Biographic28,821
Bibliographic93,160
Record No
លេខឯកសារ
|
VPA-KD0002 | |
Name
ឈ្មោះ
|
Mao Chann Than
ម៉ៅ ចាន់ថន
| |
Gender
ភេទ
|
Male
ភេទ: ប្រុស
|
|
Age
អាយុ
|
48 | |
Nationality
|
Khmer
|
|
Ethnicity
|
Khmer
|
|
Birth Place
|
Commune Number 6, Phnom Penh
|
|
Occupation
|
Chief of Khmer Civilization Association
|
|
Current Address
|
Koh Prak Village, Thom Commune, Kien Svay District, Kandal Province
|
|
Mode Participation
|
Complainant
|
|
Request Protective Measures
|
No;
|
|
Prefer form of Reparation
|
Pagoda
|
|
Main Crime Date
កាលបរិច្ឆេទឧក្រិដ្ឋកម្មសំខាន់ៗ
|
1975 |
Main Crime Location
|
My father was killed on 17 April 1975, and my mother, due to the suffering associated with the loss of her husband, passed away on 19 April 1975. Additional Information: (dated 25 March 2009) Evacuation: On 17 April 1975, I returned from a visit with friends where I had been inquiring about air travel to America, and was shocked to find my father’s body, covered with blood and lying on the ground at his house near Pochentong Airport. He had been shot by a group of ten Khmer Rouge soldiers. My father died in his military pilot uniform of the Lon Nol Armed Forces. My father’s name was Metheavy. Immediately upon witnessing the scene, I hurried on to find my mother who lived at a different house near the Independence Monument (my father had two houses, one near his workplace at Pochentong Airport, and the other near the Independence Monument). My mother’s name was Sah Kou. I discovered that the Khmer Rouge had evacuated my mother and sister along National Road 5. There were throngs of evacuees filling the road. After my mother heard the news about the death of my father, she said to me, “The situation is now different and we will all have to adjust.� The next morning, my mother passed away when we reached Udong. No one was able to help bury her body. In the end, only my sister, Saophorn Saophy, and I remained. After that, I had no relatives or friends who would offer support. They acted as if they didn’t know me. At the end of 1975, an ethnic militia chief (either Kring or Stieng minority) took my sister and me to live in his village at Trapeang Commune, Tambe District, Kampong Cham Province. In 1976, my uncle’s family was killed by being struck and thrown into the well at Thlok Nhanh. In 1978, my sister died of malnutrition. At the end of 1978, I joined the struggle to liberate Phnom Penh and was trained in Vietnam. |
Date Completion of Form
កាលបរិច្ឆេទនៃការបំពេញបែបបទ
|
20071102 | |
Petitioner
អ្នកដាក់ញ្ញាត់
|
No; | |
Copyright: | © DC-CAM | |
រក្សាសិទ្ធិដោយ: | © មជ្ឈមណ្ឌលឯកសារកម្ពុជា |
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Biographic28,821
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Location
Date
1970 to 197515,209
1975 to 198022,828
1980 to 198511,449
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1990 to 199510,122
1995 to 20001,254
2000 to 20104,840
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Credit Line: Documentation Center of Cambodia's Archives.
"Documentation Center of Cambodia's Archives"
This website was funded in part by a grant (Documentation and Democracy) from the United States Department of State. The opinions, findings and conclusions stated herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development.
Concept by Ean Panharith and Youk Chhang
© 2023 Documentation Center of Cambodia
The Prevention and Punishment of the Crimes of Genocide
By Youk Chhang
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide stands alongside the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as one of the key pillars of international human rights law, and for this Human Rights Day in 2022, I want to highlight the critical importance of the responsibility to prevent atrocity crimes, which includes genocide. When atrocity crimes occur, there is an immediate need to stop these atrocious acts, followed by the equally urgent tasks of documenting, investigating, and ultimately prosecuting the perpetrators. However, from 1948 to today, we have not given enough attention to true prevention.
Atrocity crimes do not occur in a vacuum. There is a long chain of events and conditions that precede atrocity crimes. Isolation, segregation, and discrimination frequently, if not always, precede the rationalization of atrocity crimes against a group of people. And before people are discriminated against, they must be dehumanized. The process of dehumanization depends upon rationalizing hatred and distrust, and these processes are precipitated by misinformation, fueled by uninformed biases, stereotypes, and exploitative actors. They are also frequently dependent upon the disintegration, corruption, or lack of development of critical institutions, in particular institutions dedicated to dialogue and education. It is here that we must dedicate our greatest attention.
Since 1948, we have made great strides toward taking actions that interrupt, mitigate, and to a very limited extent, punish the chief perpetrators of atrocity crimes; however, these actions are not preventative but reactive in nature. No atrocities crime trial has ever prevented the next genocide, and no sanctions or punishment can bring back the dead or undo the trauma that extends across multiple generations. Indeed, the trauma of atrocity crimes in the distant past are often the forgotten seeds for the next wave of violence and inhumanity of the future.
If we are to truly adopt strategies that are effective, far reaching, and decisive in preventing atrocity crimes, then our priorities must be re-oriented to the opposite end of the spectrum, where the seeds of the next genocide are cultivated. Our responsibility in complying with foundational human rights documents should be measured not solely by our success at responding, investigating, and prosecuting atrocity crimes, but by our efforts in supporting institutions, initiatives, and actions that have a positive influence in preventing all forms of inhumanity. The most effective strategy at preventing the next genocide is centered on actions and policies that interrupt and reduce the risk of escalation at the earliest stages of inhumanity.
Cambodia recently removed human rights days from public calendars. I think we should reconsider this collective decision. Cambodia has achieved extraordinary success in its genocide education programme, which is the essence of atrocity crimes prevention. And so, to capitalize on this success and Cambodia’s regional and even global leadership in this area, we should hold an annual dialogue on the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. As the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) closes its doors, there is no better time than now to preserve Cambodia’s leadership and momentum in realizing the core objectives of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) is proud of the support it has given to the ECCC’s work, which was fundamental to giving victims an opportunity to participate in the justice process and realize some sense of closure from the Khmer Rouge genocide. DC-Cam is also eager to support an annual conference on the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. As we commemorate this Human Rights Day, we would be mindful to recognize our fundamental human rights documents are not only universal commitments, but also standards for evaluating the kind of world we are leaving for the next generation.
—————
Youk Chhang is Executive Director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia. The Center dedicating to Justice, Memory, and Healing for survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide.
Photo above: Children at Angkor Wat, 1979. After the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime on 7 January 1979, hundreds of thousands of children were left orphaned. From 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge led Cambodia into tragedy causing the deaths of over 2 million people. Although two millions were killed, five millions more survived to tell their story. The perpetrators of these crimes also survived. Photo: Documentation Center of Cambodia Archives.
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