CJR — Conference on Victims’ Participation
I attended the Center for Justice and Reconciliation (CJR, http://www.cjr-cambodia.org/) National Conference on Victim’s Participation, “Moving Forward, Together: Transforming Killing Fields to Living Fields.”
A panel of ECCC officials from various branches of the ECCC and victims’ association representatives answered questions from an audience estimated at about 200+ at Pannasastra.
Some observations:
- victims want to share their personal stories
- victims want to comment on and suggest reparations
- ECCC officials want to describe how the ECCC works
- part of describing how the ECCC works is to explain “rule of law” and how that differs from the current system in Cambodia
- victims associations are new
- victims include people who file as civil parties, people who serve as witnesses, and people who do neither
I received a pile of materials produced by NGOs. This included a Center for Social Development (CSD) and German Development Service (DED) produced Understanding Trauma in Cambodia — a substantial guide to understanding and working through trauma, written in both Khmer and English, colorfully illustrated with photos and drawings. Also included publications by the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), Transcultural Psychological Organization (TPO), and The Youth Today Magazine.
- there are a lot of organizations discussing trauma
- there are a lot of organizations trying to do outreach