By Mollie Berg
The Daily Trojan
Kosal Path, a survivor of Cambodian genocide
under the Khmer Rouge, spoke Tuesday at the USC Gould School of Law
about the experiences of growing up in the country and his present
research on social rehabilitation after mass killings.
The genocide, which occurred between 1975 and 1979, left about 1.7
million people dead at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime headed by Pol
Pot. The genocide targeted several minority groups, including ethnic
and ancestral Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai Cambodians.
According to Path, Cambodians are still feeling the repercussions
today. Though Path said he does not remember much from his childhood, he
said he does remember not having any food. Path also remembers that his
family members were forced to become refugees in Vietnam.
“People were tormented so they are not ready to face it,” he said.
“It will take them time to communicate about restoring relationships
between the two communities.”
After surviving the genocide, Path graduated from Phnom Penh
University in Cambodia and received a master’s degree and a Ph.D. at USC
in international relations. During his presentation, Plath said of USC
that despite his origins, he “feel[s] at home here.” Path currently
serves as a lecturer in the USC School of International Relations and a
USC Shoah Foundation Fellow.
During the event, Path talked about the criminal cases involving the
Khmer Rouge and said the fact that survivors were questioning the
convicts in the courtroom sends a “powerful message.”
The nation still holds so much anger towards the genocide, according
to Path, that many participate in “Anger Day” on May 20 each year, where
people express their anger about the genocide and visit the memorial.
Path said criminals from the Khmer Rouge first attempted to blame the genocide on Vietnam and then on each other.
Natasha Immaraj, a graduate student studying public policy, said that
she thought the discussion of guilt was the most interesting part of
Path’s talk.
“The blame game is so typical of human nature,” she said. “They first blame the Vietnamese and then each other.”
The event also included a presentation from Hannah Garry, president
of USC Law International Human Rights Clinic. Garry spoke about her
involvement in a criminal case concerning the massacres.
Under the supervision of Garry, students traveled to Cambodia to
assist in the conviction of the criminals responsible for the genocide.
In her presentation, Garry showed pictures of the genocide memorial
and torture chambers in addition to talking about the work the students
did on the criminal cases.
Maggie Buckles, a law student who is in the International Human
Rights Clinic, said that she attended the event to get a human
perspective on a conflict she learned about from a technical and legal
perspective.
“Seeing how society has transformed and how much work there is left
to do makes the work we’re doing for the tribunals seem really
important,” Buckles said. “It’s motivational.”
During the event, Path emphasized the importance of continuing to explore about genocide.
“Seventy percent of the [current] population was born after the
genocide,” Path said. “I think children should have an active memory of
what happened.”
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