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KHMER ROUGE TRIBUNAL PUBLIC FORUM

A PEACE AND RECONCILIATION PROJECT

Portland, Oregon, March 1, 2007-On April 27-28, the Cambodian-American
Community of Oregon (CACO) will hold a public forum to raise awareness
about the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. The two-day forum will take place at Immigrant
and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) on Friday, April 27, and Portland
State University's Smith Ballroom on Saturday, April 28. The event will
include panel discussions by Khmer Rouge genocide survivors and scholars of
Cambodian history and culture, as well as presentations and performances by
authors, musicians, and community activists.

The Cambodian government and political system was destabilized during the
early 1970s as a result of U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War and other
complex factors. In 1975, Pol Pot came to power, establishing a reign of
terror that resulted in the deaths of approximately 1.7 million people, or a
quarter of the population. Despite widespread acknowledgment that the
leaders of the Khmer Rouge committed crimes against humanity, there has yet
to be an international war crimes tribunal to hold them accountable. The
United Nations and the Cambodian government are scheduled to prosecute
surviving senior Khmer Rouge leaders sometime in 2007. No one knows what
effect this may have on the Cambodian population, though community leaders
hope it will bring a sense of closure and healing to the survivors of the
Khmer Rouge regime, many of whom have suppressed their memories of
starvation, fear, torture, and death for over 25 years.

An estimated 250,000 refugees from Cambodia currently reside in the U.S.,
with approximately 10,000 living in Oregon and SW Washington. CACO
believes it can help community members cope with individual and collective trauma by
openly confronting the past and exploring the effects of the Khmer Rouge
genocide, including post-traumatic stress disorder. CACO plans to utilize
this open public forum to inform and educate the general public about the
long-term effects of genocide. Featured speakers will include Sichan Siv,
former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.; Loung Ung, author of the critically
acclaimed First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers;
Daran Kravanh, internationally renowned musician; Beth Van Schaack, legal
advisor to Documentation Centre of Cambodia; Rath Ben, program manager at
OHSU's Intercultural Psychiatric Program; Alex Hinton, Rutgers University
professor and author of Why Did They Kill? Cambodia in the Shadow of
Genocide; and Leakhena Nou, a sociology professor at California State
University, Long Beach. Local civil rights attorney and author Ronault
(Polo) L.S. Catalani will moderate the event. And Commissioner Sam Adams
will participate in welcoming the forum to Portland.

Opening events for the Khmer Rouge Tribunal Forum will take place
6:00-9:00pm Friday, April 27, 2007, at Immigrant and Refugee Community
Organization (IRCO), 10301 NE Glisan Street, Portland, OR 97220. On
Saturday, April 28, 2007, there will be panels of speakers from 10:00am to
6:00pm at the Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom (SMSU 355), Portland
State University, 1825 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97297. All programs are
free and open to the public. This event is sponsored in part by a grant
from the McKenzie River Gathering (MRG) Foundation. CACO seeks additional
sponsors, community partners, and volunteers. For more information, or to
get involved, contact Kilong Ung at (503) 267-4631 or
kilongung [at] kilongung [dot] com. Also see http://www.cacoregon.org

Ten Years of Independently Searching for the Truth: 1997-2007

Youk CHHANG, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam)
P.O. Box 1110
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA
Tel: +855 23 211 875
+855 23 221 165
Cell:+855 12 905 595
Fax:+855 23 210 358
Email: dccam[at] online [dot] com [dot] kh
Website: www.dccam.org

Tag: Cambodia

posted by Jinja @ 11:34 AM