Cambodia is finally starting to get serious about commemorating genocide victims

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Of the many mass atrocities committed in the 20th century, the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror stands out among the most heinous.

Making matters worse for the survivors, the country has been remarkably slow to address the crimes or attempt to heal the lingering wounds.  

From April 17, 1975 to January 7, 1979, an estimated 1.7 million people — 21 percent of the population — perished under the Khmer Rouge’s merciless rule. There were executions and forced marriages, sexual assaults and starvation, and there were fatal illnesses that could have been treated with proper access to medicine.

For years, these crimes were denied or underestimated, falling victim to Cold War-era politics. Many of the perpetrators lived freely for more than a quarter century, some in comfortable homes in the capital. It wasn’t until 2012 that a tribunal convicted a major player, putting prison warden Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, away for life.

Cambodia has a few small-scale sites recognizing the atrocities. These include Tuol Sleng, one of the regime’s most notorious torture chambers; the mass “Killing Fields” graves on the outskirts of Phnom Penh; and various poorly preserved crime sites in the provinces. But experts have long argued that these sites are inadequate relative to the scope of the suffering.

Awarding so-called reparations to victims who have participated in the court as civil parties, giving testimony and statements of suffering, was long ago ruled out due to a combination of fears. Instead, the tribunal has chosen to award “collective and moral reparations” and has accepted proposals for funded projects that are meant to represent as wide a group of victims as possible.

To save time, the court broke up the case against Chea and Samphan into mini-trials, and August’s verdict mainly covers forced population transfer and specific executions of government soldiers. Reparations may be secured for the next phase of the trial, which has yet to begin, but the defendants’ age and funding fatigue at the court make it likely that the verdict in August will be the only one.

All reparations are, of course, contingent on guilty verdicts. The full list, representing the most comprehensive reparations to date, can be found here.

Finally, as the first phase of a trial against two more senior Khmer Rouge leaders — octogenarians Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan — nears its verdict on August 7, a $800,000 has been secured for a dozen projects meant to commemorate the regime's victims.

Here are of five categories reflecting the twelve projects for which funding has been secured. Many say that, despite the absence of financial restitution, these initiatives could genuinely make a difference.  Others contend these measure are largely symbolic gestures funded by foreigners, and fall short of what’s needed.

National Day of Remembrance: It may seem strange, but Cambodia still has no universal memorial date during which all can mourn together. There are, however, other kinds of dates. January 7, marking the entrance of Vietnamese forces into Cambodia and the fall of the regime, is celebrated every year by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, whose leaders were ushered in by the Vietnamese. It has turned into a highly politicized and not very inclusive anniversary. Cambodia also carries out an annual Day of Anger on May 20. In this bizarre set up, pains of the past are dealt with by reenacting Khmer Rouge atrocities wearing period costumes. The new National Day of Remembrance will replace the Day of Anger.

Memorials: In Phnom Penh, there are no standalone monuments to the fallen other than the macabre Tuol Sleng, which commemorates at least 12,000 victims who suffered at the torture chamber. Now, there is the “Memorial for Khmer Rouge Victims: For Those Who are No Longer Here,” being carried out by Cambodian artist Sera Ing. The collection of sculptures evokes events in April of 1975, when the population of the city was forced to march into the countryside and nearly four years of terror began. Separately, a “Monument for Khmer Rouge Victims in France” is planned for Cambodians living in France (where many fled to escape the Khmer Rouge) at the Vincennes Pagoda in Paris. The purpose is to provide “a space where survivors and relatives of the victims can hold ceremonies and honor the memory of those lost.”

Exhibitions and education: Several aspects of these funded projects aim to ensure that the younger generation won’t forget. To that end, a multimedia exhibition will be created; an extra chapter in the official history book on the Khmer Rouge will be added; exhibitions on forced transfers and executions will be set up in several provincial museums; and a “Community Learning Center” will go up in a province known for having a mass killing site.

Recognition: An illustrated and narrative book will tell stories of the victims, offering a space for their words to last. Projects will include printing books and publishing on the web the names of Cambodian civil parties who have filed claims of suffering with the tribunal and participated in its proceedings through testimony. In a closely related proposal, the court will provide summaries of the judgment on its public website. Similar small-scale gestures of recognition were awarded in the first case against Duch.

Therapy: With the help of Cambodia’s Transcultural Psychosocial Organization, or TPO, this section envisions creating grassroots self-help organizations to help cope with trauma and offer a space for reflection. On a smaller scale, though notable in a country that has limited options for psychiatric care, some 200 civil parties in the current phase of this case will receive testimonial therapy sessions with mental health professionals.

So what about money?

As the court launched its first trial in 2009, ideas for a trust fund and other ad hoc financial projects were floated — including diverting ticket sales from Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields site to victims — but “collective and moral reparations” won out in the end. To this day, disagreements exist over the approach.

“I cannot say whether my ex-clients still claim financial compensation. Maybe they gave up doing so,” said Silke Studzinsky, a former civil party lawyer at the tribunal, who called the decision to refrain from awarding reparations due to a defendant’s indigence an “error.”

“But many of those Civil Parties who are very poor and who struggle on a daily basis to survive somehow, would welcome tangible reparations that repair, at least in parts, what they have lost,” she added.

Defense lawyer Michael Karnavas, who has dismissed the offerings as “notional,” said that meaningful reparations “require the creation of a fund” from which victims can be compensated. He acknowledged, however, that creating such a fund and deciding who benefits is “no easy task.”


On a blog dedicated to analyzing the issue of reparations at the Khmer Rouge tribunal, a scathing entry posted on May 1 recommends nationwide consultation to determine the best projects, and a nationwide fundraising drive to pay for them. Otherwise, they will lack scope and consensus.

“Simply giving money to a couple of NGOs who have attached themselves to this process is not either what is known as ‘reparations’ under the Cambodian criminal law, nor is it a commemorative Cambodian effort that is a corollary to this process,” the post says. “Most Cambodians will look at these so-called reparations and see them as yet another instance of Westerners giving money to the NGOs. And they will be correct thinking that.”

Still, analysts say collective and moral reparations being put forth are just as important, if not more.

“What Cambodian people have suffered during the [Khmer Rouge] regime is too painful and too hard to forget and endure. I think we cannot do anything perfectly to make sure it is enough to repay what they went through,” said Sokvisal Kimsroy, a team leader of the Victims Participation Project within the Documentation Center of Cambodia, the country’s central archive for Khmer Rouge history.