Forgive, But Recall the 'Killing Fields'

Cambodians are hoping that an international trial taking place in their country can help to heal emotional, physical, and spiritual wounds that have festered for 30 years—ever since the Khmer Rouge communists came to power in 1975 and slaughtered millions of people over a four-year period.

Wanting to destroy capitalism and imperialism in their society, the Khmer Rouge forced millions of people out of the cities and into agrarian detention camps, wanting to turn the clock back to the year zero as they created a new society, human rights activist and attorney Theary Seng recently told an audience at Calvin College's January Series.

"They plunged us into an abyss of suffering. They took the lives of almost one third of the population, including my parents and many other people I knew," said Theary, author of the book Daughter of the Killing Fields. "I'm not talking about one murder. The crime scene is the whole country. The magnitude of the crimes they committed is massive."

Even 30 years later, millions of people in her country still suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and have been unable to move on in their lives because of the pain they suffered under the Khmer Rouge.

Currently, Theary is closely following and involved in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, an international legal proceeding that is trying to bring former members of the Communist-backed Khmer Rouge to justice. Unfortunately, she said, only a few of the top officials are going on trial, leaving many, many others in the country “unpunished and with blood on their hands.”

"The tribunal is a court of law and it does offer legal accountability, but it only provides selective justice," she said.

And yet, her hope is that the trials will help to open people up, allowing them to talk more freely about what happened to them and their loved ones during the time in which so many were murdered in Cambodia’s "killing fields."

Perhaps educational projects—provincial learning centers—can come out of the trials, allowing people places they can go to help future generations be aware of the genocide that the Khmer Rouge brought to the country. In addition, she said she hopes the trial will encourage the international community to continue to remember the genocide that occurred in her country.

"This tribunal can be a way we collectively can show our disgust at the crimes that took place and to restore moral order," she said.

"A problem we have, though, is that the evidence we have against these former Khmer Rouge leaders is 30 years old, and the ones who are on trial may not live through their trials, which take at least three years."

Theary was born in Phnom Penh in January 1971. Under the Khmer Rouge, she lived in Svay Rieng province bordering Vietnam, where the killings were most intense and where she spent five months in prison. After trekking across the border to Thailand in November 1979, she and her brothers emigrated to the U.S. one year later.

Sponsored by a Christian Reformed Church congregation, they landed in Grand Rapids, Mich., a world totally foreign to them and yet one that gave them the stability they needed to survive and, as her life is now showing, thrive.

Theary graduated from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service with a degree in International Politics in 1995 and from the University of Michigan Law School in 2000.

Since 1995, Theary has been traveling to Cambodia, volunteering with various labor and human rights groups. In January 2004, she moved permanently to live and work there.

Theary made history when she testified as the first civil party before the tribunal. She has since organized others to do so as well.

Theary also founded the Voice of Justice Radio Program and has contributed articles for the Voice of Justice columns for Cambodian newspapers. In addition, she was the cohost of the popular reality-TV program Youth Leadership Challenge that aired on television stations for five seasons.

People may be surprised at how the events of 30 years ago continue to haunt and thwart the lives of millions of survivors from the Khmer Rouge's violence, which was only stopped when Vietnam invaded and ceased the killing in the late 1970s.

"We need to continue to address issues of peace, justice, and reconciliation," she said.

When asked if her efforts in her country also include helping people to achieve forgiveness as a way to help them move on with their lives, as well as follow the command of Christ to love our neighbors and our enemies, she said not as much as she would like to be able to do.

A Christian, Theary herself has forgiven the Khmer Rouge who killed her family members and forced her and her brothers to flee the country through mine-infested jungles. But forgiveness is not a virtue that is held in high regard in Cambodia, a largely Buddhist society.

"Buddhism is based on destiny and fate and not forgiveness," said Theary, adding that she believes it is crucial for one's mental health to forgive and yet not necessarily forget. But remembering needs to be selective and not a process that erodes people’s hope and commitment to the future, she said.

"I know individuals in Cambodia who are working on the issue of forgiveness. World Vision as an organization is devoting resources to it," she said. "I believe that the small Christian community in Cambodia can focus on it more intentionally."

To read a Calvin College student's response to Theary's speech, click here: Killing fields.