Introduction

Good afternoon. I am deeply honored to be here this afternoon with Minister Heidemarie (1) and other peace-builders on the panel in the celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Civil Peace Service. I come from a country when a boy steals a piece of bread, he is sent to jail; when a man kills 2 million of his countrymen, he is invited to Paris for a peace conference. I come from a country where to be an orphan is to be common; where post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) pervades the population. I come from Cambodia. Where as a child of 4 years old, the Khmer Rouge killed my father, then 3 years later my mother while we were in prison, along with 2 million other Cambodians.

We, Cambodians, yearn for peace. Peace that is more than just the absence of war. We want peace with the presence of justice. We want peace to subside the internal turmoil and purge the demons from within. Thirty years on, there is now the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (or, formally known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia) to start us on this journey of ‘peace with justice’ in trying 5 former KR leaders for these heinous crimes against humanity.

KRT is both ‘court of law’ and ‘court of public opinion’

The KRT is both a court of law and a court of public opinion. As a court of law, the KRT is limited. But any court of law has limitations, even here in developed Germany. A court has a very narrow mandate to weigh available evidence to convict or to let go.

In Cambodia, evidence is 30 years old, compromised, lost; witnesses long dead or are fearful to come forward. Additionally, there are charges of corruption, political interference, lack of judicial independence, budgetary constraints, etc. The Center for Social Development monitors the national courts as well as the KRT for fair trial rights.

However, because the KRT is limited in what it can do as a court of law, we see the values of the KRT in the court of public opinion, and thus use the KRT as a catalyst, as an illustration to jumpstart conversations—long overdue—on issues of history, accountability, responsibility (personal, collective), truth, reconciliation, trauma, healing, confession, forgiveness—all issues larger than the complex legal construct and legalese limited to the understanding of a few.

Civil Peace Service (DED)’s Partnership with CSD, now with CJR

How does the Civil Peace Service and Germany fit into all of this? Three years ago, I, as director of the Center for Social Development, approached Mr. Wolfgang Mollers, country representative of the German Development Service, to inquire whether we could work together in peace building in light of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and discussed having a civil peace officer with expertise in psycho-therapy be based with us.

To our joy, Mr. Mollers said "Yes" and since, the partnership with DED and the Civil Peace Service (through first, Matthias WITZEL and now Stefan KIESEL) has brought on unprecedented and deeply expansive achievements in the whole of Cambodian society:

Words cannot adequately capture the importance of the work of the Civil Peace Service in a place like Cambodia… caring individuals with expertise in peace-building passing on their skills by weaving their lives intricately with those of the local partners. Without DED and Civil Peace Service, we would not have achieved the above mentioned happenings.

Having witnessed firsthand the immeasurable contribution of the Civil Peace Service in Cambodia, I hope this work will continue for at least another 10 years, and then another 10, and another 10… until peace with justice, peace in the heart has been achieved in our broken world of suffering.

Thank you, Germany, for your humanity and generosity of spirit and attention.