Sleuk Rith Institute

The Institute will support an integrated community of local, regional and international professionals in a highly innovative facility combining a Museum of Memory, a Research and National Policy Development Center, and Academy of Genocide, Conflict and Human Rights Studies.

Although archives and survivors provide the factual and emotional basis for memory, Cambodia’s future generations will carry on the processes of collective healing and ensuring justice. The educational function of the Institute will educate these generations in the history of the past and the values of the future. Although primarily focused on Cambodians, it will recruit outstanding candidates regionally and internationally to join their Cambodian colleagues to jointly craft strategies and policies oriented toward creation of a future of increased understanding, empathy and justice.

The Research and National Policy Development Centre will serve as a regional hub for research in the fields of crimes against humanity and sustainable development, building on DC-Cam’s tradition of hosting 100 research visitors annually. Drawing on DC-Cam’s vast archives, scholars from a variety of pursuits will engage in diverse research projects designed to impact policy-making at the national, regional and international levels. The centre will establish its own press facility to ensure integrity and control over its output.

The Museum will invoke the history of the Khmer Rouge in the lengthy context of Cambodia’s rich cultural, religious and architectural history, emphasising integration and reconciliation. It will feature travelling exhibits drawn from the collections of international and regional museums. In collaboration with 24 museums dispersed throughout Cambodia, the Museum of Memory will curate local exhibitions to intensify the population’s exposure, awareness, and reconciliation on multiple levels of perception and understanding.