Three decades of civil war and political strife have eroded people’s faith in the ability of village chiefs to mediate local disputes, according to a study by the UN Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization.
The study, released on Friday at a conference attended by about 300 diplomats, government official, lawyers and human rights officials, recommended updating traditional means of settling disputes to meet today’s needs.
Called “Between a Tiger and a Crocodile,” the study involved in-depth interviews with 126 people conducted between March and May 2001 in Phnom Penh and Kompong Speu, Kampot, Kandal, Siem Reap and Svay Rieng provinces. Researchers looked at ways that disputes were handled during five periods—prior to 1970, the Lon Nol years, the Khmer Rouge era, 1979 to 1993 and the post-Untac period.
“As a rule, religious Buddhist principles and folk wisdom take an active part in preventing disputes and situations of conflicts, but they rely on a concept of individual reward/punishment rather than on a concept of collective responsibility,” states the study by Fabienne Luco, an anthropologist who has been working in Cambodia for nearly 10 years.
People interviewed talked about feeling caught between a tiger and a crocodile—in an impossible situation. Villagers said they want to resolve disputes without involving local authorities.
Prior to 1970, disputes were handled in an informal, flexible way, with people turning to elders, trusted family members or neighbors for small matters, and village chiefs for serious conflicts.
“The fear of retribution meted out by the administration, powerful people and supernatural powers prevented people from making trouble and upsetting the immutable order of things,” the report states.
Fear turned into terror in the 1970s as the Khmer Rouge imposed its genocidal regime on the country. Minor offenses and economic crimes, such as being late or taking food, could provoke extreme punishment. Self-criticism and denunciation sessions created a climate of suspicion and mistrust that has persisted.
In the 1980s, confusion reigned in the country as people tried to go back to their old farms and bring back a way of life built on shattered institutions, Luco writes. Village chiefs were government representatives with a political agenda who no longer inspired the respect chiefs had in the past. Corruption and abuse of power eroded faith in this form of conciliation.
Since then, Luco writes, peace and economic development have had an effect on dispute prevention and management.
“Using the opposition parties and to some extent the international organizations and NGOs, parallel power networks start emerging,” the report states. “Human rights principles are broadcasted over the radio and taken up by the population, albeit with little understanding. But under the outward appearance of change, the old cultural foundations remain solid (individualism, paternalism, hierarchy and clannishness).”
When judged by foreign criteria, traditional values may appear to slow the country’s development, Luco noted. However, these are the values that, for the most part, gave Cambodians the strength to rebuild their country after 1979, according to the report.
While today’s local conflicts include disputes between family and neighbors, most have to do with land issues, Luco said. A conciliator’s training program for the handling of some small land disputes has been launched by the Ministry of Land Management with the support of the Asian Development Bank.
Minister of Women’s Affairs Mu Sochua said the study shows clearly that conflicts in Cambodia must be solved through the courts, as well as through civic and social mechanisms.
Princess Sisowath Ayravady, chief of Cabinet for the National Assembly, said the Cambodian habit of ignoring corruption for fear of causing trouble should be eliminated, traditional practice or not.
This study was part of the Unesco’s Culture of Peace Program. Unesco country representative Etienne Clement said he hoped the study would prompt other groups to look into the topic.
