Photo diary of a Cambodian democrat during times of repression

July-Sept. 2009
By Theary C. SENG

"Cambodia, as a democracy, is a teenager in terms of years, and an infant in terms of maturity. Democracy in Cambodia is so fragile and now this attack on democracy poses serious concerns on the health and existence of democracy."

In a democracy, you need democrats. Cambodia purports to be a democracy. However, within recent months, the government has been going after democrats and human rights defenders in a more concentrated manner in the crackdown on political opposition, civil society and media which greatly undermines democracy.

Theary Seng with Mr. Phin Malay (center) in Toulouse, prior to a 2-hour call-in radio program on Canal Sud 92.5 FM (in Khmer and English) on democracy and human rights in Cambodia, 7 July 2009.

Cambodia, as a democracy, is a teenager in terms of years, and an infant in terms of maturity. Democracy in Cambodia is so fragile and now this attack on democracy poses serious concerns on the health and existence of democracy. Since 1993, Cambodia has made important strides in democratic development, but now all of that is at risk in light of the concentrated crackdown on expression, opinions and assembly.

How then does the Cambodian government expect Cambodia to have a democracy?

Theary Seng, relaxing at dinner, after 2nd day of Fifth Ministerial Community of Democracies in Lisbon, 10 July 2009.

Lisbon 5th Ministerial of Community of Democracies, Portugal Foreign Minister getting up to give welcoming remarks, 10 July 2009. During this session, Theary Seng informed the participants of the crackdown in Cambodia and her removal from the Center for Social Development via a politically-motivated court injunction.

Fmr. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright who initiated the Community of Democracies ten years ago, attending the Lisbon Fifth Ministerial, 9 July 2009.

Theary Seng with democrats from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Peru at the Lisbon Ministerial of Community of Democracies, 9 July 2009.

The situation is insidious in that the ruling party uses the semblance of democracy to combat democracy; that is to say, it uses "mock legality" of the court carry out its fiat. It criminalizes democracy and human rights activism; it weaponizes the law. A genuine democracy is rooted in the “rule of law”. An authoritarian regime bases its authority in the "rule by law" that it alone legislates, interprets and executes. Cambodia now follows the adage of other dictators: For my friends, whatever they want; for my enemies, the law.

AlJazeera TV interview with Theary Seng (reading Undermining Democracy) in Phnom Penh re her removal from the Center for Social Development via a politically-motivated court injunction, before her departure for meetings/conferences in Portland and Berlin, Aug. 2009.

Theary Seng as keynote speaker and panelist with Fmr. US Ambassador Sichan Siv at the KRT international conference in Portland, OR, requesting for action by Cambodian-American against authoritarian backlash against democrats and human rights defenders in Cambodia. 16 Aug. 2009.

Theary Seng speaking with German Federal Minister of Economic Development Mrs. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul after Press Conference to celebrate 10th Anniversary of Civil Peace Service, Berlin, 19 Aug. 2009.

Another invidious trend which is undermining democracy in Cambodia and elsewhere is the use of legislation to curtail the work of civil society, ie, in the form of an NGO Law. Two recently, highly recommended publications address the authoritarian backlash against democrats worldwide, both specifically mentioned Cambodia: Defending Civil Society and Undermining Democracy.

Theary Seng meeting with Vice-President of German Parliament (Bundestag) to discuss culture of memorial and crackdown on democracy and human rights in Cambodia. Berlin, 28 Aug. 2009.

The Center for Social Development (CSD) case is really a simple case of simple people bent on destruction by taking their private grievances to the court, exploiting the political context of repression and crackdown on civil society, media and political opposition. Politics, in turn, took advantage of this opening to silence an outspoken civil society voice (mine) by giving the green light to the court to enforce this baseless injunctive order. In sum, the CSD issue started out as a private dispute which turned political.

I am no longer at the CSD as of August 27, the Municipal Court ruled on the substantive case striking down the recognition of me and the 11-member Board of Directors as accepted by the Ministry of Interior. To continue the work of CSD, we have established The Center for Justice & Reconciliation and The Parliamentary Center of Cambodia.

Theary Seng with German parliamentarian Hellmut Konigshaus after one-hour meeting with him to inform of the crackdown on democracy and human rights in Cambodia (very generous of his time in light of election campaign season!) and Friedrich Naumann Stiftung’s Asia director Christian and SEA program manager Moritz. German Bundestag Office, Berlin, 2 Sept. 2009.

Information communication technology (ICT) is without a doubt a powerful, fearful weapon against authoritarianism and the best friend of democracy and democrats. Movements and campaigns require the effective dissemination of information to rally up the support and ICT proves an effective tool in getting the message out to the larger audience which knows no boundary. During my 3 1/2 years at CSD, we emphasized the use of ICT in our work, particularly we did research through the iREACH pilot project in Kep on the use of ICT in empowering rural communities.

Khmer Rouge Tribunal: Success or Scandal. International conference for invited heads of institutions, parliamentarians and policy-makers, Berlin. Theary Seng with panelists Hon. Jurgen Koppelin (German parliamentarian who opposed the KRT) and German prosecutor Jurgen Assmann, organized by and moderated by Friedrich Naumann Stiftung’s Moritz Kleine-Brockoff, Berlin, 3 Sept. 2009.

Authoritarian regimes, which characterizes the Cambodian People’s Party, are afraid of truth and ideas; they function on fear, control and paranoia, in keeping the population ignorant to better manipulate them. They function best in secrecy and in the dark. Information and knowledge is light, it is power, hence a challenge to the authority and power of the CPP.

Hon. Tioulong Saumura (MP, SRP), second from left, on a special panel of Women in Political Leadership.

Theary Seng with democrats from India and Mongolia at WFDA Biennial Conference (Seoul, 16-18 Sept. 2009) where she addressed Democracy in Cambodia on a panel of Asian democrats from transitional countries.

For me, I have found that as a public figure, visibility is one layer of protection. We cannot vacillate back and forth and mourn the loss of privacy. I believe this awareness is important for human rights activists for visibility is a protective tool. With regards to CSD, I have been speaking out at the various conferences (ie, Community of Democracies, World Forum for Democratization in Asia, my meetings with the Vice President of the German Bundestag etc.) and in interviews for radio and TV, including an AlJazeera half-hour program on this crackdown... and will continue to speak out very strongly against any and all forms of authoritarianism, despots, for human lives and well-being are at stake here when democracy is under attack.

Theary Seng's Press Conference with Germany's Federal Minister for Economic Development, Berlin, 19 August 2009

Press Conference of 10th Anniversary of Civil Peace Service, Berlin, 19 August 2009
Mrs. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul (2nd from left), Germany's Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, listens to Theary Seng's Press Conference
Mrs. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul talking to Theary Seng
Theary Seng speaking with Dr. Jürgen Wilhelm, Director General of German Development Service

The following is a transcript of Ms. Theary Seng's Press Conference:

10th Year Anniversary of Civil Peace Service
PRESS CONFERENCE
St. Elizabeth Church, Berlin. 19 August 2009
Statement of Theary C. SENG, CPS local partner

Introduction

Good afternoon. I am deeply honored to be here this afternoon with Minister Heidemarie (1) and other peace-builders on the panel in the celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Civil Peace Service.

I come from a country when a boy steals a piece of bread, he is sent to jail; when a man kills 2 million of his countrymen, he is invited to Paris for a peace conference.

I come from a country where to be an orphan is to be common; where post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) pervades the population.

I come from Cambodia. Where as a child of 4 years old, the Khmer Rouge killed my father, then 3 years later my mother while we were in prison, along with 2 million other Cambodians.

We, Cambodians, yearn for peace. Peace that is more than just the absence of war. We want peace with the presence of justice. We want peace to subside the internal turmoil and purge the demons from within.

Thirty years on, there is now the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (or, formally known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia) to start us on this journey of ‘peace with justice’ in trying 5 former KR leaders for these heinous crimes against humanity.

KRT is both ‘court of law’ and ‘court of public opinion’

The KRT is both a court of law and a court of public opinion. As a court of law, the KRT is limited. But any court of law has limitations, even here in developed Germany. A court has a very narrow mandate to weigh available evidence to convict or to let go.

In Cambodia, evidence is 30 years old, compromised, lost; witnesses long dead or are fearful to come forward. Additionally, there are charges of corruption, political interference, lack of judicial independence, budgetary constraints, etc.

The Center for Social Development monitors the national courts as well as the KRT for fair trial rights.

However, because the KRT is limited in what it can do as a court of law, we see the values of the KRT in the court of public opinion, and thus use the KRT as a catalyst, as an illustration to jumpstart conversations—long overdue—on issues of history, accountability, responsibility (personal, collective), truth, reconciliation, trauma, healing, confession, forgiveness—all issues larger than the complex legal construct and legalese limited to the understanding of a few.

Civil Peace Service (DED)’s Partnership with Center for Social Development, now with Center for Justice & Reconciliation

How does the Civil Peace Service and Germany fit into all of this? Three years ago, I, as director of the Center for Social Development, approached Mr. Wolfgang Mollers, country representative of the German Development Service, to inquire whether we could work together in peace building in light of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and discussed having a civil peace officer with expertise in psycho-therapy be based with us.

To our joy, Mr. Mollers said ‘Yes’ and since, the partnership with DED and the Civil Peace Service (through first, Matthias WITZEL and now Stefan KIESEL) has brought on unprecedented and deeply expansive achievements in the whole of Cambodian society:

• 20 public forums and national conferences on “Justice & Reconciliation” in all of Cambodia’s 24 provinces—town hall-like meetings with victims and perpetrators, with KRT judges and prosecutors, donors and other civil society leaders, students representing the younger generation. Many view these public forums as “informal truth and reconciliation commissions”. We want these invited provincial participants in the thousands to be ambassadors to their family and neighbors back in their villages.
• These public forums were preceded with many small group meetings in each province during ground preparation trips.
• 15 seminars on how to involve victims as “Civil Party” in the KRT criminal proceeding.
• 15 tour visits of provincial participants to Phnom Penh sites of Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Choeung Ek Killing Fields and the KRT.
• Emotional Support Team – headed by the Civil Peace Service – accompanies and counsels the participants at each and every event.
• Emotional Support Team has created Understanding Trauma in Cambodia Handbook – lovingly and creatively put together. Now, the Royal University’s Department of Psychology is using this Handbook as THE textbook in its program. It is the first book of its kind !
• Now, we are working on a Child Soldier Handbook… we want to give serious meaning to our “reconciliation” work. Who were the KR but children recruited to take up arms and turn against their own family members and neighbors. Now these individuals are adults with children of their own, living with the weight of their dark past of blood and confusion. Stefan KIESEL has experiences working with child soldiers in Sierre Leone.
• We multiply our impact by broadcasting these public forums and seminars all over the country on our Voice of Justice Radio Program with millions of listeners to make it truly a national dialogue.
• The most special impact for me is the standardizing of trauma language and conversations in Cambodian society. What was taboo 3 years ago are now talked about with less shame and reluctance. Three years ago, my staff accused me of thinking every Cambodian “crazy” by broaching these topics of trauma. Now, they are counseling others using the Trauma Handbook and posters taken from this Trauma Handbook.

Words cannot adequately capture the importance of the work of the Civil Peace Service in a place like Cambodia… caring individuals with expertise in peace-building passing on their skills by weaving their lives intricately with those of the local partners. Without DED and Civil Peace Service, we would not have achieved the above mentioned happenings.

Having witnessed firsthand the immeasurable contribution of the Civil Peace Service in Cambodia, I hope this work will continue for at least another 10 years, and then another 10, and another 10… until peace with justice, peace in the heart has been achieved in our broken world of suffering.

Thank you, Germany, for your humanity and generosity of spirit and attention.
______________
About Theary C. SENG:

• Founder & Board President, Center for Justice & Reconciliation
• Fmr. Executive Director, Center for Social Development www.csdcambodia.org “Public Forum: Emotional Support” (where you can find Trauma Handbook).
• Executive Director, Parliamentary Center of Cambodia
• Author, Daughter of the Killing Fields (London, 2005) www.thearyseng.com

______________
(1) Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development. I am the only non-German on the panel, assisted by an excellent private interpreter Alison Clark sitting next to me. In 2001, the Minister had visited and was greatly moved by theTuol Sleng Genocide Museum. For a federal minister, she was greatly informed of tiny Cambodia and its affairs, genocidal history and the KRT. I gave her a copy of my memoir. After the press conference, she invited me to join a semi-confidential meeting with all the 8 heads of the state and non-state institutions of the Civil Peace Service, assisted again by the private interpreter. Marc Eberle, the German filmmaker who is doing a film on the Khmer Rouge Tribunal using my life to tell the larger story had his colleague from ARTE filmed the event. About 15-20 reporters covered the event.

Why wasn't the Naga Casino closed?: Seng Theary

Motive of Gambling Crackdown Questioned

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
10 March 2009

The jury is still out on whether a gambling crackdown ordered recently by Prime Minister Hun Sen was done for the good of the public or for personal gain, a civil society advocate said Monday.

“We need more explanation from the government on whether the closures are in favor of an individual or the public,” said Seng Theary, executive director of the Center for Social Development, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

Hun Sen last month ordered the closure of the popular sports betting company CamboSix, a move that followed stricter measures against gambling machines in hotels.

While the move against gambling, which Seng Theary called a worm that corrupted morality and split families, was welcome, it should have been done through legal procedures, she said.

She also questioned why the largest casino, Naga, in Phnom Penh, wasn’t closed. “Why just close the small gambling sites?” she asked.

Calls for further Khmer Rouge trials

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
ABC Radio Australia

There are renewed calls in Cambodia for more former Khmer Rouge leaders to be prosecuted by the UN-backed special court, commonly known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

The special court will hear its first case on the 17 February.

Five former Khmer Rouge leaders will be tried, including the second-in-charge Nuon Chea and the former head of state Khieu Samphan.

Theary Seng, head of the Centre for Social Development in Phnom Penh, who lost her parents during Khmer Rouge rule, has told Connect Asia a symbolic trial is not enough.

"To try to prosecute only five, is not enough," she said.

"I understand that hundreds, if not thousands, could potentially be prosecuted for the mass crimes which occurred in the 1970s, taking the lives of at least 2 million Cambodians, including my parents.

"So, if hundreds and thousands are not realistic, well, five is not enough either."

CSD points out election irregularities

Election complaints were collected at the SRP headquarters (Photo: DR, Cambodge Soir Hebdo)

31 July 2008
By A.L.G.
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Unofficial translation from French by Tola Ek
Click here to read the original article in French

The Center for Social Development (CSD) estimates that between 100 to 200 voters per polling station could not vote, each polling station serves between 400 to 700 registered voters.

“Serious irregularities” are affecting the 27 July ballot, CSD said in a communiqué issued on 30 July.

“In some polling stations, CSD observers were not allowed to check the process, even though they have their observer’s identifications issued by the National Election Committee (NEC),” the CSD reported.

The NGO added in its communiqué that: “Furthermore, the election process imposed by the NEC is extremely complicated. Several people did not receive their voter’s information pamphlet distributed by the NEC. Some voters had this information pamphlet or their identification cards, but their names did not appear on the voters’ list. Others could not vote because their birth date was not the same as the one on the list and their documents. Finally, the election rule allows voters to vote with their family book, officials at the polling station did not allow them because their photos were not stamped.”

CSD also deplores the fact that “local authorities, police offices, military police officers, and village chiefs” were present in front and inside the polling stations, thereby creating “an atmosphere of intimidation for the voters.”

NGOs to monitor national budget

10 July 2008
Touch Yuthea
The Mekong Times

A committee has been formed by NGOs and associations including the NGO Forum on Cambodia, the Economic Institute of Cambodia (EIC) and the Center for Social Development, to closely monitor government revenues and expenditures.

Cambodians for National Revenue Transparency (CNRT) has been formed amid expectations that cash-strapped Cambodia, which currently needs millions of US dollars of aid annually, will reap billions from oil, gas and other natural resources in the future.

“The NGOs have established the alliance to monitor Cambodia’s management of national incomes from oil, minerals and gas — to ensure the money is utilized effectively to serve the common interests of the Cambodian people,” Chhith Sam Ath, executive director of the NGO Forum on Cambodia, said on Wednesday.

EIC Director Dr. Sok Hach did not elaborate on the CNRT yesterday, but said he would wait until after the July 27 national election before giving in-depth comment.

The CNRT has joined with another existing NGO alliance, Commercial Network and Economic Development (CNED), which was created in 2007 by some 10 NGOs and associations.

The CNED aims at annually analyzing budget practices and revenue management to ascertain whether government revenues and expenditures are consistent with prioritized plans set by the National Assembly in the 2007 national budget and the 2008 budget law.

“Since its inception in 2007, the NGO alliance has noticed that our national budget, compared to 2007 and 2008, has increased. Overall, the budget packages – both the current and funding budget – have been on the rise,” said Chhith Sam Ath.

Government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith welcomed the formation of the NGO alliances to monitor the distribution of national budgets, but questioned their ability.

“First, how many economists who are skilled and able to monitor national budget do the NGO alliances have?” he asked. “The establishment of the monitoring NGO alliances seems to be a slap in the face of the opposition. It implies opposition legislators are stupid and have no knowledge of how to monitor the national budget, which is why they have set up another [budget monitoring institution].”

The influx of huge oil and gas revenues into Cambodia’s economy has raised fears among NGOs that it could be struck by the ‘resource curse,’ which has seriously destabilized natural resource rich countries such as Nigeria.

Interview with Theary Seng

Thursday, 10 July 2008
Written by The Phnom Penh Post

1) When did the old board's term expire?
November 2007. Madam Peung Yok Hiep and Mr. Vi Houi never formally renewed their positions. Chea Vannath is NOT, has never been a CSD Board member. All three have expressly said to donors, to consultants, to Organizational Review members, to CSD staff and management that they are not interested in being Board members. Hence, we find their action that much more baffling.

2) Why do you think they are so reluctant to relinquish their positions on the CSD board?
We live in a society where power is status, status is power. They believe that CSD has influence and thus power. Simply put, the answer is power.

When I took on this role of executive director 2 ¼ years ago, I had 28 staff and encountered a tsunami of institutional, historical problems which had been accumulating for at least the last 10 years of mismanagement and a power struggle between 2 heads who hardly spoke with each other - an internal power and the public face. The 4 member Board wanted nothing to do with the historical implosion and was happy to let my staff and me clean up the mess and play the role simultaneously of management and of Board. It is only when we have stabilized the situation and dramatically grew in scope and portfolio, not to mention national and international recognition, that the Board decided to exploit their formal status by manipulating the vagaries, unclear roles and responsibilities - actually outright lack of Board accountability structure - of the Constitution.

3) Why are they trying to remove you (executive director)? What grounds do they give for this?
Absolutely no grounds. As to motivation, who knows? As who can understand irrationality and envy?

4) What do the donors think of this all?
The donors are rightly as baffled and frustrated as we all are. They are very supportive of CSD and our activities. One or two may be not be used to having a Cambodian woman speak and interact with them as their equals, so again baffling in another regard.

5) Why have things escalated (for example, their bringing military police with them to CSD and releasing media statements) to this extent?
The acts of these 3 individuals (2 former Board, one former executive director) have been ones of obstruction, destruction and immaturity; they reflect a sad and desperate attempt at power, so desperate that they believe they could use illegal MoI force with impunity; very destructive and immature in their use of publicity, to use the threat of destroying CSD as a bargaining chip. How they have acted and their mentality is not very different from the larger mentality of relying on brute power and connections to get one's way.

6) When was the new board elected and who was involved in this process?
For over one year, we were without a functioning Board. The issue of Board membership had been on the table for discussion for many months, with the process of nomination opened to the former existing Board members, the Management Committee and donors. Hence, the new Board members came about after opening the floor for nomination to all these individuals and stakeholders and opening the floor for voting to the former Board members and Management Committee members.

7) How can CSD move forward and resolve this crisis?
CSD is moving forward; this is a non-issue.

8) Do you think this internal dispute will harm the important work CSD does in Cambodia?
No, to the contrary. It has made my staff so much stronger in their ownership and solidarity. It has chipped away at all our unhealthy naivete and unconditional trust of foreigners and people with seniority of age and status. The best way to learn a valuable lesson is in the caldron of experience. We are learning our lessons well, the main one being that every challenge is really only an opportunity in disguise. Additionally, it has created sympathy and empathy from the public who believe in us and trust our voice and work.

9) Where does the Chief Financial Officer stand on this? Do you have the full support of all your staff?
The Finance Manager is superb ! My staff are superb ! I am so proud of each of them. I am truly honored to be working with each of them. Many of them are more than staff but friends and "family".

It should also be noted, we have an international auditing firm who has praised us for our notable improvements from years before.

Making a Difference - Cambodia's Theary Seng Works to Heal Her Country

By Rory Byrne, VOA
Washington D.C
02 July 2008

Theary Seng video profile

Click here to listen to Rory Byrne report

Theary Seng's story is one of hope over adversity. As a child, she lived through the brutal Khmer Rouge years, before fleeing to the United States, where she studied to become a lawyer. Now, she is back in Cambodia, promoting human rights. As head of the Center for Social Development, Theary Seng is an outspoken critic of corruption and abuse wherever it exists. Rory Byrne has this report for VOA's Making a Difference series.

Theary Seng

Human rights activist Theary Seng has been shaped by her country's tragic history. As a child, she collected cow dung among the graves of the victims of the Khmer Rouge to fertilize the crops. Her parents died at the hands of the ultra-Maoist group, which ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.

During their four years in power under the extreme-Communist leader Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge were responsible for the death of at least 1.5 million Cambodians killed by political executions, starvation or forced labor. In late 1978, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge fled to the countryside following invasion by neighbor and former ally Vietnam. The 10-year Vietnamese occupation (1979 - 1989) touched off almost 13 years of civil war in Cambodia.

After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Theary escaped to Thailand and then the United States, where she became a lawyer.

Theary Seng, right, consults with a colleague

Now she is back in Cambodia, working to help her impoverished country. "So, for me, it's to take my history and the loss of my parents and to shape it, to not let the Khmer Rouge leaders have the better of me - by making it into something more hopeful," she explains.

Theary heads the Center for Social Development, which works to overcome the dark chapter of the Khmer Rouge. "The Khmer Rouge years have scarred our psychology," she says. "There is a lot of beauty [in Cambodia], but it's unfortunately overwhelmed by all these social problems and ills of our current society."

Theary also speaks out against abuses around the world. At a recent demonstration in Phnom Penh, she tried to lay a wreath to honor those killed in the civil war in Sudan's Darfur region. Government officials prevented her from doing so.

Theary takes a special interest in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, or KRT, which is starting to prosecute the group's leaders for their crimes. She serves as an official tribunal representative for the victims. "I see the opportunity for other voices to join mine, and to enlarge the space where other voices could be heard in addition to mine," says Theary.

"The thing about Theary Seng is that she is unique in Cambodia, because she is able to bridge the chasm between America's view of things and Cambodia's understanding of the world," says US Ambassador to Cambodia Joseph Mussomeli. "Whether it's the KRT process or justice in general, or corruption issues, or land issues, Theary adds a certain dimension that is very unique and very special."

Cambodia civil rights activist Theary Seng

The activist, author and attorney uses every opportunity to promote human rights in Cambodia. She even hosts a TV show looking to find the country's next generation of youth leaders.

"Really, my work here is not to do anything big, but to be a common citizen back in my homeland, where I've suffered a lot," says Theary. "And now, I'm taking that suffering, and shaping it into hope, and trying to work with individuals who had not the time and space to heal that I've had."

It has been a long journey for Theary Seng, from a child slave under the Khmer Rouge to a gifted voice of fellow citizens striving to overcome their country's terrible past.

Crisis at CSD?

Center for Social Development director Theary Seng was voted out of office by one of the group’s two conflicting boards of directors. (Photo: Kay Kimsong)

Friday, 27 June 2008
Written by Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post

Crisis has again engulfed the Center for Social Development (CSD), one of Cambodia’s most visible civil society groups, following a leadership dispute that culminated in the alleged dismissal Tuesday of Theary Seng, the organization’s executive director.

Her reported firing came amid uncertainty as to who has legal control of the organization, with two separate boards of directors claiming legitimate decision-making powers.

“The entire board has unanimously resolved to dismiss Theary Seng,” said Vi Houi, a member of a three-member board of directors that claims to be CSD’s key decision-making body.

“The main issue is that Theary has not been accountable to the board. If she doesn’t come to meetings when the board calls a meeting, it means she doesn’t want to do her job,” he said.

According to Houi, the other 11-member board, constituted earlier this year after the old board’s term expired last November, was a legal fabrication, and part of the reason for the executive’s dismissal.

“It’s not legal. It’s not legitimate to disagree with the board and then to go out and organize your own board,” he said. “Staff can’t go out and make their own board. That’s one reason [we have] rushed to dismiss Theary.”

If she refused to step down, Houi added, the next step would be formal legal action. “It’s a very simple thing. She’s the employee, the board is her employer. If she doesn’t want to do what the board says, she can leave.”

However, Theary, who has served as executive director of the CSD since 2006, rejected the decision of the board members, saying that their terms ended in November and have not since been renewed.

“The acts of these three individuals… have been ones of obstruction, destruction and immaturity; they reflect a sad and desperate attempt at power,” Theary told the Post by email. “Simply put, the answer is power.”

She said that the new board was elected according to the organization’s constitution, and that any decision made by the other board has no legal standing.

“The new board members came about after opening the floor for nomination, [which was open] to former existing board members, the management committee and donors,” she said.

The current crisis has cast a shadow over CSD, which has been an active member of Cambodia’s NGO community since it was founded in 1995. But whatever the outcome of the internal dispute, Theary said she is confident it will not impact the organization’s activities.

“It has made my staff much stronger … it has chipped away at all our unhealthy naiveté and unconditional trust of foreigners and people with seniority of age and status,” she said. “CSD is moving forward. This is a non-issue.”

Due process urgently needed for Cambodian criminal suspects

Monday, March 24, 2008
Theary Seng
Executive Director, The Center for Social Development

"A criminal proceeding in any environment - be it in a developed state or here in developing Cambodia - is a serious matter because an individual's liberty and rights are at stake. Before any rights or freedom of a person is to be limited by the State (e.g. imprisonment), extreme due care must be taken to ascertain that the curbing of these rights/liberties are justified and followed established due process.

The adherence of due process is more urgently needed here in Cambodia where the legal and penal system is embryonic and fragile, prone to abuses, without adequate balance of powers among the different parties in the criminal case and generally among the three branches of government.

Moreover, greater scrutiny of these criminal proceedings must be had in light of our dark, recent history of gross violations of human rights on a massive scale.

We, at CSD, are abhorred by the high rate of torture and coercion used to extract confessions – 1 in 4 as you accurately noted from our Annual Report. A confession given as a result of coercion and torture cannot be deemed reliable or accurate. Consequently, it means that one in four defendants run the high, unacceptable risk of being wrongly convicted – i.e., having their rights curbed and violated – as a result not of having committed a crime but of fear for life resulting from coercion and torture. This 25% rate of confession due to coercion and torture also put into question all convictions, whether they are safe. We are deeply concerned that they are not safe and that many innocent people are being put in prison or having their rights and liberties curbed in other manners without proper due process of law."

Torture still endemic in Cambodian legal system, US ambassador says

Thu, 20 Mar 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - More than a quarter of Cambodian court defendants surveyed reported being tortured or coerced into confession and ordinary people lacked faith in the justice system, US ambassador to Cambodia Joseph Mussomeli said Thursday. Speaking at the launch of an annual judicial review by local anti- corruption organization the Centre for Social Development (CSD), the ambassador said that although the figures showed some improvement, the country's notoriously fraught system was still poor.

"The CSD annual report makes clear what goes on inside Cambodia's courtrooms still falls short of what can be considered procedural justice," he said.

"CSD reported that over 25 per cent of defendants appearing in court claimed to have been tortured or coerced into giving confessions. I note that this ... is the same as reported last year, indicating there has been no significant change."

The Court Watch Project by CSD has come to be viewed as the definitive annual survey of developments in the fledgling Cambodian judicial system since it was launched in 2003.

CSD, which receives funding from a number of donors including Germany and the US, interviewed a wide range of judicial officials, witnesses, lawyers and defendants between October 2006 and September 2007.

Judicial reform of the notoriously corrupt Cambodian system has been earmarked by donors to the aid-dependant nation as a key factor in the country's development after 30 years of civil war.

The report outlined a number of concerns, including poor training of the judiciary, bribery, torture, underfunding, a lack of independence and frequent pre-trial detention of prisoners for terms exceeding the legal limit of six months.

"Not all the news is bad," Mussomeli said, but "on balance ... there remains a good deal to be done before the people of the judicial system will earn the trust of the people of Cambodia."

Group Notes Continued Concern for Courts

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
20 March 2008

A worrying number of people report coerced confessions ahead of trial, and many are kept beyond reasonable limits awaiting trial, the Center for Social Development said Thursday.

In an annual report, the group found a high number of cases where defendants were allegedly beaten in order to extract confessions.

In six courts monitored by the group, including the Appeals and Supreme courts, 25 percent of defendants claimed they were coerced into confessions by judicial or police officials.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court had the most allegations against it, followed by Kandal provincial court, according to the report.

Courts continued to be under-funded, said Pen Reny, head of the CSD legal unit, noting the budget for the court remained 0.28 percent of the national budget in 2007.

"The lack of court officials impacts the hearings and leads to insufficient justice for defendants, and it also can delay hearings and leave defendants in detention beyond a reasonable time," she said.

US Ambassador Jospeh Mussomeli, who attended a discussion coinciding with the report's release, noted that the percentage of coerced confessions was the same as last year, indicating no change in the way defendants are treated in the initial case process.

He said adults were frequently detained beyond reasonable limits while awaiting trial, and even more so with juveniles. This was something the courts could do something about, he said.

Keu Khem Lim, deputy director-general for the Ministry of Justice, said the ministry was trying its best to carry out the government policy.

In 2007, the ministry drafted new criminal and civil codes, which would provide a basis for proper court conduct, he said.

Profile: Seng Theary - A fighting woman

Seng Theary, Esq., trained in the US, and a champion of human rights in Cambodia (Photo: Cambodge Soir Hebdo)

11 March 2008
By Kang Kallyann
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr

Any kind of injustice revolts her, the lawyer is fighting against human rights violations in Cambodia and she is dedicating her life to accomplish this mission.

“If someone hates a Cambodian woman, I feel that I am being aimed at also.” Seng Theary does not support discriminations. On the eve of the International Women Day, she estimates that the rights of Cambodian women are still limited. “Society does not give them an official spot, even though the State declared the equality (of rights) between men and women,” she said with regret.

Raised in the US, the lawyer now works to develop similar rights in Cambodia as those in her adoptive country. Furthermore, for the last two years, she is heading the Center for Social Development (CSD), a Phnom Penh-based organization dedicated to the defense of human rights. Since its formation in 1995, the CSD fight to promote dialogue between the citizens and to encourage national reconciliation, mainly through public forums. CSD also pushes for good governance and for the follow-up on the upcoming July general election. In addition, CSD also performs observations on judiciary work in Cambodia.

Dressed in modern fashion, with a English-accent, Theary is a woman filled with courage. Behind her though, lies a very dark background. She gave an account of her life in 2005, in a book she published, “Daughter of Killing Fields.” Born in 1971 in Phnom Penh, she survived the KR regime. She lived in the province of Svay Rieng, near the Vietnamese border, an area where the KR massacres were the most intensified. Her parents did not escape though, their disappearances still remain intact in her memory.

In the beginning of February 2007, she was among of the first witnesses who were heard by the trial case against the former KR leaders. During Nuon Chea’s hearing, she provided an account of herslef being thrown into jail at the age of seven, along with her younger brother. She remained there for five months and was one of the five survivors in that area. Along with other surviving members of her family, she reached the Thai border in November 1979, and through an uncle, she was able to move to the US one year leater.

With a curious mind, the young Theary decided to study law. She wanted to understand how human rights could be violated under the KR regime. “I think I had the chance to settle and being educated in this country where human rights (is respected).” Theary graduated in 1995 in International political science from Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service. In 2000, she obtained her J.D. degree from the University of Michigan. She was admitted to the New York State Bar Association, and she is currently waiting to be admitted to the Cambodian Bar Association.

During her first return to Cambodia in 1995, she collaborated as a volunteer for various human rights defense groups. Theary also taught English to government workers at the Ministry of Justice, through the Cambodian American National Development Organization (CANDO). She also worked as a legal aid for poor people at the Legal Aid of Cambodia. In about 18-month, she learned a great deal about human rights – the most important element, according to Theary – in the Cambodian society. Still pursuing after injustices, she wrote a report on the children of prisoners. She visited 20 jails between 1996 and 1997 and she denounced the lack of a special detention center for minors. “Normally, they should be separated from the adults, this is not the case in Cambodia,” she said.

In January 2004, this woman who cherishes her independence, is settling definitively in her birth country. Single at 37, she is dedicating her life to her work. She is one of the judges of the TV program “Youth Leadership Challenge” which selects youths to be sent to the US for their studies. Theary is also the co-founder and vice-president of the Women’s Association of Small and Medium Business (WASMB) and a member of the Cambodian Living Arts Association. In spite of all her work, the lawyer still pursues her life long mission: to participate in the development of the Khmer society.

Deadline Approaching for Tribunal Budget, Groups Worry

By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
22 January 2008

The Khmer Rouge tribunal is facing a time and money crunch that could make trials difficult, two rights groups warned Tuesday.

"There is enough budget for the salaries of the international members for the whole year in 2008. But the Cambodian personnel who are working at the Khmer Rouge tribunal will run out of money in the next few months," said Seng Theary, executive director of the Center for Social Development. "If the Khmer Rouge tribunal has no budget, the tribunal will not be able to dispense salaries for the personnel. When the personnel have no salary, we are concerned that the court might stall."

Observers worry the tribunal will run out of funds before all five jailed Khmer Rouge leaders are tried, in proceedings the Cambodian foreign minister has said could run into 2012.

A budget shortfall has made the trial of five jailed former Khmer Rouge leaders more difficult, said Hisham Moussar, a legal expert monitoring the tribunal for the rights group Adhoc.

The tribunal's mandate only has a year and a half remaining, he said, "a short time."

"And if the time is short and the money is not there on time, it will be more difficult for the trial of the five people," he said.

Hun Sen's cops may have to arrest US Ambassador Mussomeli who will be attending the Symbolic Darfur Olympic Torch Relay in Tuol Sleng also

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact:

• In Cambodia: Saing Soenthrith, +855.12.947.499 and Rany Pen, rany@csdcambodia.org, +855.17.702.763
• International: Jonathan Freedman: jf@groupsjr.com / +1.212.751.3326 (US code)

MIA FARROW LIGHTS SYMBOLIC OLYMPIC TORCH IN CAMBODIA, UNITING GENOCIDE SURVIVORS IN A CALL FOR AN END TO THE DARFUR CRISIS

Special Plea to China, as host of ’08 Olympics: “Bring the Olympic Dream to Darfur”

What: Symbolic Olympic Torch Relay to be passed among Cambodian survivors of genocide and Darfur advocates.

Who:

• Mia Farrow, actor and human rights activist who has travelled to the Darfur region 7 times
• Van Nath, Khmer survivor and artist at the Toul Sleng prison
• Jill Savitt, Director of Dream for Darfur, which runs the Olympic Dream for Darfur campaign
• Theary Seng, Khmer survivor, author, Executive Director of the Center for Social Development
• Omer Ismael, Sudanese from Darfur and human rights advocate
• Freddy Mutanguha, Rwandan survivor and director of the Kigali Memorial Center
• Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli, US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia

Where: Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Press Conference to follow inside the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum.

When: January 20, 2008: Torch lighting ceremony at 9.30am, Press conference to follow at 10am.

Why: The Toul Sleng Genocide Museum is a former high school that was used as a security prison (called S-21) and torture center by the Khmer Rouge. Dream for Darfur is holding a torch lighting ceremony there both to commemorate past victims of genocide and to remind us what happen when the world looks away, as is happening in Darfur currently. In particular, the torch relay will call attention to the constructive role that China could play in the Darfur crisis. The symbolic Olympic Torch Relay is urging the Chinese government as both Olympic host and Sudan's strongest political and economic partner, to use its special influence with the Sudanese government to ensure a robust civilian protection force in Darfur before the Games begin.

Cambodia is the sixth stop on an international symbolic Olympic Torch Relay that began in August near the Darfur border and continued to Rwanda, Armenia, Germany and Bosnia & Herzegovina over the last five months. For video and photos of past torch lightings:
www.dreamfordarfur.org

Background:

Dream for Darfur, is a US based advocacy group that is organizing the Olympic Dream for Darfur torch relay. The Cambodia torch lighting is being co-hosted with the Center for Social Development that has been conducting grassroots dialogues with victims and perpetrators all over the country. In solidarity with the global Olympic Torch Relay, there have been relays organized in several other countries, including a US relay that traveled through over 60 cities. The relays seek to use the Olympic ideals of peace and international cooperation to raise awareness about Darfur and as a step toward growing an international anti-genocide movement. The campaign does not support a boycott of the Olympics and does not advocate withdrawal by any nation from this essential forum.

Chea Vannath a champion of democracy in Cambodia

Chea Vannath

Written on December 19th, 2007
in World People one

Linked with Center for Social Development CSD.

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Chea Vannath (born 1948) is President of the Center for Social Development CSD, which promotes school curricula on transparency, monitors the courts and parliament and organizes public debates on the Khmer Rouge tribunal, corruption and other issues. After the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975, Chea was forced to work in labor camps before escaping to Thailand and on to the US. After living as a refugee in America for more than ten years, she returned to Cambodia in 1992 to participate in rebuilding her country.

She says: “Not anymore will I allow only one party to lead my country”.

She says also: ““He (my father) was committed, had tremendous energy and effort, and possessed a progressive vision. He did not blame others. When he talked, he made me think. Once he was asked by other villagers while we were forced to work in the field by the Khmer Rouge, how it feels to not be rich anymore, and he replied that he still felt very fortunate. He did not pay attention to money but to human beings”.

She works for the Center for Social Development CSD.

A daughter of a jeweler, Vannath grew up in a secure and elegant environment. As a girl, she went to school in a chauffer-driven car. Vannath speaks three languages fluently: Khmer, English and French. After getting her diploma in public financial management, she worked as a fiscal officer in the treasury department. She married a physician, a major in the Cambodian army. They have one son.

Then came the Khmer Rouge in April 1975. Vannath’s life would never be the same again.

From “year zero”, as the Khmer Rouge regime called their reign of terror, Vannath along with her parents and her husband and son were forced to leave home and made to work the fields in several provinces along with millions other Cambodians. In three years and eight months, together with many other people, she moved to different places, wherever the Khmer Rouge needed forced labor. She got up at four in the morning to pick tobacco, and saw men being taken away never to be seen again.

Vannath witnessed, for the first time, death, torture, and misery. In short, human suffering. From these experiences, she learned to understand life and suffering, life as ever changing and not permanent.


Under the regime’s reign of terror, two million Cambodians were reported killed. In 1980, facing the threat to her family, Vannath, her husband, and their son escaped to Thailand. They stayed in a refugee camp in Chon Buri province for three months then left for the Philippines for another six months. After finding a sponsor in America in 1981, Vannath’s family set off for San Francisco, then settled in Oregon.

Buddhism has helped her through difficult times. Many Cambodians traumatized by the war react differently. Some of them lost their identities. Vannath clung to Buddhism and kept her balance.

“Some Buddhist Cambodians said they were Christian in order to get assistance while in America. But I don’t want to say that just to get assistance,” says Vannath, recalling her experience as a refugee in America from 1981 to 1990.

Vannath was introduced to Buddhism since when she was young. As a child living with her parents in Pursat province, Vannath developed a strong and loving relationship with her grandmother, Touch Ky. So when her parents moved to Phnom Penh in the 1950s, she did not want to leave her grandmother.“My first thought was always with my grandma. I remember very well helping her carry the betel nuts basket to the pagodas (temple) and several Buddhist religious ceremonies. I always observed these ceremonies.” Vannath learned to pray twice a day.

Before the Khmer Rouge, she avoided political activity. But the regime changed her from a gentle woman unconcerned about the state or the administration, to an activist. “It changed me,” she says, with no hint of resentment. It led her to ask the question: “Why did the Khmer Rouge happen?” The answer, she says, is that she was not an active member of society. She decided to change herself, to be engaged in political affairs. Not anymore will I allow one party to lead my country,” she said.

She got involved, first, as coordinator for all organizations assisting refugees in America. She worked as a board member of the Cambodian Network Council to preserve the homeland’s traditions and culture. From 1981 to 1990, she became program monitor for the International Refugee Center of Oregon and the Southeast Asian Refugee Federation in Oregon, and later the program coordinator for the Early Employment Project of the Metropolitan Community Action in Portland.

Later, she became program specialist for the Oregon State Refugee Program, Department of Human Resources. She also continued her studies and obtained a master’s degree in Public Administration (with awards for achievement) from the Portland State University in Oregon in 1991.

In 1992, she was back in Cambodia working as a translator for the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) to prepare for the UN-sponsored general election in 1993. Later, she worked for The Asia Foundation – Cambodia, funded by the US Agency for International Development, as head of the Financial Review and Compliance Unit. In 1996, she was vice president of the Center for Social Development (CSD) before becoming its president in 1998.

Established in 1995, the CSD is a nationwide institution focusing mainly on the elimination of corruption, development of accountability and the implementation of transparency especially in the public sector, as well as the promotion of human rights, good governance and democracy. These issues are pertinent to Cambodia (a country where the average monthly income of civil servants ranges from US$20-40 and where some 36 per cent of the population live below the poverty line), where the availability of funds and international aid are fertile ground for abuse. In addition, a research study conducted by CSD in 1998 on the Cambodians’ attitude towards corruption showed that a majority of the people accept corruption as part of the normal way of life in Cambodia.

To counter this, the CSD decided to launch a project called Transparency Task Force, which aims for attitudinal and behavioral changes towards corruption among primary and secondary level students. In 2002, the Coalition for Transparency-Cambodia composed of monks, students, teachers, civil servants, non-governmental organizations, parliamentarians and members of the private sector was formed, with the CSD acting as its secretariat and its major sustaining force. The CSD was also the main moving force in the drafting of the anti-corruption law awaiting the adoption by the Parliament.

Since 1996, the CSD has organized public forums to tackle sensitive and explosive issues, thus, Vannath says, enabling the Center to act as a neutral and unbiased venue for people of varied backgrounds to debate within the framework of legal and democratic processes. The debates are broadcast through radio and television.

The most controversial debate was on the Khmer Rouge tribunal. At that time, details of the law establishing a Khmer Rouge tribunal were negotiated in utmost secrecy between the representatives of the Royal Government and the United Nations. The CSD felt the need to organize these debates so that the people’s voices would be heard. The debates were opened to the public, which included the victims of the Khmer Rouge as well as its former members.

Vannath traveled to the former Khmer Rouge leaders’ stronghold in Pailin and Phnom Malai districts of Banteay Meanchey province to invite them to participate in the forum that her Center organized in three provinces. The presence of Khmer Rouge members was controversial but Vannath believed the Khmer Rouge should have a chance to express their opinions about the tribunal. She says that from these forums, she found out that the tribunal itself is not the issue. The real issue is national reconciliation and peace. Therefore, the trial had to be looked at from the broader, more comprehensive framework of justice, national reconciliation and total healing towards the attainment of genuine peace.

Peace, Vannath says, is everything, so her work also has to deal with several issues: health, religion, gender. Once she worked to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of Cambodia, the National Olympic Stadium complex. The great obstacles to peace, however, are poverty and lack of education. Her Center signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Education to train 6,000 teachers and to integrate the concepts of transparency and accountability into the curriculum.

Other activities of the CSD are Parliamentary Watch that monitors and acts as a watchdog of the performance of the members of the Parliament, and Court Watch that monitors and records the compliance of courts with the procedures for fair trial and due process. The CSD also publishes a monthly bulletin that exposes the performance of key players in the socio-economic and political spheres of Cambodian society.The CSD is in the line of fire for its activities and positions on various issues. Consistently, it takes the dangerous position of working for the benefit of the poor, marginalized and oppressed majority.

Vannath said she can stand up to anybody since what she is trying to do go beyond her own interests. “I do it not for myself. I do not have any expectations from what I am doing.” “She is truly brave, even much more than many Cambodian men,” says Mam Sonando, president of the Phnom Penh-based Radio Beehive. “She leads her life with transparency and honesty. She practices Buddhism in her work, activities and daily living. She contributes tremendously to the development of Cambodia and attainment of lasting peace in our divided nation.” Vannath was in the government’s black list for many years.

Vannath says she finds her strength in the footsteps of her late father.

Vannath’s comments are always sought after by the media. She is a daily commentator on the different issues in the country. She openly takes up issues specially those dealing with corruption. According to her friend, Helen Ross, an architect, Vannath seems “to have become the oracle that all journalists seek out for an answer to Cambodia’s complex political, social and economic situation.”

Vannath has been invited to Sweden and other countries to talk about the peace process she is advocating for Cambodia. The case study she wrote entitled “Reconciliation in Cambodia: Politics, Culture and Religion” has been used in the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance’s handbook on reconciliation. Vannath sits among policy makers on peace and national reconciliation, locally and abroad.

In 2004, Vannath was selected as one of the eight outstanding women in Cambodia by the Angkor Thom magazine for her courage, achievements and pioneering efforts in the field of transparency, accountability, human rights, democracy and peace. (1000peacewomen).

Camp Catatonia.

Khmer Rouge and national reconciliation, opinions from the Cambodians.

Vannath Chea on IDEA.

Second Regional Conference on Poverty Reduction Strategies.

Peace Agreements as a Means for Promoting Gender Equality and Ensuring, Participation of Women.

And she says: “It’s beyond a dream,” said Chea Vannath, a leading human rights campaigner here. “I used to live under the Khmer Rouge regime, and I could never dream that those leaders would ever be brought to trial”, (full text: Khmer Rouge Hearing Ends, Nov. 21, 2007).

la testimonianza di una sopravvissuta.

Understanding Trauma In Cambodia

Phnom Penh Post, Issue 16 / 25, December 14 - 28, 2007

On November 21, the Center for Social Development launched Understanding Trauma in Cambodia Handbook, beautifully and thoughtfully written by Matthias Witzel, a consultant of the German Development Service to CSD with 15 years experience as a clinical psychologist and psycho-therapist with traumatized people from all over the world (Germany, Switzerland), especially in countries with civil war (Yugoslavia, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Liberia, Rwanda) before working in Cambodia for the last 2 years. He is also a second-generation traumatized person from a family displaced by World War II. The following are excerpts of Matthias' comments (with the full text available at www.csdcambodia.org " What's New at CSD"):

It is only appropriate to begin my presentation with some brief acknowledgements - especially for my Cambodian colleagues during the process of developing this Handbook.

First of all, our special gratitude goes to all the people who have supported us with their experiences and their knowledge, such as the participants at CSD public fora, who shared personal memories of their suffering during the KR years and gave us invaluable insights into the complex processes of Cambodian trauma. Our debt to them is substantial. In fact, this Handbook owes its existence to these Cambodians who suffered and still are suffering from past experiences.

Second, my very special gratitude goes to the CSD staff, particularly four individuals:

Foremost, there is Seng Theary, who came up with the idea to write this Handbook. During our discussions about psycho-social issues I am always deeply impressed by her precise and profound knowledge about psychological phenomena, especially about the coincidences among aspects of general human development, personality patterns and the situation of young Cambodians struggling with the socio-political reality in their lives. Her engagement of young employees is - from my perspective as a psychologist - outstanding and should be recognized as a role model for other leaders in this country.

Yim Sotheary: She mainly translated and edited the text into Khmer, helped to conceptualize and design the Handbook. Without her substantial engagement and deep commitment, not one single page could have been delivered today.

Sam Sarath, the brilliant CSD cartoonist: Even though unfamiliar with psychological topics, he obviously enjoyed transforming my stickman-drawings and creating the nice cartoons. He is one of the most humble and modest persons I have met in Cambodia.

Finally, Om Chariya: She worked very closely with us on the translation and editing and is the core of compassion within the CSD Emotional Support Group. During our reconciliation work in Cambodia's remote areas and the public fora, I was amazed by her skills to anticipate villagers' expression of grief and sadness and then to intervene with professional awareness and consciousness.

Everyone involved in the process of creating this Handbook made a conscientious (more or less), deep commitment to themselves to process personal life issues, recognizing it as a chance to develop their own personality pattern about how to deal with stress, overwhelming feelings and the tendency to avoid grief and anger. Dealing with trauma issues or with traumatized people implies a risk that can lead to being co-traumatized, or at least, mental and physical exhaustion, respective to burnout.

We write this Handbook for two principal reasons: to combat fear, and to address personal healing and national reconciliation.

Fear stems from lack of information

During our outreach activities and research, we quickly realized that fear is one of the most evident symptoms in Cambodia today, blocking a creative, engaged and healthy life of many people.

Fear is a lack of information (or knowledge, understanding).

In response to fear, the first step is to get control and ownership of one's own life in or after threatening situations, to get knowledge about the structure and content of the destructive circumstances. The second step is to seek new skills, and/or to reactivate earlier developed skills in order to cope and to reorganize life in a healthy way.

Step one is only a precondition; it does not give enough skills to deal with damaged self esteem, destructive behavior, lack of trust, or lack of ownership according to a self-actualized, creative, robust living.

For example, if family members do not understand that trauma can lead to an outburst of anger, panic or sudden grief (common symptoms) or that traumatized people change their communication pattern, are more suspicious and afraid, and tend to withdraw from society, how can they understand their suffering relatives, how can they appreciate them in their life struggle. Instead, oftentimes, they are labeled as "ch'kuet", crazy.

Lack of knowledge leads to lack of understanding, and consequently lack of empathy.

Again, how can people regain peace in their hearts if they are treated as abnormal for their grief, anger and depressive moods. With knowledge about common processes, they may seek help and may be more kind to themselves, because they will realize that their feelings are very, very normal and that the very first important approach to recovery is to treat yourself very kindly.

National reconciliation, personal healing

Parents, teachers, aid workers, politicians - the whole of society - have to impart not only knowledge and facts about history (which is fundamental), but need to understand that knowledge about human behavior, motivations, constructive and destructive personality patterns, the dark side of our souls, and even certain aspects of human behavior related to extreme aggression (unexplainable by psychological and sociological theories) is as fundamental.

The complicated process of reconciliation requires knowledge for each individual to understand their mental health situation and the internal turmoil in terms of spirituality and the meaning of life.

People with better knowledge, more informed, more sophisticated thinking patterns are more likely to forgive perpetrators, even murderers from the Khmer Rouge time. They are more able to differentiate pieces of information and ponder the circumstances, the conditions, the obstacles, and suffering of perpetrators; they can imagine the motives and purposes, and eventually, the traumata of the perpetrators. They don't label and stigmatize people as bad, if they behave badly; they can differentiate between a person's behavior and a person's personality.

PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health disease with severe reaction of unprocessed trauma. Last year, 62% of Cambodians living in the US suffered from PTSD and 51% suffered from depression. Despite the difference in circumstances for overseas Cambodians, psychiatrists and psychologists perceive similar high prevalence of PTSD in Cambodia.

At present many organizations and many Cambodians are becoming more engaged in the process of national reconciliation and development. Inevitably, one of the results of the increase of outreach work will be that many Cambodians will face their personal and collective history of the KR years. Undoubtedly, a wide range of symptoms, such as grief, anger, and other expressions of trauma will emerge from the depths of people's sub-consciousness. Many years after the KR atrocities, the trauma in the hearts of many Cambodians is still unresolved.
Dissociation, avoidance, numbing

Time does not heal all grief and pain: trauma can be re-experienced many times throughout one's life.

The brain employs different strategies to protect us from psychological and physical pain. Survival mechanisms such as dissociation, avoidance and numbing can initially help us to cope with an unbearable moment. But if we do not integrate our pain within some weeks or months after it occurred, it can lead to unhealthy long-term effects.

Many Cambodians who lived through the KR years did not have the chance to integrate their trauma. They repeatedly had to face traumatic events, and then experience the continuous intrusion of new traumatic events till today. Without a safe place to integrate their feelings of fear/pain and support from people who were not traumatized, these Cambodians did not have an opportunity to heal.

Hence, many Cambodians remain in a state of dissociation. They avoided feeling the full depth of the overwhelming pain. The coping strategy of dissociation allows people to struggle with unfathomable, unbearable circumstances, but with detachment and suppression of feelings. Consequently, from time to time, the tremendous suppressed grief, sadness, and anger erupt in problematic ways, e.g., high prevalence of domestic violence.
Unhealed trauma can be triggered anytime

A trigger is an event, an object, a person, or a sensation that sets a series of thoughts in motion or reminds a person of some aspect of their traumatic past. A person may be unaware of what is triggering the memory (e.g., loud noises, a particular color, piece of music, odor). But becoming aware of these triggers and learning not to overreact to them are important therapeutic steps in the treatment of people who suffer from anxiety, detachment, nightmares, increased aggressiveness, alcoholism, or even severe mental diseases such as PTSD.

In Cambodian society, daily life remains full of triggers. Every frightening personal or social situation may wake the "sleeping dogs" of trauma. This could be the unstable political situation, the insensitive statements of Cambodian leaders, or personal experiences related to corruption, land grabbing, landmines, rape, domestic violence, unprofessional and unjust courts and many more societal problems. As long as life in Cambodia continues to lack real security and reliability, every single moment can trigger memories of old traumatic experiences and feelings.

To handle the challenges of Cambodian life, people have had to develop specific psychological and behavioral coping strategies, seen pervasively throughout the country. These coping strategies could be constructive or destructive, depending on personal and environmental conditions. The goal is to avoid the emergence of too much grief and anger related to past traumatic events.

Unconscious tendencies

There is not yet any systematic research about the existence of typical Cambodian coping strategies. Nevertheless, there are unconscious tendencies that seem to be common in Cambodia, similar to other countries attempting to reconcile their specific history after civil war:

• Avoidance of talking about recent Cambodian history (personal or collective).
• Emotional detachment characterized by a lack of compassion for the suffering of weak, disabled or displaced people. The fact that Cambodians take extremely good care of their relatives and friends reveals that compassion is often fragmented. Being in touch with one's own feelings is only possible within the shelter of one's own family. To avoid triggers, people with background trauma often "choose" to avoid the grief and despair of strangers. Unfortunately, the coping strategies they use to deal with trauma often malfunction, due to the large amount of triggers in daily life. Many people channel the triggered energy of grief and anger through domestic violence, alcohol, drug abuse, and other destructive coping mechanism.
• Former victims unconsciously treating other people as they were treated in the time of the atrocities.
• Post-traumatic growth.

The variety of positive changes that individuals may experience in their struggles with trauma are described in psychological models of post-traumatic growth. These changes include improved relationships, new life options, a greater appreciation for life, a greater sense of personal strength, and a deepened sense of spiritual development. This reflects a basic paradox or irony: trauma survivors sometimes find that their losses have produced valuable gains.

In addition to psycho-therapy and counseling, healing requires an active creating of peaceful, trustful, compassionate and secure atmospheres in the public domain, which is the necessary prerequisite in the nation-wide healing process.

Without a secure social environment, without trust in good leadership-and therefore a different leadership approach then experienced for decades-the traumatized souls will remain suspicious, avoiding healthy and creative life approaches and transmit their distrust and self-distrust to their children. And if a healthy developmental process of individuals is blocked because of the impact of fear and anger, everything in a country, especially the process of reconciliation is blocked.

Simple but powerful reminders

I always repeat the following sentences in my interaction with villagers:

• Everyone should have access to appropriate support and healing approaches.
• Nobody should be ashamed; symptoms of trauma are never a sign of weakness of character or a reason to be depreciated.
• Each phenomenon and symptom of trauma has two sides, even if the constructive side is more hidden.
• Healing and reconciliation requires personal, individual engagement.

We believe that a greater consciousness and knowledge about the socio-political and individual aspects of trauma is one of the first steps towards individual and national reconciliation. There will be no path to comprehensive reconciliation in this country until there is more inner peace in the hearts of individuals, more conscious and relaxed communication between couples as well as among people in families, villages, and towns.

Without consciously facing the phenomena, the traumatic legacy, the aggression and feeling of being lost will be unconsciously passed onto the next generations of Cambodians.

Matthias WITZEL
CSD-DED consultant
Psycho-therapist, clinical psychologist

To read past columns, please visit www.csdcambodia.org "Voice of Justice Program".