movement. As news of mass starvation, torture, and killings from Cambodian refugees reached international headlines, the UN decided to allow the Khmer Rouge to retain the Cambodian seat at the General Assembly. From 1979 to 1982, the Khmer Rouge under “Democratic Kampuchea” occupied Cambodia’s seat. From 1982 to 1993, the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea in which the Khmer Rouge was a tripartite member, held the seat. Thus for over a decade the UN recognized the Khmer Rouge faction as the legitimate government of Cambodia while rejecting the Vietnamese-backed People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK). Survivors of the regime were appalled. Indeed Cold War politics at the time shifted the focus from genocide in Cambodia to Vietnam’s “invasion” of Cambodia, thus providing the UN justification for supporting the Khmer Rouge. However, as the bearer of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Genocide Convention, and the Convention on Torture, the UN should not have prioritized politics over millions of survivors on an issue of government recognition.
The wave of UN support for the Khmer Rouge changed however with the falling tide of communism in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s. By this time, all Vietnamese troops- which numbered as many as 150,000 during its peak- had left Cambodia and the PRK government abandoned its Marxist ideology. The UN, and the international world, recast their eyes upon a newly non-communist Cambodia. It was an opportune time for the UN to make amends with the people of Cambodia after supporting the Khmer Rouge for ten years.
The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was created in 1992 to bring peace and order. It was a new experience for both Cambodians and the UN. For Cambodians, it was the first time a transitional authority governed their country. For the UN, it was the first time assuming control of a sovereign administration and running an election from scratch. The price tag of the operation was also a first- $2 billion. It was the most that the UN had spent on a single peacekeeping operation at that time. Unfortunately however, UNTAC failed to disarm the Khmer Rouge, allowing them the means to continue waging a low-intensity civil war.
To make matters worse, democratic principles were compromised during UNTAC. Although Prince Ranariddh’s FUNCINPEC won the election, Hun Sen of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) was permitted to govern equally alongside Ranariddh as Co-Prime Minister. An unstable solution, this coalition government was essentially run by the CPP which had become entrenched administratively after 10 years of de facto rule. In effect, the winners of the election had little power, and in 1997, had no power following a conflict which left Hun Sun sole prime minister. UNTAC’s failure to enforce the election results gravely tarnishes the otherwise noteworthy May 1993 election in which there was a 90% voter turnout. A convenient and temporary peace was achieved, but at the cost of potential long-term political reform. The election was the first time, and so far remains the only time, that the CPP faced a viable challenge to its omnipotent rule. Once again, it appears that the UN prioritized political expediency over the interests of ordinary Cambodians.
The UN’s latest involvement on the Khmer Rouge issue comes in the complicated form of a Cambodian-dominated hybrid tribunal called the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). From its inception, the tribunal was entangled in a power struggle between the UN and the Royal Cambodian Government (RGC). In the end, the UN compromised and heeded greater control over the tribunal to the underdeveloped, weak, and heavily politicized Cambodian judiciary. Unsurprisingly, allegations of corruption and charges of political influence enveloped the tribunal within its first year of operating. In response, the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services investigated the charges and issued a report in 2008. The report however was labeled confidential and thus not released to the public. Similarly, a report compiling the results of a different investigation conducted by the Independent Counsellor of the ECCC was also classified as confidential. The Cambodia public, and in particular survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime, were left in the dark.
Another issue of concern is the number defendants to be prosecuted. During the negotiation phase of the ECCC, the UN wanted a greater number of former Khmer Rouge to be prosecuted than the RGC. It seemed that the RGC had prevailed on this dispute with the jurisdiction of prosecution in the ECCC law limited to “senior Khmer Rouge members and those most responsible.” Five former leaders were charged by the ECCC and the RGC was content. Later however, former International Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit expressed the possibility of prosecuting more individuals than the five. The RGC quickly issued a counter response. It warned that expanding the number of defendants would lead to instability and violence, thereby threatening the peace that Cambodia has enjoyed for two decades. Cambodian Co-Prosecutor Chea Leang supported the government’s stance. Afterward, Petit resigned. The UN has not let the issue rest however; it is still pushing for more indictments.
Throughout this disagreement, one wonders if the wishes of the survivors have been considered. According to a 2009 report by the Victim Participation Project (VPA) of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, it found that 41.4% of 1,110 people surveyed did not want the ECCC to prosecute any more individuals while 56.8% wanted more individuals tried. It should be noted however that approximately 30% of survey respondents were those born after the regime, aged 20-30 years. This is a group that, although limited in their knowledge of the Khmer Rouge period, is nevertheless receptive to Western ideals of legal justice. The VPA report found that 67.5% of them wanted more individuals tried. Taking this into account, then approximately 52% of survivors (those who directly experienced the Khmer Rouge regime) want more prosecutions. Given this figure, it is difficult for either the UN or the RGC to claim that their decision to expand or limit prosecutions is reflective of the majority of survivors. Rather, the UN should take this opportunity to seriously consider what is in the best interest of survivors. Advancing a political agenda on such a significant human rights issue will once again signal to survivors that politics is more important than their suffering and loss. The new UN administration still has the chance to change its mixed record on the Khmer Rouge issue by how proceeding carefully and conscientiously with the ECCC. After all, the tribunal was created for the survivors.
Dacil Keo is a doctoral candidate in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA) here in Cambodia she is doing her field work. Last semester she taught "Southeast Asian Politics" and discussed with her students the challenges facing the ECCC and the UN's role.
;
Searching for the Truth.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Beneath the upcoming high profile visit of UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon to Cambodia, upon request from Prime Minister Hun Sen, lies three decades of questionable UN efforts at mediating peace in Cambodia. The UN, known for both excellent health programs and embarrassing peace keeping missions, has a mixed record when it comes to dealing with the Khmer Rouge and promoting democracy in Cambodia. This mixed record- entailing official support and prosecution of the Khmer Rouge- is fresh in the minds of survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime. Consequently, survivors are both welcoming and weary of the UN. Given this, the UN should carefully assess if its agenda in Cambodia- whether to fashion a convenient peace or promote legal justice- is truly in the interest of survivors.
The UN has been involved in the Khmer Rouge issue on three prominent occasions. The first was after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979 when the UN supported the defeated Khmer Rouge movement. As news of mass starvation, torture, and killings from Cambodian refugees reached international headlines, the UN decided to allow the Khmer Rouge to retain the Cambodian seat at the General Assembly. From 1979 to 1982, the Khmer Rouge under “Democratic Kampuchea” occupied Cambodia’s seat. From 1982 to 1993, the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea in which the Khmer Rouge was a tripartite member, held the seat. Thus for over a decade the UN recognized the Khmer Rouge faction as the legitimate government of Cambodia while rejecting the Vietnamese-backed People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK). Survivors of the regime were appalled. Indeed Cold War politics at the time shifted the focus from genocide in Cambodia to Vietnam’s “invasion” of Cambodia, thus providing the UN justification for supporting the Khmer Rouge. However, as the bearer of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Genocide Convention, and the Convention on Torture, the UN should not have prioritized politics over millions of survivors on an issue of government recognition.
The wave of UN support for the Khmer Rouge changed however with the falling tide of communism in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s. By this time, all Vietnamese troops- which numbered as many as 150,000 during its peak- had left Cambodia and the PRK government abandoned its Marxist ideology. The UN, and the international world, recast their eyes upon a newly non-communist Cambodia. It was an opportune time for the UN to make amends with the people of Cambodia after supporting the Khmer Rouge for ten years.
The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was created in 1992 to bring peace and order. It was a new experience for both Cambodians and the UN. For Cambodians, it was the first time a transitional authority governed their country. For the UN, it was the first time assuming control of a sovereign administration and running an election from scratch. The price tag of the operation was also a first- $2 billion. It was the most that the UN had spent on a single peacekeeping operation at that time. Unfortunately however, UNTAC failed to disarm the Khmer Rouge, allowing them the means to continue waging a low-intensity civil war.
To make matters worse, democratic principles were compromised during UNTAC. Although Prince Ranariddh’s FUNCINPEC won the election, Hun Sen of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) was permitted to govern equally alongside Ranariddh as Co-Prime Minister. An unstable solution, this coalition government was essentially run by the CPP which had become entrenched administratively after 10 years of de facto rule. In effect, the winners of the election had little power, and in 1997, had no power following a conflict which left Hun Sun sole prime minister. UNTAC’s failure to enforce the election results gravely tarnishes the otherwise noteworthy May 1993 election in which there was a 90% voter turnout. A convenient and temporary peace was achieved, but at the cost of potential long-term political reform. The election was the first time, and so far remains the only time, that the CPP faced a viable challenge to its omnipotent rule. Once again, it appears that the UN prioritized political expediency over the interests of ordinary Cambodians.
The UN’s latest involvement on the Khmer Rouge issue comes in the complicated form of a Cambodian-dominated hybrid tribunal called the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). From its inception, the tribunal was entangled in a power struggle between the UN and the Royal Cambodian Government (RGC). In the end, the UN compromised and heeded greater control over the tribunal to the underdeveloped, weak, and heavily politicized Cambodian judiciary. Unsurprisingly, allegations of corruption and charges of political influence enveloped the tribunal within its first year of operating. In response, the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services investigated the charges and issued a report in 2008. The report however was labeled confidential and thus not released to the public. Similarly, a report compiling the results of a different investigation conducted by the Independent Counsellor of the ECCC was also classified as confidential. The Cambodia public, and in particular survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime, were left in the dark.
Another issue of concern is the number defendants to be prosecuted. During the negotiation phase of the ECCC, the UN wanted a greater number of former Khmer Rouge to be prosecuted than the RGC. It seemed that the RGC had prevailed on this dispute with the jurisdiction of prosecution in the ECCC law limited to “senior Khmer Rouge members and those most responsible.” Five former leaders were charged by the ECCC and the RGC was content. Later however, former International Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit expressed the possibility of prosecuting more individuals than the five. The RGC quickly issued a counter response. It warned that expanding the number of defendants would lead to instability and violence, thereby threatening the peace that Cambodia has enjoyed for two decades. Cambodian Co-Prosecutor Chea Leang supported the government’s stance. Afterward, Petit resigned. The UN has not let the issue rest however; it is still pushing for more indictments.
Throughout this disagreement, one wonders if the wishes of the survivors have been considered. According to a 2009 report by the Victim Participation Project (VPA) of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, it found that 41.4% of 1,110 people surveyed did not want the ECCC to prosecute any more individuals while 56.8% wanted more individuals tried. It should be noted however that approximately 30% of survey respondents were those born after the regime, aged 20-30 years. This is a group that, although limited in their knowledge of the Khmer Rouge period, is nevertheless receptive to Western ideals of legal justice. The VPA report found that 67.5% of them wanted more individuals tried. Taking this into account, then approximately 52% of survivors (those who directly experienced the Khmer Rouge regime) want more prosecutions. Given this figure, it is difficult for either the UN or the RGC to claim that their decision to expand or limit prosecutions is reflective of the majority of survivors. Rather, the UN should take this opportunity to seriously consider what is in the best interest of survivors. Advancing a political agenda on such a significant human rights issue will once again signal to survivors that politics is more important than their suffering and loss. The new UN administration still has the chance to change its mixed record on the Khmer Rouge issue by how proceeding carefully and conscientiously with the ECCC. After all, the tribunal was created for the survivors.
Dacil Keo is a doctoral candidate in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA) here in Cambodia she is doing her field work. Last semester she taught "Southeast Asian Politics" and discussed with her students the challenges facing the ECCC and the UN's role.
Searching for the Truth.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Cambodia prosecutors seek life for Duch
October 19, 2010 - 4:14PM
AFP
Prosecutors at Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court on Tuesday demanded an increased sentence of life imprisonment for a former Khmer Rouge prison chief who was jailed for 30 years in July.
Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing the mass murder of 15,000 men, women and children at Tuol Sleng prison in the late 1970s. Duch was initially handed 35 years, but the court reduced the sentence on the grounds that he had been detained illegally for years before the UN-backed tribunal was established.
"We are asking for life imprisonment, to be reduced for mitigating purposes to 45 years," Anees Ahmed, senior assistant co-prosecutor, told AFP after his team submitted their appeal document. It is to compensate for the period of unlawful detention that the co-prosecutors are asking that a life sentence be reduced to 45 years with no parole. "The co-prosecutors submit that a sentence of 35 years for crimes of this magnitude is plainly unjust," the appeal document read.
The co-prosecutors are also seeking additional convictions "for the crimes against humanity of extermination, enslavement, imprisonment, torture, rape, persecution on political grounds, and other inhumane acts", the document said. Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge was responsible for one of the worst horrors of the 20th century, wiping out nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population through starvation, overwork and executions.
© 2010 AFP
(ECCC FILE): Prosecution's Appeal Against the Duch Judgement: http://www.eccc.gov.kh/english/cabinet/courtDoc/745/F10_EN.PDF
Searching for the Truth.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
AFP
Prosecutors at Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court on Tuesday demanded an increased sentence of life imprisonment for a former Khmer Rouge prison chief who was jailed for 30 years in July.
Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing the mass murder of 15,000 men, women and children at Tuol Sleng prison in the late 1970s. Duch was initially handed 35 years, but the court reduced the sentence on the grounds that he had been detained illegally for years before the UN-backed tribunal was established.
"We are asking for life imprisonment, to be reduced for mitigating purposes to 45 years," Anees Ahmed, senior assistant co-prosecutor, told AFP after his team submitted their appeal document. It is to compensate for the period of unlawful detention that the co-prosecutors are asking that a life sentence be reduced to 45 years with no parole. "The co-prosecutors submit that a sentence of 35 years for crimes of this magnitude is plainly unjust," the appeal document read.
The co-prosecutors are also seeking additional convictions "for the crimes against humanity of extermination, enslavement, imprisonment, torture, rape, persecution on political grounds, and other inhumane acts", the document said. Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge was responsible for one of the worst horrors of the 20th century, wiping out nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population through starvation, overwork and executions.
© 2010 AFP
(ECCC FILE): Prosecution's Appeal Against the Duch Judgement: http://www.eccc.gov.kh/english/cabinet/courtDoc/745/F10_EN.PDF
Searching for the Truth.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Democratic Kampuchea History from the Villages
by Dy Khamboly
At a Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) public education forum attended by teachers, students and parents, Oam Rim, age 70, was eager to share her experiences during the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) period (1975-1979). Asked if she believes that mass atrocities occurred during the DK regime, Rim said, “Absolutely, because my husband and four children died at that time.” Then she told the participants about her experience—one of many stories of village life that should be documented and used to teach Khmer Rouge (KR) history in Cambodia.
Rim, a disabled widower, lives with her daughter in Wat Phnom village, Kampaeng commune, Kiri Vong district, Takeo province. Her first husband was taken for execution immediately after the KR victory, while she and her four children were evacuated to Romlech commune, Bakan district, Pursat province. In 1976, her two oldest sons were taken to join the army on the front lines near the border and have not been seen since. Her remaining two children, one son and one daughter, continued to live with her in Romlech, working in different units. Then they both fell ill from malnutrition at the same time and died after staying at a KR hospital for one week. Their bodies were carried by cart to the grave as Rim stood by and watched, unable to show any emotion for fear being killed.
After these tragedies, Rim was like a body without soul. Due to her disability, she was allowed to stay in the cooperative and work on light tasks such as raising pigs. Living in the cooperative allowed her to see many crimes. Many Khmer Krom and ethnic Cham Muslim were taken for execution every day. One day Rim saw the hundreds of dead bodies in a pit close to the cooperative. She saw the two killers every day but never dared to look at their faces. The two also raped and executed beautiful young girls evacuated from the Eastern Zone. In late 1977, Rim was forced to remarry in a mass ceremony of ten couples. Although she did not agree with the marriage, she had a daughter with her second husband and lived with him until he died in 2005.
Each village in Cambodia has similar stories, all of which should be documented, preserved and discussed with students. In 2009, Khmer Rouge history was added to the secondary school curriculum and in 2010 it was added to the list of required university courses. My textbook, A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) is now mandatory reading throughout the country. But that alone is inadequate. Survivors’ stories are the raw materials from which KR history will continue to be written and understood by future generations and must also be shared in the classroom.
For almost thirty years, the content of the KR history was dominated by politics and politicization. As a consequence, the younger and older generations have not discussed, much less reached a common understanding of, KR history. Documenting and discussing survivors’ stories prevents political distortions of history. History is no longer a political stand about political regimes and senior leaders, but is the concrete experiences of survivors expressed in their own words.
Hearing stories about what happened in villages like their own will encourage students to connect the content in the KR textbook to their families’ lives. Students will be encouraged to interview their own families—both victims and perpetrators—and uncover memories that will otherwise fade with time. Discussion and debate of village history in the classroom will lead common ground on which understanding and local reconciliation can grow.
Documenting and sharing stories from the villages will help people find a larger truth than can be found in any textbook: the truth of what happened to ordinary individuals throughout the country. These memories must be preserved and shared or the younger generation will never reflect on how their society today came to be. These memories, however horrible, are also part of Cambodia’s cultural heritage. Rim said, “I want my grandchildren and other young Cambodians to learn about killing, rape and other crimes that I witnessed when I was living in Romlech during the KR regime.
Dy Khamboly is the author of 'A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979)' and Team Leader of Genocide Education project at the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
For details on the project, visit: http://www.dccam.org/Projects/Genocide/Genocide_Education_Public_Forum.htm
Searching for the Truth.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
At a Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) public education forum attended by teachers, students and parents, Oam Rim, age 70, was eager to share her experiences during the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) period (1975-1979). Asked if she believes that mass atrocities occurred during the DK regime, Rim said, “Absolutely, because my husband and four children died at that time.” Then she told the participants about her experience—one of many stories of village life that should be documented and used to teach Khmer Rouge (KR) history in Cambodia.
Rim, a disabled widower, lives with her daughter in Wat Phnom village, Kampaeng commune, Kiri Vong district, Takeo province. Her first husband was taken for execution immediately after the KR victory, while she and her four children were evacuated to Romlech commune, Bakan district, Pursat province. In 1976, her two oldest sons were taken to join the army on the front lines near the border and have not been seen since. Her remaining two children, one son and one daughter, continued to live with her in Romlech, working in different units. Then they both fell ill from malnutrition at the same time and died after staying at a KR hospital for one week. Their bodies were carried by cart to the grave as Rim stood by and watched, unable to show any emotion for fear being killed.
After these tragedies, Rim was like a body without soul. Due to her disability, she was allowed to stay in the cooperative and work on light tasks such as raising pigs. Living in the cooperative allowed her to see many crimes. Many Khmer Krom and ethnic Cham Muslim were taken for execution every day. One day Rim saw the hundreds of dead bodies in a pit close to the cooperative. She saw the two killers every day but never dared to look at their faces. The two also raped and executed beautiful young girls evacuated from the Eastern Zone. In late 1977, Rim was forced to remarry in a mass ceremony of ten couples. Although she did not agree with the marriage, she had a daughter with her second husband and lived with him until he died in 2005.
Each village in Cambodia has similar stories, all of which should be documented, preserved and discussed with students. In 2009, Khmer Rouge history was added to the secondary school curriculum and in 2010 it was added to the list of required university courses. My textbook, A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) is now mandatory reading throughout the country. But that alone is inadequate. Survivors’ stories are the raw materials from which KR history will continue to be written and understood by future generations and must also be shared in the classroom.
For almost thirty years, the content of the KR history was dominated by politics and politicization. As a consequence, the younger and older generations have not discussed, much less reached a common understanding of, KR history. Documenting and discussing survivors’ stories prevents political distortions of history. History is no longer a political stand about political regimes and senior leaders, but is the concrete experiences of survivors expressed in their own words.
Hearing stories about what happened in villages like their own will encourage students to connect the content in the KR textbook to their families’ lives. Students will be encouraged to interview their own families—both victims and perpetrators—and uncover memories that will otherwise fade with time. Discussion and debate of village history in the classroom will lead common ground on which understanding and local reconciliation can grow.
Documenting and sharing stories from the villages will help people find a larger truth than can be found in any textbook: the truth of what happened to ordinary individuals throughout the country. These memories must be preserved and shared or the younger generation will never reflect on how their society today came to be. These memories, however horrible, are also part of Cambodia’s cultural heritage. Rim said, “I want my grandchildren and other young Cambodians to learn about killing, rape and other crimes that I witnessed when I was living in Romlech during the KR regime.
Dy Khamboly is the author of 'A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979)' and Team Leader of Genocide Education project at the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
For details on the project, visit: http://www.dccam.org/Projects/Genocide/Genocide_Education_Public_Forum.htm
Searching for the Truth.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal moves prisoners, fearing flood at jail
Associated Press
10/13/10 11:21 AM PDT PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA — Cambodia's U.N.-backed genocide tribunal has moved its five Khmer Rouge prisoners out of the custom-built jail in Phnom Penh where they have been held because it is at risk of flooding after heavy rains this week, a spokesman said Wednesday. Tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen did not disclose where they were moved to Tuesday. The five are among the former leaders of ultra-communist regime during whose 1975-79 rule an estimated 1.7 million people were executed or died from overwork, disease and malnutrition. In July, the regime's chief jailer, Kaing Guek Eav — also known as Duch — was sentenced to 19 years in prison for war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder. Duch, 67, was the first defendant to be tried. He supervised the notorious S-21 prison where as many as 16,000 people were tortured before being executed. The other four are expected to be tried starting in the middle of next year. They are Nuon Chea, 84, the group's ideologist; former head of state Khieu Samphan, 79; former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, and his wife Ieng Thirith, ex-minister for social affairs, both in their 80s.
The five have been detained since 2007 and aside from trips to the nearby court, have gone virtually nowhere else except for occasional hospital visits.
http://www.dap-news.com/en/news/1691-un-secretary-general-to-see-pm-hun-sen-and-khmer-rouge-tribunal-.html
www.dap-news.com/en .Thursday, Oct 14th
UN Secretary General to See PM Hun Sen, and Khmer Rouge Tribunal
Wednesday, 13 October 2010 09:43 DAP NEWS / VIBOL
CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, Oct 13, 2010-The UN secretary General Mr. Ban Kim Moon will lead a high delegation to pay an official visit to Cambodia from 26- 28 October, 2010, the statement from foreign ministry of Cambodia said on Wednesday. It added Mr. Ban will be received in Royal audience by King Norodom Sihamoni. And Mr Ban also will hold an official talk with PM Hun Sen and during his visit; Mr. Ban also will visit the UN- Cambodia tribunal and Khmer Soviet friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh. This is the second UN secretary general to visit Cambodia in the UN history. United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali visited Cambodia while UNTAC helps organize general election in Cambodian in 1991-1993. Previously, PM Hun Sen revealed that he will be likely to ask Mr. Ban to be mediator for solving the border issues between Cambodia and Thailand. Mr. Ban is former South Korean Foreign Minister who used to visit Cambodia in 2008 while he seat as foreign minister. UN and Cambodia is strengthening fruitful cooperation and UN AIDS Committee just handed over the award for Cambodia in fighting against AIDS. Thanked UN for helping Cambodia both development and peace since 1990s. .
Copyright © 2010 DAP-NEWS. All Rights Reserved.
Searching for the Truth.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
10/13/10 11:21 AM PDT PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA — Cambodia's U.N.-backed genocide tribunal has moved its five Khmer Rouge prisoners out of the custom-built jail in Phnom Penh where they have been held because it is at risk of flooding after heavy rains this week, a spokesman said Wednesday. Tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen did not disclose where they were moved to Tuesday. The five are among the former leaders of ultra-communist regime during whose 1975-79 rule an estimated 1.7 million people were executed or died from overwork, disease and malnutrition. In July, the regime's chief jailer, Kaing Guek Eav — also known as Duch — was sentenced to 19 years in prison for war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder. Duch, 67, was the first defendant to be tried. He supervised the notorious S-21 prison where as many as 16,000 people were tortured before being executed. The other four are expected to be tried starting in the middle of next year. They are Nuon Chea, 84, the group's ideologist; former head of state Khieu Samphan, 79; former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, and his wife Ieng Thirith, ex-minister for social affairs, both in their 80s.
The five have been detained since 2007 and aside from trips to the nearby court, have gone virtually nowhere else except for occasional hospital visits.
http://www.dap-news.com/en/news/1691-un-secretary-general-to-see-pm-hun-sen-and-khmer-rouge-tribunal-.html
www.dap-news.com/en .Thursday, Oct 14th
UN Secretary General to See PM Hun Sen, and Khmer Rouge Tribunal
Wednesday, 13 October 2010 09:43 DAP NEWS / VIBOL
CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, Oct 13, 2010-The UN secretary General Mr. Ban Kim Moon will lead a high delegation to pay an official visit to Cambodia from 26- 28 October, 2010, the statement from foreign ministry of Cambodia said on Wednesday. It added Mr. Ban will be received in Royal audience by King Norodom Sihamoni. And Mr Ban also will hold an official talk with PM Hun Sen and during his visit; Mr. Ban also will visit the UN- Cambodia tribunal and Khmer Soviet friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh. This is the second UN secretary general to visit Cambodia in the UN history. United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali visited Cambodia while UNTAC helps organize general election in Cambodian in 1991-1993. Previously, PM Hun Sen revealed that he will be likely to ask Mr. Ban to be mediator for solving the border issues between Cambodia and Thailand. Mr. Ban is former South Korean Foreign Minister who used to visit Cambodia in 2008 while he seat as foreign minister. UN and Cambodia is strengthening fruitful cooperation and UN AIDS Committee just handed over the award for Cambodia in fighting against AIDS. Thanked UN for helping Cambodia both development and peace since 1990s. .
Copyright © 2010 DAP-NEWS. All Rights Reserved.
Searching for the Truth.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
The Devil of Humanity: Can the Khmer Rouge Leaders Be Forgiven?
by Kok-Thay Eng
I am delighted that on September 15, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) announced that the four remaining senior Khmer Rouge leaders currently in custody—Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Thirith— were indicted for crimes against humanity and genocide, among other offenses. I hope that they will be tried fairly and punished justly according to the law. What they did to the people of Cambodia was beyond hell on earth. They were the devil of humanity. But can they be forgiven by the people? The four accused invited monks to their cells to preside over an offering ceremony during the Pchum Benn holiday. This is an indication that they might be seeking forgiveness for their next lives or somebody to take care of them when they die. On Pchum Benn people send food to “Pret” (lost souls or wandering ghosts) who have committed serious sins during their lifetimes and cannot be reborn. The enormity of the crimes committed by leaders of the Khmer Rouge could make them the worst "Pret" of all who would always be hungry and wandering without destination. If they can be forgiven by survivors, their prospect for life after death could be improved.
Forgiveness does not call for release or dissolution of the ECCC. Forgiveness is a very sensitive question. It is almost a taboo to ask victims or the public to consider. But I would like them to try. Complete justice after genocide is never possible. Without such justice, people are forced to live with a sense of injustice, grudges, anger and frustration. Those mental conditions negatively affect survivors to such an extent that without measures to cope, they can destroy them from inside. Much like the Khmer Rouge's own oft-cited slogan that the most contemptible of enemies are those "burrowing from within" and must be rooted out immediately, the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge genocide created mental conditions that have been burrowing inside survivors, for some people causing acute cases of mental disorder. On the other hand, whether admitting it or not, some people have been able to forgive the perpetrators.
During the Duch verdict announcement, I visited a remote village in Kampong Thom province in which Pin, a former Khmer Rouge and perpetrator and Pai, a survivor, have lived together for almost thirty years. Pin was involved in killing Pai's one-legged husband in 1977. Although Pin never admitted that he killed Pai's husband, simultaneous interviews with both of them revealed the chilling story of how Pai's husband died. On a cloudless afternoon in Kampong Thom, Pin and his comrade walked up Pai's house, tied her husband to its central column, interrogated him for a short time and then took him into the bush not far away from the village. Pin said Pai's husband did not resist. He and his comrade escorted him to the bush with a hoe, and he knew full well that the hoe would be used as an execution tool. Pin said Pai's husband's hands were tied behind him fairly loosely, but he did not attempt to escape. Arriving at the bush, Pai's husband was made to sit down and struck with the hoe. Pin did not describe clearly how Pai's husband was killed, he just said, "My comrade did the job." In the early 1980s, Pai excavated a shallow grave and found a one-legged skeleton with broken arms and fractured skull. Pin never said anything about the manner of his death, but judging from the trauma on the skeleton, Pai's husband died a brutal death. Pin's comrade who supposedly committed the act died many years ago. Pai witnessed Pin killing another person in the village. She saw how cold-blooded he was when taking a rifle and shooting the man like "a raging dog in full daylight."
Today Pin is living with his wife and two children. During the day he works in a pagoda to help the monks. He is old and frailty. Pai's four children have grown up. Two of them are able-bodied men. Overall, the family is much better off than Pin’s, meaning they can physically take revenge on Pin and few people in the village would consider it to be an injustice, or they could use their better social status to make Pin's life much worse than it already is. But Pai said, "I don't want to kill him and I have stopped my children from doing so. I want him to live so that he can take care of his wife and children." Pai does not want to see another woman becoming a widow and going through her same experience. Pai said that Pin is being punished by the Buddha for what he did. His mental capacity is weak and he is virtually an outcast in the village. Only the pagoda provides a haven for him.
Even though Pai never talks about forgiveness, in many respects she has forgiven Pin and has moved on with her life. Pai does not have to love Pin to forgive him. She does not have to communicate with him to forgive him. To Pai, Pin is a sad case of Buddha's example of living sin, to be rejected forever by survivors, society and his own self. Anyone falling into this category should be pitied. Perhaps one day, Pin will realize that the only way to rid himself of his sin is to continue collecting merits from the pagoda and repay Pai anyway possible. When that happens, a complete forgiveness and reconciliation may be possible. If Pin chooses the easy way by denying his crime, then complete forgiveness is not possible. For Pai, denial from Pin does not affect her, but admission increases her sense of enlightenment.
I believe this example is being lived in many other locations in Cambodia. People do not want to admit that it is happening because they would be seen as weak and surrendering to the perpetrators. Forgiveness is a very personal question. The path varies from person to person. It depends on how much harm was done, the demeanor of the perpetrators, and the life philosophy of survivors. It is possible for one to forgive entirely by oneself without interaction with the perpetrators. Also, forgiveness does not mean abandoning legal accountability. Forgiveness can be taught if one sees enough successful examples.
However, forgiving the four Khmer Rouge leaders is a different story. Will the devil of humanity be forgiven? Will Case 002 lay such a foundation for Cambodians in general to move beyond grudges? It will be a difficult test for forgiveness and reconciliation in Cambodia.
Kok-Thay Eng is Deputy Director and Director of Research of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
Searching for the Truth.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
I am delighted that on September 15, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) announced that the four remaining senior Khmer Rouge leaders currently in custody—Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Thirith— were indicted for crimes against humanity and genocide, among other offenses. I hope that they will be tried fairly and punished justly according to the law. What they did to the people of Cambodia was beyond hell on earth. They were the devil of humanity. But can they be forgiven by the people? The four accused invited monks to their cells to preside over an offering ceremony during the Pchum Benn holiday. This is an indication that they might be seeking forgiveness for their next lives or somebody to take care of them when they die. On Pchum Benn people send food to “Pret” (lost souls or wandering ghosts) who have committed serious sins during their lifetimes and cannot be reborn. The enormity of the crimes committed by leaders of the Khmer Rouge could make them the worst "Pret" of all who would always be hungry and wandering without destination. If they can be forgiven by survivors, their prospect for life after death could be improved.
Forgiveness does not call for release or dissolution of the ECCC. Forgiveness is a very sensitive question. It is almost a taboo to ask victims or the public to consider. But I would like them to try. Complete justice after genocide is never possible. Without such justice, people are forced to live with a sense of injustice, grudges, anger and frustration. Those mental conditions negatively affect survivors to such an extent that without measures to cope, they can destroy them from inside. Much like the Khmer Rouge's own oft-cited slogan that the most contemptible of enemies are those "burrowing from within" and must be rooted out immediately, the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge genocide created mental conditions that have been burrowing inside survivors, for some people causing acute cases of mental disorder. On the other hand, whether admitting it or not, some people have been able to forgive the perpetrators.
During the Duch verdict announcement, I visited a remote village in Kampong Thom province in which Pin, a former Khmer Rouge and perpetrator and Pai, a survivor, have lived together for almost thirty years. Pin was involved in killing Pai's one-legged husband in 1977. Although Pin never admitted that he killed Pai's husband, simultaneous interviews with both of them revealed the chilling story of how Pai's husband died. On a cloudless afternoon in Kampong Thom, Pin and his comrade walked up Pai's house, tied her husband to its central column, interrogated him for a short time and then took him into the bush not far away from the village. Pin said Pai's husband did not resist. He and his comrade escorted him to the bush with a hoe, and he knew full well that the hoe would be used as an execution tool. Pin said Pai's husband's hands were tied behind him fairly loosely, but he did not attempt to escape. Arriving at the bush, Pai's husband was made to sit down and struck with the hoe. Pin did not describe clearly how Pai's husband was killed, he just said, "My comrade did the job." In the early 1980s, Pai excavated a shallow grave and found a one-legged skeleton with broken arms and fractured skull. Pin never said anything about the manner of his death, but judging from the trauma on the skeleton, Pai's husband died a brutal death. Pin's comrade who supposedly committed the act died many years ago. Pai witnessed Pin killing another person in the village. She saw how cold-blooded he was when taking a rifle and shooting the man like "a raging dog in full daylight."
Today Pin is living with his wife and two children. During the day he works in a pagoda to help the monks. He is old and frailty. Pai's four children have grown up. Two of them are able-bodied men. Overall, the family is much better off than Pin’s, meaning they can physically take revenge on Pin and few people in the village would consider it to be an injustice, or they could use their better social status to make Pin's life much worse than it already is. But Pai said, "I don't want to kill him and I have stopped my children from doing so. I want him to live so that he can take care of his wife and children." Pai does not want to see another woman becoming a widow and going through her same experience. Pai said that Pin is being punished by the Buddha for what he did. His mental capacity is weak and he is virtually an outcast in the village. Only the pagoda provides a haven for him.
Even though Pai never talks about forgiveness, in many respects she has forgiven Pin and has moved on with her life. Pai does not have to love Pin to forgive him. She does not have to communicate with him to forgive him. To Pai, Pin is a sad case of Buddha's example of living sin, to be rejected forever by survivors, society and his own self. Anyone falling into this category should be pitied. Perhaps one day, Pin will realize that the only way to rid himself of his sin is to continue collecting merits from the pagoda and repay Pai anyway possible. When that happens, a complete forgiveness and reconciliation may be possible. If Pin chooses the easy way by denying his crime, then complete forgiveness is not possible. For Pai, denial from Pin does not affect her, but admission increases her sense of enlightenment.
I believe this example is being lived in many other locations in Cambodia. People do not want to admit that it is happening because they would be seen as weak and surrendering to the perpetrators. Forgiveness is a very personal question. The path varies from person to person. It depends on how much harm was done, the demeanor of the perpetrators, and the life philosophy of survivors. It is possible for one to forgive entirely by oneself without interaction with the perpetrators. Also, forgiveness does not mean abandoning legal accountability. Forgiveness can be taught if one sees enough successful examples.
However, forgiving the four Khmer Rouge leaders is a different story. Will the devil of humanity be forgiven? Will Case 002 lay such a foundation for Cambodians in general to move beyond grudges? It will be a difficult test for forgiveness and reconciliation in Cambodia.
Kok-Thay Eng is Deputy Director and Director of Research of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
Searching for the Truth.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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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.