Legacy

The Court is still operating, but many organizations are already implementing projects beyond the trials to institutionalize education about the Khmer Rouge period, memorialize the victims, and foster reconciliation. In respect to the first goal, the DC-CAM’s Genocide Education Project disseminates the history of Democratic Kampuchea to high school students across the country. As part of this project, DC-CAM has, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, published a textbook,[1] developed a teacher guidebook and a student workbook, and trained thousands of teachers across the country. To complement education in the classroom, DC-CAM conducts Genocide Education public forums and has obtained permission from the Ministry of Education to distribute anti-genocide posters and post anti-genocide slogans in 1,700 high schools across Cambodia.[2]

To remember the victims of the Khmer Rouge, Youth for Peace (YFP) and a newly founded Victims Association (Ksem Ksan) have been encouraging the construction of memorials at the community level or at commemorative sites such as S21. To promote reconciliation, the International Center for Conciliation, Cambodia (ICfC) and TPO have been giving trainings on conflict resolution and mental health, and offering a safe place for dialogue between victims and perpetrators.

To encourage the ECCC to have an influence on the Cambodian justice sector in general, CHRAC and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Cambodia are beginning to implement legacy projects. Both are fostering opportunities for judicial officers or lawyers working with the ECCC to share and discuss their experiences, both among themselves and with Cambodian legal professionals and academics. CHRAC has organized a meeting between its members and civil society Civil Party lawyers. OHCHR has brought Cambodian judges to visit the Court and is developing a Code of Procedures and Best Practices. Soon national judges will have the opportunity to talk with court personnel about their experiences working at the ECCC. [3]

[1] Khamboly Dy, (2007) A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979), Documentation Center of Cambodia, Cambodia

[2] All documents related to the Genocide Education project including the teacher guidebook and student workbook are available at http://www.dccam.org/Projects/Genocide/Genocide_Education.htm

[3] United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, “International Justice and Human Rights: Supporting the legacy of Cambodia’s Extraordinary Chambers”, available at http://cambodia.ohchr.org/EN/PagesFiles/ECCC_legacy_program.htm; also Michelle Staggs-Kelsall and Jeudy Oeung, presentation at OSJI NGO Update Meeting, Sunway Hotel, Phnom Penh, Friday, May 6, 2011