By Basil Fernando

The approaches undertaken by several groups and individuals to understanding Cambodia vary considerably. One is to treat it as a country that has been affected by war and civil conflict and therefore has experienced considerable instability. This approach will stress the need for peace, reconciliation and reconstruction. Another approach treats Cambodia as a post-colonial society with similar problems as other post-colonial societies in terms of defining its identity and reconstructing its economic, social, and political institutions to meet current needs. The third approach, which is suggested in this paper, is to treat Cambodia as a post-revolutionary society with unique problems of reconstruction, which relate to the nature and the content of the attempted revolution by the Pol Pot regime.

On many issues, these three approaches may overlap. However, the differences of the three approaches would be mainly on the aspects of identifying problems affecting the nation and developing solutions. The first approach stresses political factors such as negotiations and understanding between parties, the need for greater material assistance from the international community and the building of democratic institutions. This approach is likely to focus on the reconstruction of institutions and practices that existed prior to the post-Pol Pot period as soon as possible. The second approach is likely to stress learning from the experiences of other countries in Asia and Africa that have been struggling to build their countries and shape their post-colonial identities. This approach will stress recreating traditional approaches (pre-colonial customs etc.) in rebuilding the institutions of the countries. The symposium organized by the UNTAC’s Electoral Component, prior to the election in May 1993, proceed on this approach. However, the nature of the revolution that was ruthlessly attempted in Cambodia makes the application of experiences of other countries in Asia and Africa relating to the transition from colonialism to independence and the reliance on traditional approaches unrealistic.

The approach of treating Cambodia as a post-revolutionary society stresses the following factors: the ruthlessness of the Pol Pot revolution and its lasting impact on Cambodian society (not merely the aspect of trauma and suffering that it caused to individuals and families) and the subsequent influence of the Vietnamese socialist revolutions particularly in the eighties. Due to the two factors mentioned above, the following aspects have become prominently visible factors in Cambodia, i.e. the loss of memory of the pre-revolutionary social institutions and practices; a new memory of social habits, procedures and practices (This new memory, however, has been theoretically displaced with the acceptance of a market economy and liberal democracy as the foundations of Cambodian social life after the elections by the signatories of the Paris Agreements and the makers of the new Cambodian Constitution.) and a host of other problems that result in giving a new content to the age-old traditions which in Cambodia are centered around the Royalty, Buddhism, family and land.

The Shift From Humanitarian Assistance to Social Reconstruction

In the eighties, humanitarian assistance to Cambodia from the United Nations, Western countries and international NGOs was given on the basis that the country and its people had been hit by a great tragedy. This tragedy is described as the worst human cataclysm of the twentieth century, with regard to the number of lives lost and people displaced. Naturally, at that stage, the nature of the future of Cambodian society was not a prime consideration. During the negotiation and the signing of the Paris Agreements, the pre-occupations were to find basic areas of agreement between the warring factions and to provide for an internationally supervised election as  a means of establishing a legitimate government. While the immense problems that this country may face might have become apparent at that time, at least in broad terms, it seemed natural to leave these problems for the future government to solve. The UNTAC’s presence in Cambodia and its attempt to assist Cambodia to reconstruct some of its basic institutions by way of exercising direct control in some “ministries” as allowed by the Paris Agreements supplied a wealth of information about the society, which had been unknown to the Cambodian public as well as the international community. Since the elections and the establishment of the new government, it has been sharply felt that the reconstruction of the post-Pol Pot Cambodia is not an easy task. This is not merely due to lack of resources (material and human), but also due to the nature of society and social institutions created during the Pol Pot revolution, followed by the introduction of a socialist model of administration by the Vietnamese.

Why Cambodia Is Not A Post-colonial Society

There are many characteristics of post-colonial societies despite unique aspects of each such society. The first characteristic is the existence of a large body of laws that relate to various aspects of life, particularly the basic aspects of life, such as basic criminal administration, civil administration, citizenship, immigration, contract law etc. In addition to these, colonial powers usually implant the attitude that societies need to be governed by laws. These laws may sometimes be the recognized customs of the traditional way of life of the people themselves.

However, in Cambodia today there is no such body of identifiable laws in many areas, including those areas most basic for maintaining orderly ways of life even to a minimum degree. Furthermore, the attitude that society needs to be governed by law has also become alien, as the day-to-day orders of the party leaders were “the law” during the Pol Pot period. The Vietnamese approach was not much different, though it was less harsh. The party apparatus administered the country by party decisions which were sometimes disseminated by written decrees or verbal communications passed from the central committee down to communes. During the Vietnamese-guided State of Cambodia period a small body of law modeled after the Vietnamese socialist law was passed by the National Assembly.

Colonial powers usually build administrative structures in the countries they rule, which provide a foundation for newly independent governments to begin their administration. Newly independent states often modify these structures the way they wish, but almost always begin with the old structures used during colonial times.

In Cambodia the situation is different. The Pol Pot revolution wiped out all existing administrative structures in a manner that had not happened in any other country within a period of four years. The structures which were built in certain areas of the country (in other areas there are no structures at all) under the Vietnamese guidance by the PDK or the SoC were socialist structures deeply linked to party rule. These qualities are incompatible with a liberal democracy. Thus, with a liberal democratic style government now in power, there is a vacuum as far as administration is concerned.

Most colonial powers introduced to their colonies a judiciary and encouraged its independence at least in some areas of community life.

The Pol Pot revolution completely destroyed the previous existing judiciary. Thereafter, under Vietnamese guidance, a socialist-style judiciary was introduced. Essentially, the socialist system of judiciary consisted of a court-house in each of Cambodia’s provinces. The trial system was one of secret trials held by prosecutors confirmed by a public performance called a “trial,” which confirms the verdict arrived at earlier. In this area too there is a vacuum to begin with as the socialist court system is incompatible with the legal systems used in a liberal democratic system.

The colonial powers usually leave behind a number of qualified persons to run the institutions of the post-colonial period. In British colonies such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, etc. this consisted of a considerable section of society. When the French left Cambodia, they left enough persons qualified for the day-to-day running of the administration.

The Pol Pot revolution concentrated on total elimination of the intelligentsia and achieved this in such complete manner as has never happened in any other country within such a short period of time. As a result, the people running the administration in 1992 knew only one type of administration, the one set up under the Vietnamese guidance. This is rather an ironic outcome of the Khmer Rouge revolution, as it had declared Vietnamese as their greatest enemy.

The Place of Tradition in Post-colonial and Post-revolutionary Cambodia

 The traditional Cambodian society has three pillars: king, religion and family unit. The French, as the colonial power in the country, compromised with these institutions to the extent that they did not interfere with their interests as being masters. When the French finally gave up the colony, these three institutions still maintained their predominant positions in Khmer society.

Some political parties in Cambodia did attempt to undermine the monarchy, and as a result the king himself formed a political party in order to retain his power. Under the 1947 Constitution, the King retained a great deal of power, but had to compromise with the democratic institutions.

Pol Pot’s revolution did not succeed in wiping out the Royalty. In fact after the initial stage, the king was allowed to live in the country under virtual house arrest. When the revolution was in danger, the king gained even a greater degree of influence. The blow to the Royalty did not come as a direct blow to the king, but by way of destroying the social structures and institutions that supported the king.

During the early period of the Vietnamese-backed Heng Samrin regime, the king joined the resistance but later arrived at a compromise with the State of Cambodia.

Under the new Constitution of Cambodia adopted in September 1993, the power of the king is reduced to be the symbolic head of State, “The King shall reign but not rule.” The role of the monarchy clearly demonstrates how dramatically traditional life in Cambodia has changed. While the content of the former social institution has been substantially changed, external aspects of tradition have been restored. Such is the continuing impact of the “wiping out the past policy” of the Pol Pot revolution.

As for the continuity of Buddhism, the situation is similar. Cambodian Buddhism is rooted in the soil and centered around the Sangha. The village temple is the social base of Buddhism. Pol Pot’s revolution wiped out the Sangha from village life. The physical extermination of monks and nuns was ruthless. Approximately 25,000 monks were summarily executed or died due to hardships. All monks were defrocked.1  Repressions were even more ruthless due to the Marxist view that religion would back the counter-revolution. The aspect of physical extermination stopped during the next period, but the Vietnamese socialists were also opposed to Buddhism in principle. The new emergence of monks was slow, and Buddhism was pushed to the periphery. The State of Cambodia made some compromises with the monks and allowed some political patronage to monks living in the city.  The SoC also allowed many of the village Wats (Buddhist temples) to be rebuilt. The villages, however, were run by communes, and within the village power structure, the temple had no place. While Buddhism as the main psychological, spiritual and moral force will retain its place in the minds of Khmers, whether they live in Los Angeles, Paris or Cambodia, the temporal power of the Sasana (Buddhist organisation) will not attain the same position as that before Pol Pot times. The village life of the earlier times has indeed been wiped out. Religions have the capacity to survive. However, the specific social organization and influence does change under the pressure of massive revolutions.

The great victim of the Pol Pot revolution was the Khmer family. In this respect there are several good studies.

The Effects of the Pol Pot Years and Socialist Period that Followed on the Khmer Society at Large.

The Khmer society has been radically uprooted from the past. All Asian societies go through a period of transition to modern times. However, the pace of change from rural to modern society varies from place to place. The chief reason for change in most places is the urbanization process. Ironically, Cambodia’s social uprooting took place in a counter-urbanization process, when the entire population of towns were forcibly pushed to live in rural areas. The result of the total experience is that the link with the past is perceived less as a way to sustain lives. The appeal to return to the roots will not be a convincing solution to the massive instability in the country. The social displacement is such that return to the status quo will be perceived not only as impossible, but also as undesirable. This creates an enormous pull for rapid modernization and for creating a dynamic social administration system, as opposed to the slow rural system of the past.

On the other hand, the only known social experience the people have is that of socialism. They face great difficulties in understanding and conceptualizing liberal democratic ideas and institutions. Parliament, courts and even centralized administration are alien concepts. Even a police force devoted to crime investigation and maintaining law and order are unfamiliar concepts. It was the party that was in charge of these matters. Dealing with day-to-day crime was mostly the function of the commune. The definition of crime itself was based on the socialist conception of property and Marxist class concepts as far as individuals were concerned. Essentially, crimes were defined according to the political strategies to fight back counter-revolution. The definitions of offences are quite different to those in countries following the British or the French models. Criminal or civil trials with an independent judiciary that review evidence are completely alien processes. What people have experienced are verdicts secretly arrived at and publicized during a session called a “trial” by “judges” who are expected to follow party orders. Though under the new Constitution many new committees, commissions and ministries etc. may be appointed, the working methods of these are likely to be on the basis of the socialist model until it is abandoned consciously.