Cambodia

From 1975 until 1979, 1.7 million Cambodians were killed out of a population of 8 million. The genocide began in April 1975, when the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, took over and proclaimed Cambodia the ‘Republic of Democratic Kampuchea’ and began a campaign of cleansing. In April 17, 2009, the Cambodian people will commemorate those lost and honor those who survived the genocide. Find out more about organizations working in Cambodia: Center for Social Development Documentation Center of Cambodia Background of the Conflict From 1975 until 1979, 1.7 million people were killed out of a population of 8 million (over 21% of the country's population). When Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953, Prince Norodom Sihanouk came into power until he was ousted in 1970 by a military coup led by Prime Minister General Lon Nol. At this time, Prince Sihanouk realigned himself with the communist Khmer Rouge rebels who had been slowly gaining territory in the remote mountain regions and urged his followers to help in overthrowing the government of Lon Nol. The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, took over in April 1975, taking advantage of Vietnamese occupation of eastern Cambodia, massive U.S. carpet bombing ranging across the country, and Sihanouk's good reputation. In proclaiming Cambodia the ‘Republic of Democratic Kampuchea,’ the party began a campaign of cleansing. One of the Khmer Rouge's first acts was to move most of the urban population into the countryside. They told residents that they would move only about "two or three kilometers" outside the city and would return in "two or three days." The new government cleansed the country of: Urban and Western life: Cambodia’s cities were evacuated and millions were marched into the country side into the “killing fields.” There, many died from malnutrition, overwork and disease. Capitalism: A new economic structure created to make the country self sufficient with a community of laborers-a radical form of agrarian communism. Religion: Buddhism was attacked in the form of suppression and killing of monks. Educated Elite: Doctors, teachers, engineers, or any person of a professional occupation was killed along with the extended family. Chinese, Vietnamese, Muslims: Only half of the Chinese population present in the country survived. The Vietnamese were expelled in addition to being killed. Of the approximately 250,000 Muslims, 90,000 were massacred. Although conditions varied from region to region, the testimonies of refugees reveals that the most salient social division was between the "new people" – those driven out of the towns after the communist victory, and the "old people” – the poor and lower middle-class peasants who remained in the countryside. The "new people" were treated as slave laborers and were constantly moved, forced to do the hardest physical labor, and worked in the most inhospitable, fever-ridden parts of the country. "New people" were segregated from "old people," enjoyed little or no privacy, and received the smallest rice rations. When the country experienced food shortages in 1977, the "new people" suffered the most. The medical care available to them was primitive or nonexistent. Families often were separated because people were divided into work brigades according to age and sex and sent to different parts of the country. "New people" were subjected to unending political indoctrination and could be executed without trial. Tuol Sleng Prison Formerly the Tuol Svay Prey High School, the buildings of the complex were converted in 1975 into a prison and interrogation center by the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge renamed the complex "Security Prison 21" (S-21). The torture system at Tuol Sleng was designed to make prisoners confess to whatever crimes they were charged with by their captors. Prisoners were routinely beaten and tortured with electric shocks, searing hot metal instruments and hanging, as well as through the use of various other devices. Some prisoners were cut with knives or suffocated with plastic bags. Other methods for generating confessions included pulling out fingernails while pouring alcohol on the wounds or holding prisoners’ heads under water. Females were sometimes raped by the interrogators, even though sexual abuse was against policy. The perpetrators who were found out were executed. When the Vietnamese Army invaded in 1979 the S-21 prison staff fled, leaving thousands of written and photographic records. Altogether more than 6,000 photographs were left; the majority, however, have been lost or destroyed. In 1980, the prison was reopened as a historical museum memorializing the actions of the Khmer Rouge regime. Former prison staff say as many as 30,000 prisoners were held at S-21 before the Khmer Rouge leadership was forced to flee. Out of all those imprisoned at Tuol Sleng, there were only twelve known survivors. Only four of them are thought to be still alive: Vann Nath (who will light the torch at the ceremony), Chum Mey, Bou Meng and Chim Math, the only woman among the survivors. All three of the men were kept alive because they had skills their captors judged to be useful. Vann Nath had trained as an artist and was put to work painting pictures of Pol Pot. Many of his paintings depicting events he witnessed in Tuol Sleng are on display in the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum today. Aftermath The Vietnamese had long been in conflict with Kampuchea and responded to the violence against its nationals. At the end of 1978, an invasion force of 120,000 invaded, eventually reaching Phnom Penh on January 7, 1979. The Khmer Rouge became a guerilla organization and began a civil war that continued until a tenuous peace was reached in 1991. A new coalition government (excluding the Khmer Rouge) took power under United Nations guidance. Cambodia since has taken steps toward trying members of the Khmer Rouge as war criminals. On July 18, 2007, the newly established UN/Cambodian tribunal in Phnom Penh found evidence of "crimes against humanity, genocide, grave breaches of the Geneva Convention, homicide, torture and religious persecution." Learn More Cambodian Center for Human Rights Khmer Legacies Tuol Sleng: Photographs from Pol Pot’s Secret Prison The Cambodian Genocide Program The Khmer Rouge Trial Task Force Cambodia Tribunal Monitor