Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Students see Khmer Rouge tribunal as educational tool: study

Students see Khmer Rouge tribunal as educational tool: study

Cambodian students listen to closing statements at the Khmer Rouge tribunal. A new report shows Phnom Penh students consider the court’s most important legacy to be education, ahead of justice or reconciliation. ECCC
Cambodian students listen to closing statements at the Khmer Rouge tribunal. A new report shows Phnom Penh students consider the court’s most important legacy to be education, ahead of justice or reconciliation. ECCC

Students see Khmer Rouge tribunal as educational tool: study

A new study probing the impressions of Phnom Penh students of the Khmer Rouge tribunal revealed they see the international court more as an educational tool than a means for justice.

In the study, conducted by Stanford University’s WSD Handa Center for Human Rights, 83 students were surveyed in focus groups, along with 16 civil society members, government actors and educators.

“Students identified the potential for the Tribunal to educate their generation about the past as its biggest potential legacy; ranking this higher than judicial, psychological, or capacity-building legacies,” the report read.

Of the 65 students who responded to a question about the court’s purpose, 32 percent said it was to “teach the next generation about what happened or learn the truth”, 18 percent said it was to provide justice or reconciliation and 15 percent said it was to prosecute the Khmer Rouge leaders. Another 14 percent said the tribunal – also known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia – was about healing the suffering of the past.

“This is interesting because often in discussions about the ECCC , it is these other legacies that come up more often – ending impunity, strengthening the capacity of domestic courts or providing justice or some type of healing for the victims,” said lead author Caitlin McCaffrie.

“In contrast to some commonly held views that young people are just not interested in the history, we found most people were very curious, they had opinions and they had a lot of questions.”

In the words of one student, “the purpose of the tribunal is for the next generation who did not experience the regime, so they can know what happened”.

Yet Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, stressed the tribunal was, first and foremost, a court.

“The ECCC is a court of law, not a history department,” he said, saying seeing the tribunal as a teaching tool “completely undermines” the years and millions invested in it. “Its legacy is justice . . . to prosecute the Khmer Rouge leaders.”

But the findings came as little surprise to both sides of the courtroom in the current case against former Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan.

Nuon Chea defender Victor Koppe said the findings “made perfect sense” as there was a strong yearning for Cambodians to learn about the events during the Democratic Kampuchea era.

Koppe said the majority of Chea’s closing brief in Case 002/02 was dedicated to expounding on the former Brother Number Two’s theory – dubbed “The Crocodile” – about the history of the communist movement and the role of Vietnam.

“Explaining this history was indeed the sole reason for Nuon Chea to keep participating in these extremely flawed proceedings until the end and for me not to withdraw as his lawyer,” Koppe said.

International co-prosecutor Nicholas Koumjian – whose team has derided Chea’s crocodile as “fake history” – took a different slant. “A critical legacy for all international criminal courts, whether we are talking about Nuremberg, the Yugoslav or Rwandan tribunals or the ECCC, is to contribute to greater understanding of the truth about momentous historical events,” he said. “As the philosopher said, ‘Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it’.”

MOST VIEWED

  • Joy as Koh Ker Temple registered by UNESCO

    Cambodia's Koh Ker Temple archaeological site has been officially added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on September 17. The ancient temple, also known as Lingapura or Chok Gargyar, is located in

  • Ream base allegations must end, urges official

    A senior government official urges an end to the allegations and suspicions surrounding the development of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, now that Prime Minister Hun Manet has addressed the issue on the floor of the 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA 78). Jean-Francois Tain, a geopolitical

  • Cambodia set to celebrate Koh Ker UNESCO listing

    To celebrate the inscription of the Koh Ker archaeological site on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Ministry of Cults and Religion has appealed to pagodas and places of worship to celebrate the achievement by ringing bells, shaking rattles and banging gongs on September 20. Venerable

  • CP denied registration documents by ministry

    The Ministry of Interior will not reissue registration documents to the Candlelight Party (CP). Following a September 21 meeting between ministry secretary of state Bun Honn and CP representatives, the ministry cited the fact that there is no relevant law which would authorise it to do

  • Cambodian diaspora laud Manet’s UN Assembly visit

    Members of the Cambodian diaspora are rallying in support of Prime Minister Hun Manet’s forthcoming visit to the 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA 78) in the US’ New York City this week. Their move is an apparent response to a recent call by self-exiled former

  • After three deferrals, Capital Gains Tax to take effect Jan 1, 2024

    The General Department of Taxation (GDT) will implement the Capital Gains Tax starting January 1, 2024 to after being deferred three times as industrial players warn that the implementation might have some negative impact on the property market growth, which is down due to the economic downturn.