The Killing Fields of Cambodia

The Cambodian genocide of , in which approximately 1.7 to 2.0 million people lost their lives (21% of the country's population), was one of the worst human tragedies of the last century. The Cambodian genocide of , in which approximately 1.7 to 2.0 million people lost their lives (21% of the country's population), was one of the worst human tragedies of the last century. As in Nazi Germany, and more recently in East Timor, Guatemala, Yugoslavia, and Rwanda, the Khmer Rouge regime headed by Pol Pot combined extremist ideology with ethnic animosity and a diabolical disregard for human life to produce repression, misery, and murder on a massive scale. As in Nazi Germany, and more recently in East Timor, Guatemala, Yugoslavia, and Rwanda, the Khmer Rouge regime headed by Pol Pot combined extremist ideology with ethnic animosity and a diabolical disregard for human life to produce repression, misery, and murder on a massive scale.

Cambodia The Killing Fields were a number of sites in Cambodia where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Communist regime Khmer Rouge, which ruled the country from One Khmer slogan ran: 'To spare you is no profit, to destroy you is no loss.' The massacres ended in 1979, when Communist Vietnam invaded the country and toppled the Khmer Rouge regime.

Symbolic emblem SR-21, a former school was turned into a torture factory during the Cambodia genocide. Thousands of people who were sent here would be given a number tag, as a symbol of recognition. Those people would later be tortured or executed. A total of 14,000 Cambodians were jailed here and only 10 of them survived. Photos of prisoners with number tags on.

The Khmer Rouge were the ruling party of Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 They were responsible for one of the worst mass killings of the 20th Century

The Khmer Rouge had its origins in the 1960s, as the armed wing of the Communist Party of Kampuchea - the name the Communists used for Cambodia Based in remote jungle and mountain areas in the north-east of the country, the group initially made little headway

But after a right-wing military coup toppled head of state Prince Norodom Sihanouk in 1970, the Khmer Rouge entered into a political coalition with him and began to attract increasing support In a civil war that continued for nearly five years, the Khmer Rouge gradually increased its control in the countryside Khmer Rouge forces finally took over the capital, Phnom Penh, and therefore the nation as a whole in 1975

On April 17, 1975, victorious Khmer Rouge troops entered the capital, Phnom Penh, of Cambodia The Khmer Rouge were enthusiastically greeted as they entered the capital Yet the Khmer Rouge were embittered after years of fighting the brutal civil war and years of American bombing

Khmer Rouge soldiers marched into Phnom Penh with icy stares carved into their faces

Pol Pot was the leader of the Khmer Rouge During his time in the remote northeast, Pol Pot had been influenced by the hill tribes He respected their self-sufficiency, communal living, no use for money, and being “untainted” by Buddhism

Political leader: Pol Pot He and his army, called the Khmer Rouge, came to power in Cambodia in He was named prime minister of the new communist government in 1976 and began a program of violet reform. In hope of creating a society free of western influence, he abolished religion, institute, private property and evacuated cities. Under his regime, forced labor, execution and famine killed ~2 million Cambodians.

Khmer Rouge “Enemies” of the Khmer Rouge – Anyone part of the old government – Professionals and intellectuals – Ethnic Chinese, Thai, or other minorities – People who lacked agricultural ability

Khmer Rouge Pol Pot closes schools, factories. Money is burned, private property confiscated Intellectuals are targeted first to avoid Western influence People who spoke other languages, wore eyeglasses or wristwatches, were skilled workers, etc. are killed Between , two million people are killed Executed, starvation, forced labor, malnutrition, etc.

Under directives from Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge began to order the people to abandon their homes in Phnom Penh Pol Pot believed that an ideal communist society was a society where all people lived and worked in the countryside as peasants Peasants, in fact, were the Khmer Rouge communist ideal

The Khmer Rouge felt that some people had made an active choice to live in cities and as city dwellers had declared their allegiance to capitalism All city dwellers were enemies of the new communist state

1975 to 1978 – a campaign of “cleansing” by The Kampuchean Communist Party 1975 to 1978 – a campaign of “cleansing” by The Kampuchean Communist Party They required destruction of cities and the foreign- educated elite in order to rustify, or to make rural, the country. They required destruction of cities and the foreign- educated elite in order to rustify, or to make rural, the country. The goal was a centralized communal organization of atheistic factory workers and peasant farmers free of external support. The goal was a centralized communal organization of atheistic factory workers and peasant farmers free of external support. Cities were raided and people relocated to communal farms. Most people were left to starve or work to death Cities were raided and people relocated to communal farms. Most people were left to starve or work to death

How did he intend to pull this off? By enlisting the youth (9,10, 11 year old kids) of the country in his new army known as the Khmer Rouge (the young are easy to influence). By wiping the country clean of traces of the past (killing those with knowledge of the past). By controlling all aspects of the country (politically, economically and socially)

By forcing all citizens into collectives to work according to age, gender and skill. By holding indoctrination sessions every evening to remind them all of the wonderful rewards of communism. By publicly murdering anyone that questioned the Khmer Rouge.

When the Khmer took over: The populations of Cambodia's cities were forced to evacuate the cities, move to the countryside and engage in agricultural labor. = Communes/Collectives/Cooperatives

Pol Pot also developed a “four-year plan” in which Cambodians were expected to produce an average national yield of 3 metric tons of rice per hectare (1.4 tons per acre) But even in peacetime years, the average national yield was only one metric ton of rice per hectare

To meet these new demands on rice production, the Khmer Rouge enforced strict policies where workers labored in fields for 12 hours a day without adequate rest or food

Many people lacked any experience in manual labor and became ill and died

“Keeping new people [city dwellers] is no benefit,” so the Khmer Rouge slogan went; “Losing them is no loss.”

Foraging for food was a capital offense, despite the fact that the food allowance was so low, hundreds of thousands of people starved to death

In addition, new rules in Kampuchea were being imposed by Angka (“The Organization”), a secretive team of Khmer Rouge leaders Angka banned family relationships and often took advantage of children Young children were seen as being pure and untainted by capitalism or family and thus, trained as informers for the new state and future Khmer Rouge soldiers

They closed most institutions (schools, banks, government buildings, churches) and vowed to provided for their needs in the countryside. They required absolute obedience from all Cambodians.

Khmer Slogan “Keeping new people is no benefit, losing them is no loss.”

If a Cambodian spoke French, was educated, wore glasses, or practiced Buddhism; he was killed Families with connections to previous Cambodian governments were susceptible to ill treatment; while former soldiers and civil servants executed

Among the Khmer Rouge’s rules; religion, money, and private ownership were banned Communications with outside world was eliminated Families were dismantled

Yes, Pol Pot said that 2000 years of Cambodian history had now come to an end On April 17, 1975, the Year Zero was declared in Cambodia The country was renamed the Democratic Kampuchea (DK)

Pol Pot isolated people from the rest of world and set about emptying cities, abolishing money, private property, religion, and setting up rural collectives

The Khmer Rouge government was finally overthrown in 1979 by invading Vietnamese troops, after a series of violent border confrontations

While both Vietnamese and Cambodian communist forces grudgingly supported each other as they fought U.S.-backed forces in South Vietnam and Cambodia during the Vietnam War, ethnic animosities prevented them from developing any lasting bonds

The Khmer Rouge received support from China, Vietnam's rival to north, while the Vietnamese were assisted by U.S.S.R., which competed with China

By January 7, 1979, Vietnamese forces successfully occupied Phnom Penh

Vietnamese soldiers were shocked to see that Cambodia was pockmarked by sunken depressions of dirt The depressions marked the spots of mass graves: of hundreds of thousands of Cambodians slaughtered by their own countrymen (the Killing Fields)

Pol Pot was denounced by his former comrades in a show trial in July 1997, and sentenced to house arrest in his jungle home Less than a year later he was dead - denying the millions of people who were affected by this brutal regime the chance to bring him to justice

The Cambodian genocide of , eliminated approximately 1.7 million people (21% of the country's population) A Killing Field

According to Yale University’s Cambodian Genocide Program – There were over 200 killing sites – 9,500 mass grave pits

International Communities’ Response The process of justice for the genocide in Cambodia started on June 21, 1997, when the Cambodian co-prime ministers asked the United Nations to step in and help organize the trials for those involved in the Khmer Rouge. In 1998 a group of experts was formed to examine the evidence, the law and different options of how to proceed with the trials of the Khmer Rouge. This group worked from July 1998 until February 1999 looking at three different things: evaluating the evidences and the crime, apprehending people responsible, the different option for bringing people to justice.

Role of the UN “ United Nations administrative tribunal helps those people who lived under Cambodian genocide to seek for their justice. ” “ The United Nations Peace building Commission helps to ensure predictable financing for early recovery activities and sustained financial investment over the medium- to longer-term. ”

Members of the UN “ Responding to the invitation of the Secretary-General, His Excellency Kofi Annan, a Cambodian delegation led by His Excellency Sok An Senior Minister in Charge of the Council of Ministers has come to New York and has engaged in seven meetings - one with the Secretary-General himself, and six with representatives of the United Nations Secretariat, led by His Excellency Hans Corell, Legal Counsel, preparing for a resumption of negotiations for Khmer Rouge Trials for these crimes, in accordance with the General Assembly Resolution 57/288 of 18 December ” Thomas Hammarberg is the representative for Cambodia and was the one able to get the Cambodian government to ask for help from the United Nations

The Cambodian Genocide – Apology at genocide trial – April 1, 2009 Cambodian is accused of role in Khmer Rouge The tribunal's proceedings are the first serious attempt to fix responsibility for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians from starvation, medical neglect, slave-like working conditions and execution under the rule of the Khmer Rouge, whose top leader, Pol Pot, died in Duch, 66, is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity as well as murder and torture and could face a maximum penalty of life in prison. Cambodia has no death penalty. He commanded the group's main S-21 prison, also known as Tuol Sleng, where as many as 16,000 men, women and children are believed to have been brutalized before being sent to their deaths.

Summary By 1979, the Khmer Rouge regime had killed around 2 million people, which is about 30% of the population. The Khmer Rouge was head by Saloth Sar, better known as Pol Pot. On April 17 th 1975 the Khmer Rouge, a communist group led by Pol Pot, took power in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge turned back the clock on Cambodia to more uncivilized times. Institutions such as stores, banks, hospitals, schools, religion and family were all banned. City dwellers were all forced to the countryside and to work in labor camps. The citizens worked 12 to 14 hour days inside the labor camps. The Khmer Rouge targeted Buddhist monks, Western – educated intellectuals, educated people in general, people who had contact with Western countries, people who appeared to be intelligent (for example, individuals with glasses), the cripple, the lame and ethnic minorities like ethnic Laotians and Vietnams.