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a web-based information resource on Cambodia and Cambodians




ANNOUNCEMENT

Film documentary "ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE"
Playing NYC (July 30 – Aug 5), LA (Aug 6 – Aug 12)
One of the most harrowing and compelling personal documentaries of our time, ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE exposes for the first time the truth about the Killing Fields and the Khmer Rouge who were behind Cambodia’s genocide. More than simply an inquiry into Cambodia’s experience, however, ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE is a profound meditation on the nature of good and evil, shedding light on the capacity of some people to do terrible things and for others to forgive them. Winner of a dozen top documentary festival awards, including a Special Jury Prize at Sundance and the Grand Jury Award at the Full Frame Documentary Festival.

MOST RECENT CONTRIBUTIONS
ARTICLE

On January 7, 1979, Vietnamese forces defeated the Khmer Rouge and captured Phnom Penh. Some Cambodians celebrate this date as a day of liberation . Others, however, associate the date with foreign conquest and subjugation. In his article Brief History of Vietnamese Expansionism vis-ŕ-vis Cambodia, Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth places the invasion and occupation of Cambodia into a larger historic context of Vietnamese expansionism. Given the history of Cambodia's relations with her neighbor to the east, a question to keep in mind while reading the article is: Is history repeating itself?


MUSING

Khmer Rouge survivor Peauladd Huy has long suppressed the memories of her childhood in the Killing Fields for fear of being emotionally overwhelmed by them. As a result of her children's questions about their heritage, however, Peauladd decided she must come to grips with her tragic memories. What she could not express through the spoken word to her daughters, she put down on paper. The memories and thoughts eventually gave rise to her poetic chapbook Souvenirs for My Daughters.


CULTURE

Martial arts is an important but in many ways overlooked aspect of Cambodian culture. Practiced since pre-Angkorian times, like many other traditional Khmer arts such as dance and music, its practice was forbidden and many master practitioners killed during the Khmer Rouge era. While traveling Cambodia, American adventurer and martial artist Antonio Graceffo found the popularity of this indigenous art form to be making a comeback. He has preserved his observations in a series of articles about Khmer Martial Arts and has graciously offered them for publication on our website.


DOCUMENTS

The Cambodian Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has compiled a set of Laws and Legal Instruments in Force in Cambodia which we have placed in the Human Rights section of the documents page. The compilation includes domestic law as well as human rights treaties and other international instruments to which Cambodia is party. Copies of the laws are available in both Khmer and English.


KR TRIBUNAL

In June 2003, the Cambodian Government and the UN signed an agreement paving the way for joint cooperation on prosecuting former Khmer Rouge leaders. Given the structure of the trials conceded to by the UN and the current prevailing corruption in Cambodia, a show trial of the Khmer Rouge may not necessarily be the correct course of action in Cambodia.



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