Since its inception, the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) has been at the forefront of documenting the myriad crimes and atrocities of the Khmer Rouge era. DC-Cam was founded after the U.S. Congress passed the Cambodian Genocide Justice Act in April 1994, which was signed into law by President Clinton. That legislation established the Office of Cambodian Genocide Investigations in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in July 1994, which was charged with investigating the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge period (1975-1979).
In January 1995 and June 1997, the Office announced grants to Yale University, enabling Yale's Cambodian Genocide Program (CGP) to conduct research, training and documentation on the Khmer Rouge regime. The CGP was to assemble evidence concerning the leadership of Democratic Kampuchea (DK) and to determine whether the DK regime violated international criminal laws against genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The CGP is an academic program and is not equipped to conduct a legal trial of the Khmer Rouge leaders. It had three main objectives: 1) to prepare a documentation survey and index, 2) to undertake historiographical research, and 3) to provide legal training. The grant expired on December 31, 1996.
In pursuit of these objectives, the CGP founded DC-Cam as a field office in Phnom Penh in January 1995 under the leadership of its Program Officer, Mr. Youk Chhang, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge’s “killing fields.” DC-Cam became an independent Cambodian research institute on January 1, 1997. Since that time, it has continued its extensive research and documentation activities. DC-Cam is not a for-profit, governmental or political organization, and we are not a judicial body. We receive our funding from a wide range of international sources, both private and government (see donors list). DC-Cam is acknowledged as an independent and nonpartisan institute in Cambodia, and we disseminate information on the Khmer Rouge regime based on our impartial inquiry into facts and history.
The Center continues to serve as a major source of information about this tragic period of human history for academics, lawyers, activists and the general public. DC-Cam is now operated entirely by Cambodians with support from scholars and experts in the USA, Europe, and Asia.
DC-Cam has two main objectives. The first is to record and preserve the history of the Khmer Rouge regime for future generations. The second is to compile and organize information that can serve as potential evidence in a legal accounting for the crimes of the Khmer Rouge. These objectives represent our promotion of memory and justice, both of which are critical foundations for the rule of law and genuine national reconciliation in Cambodia.
To accomplish these objectives, DC-Cam carries out ongoing research to compile and analyze primary documentary materials collected through various means (including fact-finding missions abroad), attempting to understand how they fit into the overall historical context of the Khmer Rouge period. A society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history. Toward this end, DC-Cam is working to reconstruct Cambodia’s modern history, much of which has been obscured by the flames of war and genocide.
Much more can be found at DC-Cam's website (link below).
Further Resources:
Interview Date: April 26th, 2010
Written and Produced By: JK Fowler (www.roaminghills.com)
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