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From 1970 to
mid-1990s Cambodia was in armed conflicts. The
country
has only recently been peaceful in the past ten
years when democratic processes are taking hold.
For this process to have a
stronger foothold in
Cambodian society, Cambodia needs to address
the most
fundamental need of its society—it is the need to find
and reconcile with their lost relatives who were separated mostly
since the Khmer Rouge
regime evacuated cities on April
17, 1975. During the Khmer Rouge regime of three years,
eight months and twenty days, almost two million
Cambodian people of all creeds,
political orientation
and ethnicities perished due to summary execution,
malnutrition, starvation and forced labors. Families
were separated and put into labor units. At the end of
the Khmer Rouge regime in January 1979, people walked
back to their homes of 1975
hoping that they would meet
their family members. However only a few families were
able to reconcile with their lost relatives during that
time. With a minimal death rate of up to one in seven,
most people arrived homes alone, facing the prospect of
rebuilding life
without the comfort of their families.
For Cambodian people to move on and to help them bring
closure to the past, helping them to locate their lost
loved ones is vital, whether dead or alive. The most
important piece of information that survivors of the
Khmer Rouge regime would like to know is the certainty
of the fate of their loved ones. This project aims to
reconcile family members through the publication of a
Family Tracing book that lists all
the names of people
who disappeared or died during the Khmer Rouge regime,
utilizing
DC-Cam’s extensive biographical database and
other archival holdings. The book in
effect would create
a log book of democracy in which voices of the victims
are expressed
and heard. The most fundamental violation
of human rights during the Khmer Rouge
regime was the
destruction of human lives. This project aims to address
this issue by highlighting individual stories of the
dead and disappeared. In effect it raises their voices
and creates a platform on which Khmer Rouge victims are
presented. One can also call
the book as the book of
the disappeared.
There were
three instances in which people were separated. The war
between the 1970
and 1975 effectively divided Cambodia
between the “liberated area” controlled by the
Khmer
Rouge and areas controlled by the Khmer Republic led by
General Lon Nol.
Families and relatives were separated.
In some instances brothers fought on either side of
the
war. They were unable to reconcile even when the war was
over in 1975. Second,
families were torn apart when the
Khmer Rouge finally took over Cambodia in April 1975.
This time deliberate policies were set up to make sure
that family institution was destroyed. Various work
brigades were created to replace previous social units.
Marriages were organized en mass by Angkar (the phantom
Khmer Rouge leadership). Children were put in child
units and taught that their parents were Angkar. People
made efforts both during
the Khmer Rouge regime and
after to locate their lost relatives, but their
efforts
have been futile. Third, as the Khmer Rouge was
overthrown by the Vietnamese, a large portion of
the
population moved along with the retreating Khmer Rouge
to the west and the Thai border, instead of returning
home. Some were able to move to a third
countries.
Others repatriated in the early 1990s. As a result of
these historical instances, today up to 300,000
Cambodians are living in the US and up to a million are
scattered around the world.
Cambodian
people are still looking for their lost relatives, and
knowing the fate of their
lost loved ones is an
important element for them to reconcile with their past.
It can also
help them cope with the effect of
post-traumatic stress disorders that is thought to be
widespread among Cambodian population who underwent the
trauma of war and
genocide. This project aims to fulfil
the need above by publishing a biographical record of
genocide victims (which include people in the Khmer
Rouge rank and file) generated from DC-Cam’s
biographical, bibliographical, photographic and
geographical databases. Each record of victim includes
their biographical information and available information
relating to them. The project aims to publish three
thousand books, then distribute them free of
charges to
1621 commune offices all over the country and major
Cambodian communities overseas, create community forums
and gathering inputs from villagers to address
shortcomings and receive feedbacks. |
