Covering Genocide Trials: The Discursive Position of Genocide Victims in Cambodia

In the Cambodian society victims of the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979) are taking up an uncommon discursive position. Anyone that has suffered from the Khmer Rouge is considered to be a victim including former Khmer Rouge members who were brutaly disadvantaged by their own party. Within this context perpetrators can also be considered victims. For example a tortured prisoner who used to be a member of the Khmer Rouge or a former Khmer Rouge executioner who was forced to commit his crimes to escape his own death.The nuanced discourse on victims and perpetrators is in contrast with Cambodian state politics; it also contrasts with non-Cambodian discourses on victimhood that are characteristed by a sharper distinction between victim and perpetrator.A discourse analysis of interviews with participants in the ‘Khmer Rouge Tribunal’ (judge, lawyer, Victim Support Section staff, victims) and of an exhibition in former torture prison S-21 demonstrates this nuanced discourse.