CSULB professor urges Cambodians to testify to history at event

Prof. Leakhena Nou with one of the KR victims (Photo: AP)

04/29/2010
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram (California, USA)

LONG BEACH - For two years now, Leakhena Nou has been engaged in a personal mission.

The sociology professor at Cal State Long Beach has been at the forefront of collecting testimony from victims of 1970s Khmer Rouge atrocities in the Cambodian refugee community. The information could become part of the court records in the ongoing Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal being held in Cambodia.

Even 35 years after the rise of Pol Pot's genocidal regime and more than 30 years after it was toppled, Cambodian residents of Long Beach still struggle with the legacy of a genocide that left upwards of 2 million, or about one-quarter of Cambodia's population dead.

And for years, Nou bristled at the unwillingness to come forth of her countrymen in the Cambodian diaspora who were witnesses to the genocide.

So she's done something about it.

With a tiny all-volunteer staff, Nou's nonprofit Applied Social Research Institute of Cambodia, has become the leading collector of testimony from the worldwide Cambodian refugee community.

Although the first of the war tribunals has concluded, at least one more is upcoming and so-called "victim information files" are still being collected.

On Saturday from noon until 3 p.m., Nou and representatives from other groups will be at the Mark Twain Library, 1401 Anaheim St., to continue the dialogue with the community and tell residents how they can still be involved in a historic effort.

Among event guests will be Rob Lemkin, co-director of "Enemies of the People," an award-winning documentary film about the Pol-Pot regime presented at the Sundance Film Festival this year and called "a watershed account of Cambodian history and a heartfelt quest for closure on one of the world's darkest episodes."

There will also be a representative from the tribunal court and other experts to explain the court process and update the news from Cambodia.

The event is entitled "From Victim to Witness: In Pursuit of Justice and Healing Community Forum." Nou says by speaking out, victims are able to regain a sense of power and justice.

"It's a matter of human rights," Nou said in 2009. "They have a right to be part of truth and reconciliation for their suffering and for their own healing."

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291