Outreach Activities and Workshops (2015). In partnership with the Royal University of Law and Economics and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), AIJI conducted a workshop on "Fair Trial Rights and the ECCC Legacy" in 2015. Thirty-six participants represented a range of prominent civil-society organizations that work on domestic judicial initiatives and the ECCC. Topics included fair trial rights internationally and at the ECCC plus broader issues related to the ECCC legacy and the mainstreaming of fair trial rights into legal education and training. AIJI also conducted international law training sessions on “Prosecuting Forced Marriage at the ECCC and Beyond,” “Understanding Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE) at the ECCC,” and “Confronting Ambiguities and Procedural Conflicts Between Adversarial and Inquisitorial Legal Systems in a Hybrid Tribunal.” In addition, AIJI staff conducted a fair trial rights training course for the Royal Academy of Judicial Professionals. Participants in this training course included 25 provincial court clerks from across Cambodia.
“Voices for Reconciliation” Community Outreach (2013–2015). AIJI launched a “Voices for Reconciliation” project in 2013, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) office in Cambodia. This was a two-year project that aimed to help address national trauma resulting from the Khmer Rouge period. The project fostered dialogue at the grassroots and national level, complementing Cambodia’s transitional justice mechanism, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). The aim was to support reconciliation in Cambodia by increasing knowledge of ECCC proceedings and encouraging conversation on the process of justice. Using an innovative people-to-people approach that combined broadcast media with community-based forums, the project built on a unique feature of the ECCC proceedings—a nationwide civil party network—to foster healthy and empowered attitudes toward a culture of peace.
The project was coordinated by AIJI and implemented in partnership with Khmer Mekong Films (KMF), the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), and the Cambodian Defenders Project (CDP). ADHOC had previously developed a nationwide network of Civil Party Representatives (CPR) to facilitate communication with people living in remote rural communities. About 125 CPR volunteers served as messengers, communicators, and facilitators in more than 20 Cambodian provinces.
AIJI held three training programs to prepare for these community outreach dialogues. An Advanced Outreach and Facilitation Skills event was held for all project partner staff on group facilitation and conflict resolution. CPR training was held separately to build facilitation skills and improve the effectiveness and gender sensitivity of the meetings. Another event, focusing on Gender-Sensitive Transitional Justice Measures, provided 30 representatives from 12 civil-society organizations with gender-sensitive tools and measures applicable to restorative justice initiatives in Cambodia. This component was critical since six gender-sensitive dialogues across the country were held to assess the participation of women and other vulnerable groups.
Khmer Rouge Tribunal Community Outreach Film Series (2007–2014). During the pre-trial phase of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, from 2007 to 2009, AIJI joined partners from the Center for Social Development (CSD) and the Open Society Justice Initiative in Cambodia to create and disseminate a series of films explaining the rationale behind the ECCC. The films were produced by a local production company, Khmer Mekong Films (KMF). Four films were completed in the series, which was titled Time for Justice. They were shown on Cambodian television as well as by NGOs in Phnom Penh and the provinces. The films describe the reasons for the establishment of the ECCC and give the audience an introduction to the Courts itself through the eyes of a Cambodian family. The scripts were drafted by KMF and reviewed by the AIJI team, members of the NGO community, and staff at the ECCC, including members of the Office of the Co-Prosecutors, the Defense Support Section, and the Court's press and public affairs team. Once trials began in Case 001 and 002, AIJI built on the popularity of its pre-trial film series by producing weekly trial summaries of the proceedings. During Case 001, these aired weekly on CTN as part of a series called Duch on Trial. During Case 002, a similarly structured series was called Facing Justice. An article in Time magazine called Duch on Trial a “sleeper hit,” and estimated that up to three million viewers in Cambodia were watching the series every week out of a population of 15 million.
Workshops at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (2007–2008). Shortly after the Khmer Rouge Tribunal became operational, AIJI worked closely with the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) to facilitate legal workshops for both the Office of the Co-Prosecutors (OCP) and the Defense Support Section (DSS). The goal of the workshops was to provide lawyers at the Tribunal with intensive, focused training in international criminal law that would enhance their knowledge of jurisprudence and their expertise in the field. AIJI worked closely with senior members of both the OCP and the DSS to ensure that the workshops responded directly to the needs of the participants. The workshops brought together experts whose combined experience in international tribunals spanned the globe—from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Bosnia, East Timor, and the Hague.
Coordination Workshop for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) (2006). In early June 2006, AIJI facilitated an NGO Coordination Workshop that brought a group of five international experts to Phnom Penh to discuss potential areas of coordination and cooperation among NGOs and civil society in their engagement with the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). The workshop addressed some of the expectations of the NGO community regarding what was feasible in terms of their engagement with the court.