Background

Nearly fifty years ago, on April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia. The regime maintained political control through brutal violence, seeking to destroy in particular ethnic and religious minorities, Buddhist monks, and intellectuals. The impact on Cambodian society was devastating: An estimated one-third of the Cambodian population was murdered by or starved to death under the Khmer Rouge regime. Even after the regime collapsed, internal conflict and international isolation followed, and in their wake came famine, political instability, and overwhelming human suffering for nearly forty years.

An estimated five million Cambodians survived the Khmer Rouge regime. Research on trauma-induced mental health challenges in post-conflict societies, including surveys specific to Cambodia, have found substantially increased levels of mental and physical health conditions resulting from the trauma suffered by survivors. In order to understand these challenges more fully, the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) has collected information from over 31,000 Khmer Rouge survivors, identifying conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, gastrointestinal disorders, and mental illness that have resulted at least in part from the trauma of the Khmer Rouge regime and its aftermath. Strikingly, nearly 90 percent of those surveyed continued to experience upsetting memories of the Khmer Rouge era and a quarter still suffered nightmares from their experiences over four decades ago.

This research points to a finding that is crucial to Cambodia’s future: the trauma from the Khmer Rouge era and its health sequelae continue to impact many Cambodians, from those who survived the regime to their children, grandchildren, and broader communities. Untreated trauma from these unspeakable harms can be at the root of harmful behavioral patterns such as substance abuse and even domestic violence. The challenges of processing the trauma and related emotions from the era can impact the nation both individually and through its institutions.

In Cambodia, landmines endure as a physical reminder of its conflict-laden history. Thousands of Cambodians have been killed or injured simply because they stepped in the wrong place while walking through the countryside, unaware of the explosive harms that lay hidden just beneath the surface. While less immediately visible, the mental health consequences of Cambodia’s history, if left untreated, risk similar consequences. Cambodia’s mental health legacy can negatively impact individual identities, family and community relationships, and belief systems through harmful behaviors and actions. These harms in turn can impact societal perceptions of government services, norms, and laws. In other words, decisions about whether and how to address the mental and physical health challenges resulting from the Khmer Rouge era will impact the future of Cambodians as individuals and Cambodia as a society.

The conference will foreground the roles of atrocity crimes education and mental and physical health care in preventing and responding to genocide. Education about the perpetration of atrocity crimes is crucial in ensuring that individuals and societies understand their own past. This knowledge, combined with an understanding of the ongoing impacts of these crimes, is a vital first step in building the thoughtfulness and diligence necessary to dismantle conditions that might catalyze future harms. Successful education around atrocity crimes requires dedicated and substantial commitment from governments and civil society actors.

Objectives

The conference organizers aim to establish a transnational community of experts in human rights and genocide prevention in post-conflict societies who can share innovative ideas and best practices, working together to build an enduring peace in Cambodia and beyond. This will be the first in a series of conferences that will lay the foundations for that network.

In terms of policy goals (prevention and response), this conference will seek to develop campaigns to ensure that governments throughout the world integrate atrocity crimes education into mandatory high school curricula at the national level. Participants will also discuss collaborative approaches to obtain pledges from military forces around the world that they will include atrocity crimes education as a mandatory component of professional miliary education of officers and senior leaders. Most importantly, the conference will devise strategies to incorporate atrocity crimes education into all international development policy by conditioning development aid on the implementation of a credible atrocity crimes education curriculum.