History and Social Justice Outreach Project A wide gap exists between the needs of Cambodians in regards to their efforts to deal with the last decades of violent history and current outreach programs designed to educate Cambodians about transitional justice. Indeed there are no initiatives designed to determine the needs of Cambodians—particularly those living in rural areas (85% of the country)—in regards to how history and justice affect their daily lives. In response to this, the International Center for Conciliation created an outreach program based on the belief that the most effective outreach material and discussion come from the needs as they are expressed by rural Cambodians themselves. The project seeks to:
Nationalism and Conflict Project The governments of Cambodia and Vietnam have constructed particular versions of history that invalidate the painful experiences that thousands of Cambodians and Vietnamese share. Vietnamese youth’s perceptions of Cambodians are often tainted by notions of racial and cultural superiority and Cambodians often harbor intense resentment of Vietnamese for a long history of atrocities that many argue persist to this day. This tension manifested itself in ethnic violence over the last several decades in Southeast Asia. Efforts must be made to confront historical tensions and foster greater understanding. To confront this, the International Center for Conciliation engages in several different projects that support local efforts to bring Vietnamese and Cambodians together in a safe discussion-friendly environment and increase the number of Cambodians and Vietnamese committed to working toward peace. The Cambodia – Vietnam Dialogue A group of students from Cambodia and Vietnam meet three to four times a year out of their interest in ending the long-standing conflict between their countries to organize discussions on history, identity, peace, and memory. They are the only group in either country who meets independent of any political or official institution to discuss the relations between their two nations and peoples. ICfC helps to bring the groups together and train the participants on skills of communication, historical conciliation and dealing with identity-based conflicts.
The ICfC is currently setting up a relationship with a university in Ho Chi Minh City to provide Vietnamese students with the skills necessary to advocate safely for a more open perspective on dealing with national and regional history as well as commemoration. Workshops will center on topics of communication skills, tactics of sustained dialogue and historical conciliation. Survey of Other “Cambodia-Vietnam” Organizations In order to better assess our role in supporting organizations dealing with the conflict between Cambodia and Vietnam, the ICfC is mapping all individuals and organizations who work directly or indirectly on the conflict and plans to provide trainings for the organizations’ staff to equip them with skills to better manage the conflict. ICfC Workshops on Conflict Resolution The ICfC provides regular trainings on conflict resolution to international and local organizations in Cambodia. More than a dozen NGOs and local universities have been trained by the ICfC in Cambodia on issues of conflict resolution, sustained dialogue and historical conciliation.
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Remembrance day (formerly the National Day of Hate) re-enactment of the Khmer Rouge brutality in May 2007. |
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The Sok Family Story-Recorded by ICfC staff in the village of Ampil, Svay Rieng Province Mr. and Mrs. Sok are one of the elder villagers in Ampil. Mrs. Sok told us that young people nowadays have freedom to do whatever they want. They have different lives from the elders who lived through many traumatic experiences. She said, “We were born during the French regime, so we were not able to do things as we wished. French soldiers controlled where we traveled, what we talked about and the ideas that we expressed. After the French regime we plunged into the Khmer Rouge regime and this was the hardest time.” Her husband told us that he was a teacher before the Khmer Rouge. He was ordered to collect animal and human feces to fertilize vegetables and rice. Mrs. Sok was assigned to make grass mats and go to the rice fields. She left home early every morning and returned at night, only seeing her children at night time. During that time, the Khmer Rouge cadres divided the jobs to people according to age, body shape and gender. Young people had to work outside the village, even mothers of newly born babies. Mr. Sok used to tell their story to his children but they wouldn't hear of it. They did not believe that a few people could kill and punish millions of people and that nobody fought back. When he told them about the mass starvation, they asked him where did all the rice go that everyone produced by working long hours in the fields. He didn't know. If the children are lazy to work on the farm or do housework, Mr. and Mrs. Sok often tell them: “If you were under the Khmer Rouge, you would be killed.” But the children laugh at these words. Mr. Sok wants his sons and the young generation of Cambodians to know about the terrible life they and many others had. Most of the people in their village lost their family members. Some of them died because of diseases and starvation and some were killed. He wants to know why. He wants his children to know why. He wants that to never happen again to anyone. |
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Volunteers working with villagers in the Kampot Province in the summer of 2006. |
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"I gave myself to Angkar, therefore I will do whatever Angkar tells me to do" - story of Mr. Kim, recorded by Kim Vuth in Svay Rieng province Mr. Kim became the village chief in 1979, after the “Running Regime”. That’s the phrase that he used to refer to the Khmer Rouge regime. Mr. Kim was chosen to guard prisoners of the Khmer Rouge and make sure no one escaped. “I was very sad during this time and felt heaviness in my heart when I saw the Pol Pot regime torture the prisoners,” he said. “I walked away from the detention room when torturing was taking place and secretly gave extra rice to the prisoners to eat.” Distraught with his position, Mr. Kim asked the KR leaders if it could be changed. “I gave myself to Angkar, I, therefore, will do whatever the Angkar tells me to do,” Mr. Kim told the KR leaders. He was sent him to drive tractors full of rice from the Vietnamese border to Svay Rieng town. When the Vietnamese and Khmer troops arrived in Svay Rieng in 1978, Mr. Kim was plowing paddy fields. He recalls many bombs exploding all around him. To escape the violence Mr. Kim and six friends were forced to swim across a nearby river at night time using a banana tree. “I started crossing the river in the evening and arrived to the other side of the bank early the next morning,” he said. “The water was so cold.” Once on the other side Mr. Kim and his friends ran into a thick forest to hide. They met 2,000 other Khmer Rouge comrades. Because of the danger, he continued living in the forest for the next six months before he decided to return home, which involved a walk of many days. When he reached Svay Rieng town, he sent a message to his family. They cried because they thought that he was surely dead. Vietnamese troops investigated him. He told them that he was a tractor driver and did not torture or kill anyone. He was allowed to go free. Nearly thirty years later Mr. Kim is the chief of his village in Svay Rieng province. He remains haunted by his experience during the Khmer Rouge time as a young servant to the regime. He wants everyone in his village to be assisted in facing their histories and strongly supports ICfC’s involvement with the community. |
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