February 11, 2010, Cha Pei Performance by Kong Nai
         
 

Between February 10-13, 2010, DC-Cam invites 100 villagers from Preah Net Preah commune in Banteay Meanchey province, Sa-Ang Phnom commune in Kandal province and Svay Chek commune in Svay Rieng province to Phnom Penh. This invitation is a part of DC-Cam’s Living Documents project intending to provide a forum for which victims of the Khmer Rouge atrocities learn about the Khmer Rouge tribunal. Since 2006, DC-Cam invited about 10,000 villagers, community leaders and members of the Cham Muslim minority to attend the ECCC hearings and receive basic training on ECCC’s jurisdiction, procedures and biographies of persons charged by the court. The selection of the visitors is based on the relevance of their home villages and community to the Khmer Rouge history and their connection with the particular Khmer Rouge leaders. After visiting the court, villagers were entertained in the evening by a performance by Kong Nai who plays Cha Pei (a traditional musical instrument, like a guitar). Kong Nai is blind, but his ability to put together meaningful instantaneous words on the spot made him famous.