Victims’ rights, victim collectives and utopic disruption at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

Abstract

This article examines victim participation at Cambodia's hybrid tribunal, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). The tribunal — which attempts to bring former Khmer Rouge to justice for crimes committed between 1975 and 1979 — has invited significant participation by ‘victims’ and has provoked new public debate about the past, ongoing suffering and reparation. The participation of collectives of victims, and the collective nature of their participation, are here considered as interventions in the immanent utopic processes of the ECCC. These interventions produce new claims for reparation, claims that exceed extant human rights discourses in Cambodia and confront dominant economic and socio-political conditions.

Keywords:

• Cambodia
• victims’ rights
• victim participation
• ECCC
• reparation
• utopia