Looking to the future: Justice and reconciliation in Cambodia
Aug 31, 2009
from Kiel Stoup's entry in Dara Duong: News about the Khmer Rouge Tribunal:
As my plane touched down in Cambodia almost a month ago, I was prepared to witness the detrimental affects that genocide had on the country. Two weeks of classes prior to my arrival made me expect the worst. Ready to walk into Cambodia circa 1979, I imagined Phnom Penh as I had seen it in pictures; a desolate city with blank, desperate expressions upon the faces of all of its war weary inhabitants, bodies lying on the side of the road, bomb shells littering the countryside. To my surprise, Phnom Penh was a noisy, bustling city packed with people and motorcycles speeding by. The people on those motorcycles mostly looked happy, with their families and loved ones enjoying an evening ride. Although poverty is all around, the city seems to overcome this with the bustling activity of its inhabitants and the fixed smiles painted on their faces. I realized that I was no longer in a country enveloped in a culture of fear and constant war; it was clear to me that a new dawn was rising in Cambodia, and that the youthful and motivated population were ready to pick up the pieces of its shattered past.
Although Cambodia has come a long way since the nightmare of the Khmer Rouge, it still faces many issues that continue to hinder its development and the vitality of its people. One of the major issues facing Cambodia today is how to continue the transition towards justice and reconciliation in a post-genocidal society. Thirty years after the complete obliteration of modern Cambodian society and the death of one-fourth of the population, Cambodia must strike a balance between facing the past and looking hopefully towards the future. After talking with several survivors of Pol Pot’s genocidal regime, it became clear that in order to move forward, the country must adopt two models of transitional justice: restorative and retributive justice.
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This is a fascinating entry, Kiel. Thank you for it and for the blog of Dara Duong. The great importance of restorative justice is its potential for its application worldwide. Those of us who labor in the field of restorative justice work on various levels, some on the micro level (maybe running a local restorative justice program) and some on the macro level (perhaps from a policy level). But when we hear of the chance of applying restorative justice to places that have been torn by war and genocide the significance of this work becomes astounding. That is when my passion for this work grows. <br /> <br />In your entry you say the following: "After talking with several survivors of Pol Pot’s genocidal regime, it became clear that in order to move forward, the country must adopt two models of transitional justice: restorative and retributive justice." <br />I understand what you are saying here but I am not sure I agree. I think you bring out a point that is currently being discussed, or debated, within the justice field around the world. Can retributive justice co-exist with restorative justice? Your comment in this case seems to say you think they both should be adopted. <br /> <br />I have always believed that the beauty of a justice system based on restoraive justice is that it is just and it is fair. That is why offender accountability is a key tenet of restorative justice. What you were perhaps saying is that for those offenders guilty of this violence against the victims (victim's families) want accountability. But how is that defined? I think that is changing. I think victims of violent crime are part of this discussion as they learn more about what restorative justice could offer them. <br /> <br />That does not mean that accountability would exclude a prison sentence, perhaps a life sentence. But with a justice system based on restorative justice it also opens the door, as you indicated, for a greater healing. It provides the potential for healing and some kind of restoration. That is in my experience working with victims of violent crime what they hunger for and what they so often have been denied. <br /> <br />I think of examples of the same horrific levels of violence suffered in Cambodia. Places like Rwanda, for instance. We can witness restorative justice being applied there in ways that could also be attempted in Cambodia. Prison Fellowship International has been a part of some of this work (through the use of RJ models like the Sycamore Tree Project). <br /> <br />The vision that restorative justice gives us requires that we continue to work to provide a justice system that is more restorative for victims, and the community. It also leads the way to the possibility of change in the offender. Is it wild to think that some day we might replace our retributive system of justice (worldwide) with one based on restorative justice? <br /> <br />Lisa Rea <br />California <br /> <br />