The ECCC has become an official sponsor of a Cambodian radio show which educates listeners about the traumatic impact of the Khmer Rouge regime and offers on-air counseling to Khmer Rouge survivors.
The tribunal’s Victims Support Unit (VSS) will help fund the production and broadcasting costs of The Past in the Present, after signing an agreement with the programme’s producer, the Transcultural Psychological Organisation (TPO), on 22 July 2010.
TPO, a local NGO focused on mental health care, has been broadcasting the show in Phnom Penh and various provinces since 2008. Trained therapists give on-air advice to Khmer Rouge victims and inform the general public about trauma-related disorders.
Under the new sponsorship agreement, which takes effect on 1 August, TPO remains in charge of programme production but will collaborate with the ECCC regarding content. Court-related topics will need to be approved by the tribunal before being broadcast.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, ECCC Acting Director H.E. Tony Kranh praised the unique role played by TPO, which has been lending psychological support to ECCC civil parties since 2007. “TPO is the only organisation with highly specialised skills in helping others to deal with the trauma in Cambodian society left by the Khmer Rouge regime,” said Mr Kranh. Mr. Kranh called the radio programme an “essential” public platform, which encouraged victims to talk about their experiences, articulate their needs and gradually empower themselves.
The money used by the ECCC to support the show comes from funds supplied to VSS by the German government.TPO Executive Director Dr. Sotheara Chhim said the tribunal’s sponsorship ensured that The Past in the Present would continue to reach rural people, “especially those who dare not come to the court due to fear, which is a consequence of their past trauma”. “This radio programme gives the opportunity to victims to speak about their problems and enables them to ask our therapist questions in relation to their problems,” Dr. Chhim said. “Our model of Testimonial Therapy enables us to deal with a large number of civil parties who are in need of support during their process of testimony in the court.”
Importantly, the signatories have vouched to ensure that no breaches of confidentiality will occur during the programme, which features testimonials by civil parties and complainants of ongoing ECCC cases. Talk show guests can either use pseudonyms or must sign a release if they want to reveal their identity. The Past in the Present will air live every two weeks in Phnom Penh. Each show will be rebroadcast twice in Phnom Penh and twice in eight different provinces across Cambodia.