The Victim-Former Khmer Rouge (VFKR) dialogue pilot project, a collaboration project between the International Center for Conciliation (ICfC) and the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO), aimed to rebuild and understand the fragmented relationship between victims and their direct perpetrators. While calls have been made for reconciliation from the Cambodian government, victims often wish to receive acknowledgement and an apology from their direct perpetrators. For perpetrators, overcoming cultural obstacles that hinder even the acknowledgement of crimes make an apology difficult to achieve. Because of the sensitivities and difficulties in initiating a dialogue between victims and perpetrators, this project and videos explore the possibilities of reconciliation at the community level within the Cambodian context.
The academic version aims to build a better understanding among stakeholders working in the field of transitional justice - including researchers, NGOs, and donors - of ways to cope with political violence at the community "micro" level. Reconciliation efforts often focus on the "macro" level in the forms of tribunals and truth commissions, but leaves individuals still recovering from psychological trauma and searching for justice with little space to process these efforts in a more meaningful manner. In the Cambodian context, this is particularly true as many communities are made up of both victims and those that inflicted direct harm against them.
Implemented in partnership with the International Center for Conciliation of Cambodia (ICFC) and the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization of Cambodia (TPO).