The Case of Cambodia

In Cambodia, the crimes perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979 are currently tried by the hybrid tribunal „Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia“ (ECCC). Through the lobby and advocacy work of Cambodian human rights organizations in the last few years, victim participation at the ECCC has been further institutionalized.

The ECCC established a Victims Unit and NGOs have been central stakeholders in outreach and sensitization activities of the ECCC. Since transitional justice in Cambodia is generally organized through and around the later, victim participation mainly consists of the opportunity to be able to participate in the court proceedings. Victims who can successfully claim that their experiences are relevant to the case tried may appear as a civil party or as a complainant before the court.

Further efforts by civil society to enhance transitional justice activities are limited through government laws and regulations which allegedly serve peace and stability interests. Since nearly everyone who experienced the Khmer Rouge time refers to himself or herself as a victim, questions of victimization are raised around superior orders, command responsibility and other mitigating circumstances.

In 2008 and 2009 two workshops on the subject were organized on-site by the Research and Documentation Center for War Crime Trials, Marburg and by the Center for Conflict Studies, Marburg in cooperation with the Chair for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Augsburg.

Here you can find a short summary of the two workshops on “Victim participation in transitional justice processes” in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.