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What's Being Done On . . . Memory Projects?
http://www.dccam.org/ The Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) is working to bring transitional justice to Cambodia. By engaging in a number of varied projects, including truth, justice and memory projects, DC-Cam hopes to promote national reconciliation in Cambodia, as well as restore the validity of the country's legal system. DC-Cam was established by Yale University in 1995 as their field office in Phnom Penh to conduct research, training and documentation on the Khmer Rouge regime through a grant provided by the US Government. On January 1, 1997, after the expiration of the grant, DC-Cam became an independent research institute. The two principal goals of DC-Cam are to record and preserve the history of the Khmer Rouge regime for future generations and to assemble and organize the information gathered to serve as evidence for the upcoming human rights trial. DC-Cam explains that "these objectives represent our promotion of memory and justice, both of which are critical foundations for the rule of law and genuine national reconciliation in Cambodia." The Khmer Rouge regime which controlled the state of "Democratic Kampuchea," as it was called, from 1975 to 1979. One of the most lethal regimes of the 21st century, it was culpable for the deaths of over 1.7 million people through starvation, forced labor and execution. Led by Pol Pot, the regime attempted to cut Cambodia off from the rest of the world and create a classless socialist state by utilizing a mix of Stalinist means to achieve Maoist goals. The regime was finally removed from power by Vietnamese invasion in 1979. Since 2003, when Cambodia and the UN agreed to convene a trial of Khmer Rouge leaders, attempts to initiate the trial have moved slowly. On July 3, 2006, 17 Cambodian and 10 foreign judges were sworn in and began investigations of the past atrocities. The trial is currently scheduled for 2007. DC-Cam maintains bibliographic, biographic, photographic and geographic databases related to the abuses and activities of the Khmer Rouge. As part of their work, DC-Cam preserves and analyzes primary documentary materials they collect through interviews, Khmer Rouge documents, and photographs. To date, DC-Cam has catalogued approximately 155,000 pages of primary Khmer Rouge documents and more than 6,000 photographs. The information gathered is entered into computer databases to produce archival indexes. In DC-Cam's own words, "By reconstructing a historical narrative of what happened to Cambodia, and by striving for justice where that is an appropriate remedy, we aim to lay a foundation upon which all Cambodians can find firm footing in moving toward a better future. Reconciliation in Cambodia will happen one heart at a time. Cambodians cannot forgive one another until they know who to forgive, and for what. DC-Cam's focus on memory and justice seeks to assist Cambodians in discovering the truths upon which a genuine national reconciliation depends." http://www.dccam.org/Abouts/History/Histories.htmBelow the following Interview is a list of programs run by DC-Cam. Interview: We would like to thank Youk Chhang, Director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, for answering the following interview questions. Q: Over the years you have managed to collect thousands of documents and individual stories on the genocide in Cambodia. What challenges and difficulties did you encounter in the process? The Documentation Center of Cambodia began as a field office of Yale University in 1995. Our budget for collecting documentation was almost nothing. Two years later, when we became an independent Cambodian research center, we had 1,700 pages of documents and a database structure. We worked hard and cultivated good relationships with the government by developing a reputation for objectivity. Thus, we were able to acquire documents like cadre biographies from different sources in the government, private individuals and other institutions. Today, we have over 600,000 documents; virtually all of them are primary except for photographs and some documents from American human rights activist David Hawke, who visited Cambodia shortly after the Khmer Rouge were driven from power. We have always been straightforward in crediting our sources and careful in the preservation of documents, which has helped us enlarge our collection over the years. Individual Cambodians have also been very generous in sharing documentary materials with us, particularly photographs taken before and during the regime. We are also continually gathering secondary data, mainly through interviews. It has been a little more difficult to obtain documents from abroad. We have been approached by a number of individuals who have tried to sell documents to us, but we never pay. If others also don't pay, they may see that there is no monetary reward for continuing to hold these documents. We hope they will eventually do the right thing and give them to our center or another organization that will protect them. Other organizations and some individuals have made the mistake of letting original documents out of the country for their "protection." It has then been very difficult to get them back. We have put pressure on individuals, companies, academic institutions, and even governments to return documents from Democratic Kampuchea to Cambodia, their rightful owner. We have had some success in this regard and will continue to work to have the documents returned. Q: Along with documenting the crimes of the Khmer Rouge regime, you are conducting numerous other public outreach and education projects, including film productions, radio programs, and exhibitions. How satisfied are you about the extent to which you have been able to reach different segments of the Cambodian population? I am very satisfied with our ability to reach the survivors of Democratic Kampuchea. They have been very receptive to our work and appreciative of what we are doing. Every month we receive letters of encouragement and thanks from Cambodians at home and abroad. And I've found that as the trials of senior Khmer Rouge leaders are approaching, the interest among Cambodians is increasing, not only in the legal process itself, but also in sharing their experiences during the regime. Of course, there are those who have not been happy with the work we are doing, and some people at home and abroad have been very critical. In the past, we have received anonymous threats from some of these people, and although we don't take such threats lightly, we have not let them deter us. I'm more concerned now about the generations that have grown up after the Khmer Rouge. Their parents have told them about their lives under Democratic Kampuchea many times, especially their sufferings. But many parents have told us that their children aren't really interested and often don't believe they could have been so hungry, made so many personal sacrifices, or that so many people died. This has been a big challenge and we're trying to address it in two ways. First, our center has brought in many university students who volunteer to go out to the provinces and dispense information on Democratic Kampuchea, the tribunal, and DC-Cam. We give them training and let them talk to villagers directly and record their interviews. These students have become excited about what they are doing and we can see their interest in their country's history growing day by day. Second, we have recently completed a history text on Democratic Kampuchea for high school students. It is the first such text written for this age group by a Cambodian, which we feel is very important. Right now, the textbooks don't even contain a sentence on the regime, and many teachers lack a source they can go to for answers when their students are curious. We hope that the text will be published in September 2006; if the government doesn't agree to publish it, DC-Cam will print and distribute it free throughout the country. Q: After reading some of the interviews on your database, it becomes clear that people do not remember certain names, dates, and times, or are hesitant to discuss certain things. Does this present an obstacle and how do you address it? It's very difficult for people to remember the specifics of events that happened 30 years ago, and the details are often lost over time. Still, the emotion remains, and survivors' accounts of life under the regime are remarkably consistent. When people are hesitant to discuss certain events, we can go in one of two directions, depending on the person and the situation. On the one hand, if the person is obviously distressed or clearly doesn't want to talk about something, we never force them. Our researchers are also trained not to ask leading questions that make people say things they don't mean, or that trap them into answering when they would rather not. On the other hand, if we feel people want to open up to us, we might change the subject for a while so they can talk about things they feel more comfortable with. For example, all survivors talk about food; it's something that gives us a safe and common ground. Later, we come back to the subject we hope the person will speak about. In some cases, it takes more time to gain their trust. In one area that is a former Khmer Rouge stronghold, people were very hesitant to talk to us. The area was remote and visiting family members had a difficult time finding the villages. So we did a simple thing: we erected signs giving directions to the villages. After several visits, the former cadres began to trust us and became more open. In other cases, if a person is being interviewed on a sensitive subject such as rape, we might ask them if they would like to speak only with a senior woman on our staff or only in private. Q: How do you encourage honest participation, particularly by the perpetrators? People worldwide know the difference between right and wrong, but most, even those who only occasionally do bad things, are hesitant to discuss their bad actions openly. This is only human nature. They are afraid of the consequences, either in this life or the next. So, the best we can do is to be honest with them, and respectful. Q: How and to what extent do you verify the information you receive from victims through oral testimony? Our center is not a legal body, so we don't attempt to verify whether or not the victims are telling the truth. We are oral historians and documentarians; we see our job as being to record history from all perspectives. Sometimes, when we publish the stories of victims - either from interviews or by constructing a person's story through historical records - other Cambodians write in to set the record straight, and we publish these stories also. But more often than not, the oral history provided by survivors has a positive effect: it increases both knowledge and understanding. Q: Because perpetrators and victims live side-by-side, how do your projects influence reconciliation within the society? This is a difficult situation for everyone concerned, but we are beginning to see progress. For example, we recently completed the pilot phase of a project to help both victims and perpetrators - and more often than not, the perpetrators were also victims - to deal with their trauma. Our partner, the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) of Cambodia, held group therapy sessions in which both victims and perpetrators discussed their lives during the regime and came to understand each other better (counseling is still in a nascent stage in Cambodia, which has only 12 trained psychiatrists, and some of the project's clients have reported being able to sleep through the night for the first time in 25 years as a result of project assistance). The project's success has also been a factor in encouraging others to come forward and share their experiences. We have also brought together both victims and perpetrators on trips to Phnom Penh to visit the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (the ECCC, popularly known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal). One tour brought together a man who had been a guard at Kraing Ta Chan prison during Democratic Kampuchea with the son of a man he had taken to be executed. They lived in the same village, and the son had long feared the former perpetrator, who often threatened him. During the trip, they slept in the same room. Initially, they were reluctant to stay together, but began talking and now report that they are beginning to understand one another and now get along well. Q: Since you are located in the capital city of Phnom Penh, how do you reach out to people living in the other provinces? Do they have Internet access to view information, such as the bibliographic and biographic databases that are available online? Communications aren't always easy in Cambodia, especially in the countryside, where most people don't have access to books, newspapers, magazines, or television. The Internet is generally only found in provincial towns. Even if people do have access to these forms of communication, they can't afford them or cannot read. So we have brought information to them in a variety of ways. We publish a magazine every month that our center and other NGOs in Cambodia distribute to every district and sub-district office in the country. We also have weekly radio programs that reach all or parts of several provinces. And while we have always sent teams out to the villages to conduct interviews with former Khmer Rouge cadres, more recently, we have made major efforts to reach the victims as well. As soon as the government and UN began establishing the tribunal office, we started sending teams to villages to show films on the regime, hold discussions on tribunal developments, give people a chance to tell their personal stories, and ask for information on their loved ones who disappeared during the regime. Finally, most people in the countryside cannot afford to come to Phnom Penh. Because the Royal Government and UN haven't announced any plans yet on how they will bring news about the trials to the people, we have decided to bring the people to them. In February of this year, we began holding two pre-trial observation tours each month for villagers, commune chiefs, students, and Buddhist nuns. On their three days in Phnom Penh, they visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the Cheung Ek mass grave site, and the ECCC. At the ECCC, they meet with UN and Royal Government of Cambodia officials working on the tribunal who explain the tribunal and answer their questions. In the first half of the year, over 3,000 people have taken these tours. When the trials begin, we plan to bring villagers from all over Cambodia to attend a week of a trial. They will then return to their villages and hold discussions on what they saw and learned. Our staff will film these "village forums" and show them in villages where no one was able to attend a tour. In this way, we hope that justice in Cambodia will become a participatory process. Q: Given that the nature of your work is partly to collect information that can be useful to the upcoming tribunal, how do you see the organization evolving after the tribunal takes place? We at the Documentation Center have also had to ask ourselves about our role after the trials end. By making the Center a permanent presence in Cambodia, the documentary materials we have collected will continue to serve as a valuable repository of information for scholars, from both Cambodia and abroad. In addition to our documentation role, the permanent Center serves as an educational institution, providing courses to Cambodian and international students in such areas as genocide education, history, law, and peace and reconciliation studies. It will also hold museum-quality exhibition space for photographic, art, and other displays related to modern Cambodian history and contemporary policy. This space will be open to the public. We also plan to undertake counseling services, not only for survivors of Cambodia's genocide, but also for their families, who often experience the negative effects of the Khmer Rouge's legacy of trauma, anger, frustration, and violence that plagues our society today. In this vein, we will develop concrete activities to deal with this legacy, especially those designed to alleviate poverty. Thank you very much for your participation and insights. Programs: DC-Cam Archives: Collected materials are made available to scholars, judicial officials, and the public, and their viewing is monitored through a set of regulations in the Public Information Room. www.dccam.org/Projects/Document_Projects/Documentation.htm Forensics (2003-2004): Reconnaissance of mass graves and memorials has been performed to identify sites for full-scale forensic exhumation. A representative sample of human skeletons has been excavated and preserved in Phnom Penh and in several provinces. In 2004, a forensic exhibition of human skeletal remains was mounted at the Tuol Sleng Museum. www.dccam.org/Projects/Forensic_Study/Forensics.htm Documentation (1995-present): DC-Cam maintains two major databases: the Cambodian Genocide Bibliographic Database (CBIB) and the Cambodian Genocide Biographical Database (CBIO), which maintain extensive information about the Khmer Rouge perpetrators and their victims. These databases are Internet accessible; additionally, they are on CD-Rom as well as microfilm. Concurrently, Yale University maintains a photograph database, which contains over 6,000 photographs taken at the Tuol Sleng (s-21) prison. www.dccam.org/Projects/Document_Projects/Documentation.htm Filming and Exhibitions: DC-Cam has produced several photographic exhibitions, both domestically and internationally, as well as documentary films on the victims of the Khmer Rouge. www.dccam.org/Projects/Forensics_Exhibition.htm Genocide Education (2004-present): Cambodia's Ministry of Education has requested the assistance of DC-Cam to provide supplementary texts on genocide and the Khmer Rouge for school curricula. www.dccam.org/Projects/Genocide/Genocide_Education.htm Living Documents (2004-2006): Because information on the upcoming tribunal is limited in Cambodia's countryside, this project seeks to bring representatives from provincial communes to the trial on a rotational basis, for one week. Each participant will return to their village and engage the community in discussions on the proceedings. www.dccam.org/Projects/Living_Doc/Living_Documents.htm Magazine Project (2000-present): DC-Cam publishes a monthly magazine, Searching for Truth, publicizing the Center's work and initiating discussion on Khmer Rouge issues as well as other pertinent issues relating to justice and reconciliation in Cambodia. Printing 7,000 copies per month, over 80 percent of the copies are distributed for free, mostly within the country. An English edition is published each quarter and sold in various locations in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. www.dccam.org/Projects/Magazines/Magazine_Searching.htm Mapping Project (1994-2004): A decade-long project initiated to discover locations and map mass graves, former prisons and genocide memorials in Cambodia. The starting point for mapping has generally been gleaned from interviewing villagers. www.dccam.org/Projects/Maps/Mapping.htm Promoting Accountability (2000-present): This project seeks to increase fact-finding prior to the tribunal to facilitate a "better historical understanding of the workings of Democratic Kampuchea (DK). to draw a picture of subordinate-superior relationships during DK and to identify survivors (victims and former Khmer Rouge) who may be helpful in the tribunal." To do this, DC-Cam conducts interviews with former Khmer Rouge cadres in the field. Using information from DC-Cam's files, teams locate and interview individuals who served in the DK regime. This information is entered into the DC-Cam database, which provides the names, whereabouts, and basic biographical information on each of the former cadres we interview. This database is likely to be very important to prosecutors in the tribunal proceedings. www.dccam.org/Projects/Promoting/Promoting_Accountability.htm Public Information Room (2004-present): The room gives access to documentation materials to "legal personnel, scholars, reporters and the general public." www.dccam.org/Projects/Public_Info/Public_Information.htm Radio Program (2002-present): Involves reading selected articles from the DC-Cam magazine and excerpts from books on local radio stations to better reach Cambodia's provinces and people. www.dccam.org/Projects/Radio/Radio.htm Victims of Torture (2003-2005): DC-Cam and the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) are working together to address the trauma of Cambodia's survivors to eventually produce a report and evaluation. This project includes Family Tracing to help families locate lost loved ones through use of the records compiled by the organization or through requests for information that are published in the magazine. An estimated 80 percent of families who come to DC-Cam leave with answers about their loved ones' fate. http://database.newtactics.org/NewTactics/CaseInformation.aspx, www.dccam.org/Projects/VOT/Victims_Torture.htm About "What's Being Done On . . . ?" For several months at a time, we highlight the activities of various organizations in different global regions, and links to important resources, that are focused on a particular theme or area of democracy work. Each new theme is announced via DemocracyNews, and the information from the previous installment is placed in the "What's Being Done On . . . ?" archives. We hope to receive and post information about the work you or others may be doing that is focused on these issues. Send information via e-mail to the or by fax to (202) 378-9889. |
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