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Overview
The genocide of 1975-1979 represents one of the darkest, most
tragic chapters in the history of Cambodia. Upwards of two million people
perished at the hands of a regime that was closed, insular, ideologically
extreme, and deeply paranoid not only about outsiders, but also the “outsiders
within.” For almost fifteen years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, few in the
international community did anything to seek redress for the victims and
survivors of the genocide; in fact, Cold War political dynamics found many
countries, including the United States, aiding the Khmer Rouge in their attempts
to rehabilitate themselves and regain power in Cambodia. The Cambodian Genocide
Justice Act of 1994 signaled a sharp break with the previous stance of the U.S.
towards the Khmer Rouge and the crimes they committed in the 1970s, replacing it
with a genuine commitment to accurately documenting what took place in Cambodia
under Pol Pot’s regime, and to seeking legal remedies for those who survived its
reign of terror.
The Cambodian Genocide Program was created at Yale University in
1994 with the support of the U.S. Department of State. Founded by Ben Kiernan,
world-renowned scholar of contemporary Cambodian history, the Cambodian Genocide
Program set out to document, as thoroughly as possible, the genocidal crimes
committed by the Khmer Rouge with the dual purposes of making this information
available to any court that claimed jurisdiction over them, as well as
establishing an authoritative account of these events for posterity. Starting
with a two-year mandate, Dr. Kiernan and his team of researchers, investigators
and documentalists in Cambodia, Australia, and North America assembled
information and organized it into a set of searchable databases. Using the
(then) new technology available in the form of the World Wide Web, these
databases were made available to a global audience in January 1997.
After the discovery of a major cache of original documents from
the Khmer Rouge’s own security archive, the Cambodian Genocide Program received
additional funding from the State Department and other donors (see Appendix A
for a full list of financial contributors) to continue its documentation work
for an additional five years. During this time the prospect of a genocide
tribunal that would try the remaining leaders of the Khmer Rouge has become ever
more likely. These two processes were not unrelated. As political developments
in Cambodia, as well as in the international sphere, made a genocide tribunal
more politically viable, so did the increasing body of probative material held
by the Cambodian Genocide Program make a legal accounting of the crimes
committed by the Khmer Rouge more imperative. The Cambodian Genocide Program has
helped to keep the issue of justice for genocide survivors in Cambodia alive in
the international consciousness by publishing its research findings widely,
appearing frequently in print and broadcast media around the world, and
assisting with documentary film projects, museum exhibits, and theatrical
productions that seek to bring the Cambodian genocide greater international
attention. The Cambodian Genocide Program has also made its findings available
to students and scholars of the Cambodian genocide, legal experts, policymakers,
and Cambodians themselves in order to impress upon all interested parties the
idea that airing the truth about what occurred in Cambodia between 1975 and
1979, and punishing those responsible, will allow Cambodian society to move
forward, and achieve a measure of closure, as it emerges from so many decades of
violence and destruction.
Introduction and Acknowledgements
Scholarly efforts to study genocide have become increasingly
important as the twentieth century (“The Century of Genocide”) ends and the
twenty-first begins. They serve not only to support international genocide
tribunals that require a high standard of proof, but also to supplement them.
Mechanisms of legal redress are primarily focused on the alleged criminals—what
they did, when, and to whom. It is the purpose of such proceedings to determine
what crimes these people committed, and to punish them accordingly. The dynamic
of a trial thus tends to devote more attention to the perpetrators than to the
victims of these tragedies. Again and again, it has been shown that, in order
for survivors to heal, societies to reconcile, and cultures of impunity to end,
the truth must be told, and told in detail.
Despite the attempts of courageous survivors and dedicated
scholars to bring the events of the Cambodian genocide to light in the years
following the defeat of the Khmer Rouge, the genocide in Cambodia has remained
shrouded in mystery, confusion, and obscurity. The Cambodian Genocide Program
has attempted, through its work, to remove some of the mystery from what
happened in Cambodia in the 1970s. By not only assembling documents and other
materials that have evidentiary value to a genocide tribunal, but also by
researching social and cultural aspects of life under the Khmer Rouge, the
Program has attempted to create a multi-dimensional understanding of the
Cambodian genocide. It is our wish that justice will come to those who
perpetrated genocide in Cambodia, but we also hope that an honest account of the
events in question can help survivors (and their children and grandchildren)
achieve a certain closure about what occurred in their country. There is comfort
in knowing the truth, even when the truth is unfathomably cruel.
Many dedicated people offered their skills, time, energy, and
resources to the work of the Cambodian Genocide Program. It is important to
acknowledge as many of them as possible, as the list alone attests to the
ambitiousness of the task we set for ourselves. Three individuals deserve their
own list. They are Ben Kiernan, Helen Jarvis, and Youk Chhang. Ben brought
twenty-five years of scholarship on Cambodia to the task of founding the
Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale, and served as its Director from 1994 to
1999. Without Ben’s knowledge, energy, and, above all, his passion, the CGP
never could have achieved so much. His continued interest in the work of the CGP
will undoubtedly deepen and strengthen the world’s case against one of the
twentieth-century’s most murderous regimes. Helen Jarvis also brought a
long-standing interest in Cambodia to her role as the CGP’s Documentation
Consultant. Much more than a computer systems development expert and information
management specialist, Helen realized early on that the CGP should incorporate
Geographic Information System (GIS) technology into its research agenda and look
into some of the reported mass graves scattered around Cambodia. The success and
importance of the mapping component of the CGP is attributable in large part to
her. The Cambodian Genocide Program could not have identified a better crusader
for truth, justice, and the power of history to lead the Documentation Center of
Cambodia than Youk Chhang. A survivor of the genocide who wears the star of
Texas as proudly as he wears a traditional Cambodian kromah, Youk has
dedicated many years to unearthing the truth about this period in Cambodian
history, and rallying ordinary Cambodians, along with politicians, diplomats,
activists and Khmer Rouge leaders themselves, around the idea of looking
Cambodian history squarely in the face, however painful the task.
In the interests of space, it is possible to mention only the
names, and not the many achievements, of those who have contributed to the work
of the Cambodian Genocide Program. They can all take credit for the overall
accomplishments of the Program, and they should. Apologies to anyone who was
inadvertently left off. Thanks, then, to Cath Besly, Oaulus Boon, Charles
Bowers, Jeff Brand, Lydia Breckon, John Bullock, Muy Bun, Tim Cashman, Ivy Chan,
Matinal Chan, Chou Chandary, Entero Chey, Michelle Chhuy, Rada Chhuy, George
Chigas, Cindy Chung, Evon Clarke, Sara Colm, Nereida Cross, Dede Donovan, Chart
Em, Sokhym Em, Craig Etcheson, Daniel Felsing, S. Desita Ferdinandus, Matthew
Fladeland, Naomi Graham, Mihaela Grigore, Michael Guo, Simon Handfield, Sophal
Hak, Liam Hayden, Samnang Heng, Maureen Henninger, Suzy Hepner, Aya Hirata,
Cindy Huang, Rachel Hughes, Sothearith Im, Judd Iversen, Jens Iverson, Sarah
Jacoby, Munich Khan, Dara Khel, Iem Sok Khim, Ariane Kirtley, Wai-Keng Kwok,
Curtis Lambrecht, Barbara Law, Putheara Lay, Botumroath LeBun, Troeung Lim,
Robert Loomans, Kalyanee Mam, Ewan Masters, Peter Moloney, Kristine Mooseker,
Dmitri Mosyakov, Robin Murray, Allen Myers, Loeung Neakhatary, Maria Norin, Lina
Norng, Noah Novogrodsky, Matt Oakes, Ann Okerson, Mina O’Shea, Sam Oeun Ouch,
Sovann Ouch, Leslie Pace, Barbara Papacoda, Olivia Patchett, Lorraine Paterson,
Kosal Phat, Toni Samantha Phim, Thavro Phim, Tem Pisey, Jaya Ramji, Gustav
Ranis, Larissa Reid, Rich Richie, Camille Riley, Chris Rizos, Joe Rodriguez, Sam
Peou Ros, Steven Rothert, Jody Rowlands, Puanthong Rungswasdisab, Richard Ruth,
Ros Sarou, Ben Shoer, Shawn Sijnstra, Sorya Sim, Kim Sin, Khavan Sok, Irene
Sokha, Yem Sokha, Entero Sokhea,
Jason Sokol, Mak Solieng, Manara Sombo, Chhang Song, Scott Taing, Pisey
Tem, Neth Thavry, Sophy Theam, Siv Thuon, Sopheak Vichea Tieng, Leslie Timko, Sally Tremaine, Sopheak
Try, Eric Tsang, Sok-Chea Ung, Mao Utah, Olwen Tudor Jones, Karen Van, Beth Van
Schaack, Pou Vanny, Peou Dara Vanthan, Monida Var, Sean Volke, Jodi Weinstein,
Haynie Wheeler, Kenneth Wong, Felicia Wu, Nean Yin, Kim Yong-Gu.
Thanks, too, to those institutions that supported the work of the
Cambodian Genocide Program in various ways over the past seven years. They
include the Yale University Library, the Orville H. Schell, Jr., Center for
International Human Rights at the Yale Law School, and the School of Information
Systems, Technology and Management at the University of New South
Wales.
This report is organized according to the three major achievements
of the Cambodian Genocide Program, 1994-2001. The first is the establishment of
the Documentation Center of Cambodia in Phnom Penh. The second is the historical
documentation work, and the third is the promotion of a genocide tribunal in
Cambodia. Each of these three broad areas boasts its own accomplishments, and
these are described in turn. For information on specific project activities, as
spelled out in the original grant proposal, please refer to the three previous
annual reports, included as attachments. A brief summary comparison of the
project’s objectives and accomplishments can be found in Appendix E.
The Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam)
It was clear from the outset that a comprehensive effort to
document the Cambodian genocide would necessitate the establishment of a base of
operations within Cambodia itself. The Documentation Center of Cambodia was
founded in Phnom Penh in January 1995 to serve not only as the Cambodian field
office of the Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale, but also as a symbol of the
large stakes Cambodian nationals have in researching their own history and
promoting the idea of justice for gross violators of human rights. A
Cambodian-born American, Mr. Youk Chhang, was selected to be the Director of the
Documentation Center, and a fledgling staff of Cambodian research and technical
experts was hired to help launch the Center’s activities.
Operated initially by the Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale, the
Documentation Center became administratively independent in 1997. Mr. Chhang
became Executive Director of the DC-Cam, and a Board of Directors made up of
legal, academic, and other Cambodian professionals was constituted as the
governing body of the Center. Although most of its operating funds still came
from the CGP at Yale in the form of sub-contracts and consultancy payments, the
DC-Cam began receiving funding for a range of new activities from other
international donors as well. The Center’s staff grew to approximately 35 by the
end of 2001, all of them Cambodian.
Since 1995, the DC-Cam has grown into an independent, nonprofit
Cambodian non-governmental organization, and has earned the respect and won the
praise of the Cambodian people, the Cambodian government, and the international
community. The Center now houses the world’s largest collection of original
materials on the Cambodian genocide, including the Khmer Rouge security archive,
thousands of photographs, film footage, cassette recordings, notebooks kept by
Khmer Rouge cadres, and much more. (See the DC-Cam’s website at http://www.dccam.org/) By locating the physical
archive at a location inside Cambodia, the Cambodian Genocide Program made it
possible for ordinary Cambodians, in addition to scholars and policymakers, to
have access to these important materials. Although concerns arose about the
safety and security of the archive, measures have been taken to ensure that the
collection will remain a permanent resource for the Cambodian people, as well as
for those involved in bringing the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders to
justice.
In order to ensure the continued availability of the most
important original documents from the Khmer Rouge’s own security archive (the
Santebal collection), obtained by the Cambodian Genocide Program in 1996,
the Program has worked to preserve this collection in at least three ways.
First, trained preservationists at the Documentation Center of Cambodia sought
to prevent the deterioration of the originals from the collection by cleaning
and reinforcing those sheets that were torn, soiled, or showed other signs of
wear, and by removing corrosive staples and rubber bands. Second, the collection
was photocopied in order to create a working set, leaving the originals less
exposed to air, light, heat, humidity, and human handling. Third, (with the
supervision and support of the Yale University Library) the entire collection
was microfilmed, and copies are now held at the Documentation Center of
Cambodia, Yale University, Cornell University, and the Center for Research
Libraries at the University of Chicago. The Library of Congress has also
expressed an interest in obtaining copies of the one hundred and fifteen reels
of film.
With funding from the Yale University Library, the Documentation
Center of Cambodia has continued to microfilm other important documents,
including dossiers from the Lon Nol regime and notebooks kept by Khmer Rouge
cadres.
Documenting the
Cambodian Genocide
The principal objective of the Cambodian Genocide Program has been
to document, authoritatively and as comprehensively as possible, the events that
occurred in Cambodia between April 1975 and January 1979. The Program approached
this task in two different ways. First, the CGP sought to assemble, organize,
and disseminate as much existing information about the Khmer Rouge regime as
possible. This it did by combining available secondary sources on the period
with the available primary documents, as well as those that surfaced (and
continue to surface) over the course of the project period. These materials were
catalogued and entered into a bibliographic database, searchable on the
Cambodian Genocide Program’s website (www.yale.edu/cgp). The bibliographic database currently
contains 2,963 records.
From these primary and secondary sources, information regarding
specific individuals was organized into a biographical database. This database
presently includes 19,049 records, and includes information on Khmer Rouge
leaders and cadres, as well as their victims. These records were reviewed by the
U.N. panel of experts who were tasked with assessing the viability of holding a
Cambodian genocide tribunal in 1998-9. They reported that there was not only
sufficient evidence to hold a trial, but sufficiently damning evidence that the
prospect of not holding a tribunal was unthinkable.
The Cambodian Genocide Program also obtained permission to
digitally reproduce a collection of photographs taken of individuals slated for
execution at Phnom Penh’s famous detention and torture center, Tuol Sleng
prison. This collection of roughly 15,000 “mug shots” was organized as a third
searchable database and is often the one that attracts the strongest responses
from members of the public who encounter it on the CGP’s website. The vacant
stares, expressions of fear and torment, and the inevitability of these people’s
violent deaths is a compelling visual testament to the human cost of political
extremism.
Together, these three databases comprise the Cambodian Genocide
Databases, and were first mounted on the Internet in January 1997. An integrated
search engine was subsequently added that enables the user to search for names
of people, places, dates, etc. across all three databases, making this one of
the most powerful research tools available to scholars, legal professionals, and
survivors studying the Cambodian genocide. Yale University now hosts two
identical versions of the databases, one formatted in Microsoft Access and
maintained by the Yale University Library, and the other formatted in CDS-ISIS,
and maintained by the Genocide Studies Program at the Yale Center for
International and Area Studies. The University of New South Wales hosts a third
version of the databases.
A second major component of the Cambodian Genocide Program’s work
has been generating new scholarship on the Cambodian genocide. Reports on topics
that were previously not well understood were commissioned and published (see
for example, the article “Literacy and Education under the Khmer Rouge” by
George Chigas and Dmitri Mosyakov, attached). In addition, the Documentation
Center has opened its own research department and is training Cambodians in the
research and writing skills necessary to carry out original research on the
Cambodian genocide.
The most ambitious original research project undertaken by the
Cambodian Genocide Program, in conjunction with the Documentation Center of
Cambodia, has been the mapping of all major mass grave sites in Cambodia that
date from the late 1970s. Starting in 1995, teams of field researchers in
Cambodia visited locations throughout Cambodia where mass graves were reported
to be located. They took GPS (Global Positioning System) readings, and then fed
the data into GIS software that plotted the points onto a projection of
Cambodia. This project, which represents the most comprehensive effort ever to
gain a geographical understanding of the killings that took place under the
Khmer Rouge, has identified and mapped over five hundred genocide sites in
twenty-two of Cambodia’s twenty-four provinces. The results can be viewed both
in static form, and interactively on an Internet Map Server, on the Program’s
website. The Cambodian Genocide Program has also published the maps in a booklet
entitled Cambodian Genocide Sites: 1975-1979 (attached).
A final component of the Cambodian Genocide Program’s
documentation efforts has been the translation of a range of key documents from
the Cambodian language, Khmer, into English. These include the autobiography of
Thiounn Prasith, a high-ranking official in the Khmer Rouge Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, and later the representative of Democratic Kampuchea at the United
Nations. These translations are all available on the Program’s website, and a
complete list can be found in
Appendix B.
Promoting the establishment of a tribunal
A second major objective of the Cambodian Genocide Program was to
assist in the formation of a legal mechanism that would try the perpetrators of
the Cambodian genocide. The documentation work described above was carried out
with this goal in mind, although it should be said that the documentation work
could also stand on its own as an effort to create an authoritative and
incontrovertible record of what took place in Cambodia under Khmer Rouge rule.
In the absence of a genocide tribunal, this information takes on even greater
importance as an historical account.
In 1994, when the Cambodian Genocide Program began, there was no
concrete sign that a tribunal would ever take place. With the final defeat of
the Khmer Rouge in 1999, and the growing international trend of mounting
expensive multilateral genocide tribunals, the prospect of a genocide tribunal
for Cambodia became less unlikely. At the time of writing, the Cambodian
government has passed legislation to create special chambers of the Cambodian
courts to handle trials of surviving Khmer Rouge leaders. Two suspects are in
custody. The United Nations has accepted, in principle, to assist the tribunal
in a variety of ways. It is not clear exactly when such a tribunal will issue
its first indictments or start hearing its first cases, but the Cambodian
Genocide Program has ensured that the information is in place to mount cases
against the architects of the genocide in Cambodia.
In addition to assembling the materials that will serve as a body
of evidence in a tribunal, the Cambodian Genocide Program also assisted the
legal process in other ways. In 1995, the Cambodian Genocide Program hosted an
international conference in Phnom Penh entitled “Striving for Justice:
International Criminal Law in the Cambodian Context.” This Conference brought
together international legal experts, Cambodia scholars, and Cambodian
government officials (including the then two co-Prime Ministers, Hun Sen and
Prince Norodom Ranariddh) to discuss Cambodia’s options for pursuing legal
redress for the crimes committed in the 1970s.
On the heels of that landmark conference, the Cambodian Genocide
Program began training Cambodian legal professionals, government officials and
human rights workers in international criminal law and international human
rights law. Seventeen individuals completed nine weeks of legal training in 1995
and twenty-one individuals (including most of the previous year’s class)
completed another nine weeks of training in the summer of 1996. Many of these
individuals continue to hold positions of power in Cambodia, and will be
instrumental in striking a balance between a genocide tribunal that conforms to
Cambodian law as it meets international standards.
Throughout the project period (1994-2001), the Cambodian Genocide
Program and its associated personnel have advocated publicly and privately for
the establishment of a genocide tribunal in Cambodia. Responding to press
inquiries from around the world, Mr. Youk Chhang has tirelessly touted the
importance of seeking justice for victims of the Cambodian genocide. Dr. Helen
Jarvis, the CGP’s Documentation Consultant, took on the role of Advisor to the
Cambodian government task force for Cooperation with Foreign Legal Experts and
Preparation of the Proceedings for the trial of Senior Khmer Rouge Leaders,
initially with the objective of advising the Cambodian government on dealing
with documentary evidence, but eventually with a broad portfolio of duties
related to the establishment of a tribunal. Dr. Susan Cook lectured to students
and scholars examining the issue of a genocide tribunal in Cambodia, wrote for
the popular and scholarly presses, and gave interviews to a wide range of media
organizations covering the issue. A select list of recent articles, lectures,
and media projects featuring the work and views of the Cambodian Genocide
Program can be found in Appendix C.
Appendix A
Financial support to the Cambodian Genocide Program
Grants and gifts were received from the following:
Jocarno Fund
Albert Kundstadter Foundation
Henry R. Luce Foundation
Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities
Angelo Masucci
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Hague
Open Society Institute
Sidney Scheinbaum
Yale Center for International and Area Studies
Yale Council on Southeast Asia Studies
Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies
Yale University Library
James Yost
Appendix B
Translations available on the Cambodian Genocide Program
website
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Ieng Sary’s Regime: A Diary of the Khmer Rouge Foreign Ministry,
1976-79. Khmer Rouge Biographical Questionnaire.
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The Khmer Rouge National Army: Order of Battle, January
1976.
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Cambodian Women in the Revolutionary War for the People’s
National Liberation (1973)
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Autobiography of Thiounn Prasith
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The Pol Pot Files, 1975-1977
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The Son Sen Files, 1976-77
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Translation of a Khmer Rouge Notebook (forthcoming)
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The Genocide Factor, a four-hour documentary to be aired
on PBS in April 2002. See http://www.genocidefactor.com/
for a
detailed description.
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Reporter Jeb Sharp interviews Susan E. Cook on PRI’s The
World, August 7, 2001.
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“New Momentum for Khmer Rouge Trial” by Khavan Sok. Bangkok
Post, August 5, 2001 (attached).
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“Cambodians Chart the Khmer Rouge Paper Trail” Washington
Post, January 8, 2001 (attached).
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“Prosecuting Genocide in Cambodia: the Winding Path Towards
Justice.” By Susan E. Cook. On http://www.crimesofwar.org/
(attached).
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“Fighting for the Sake of Truth and Justice” Interview with Youk
Chhang in the Phnom Penh Post.
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“Investigative Reports: Return to the Killing Fields” One-hour
documentary aired on A&E.
Appendix D
Select list of recent publications by CGP and DC-Cam staff
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"Documenting Genocide: Lessons from Cambodia for Rwanda" by Susan E.
Cook. In Democratic Kampuchea and Cambodia Today. Chandler, David P. and
Judy Ledgerwood, eds. Southeast Asian Studies Program, Northern Illinois
University, forthcoming.
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“Prosecuting Genocide in Cambodia: the Winding Path Towards
Justice” by Susan E. Cook. On http://www.crimesofwar.org/,
2001.
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“New Momentum for Khmer Rouge Trial” by Khavan Sok. Bangkok
Post, August 5, 2001.
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“Literacy and Education under the Khmer Rouge, by George Chigas
and Dmitri Mosyakov. Cambodian Genocide Program, 2001.
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Genocide Sites in Cambodia (1975-1979) Fladeland, M. and
S.E. Cook, eds. Cambodian Genocide Program, 2001.
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“Victims and Perpetrators: the Testimony of the Young Cadres at
S-21.” Documentation Center of Cambodia, 2000.
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“Women as Instruments for Social Change.” Documentation Center
of Cambodia, 2000.
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The Truth, monthly issues in Khmer and English.
Documentation Center of Cambodia.
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“Mapping Cambodia’s Killing Fields,” by Helen Jarvis. In
Materiel Culture: the Archaeology of 20th Century Conflict.
Schofield, J., W.G. Johnson and C. Beck, eds. Routledge, forthcoming.
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“A Personal View of the Documents of the People’s Revolutionary
Tribunal” by Helen Jarvis. In Genocide in Cambodia: Documents from the
Trial of Pol Pot and Ieng Sary. De Nike, H.J., J. Quigley and K.J.
Robinson, eds, with the assistance of Helen Jarvis and Nereida Cross.
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.
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“Mapping Genocide: Internet GIS as Communication” by Helen
Jarvis, Nereida Cross and Jasper Kuipers. Presented at ECAI, University of
Sydney, 12-13 June 2001.
Appendix E
Summary comparison report of project objectives and
accomplishments
The Cambodian Genocide Program’s proposal to the State Department for
additional funding to continue its documentation work, dated October 30, 1996,
stated three main objectives. The first was to produce a comprehensive account
of the Khmer Rouge regime of Democratic Kampuchea. The second was to ensure that
adequate informational resources were available to any court that seeks to try
the perpetrators of the Cambodian genocide. The third objective was to advance a
more theoretical understanding of genocide as a political phenomenon.
The Program successfully achieved all three major goals, though perhaps
not precisely in the way it planned. As stated in the body of the report, the
CGP, together with the Documentation Center, have not only consolidated existing
material related to the Cambodian genocide, but have generated a substantial
body of new scholarship on the subject. In addition, both the CGP and the DC-Cam
serve as important resources for unaffiliated researchers who are working on
related topics. As a result, the Cambodian genocide, in all its facets and
terrible dimensions, is much more well understood today, by Cambodians and
foreigners alike, than it was seven years ago.
In terms of making the information available to a tribunal, this
objective has also been met. The Documentation Center is often the first stop in
Cambodia for officials, dignitaries and legal professionals looking at the
tribunal issue. The Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale held a workshop in late
2000 for U.S.-based personnel whose work relates to the proposed tribunal. The
databases containing tens of thousands of records on Khmer Rouge officials,
original documents and mass graves are available on the Internet, as well as on
a CD-ROM, for all to see and use. In addition, publications like the
Documentation Center’s magazine “The Truth” and the CGP’s “Cambodian Genocide
Sites: 1975-1979” have made research on the Cambodian genocide available to an
ever-widening audience.
The aim of advancing a more theoretical understanding of genocide as a
political phenomenon was the focus of the research agenda pursued by the CGP at
Yale. Susan Cook, a comparative genocide scholar, wrote and lectured widely on
Cambodia and Rwanda, under the auspices of the Cambodian Genocide Program. Her
publications, including the forthcoming “Documenting Genocide: Lessons from
Cambodia for Rwanda” in Democratic Kampuchea and Cambodia Today, David
Chandler and Judy Ledgerwood, eds, examine the similarities and differences
between genocidal episodes, with the aim of identifying ways to detect and
prevent state-sponsored mass murder.
In a related effort at Yale, the Genocide Studies Program has
sponsored a whole range of activities that were not carried out with funds from
this grant, but which are relevant and worthy of mention. The Genocide Studies
Program has been directly engaged in teaching graduate students about genocide
in all its dimensions, sponsoring public lectures on aspects of genocide,
supporting doctoral research projects on genocide, and training genocide
specialists around the world in the techniques of genocide documentation. The
CGP’s contributions to this program have been considerable. The Cambodian
Genocide Program has co-sponsored events with the Genocide Studies Program, such
as the visit to Yale by Australian scholar Kelvin Rowley, who lectured on “The
Khmer Rouge After 1978.” In addition, Susan E. Cook, as CGP Director,
gave several presentations on Cambodia to the Genocide Studies Program, and
served on its Steering Committee. In short, the CGP’s efforts to develop more
sophisticated tools for the study of genocide in general were significantly
enhanced by the presence of this related program at Yale.
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“Cambodians Chart the Khmer Rouge Paper Trail” Washington
Post, January 8, 2001.
4. “Prosecuting Genocide in Cambodia: the Winding Path Towards Justice.” By
Susan E. Cook. On http://www.crimesofwar.org/.
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