Media Outreach and Survivor Engagement at the Khmer Rouge Trials

May 5, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Mānoa Campus, East-West Center Research Program, Burns Hall, Room 3012 Add to Calendar

CHANGE IN DATE OF SEMINAR FROM MAY 4 to MAY 5

Voices for Reconciliation: Media Outreach and Survivor Engagement at the Khmer Rouge Trials in Cambodia


Christoph Sperfeldt

Deputy Director, Asian International Justice Initiative

Wednesday, May 4, 2016 12:00 noon to 1:00pm
John A. Burns Hall, Room 3012 (3rd floor)

The Khmer Rouge Tribunal, a mixed national-international criminal court, was established to address human rights violations committed during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-79) in Cambodia. Apart from fostering a sense of justice in the wake of violent conflict, it is often hoped that tribunals will make a contribution to longer-term societal processes, including perhaps building reconciliation among survivors. While there is no agreement among observers and practitioners about the extent to which tribunals should contribute to these broader socio-political processes, most concur that a tribunal’s impact and legitimacy are shaped by its relationship with concerned populations. The vehicle for tribunals to engage this relationship is through outreach. In 2013, the East-West Center’s the Asian International Justice Initiative commenced the implementation of the Voices for Reconciliation project, funded by USAID. The project was designed to deliver an innovative outreach approach, which integrated mass media, community based outreach and capacity building. This presentation gives an overview of the context of Cambodia’s post-conflict justice process and shares some of the experiences and lessons learned from implementing the project.


Christoph Sperdfeldt, is Deputy Director of the Asian International Justice Initiative, a collaboration between the East-West Center and the WSD HANDA Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Stanford University and a Ph.D. scholar at the School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University.


Event Sponsor
East-West Center, Research Program, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Lillian Shimoda, (808) 977-7557, ShimodaL@eastwestcenter.org

Share by email