Paying through the Nose

Abstract

Cambodia is preparing to relive the horrors of Democratic Kampuchea (1975–79) as the surviving leaders of the regime brace themselves for trial. Consensus on what constitutes an appropriate punishment for those responsible for the deaths of millions, however, eludes Cambodians and international observers alike. Until the end of the nineteenth century, punishment in Cambodia usually consisted of fines, enslavement, amputation of the nose or ears, or death. Guilt extended to the entire family of the perpetrator. Incarceration was used to determine guilt or innocence, rarely as a punishment in itself. During the colonial period (1863–1953), the French reinforced the notion of imprisonment as a penalty for crime, already being used in the nineteenth century. Although assimilated into the penal system, the concept of incarceration was no deterrent for criminals – guards frequently allowed prisoners to leave the prison compound in order to attend to personal business. The signing of the Paris Peace Accord in 1991 saw further externally imposed changes implemented by the international community in an attempt to bring the Cambodian penal system into line with recent developments in Western human rights discourse. This paper asks whether Western notions of appropriate punishment can be reconciled with the Cambodian Buddhist tenet of dharma, and how the imposition of Western values on the Cambodian penal system, through colonial and more contemporary forms of imperialism, has altered traditional ideas of Cambodian punishment.