Witnessing Justice 30 Year Later: Building Democracy in Cambodia Through Legal Education

 

October 2012's village forum will be specifically set up to generate a Khmer Rouge (KR) history‐related dialogue among the former KR members and their children and go deeper into the process of KR history being conveyed to their children. The history and education‐oriented forum at the grassroots levels attempts to put into practice the theme of "every story telling is important."

 

During the forum, those senior people would chair the group discussion and narrate their personal experiences under the KR regime. Participants would pay heed to individual memory. This practice would culminate in the establishment of a collective memory of the past atrocities. To ensure an earnest discussion amongst the sixty students, 15 survivors (including former KR soldiers), 5 provincial and commune teachers, three groups are being divided and separately placed. This arrangement should proceed given the good progress of the previous forum in Tramkak district, Takeo province. All the participants are active in sharing their views and posing questions during the forum, rather than placing some in a manner in which the participants show respect and acknowledge the stories of sufferings and losses of their family members. It would be imperative for their general knowledge of KR history in addition to their history study in classrooms. The forum serves as a constructive educational compliment for the students of this far‐flung and mountainous area. Specifically, some inhabitants are former KR members. Their perspectives on how people of Anlung Reap commune in Veal Veng district, one of the former KR strongholds, work toward peace and rebuild their lives during and after the civil war will provide a new angle of the history.

 

As part of our cooperative efforts, there will be a short presentation about the judicial developments at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). While the legal proceedings in Case 002 are being held, Ieng Thirith, one of the Case 002 accused, was released for her unfitness to stand trial. Since the court handed down the conditional release verdict, the people have starting expressing their views on this issue. During the forum, there will be an exploration into former KR members' thought as well.

 

Funded by Office of Global Programs, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), U.S. Department of State.