VICTIMS OF TORTURE

 

 

 

 Villagers of Banteay Ampril District, Oddar Meanchey Province, watching a live screening verdict of Case 002/01 in August 2014 organized by the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam). During the announcement of the verdict, DC-Cam staff travelled to every corner of the country to set up live screenings of the verdict for people who could not otherwise hear the verdict. The verdict sentenced Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity. Source: Ouch Makara/Documentation Center of Cambodia Archive.

 

VICTIMS OF TORTURE

2003-Present

 

A range of affective conditions, including trauma, is the legacy of recent political conflicts, twenty years of civil war, the massive atrocities committed during the Khmer Rouge years, and the grave social and economic problems faced by thousands of Cambodians on a daily basis. DC-Cam and the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) are working together to implement the two-year Victims of Torture (VOT) Project, which was designed to address the trauma experienced by both the victims and perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge.

 

Our work was initially conducted in Takeo and Kandal provinces, both of which contain a large proportion of victims of the Khmer Rouge. Of historical importance, both provinces were under the control of Ta Mok (the head of the Southwest Zone during Democratic Kampuchea and a candidate for prosecution under the Khmer Rouge tribunal). This, plus the significant numbers of mass graves and prisons these two provinces, provides strong evidence of large-scale human rights abuses, including torture.

 

We subsequently added the pilot area of Koh Sla in Kampot province to the project. The majority of survivors in this region were Khmer Rouge soldiers. In addition, Koh Sla is located in the former West Zone, a highly controlled area under the Khmer Rouge regime.

 

Using the skills they have gained from TPO training and standardized questionnaires, DC-Cam staff members identify clients for TPO. After we identify individuals suffering from PTSD but prior to counseling, TPO assesses their mental health status, levels of functioning, and distress levels using standardized questionnaires such as the WHO-Disability Assessment Schedule 12.

 

Counseling began in January 2005. Each client's history will be recorded and kept in confidential files by TPO therapists. At the end of the project, TPO will conduct an evaluation and write up the results in a report.

 

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A Presentation: Trauma and Reconciliation in Cambodia

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Psychological Education Reports

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TPO Projects Reports

 

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VOT Annual Report

 

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VOT Report: October 2004 through March 2005

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VOT Report: Final 2005

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VOT Evaluation Report

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Healing from the Trauma of the Khmer Rouge: One Soul at a Time

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Coping with the Psychological Trauma of the Khmer Rouge

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Cambodia Must Start Attending to Those Minefields of the Mind

 

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DC-Cam’s Victims of Torture Project: An Evaluation  

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Broken Glass: A Young Girl Named Ginger

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"Joel Brinkley is cursing Cambodia to these problems, not showing that Cambodia is a cursed land."

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Cambodia's Hidden Scars: Trauma Psychology in the Wake of the Khmer Rouge | Book

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Letter from the Government on DC-Cam's Victims of Torture to Minister of Health: English|Khmer

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Cambodia's Hidden Scars: Trauma Psychology and The Extraordinary Chambers in The Courts of Cambodia (Second Edition): Cover | Book (Second Edition)

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List of Methods or Types of Torture: Khmer | English

Contact: Youk Chhang