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Documentation
1995-present
Documenting the history
of the Khmer Rouge is at the core of our operations: it is an
important part of our center’s mandate and plays a major role in all
our projects. DC-Cam has been active in collecting documents relevant
to the history of the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) era for nearly a
decade. To date, we have amassed approximately
600,000 pages of documentation from the DK era, petitions and
interview transcripts taken from survivors of the regime, and a
variety of other materials that could potentially serve as evidence at
the tribunal.
A memorandum from the
United Nations, A/59/432 of
12 October 2004 stated: “It is expected that the Chambers
will rely heavily on documentary evidence. Some 200,000 pages of
documentary evidence are expected to be examined. The bulk of that
documentation is held by the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, an NGO
dedicated to research and preservation of documentation on crimes
perpetrated during the period of Democratic Kampuchea.” DC-Cam by no
means possesses a monopoly on documentation relevant to the crimes of
Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) leaders, but it is the largest
repository of such materials.
Cataloguing and Database Management
The first aspect of our
documentation work entails collecting and cataloguing documents and
managing two major
databases,
the Cambodian Genocide Bibliographic Database (CBIB) and the Cambodian
Genocide Biographical Database (CBIO). Set up in collaboration with
Yale University and the University of New South Wales, these databases contain
detailed information on former Khmer Rouge leaders and cadres. They
provide an organized information resource about the DK regime and many
of its victims. The databases also facilitate our program of family
tracing, whereby survivors of the DK era can search for information on
lost loved ones. Because these databases are Internet accessible and
available on CD-Rom and microfilm, scholars, legal personnel for the
tribunal (both the prosecution and defense) and the general public in
Cambodia
and abroad can access them.
In addition, Yale
maintains the CTS database, which houses over 6,000 photographs taken
at the Tuol Sleng (S-21) prison during the Khmer Rouge regime. DC-Cam
obtained permission from the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum to scan the
photographs in this database.
Permission must be sought from
Tuol
Sleng Genocide Museum or
DC-Cam
for these photographs to be reproduced.
Cataloguing and Keying.
Since DC-Cam began operating in 1995, we
have catalogued (entered information into worksheets in preparation
for adding them to our databases) or keyed (entered information into
the databases) nearly 83,000 documents, which are housed in eight
collections.
Access Listing. In 2004, we began entering our documents in a
user-friendly Microsoft Access list. So far, we have completely keyed
about 58,167 in the list. This list provides basic
biographical and bibliographical information in English and Khmer.
Microfilming
This project aims to
preserve historical documents related to the Khmer Rouge. It gives
researchers and legal investigators access to our archival information
without handling original documents, many of which have become fragile
with age. To date, we have microfilmed over 486,104 pages (626 reels)
of documents in our collection, and plan to complete the microfilming
of our archives in 2005.
We are now developing our
microfilm in-house, using a developer/duplicator that was installed in
December 2004. Copies are available to the public after DC-Cam is
reimbursed for the costs of shipping and handling (by Federal
Express). To obtain copies of microfilm, please contact
truthnean@dccam.org or
truthpdara@dccam.org.
Film
and Photo
Exhibitions
Using DC-Cam’s large
archival holdings as well as collecting new photographs, our
Documentation Project has produced a number of photographic
exhibitions at museums in
Cambodia and abroad. In 2004, we also produced a documentary film on a
woman who was raped by the Khmer Rouge.
Collection of New Materials and Data
Although we possess a
very large collection of documentary materials, we are always on the
lookout for additional acquisitions. DC-Cam continues to search for
new documentary materials in
Cambodia
and abroad from both institutional sources and individuals. Should
readers wish to contribute documents, photographs, or other DK-era
materials to DC-Cam, please contact our team leader.
Contact:
Dara P.Vathann
Deputy Director
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