Khmer Rouge Tribunal

Between 1975 and 1979, Cambodia suffered one of the largest genocides of the twentieth century under the government of Democratic Kampuchea (DK), known popularly as the Khmer Rouge (KR).

In 2006 a special tribunal has been convened in late 2006 to try the senior leadership of the Khmer Rouge. The tribunal is known formally in Cambodian law as “Extraordinary Chambers” but commonly referred to as the “KR trials”.

The tribunal has arrested five senior former Khmer Rouge leaders, and has begun the process of indicting them. The KR leaders will be tried for crimes under Cambodian law (e.g., murder) and for crimes under international law (e.g., genocide), but ordinary rank and file KR cadres will not be tried. The Extraordinary Chambers consists of judges appointed by the Cambodian government and judges appointed by the United Nations.

The tribunal seeks to offer justice to the victims and survivors, to prevent similar atrocities in the future, and to give the younger generation a clear picture of what happened. However it is not clear how the tribunal will affect the relations between people throughout Cambodia.

People are confronted with the fact that a very limited number of former KR leaders will stand trial for the crimes committed by a great number of Cambodians. Many of these are living amidst their victims, and many Cambodians know exactly who was involved in the horrors that they experienced in the1970’s.

The level of fear and concern about the past is frequently underestimated. Discussing the genocide at the level of local historical events and personal emotions is not easily done. What is lacking is mostly a framework to discuss events within the context of ‘coming to terms’ with them.

The Deacon of Death is an educational film by Jan van den Berg and Willem van de Put, a film about the confrontation between victims and perpetrators in Cambodia. With support of RNE Bangkok it was premiered in Phnom Penh in 2005. It serves as an educational tool for peace building programs, both in Cambodia itself and other countries facing similar problems of justice and reconciliation.