Retracing Cambodia’s past

The Hindu |  15 October 2014

• 
  THE HINDU ARCHIVES Dazed and ruined, a Cambodian farmer stands by the debris of homes razed by Khmer Rouge soldiers at Siem Reap.

The Khmer Rouge era was perhaps the worst patch in the nation’s history. Here’s a recap

The designs for a new genocide museum that will chronicle the crimes of the Khmer Rouge government during its rule between 1975 and 1979 were unveiled last week in Cambodia.-- October 11, 2014 

 

1975: Cambodia under Khmer Rouge

 

The Communist Party of Kampuchea, also known as Khmer Rouge had recently gained power in the south-east Asian country Cambodia. Led by Pol Pot, the government embarked on a regimented restructuring of the Cambodian society. People were asked to leave the cities and congregate at the fields to participate in agricultural work. In a bid to transform Cambodia into a rural, classless society educational and religious institutions, government buildings and shops were closed or converted into prisons, re-education centres and granaries. Currency was abolished as the Khmer Rouge did not believe in accumulation of wealth and foreign labels, private property, leisure activities too met with the same fate. 

Basic rights were denied, congregation of any sort discouraged and family relationships were abhorred. People were forced to work for long hours and those who opposed or failed to participate were mercilessly killed or tortured. Even the old, young and the invalid were made to participate in this vast program of social engineering which left as many as two billion people dead in the country in a period of four years due to exhaustion, starvation and torture. 

The Killing Fields
The term ‘Killing Fields’ refers to the mass graves of the large number of people killed and buried during the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.
Analysis of these graves showed that that at least 1,386,734 people were victims of execution.
The term was coined by Cambodian journalist Dith Pran after he escaped the regime.

Who were the Khmer Rouge?

In 1953, Cambodia became independent from French rule and came under the rule of its monarch Prince Sihanouk. In 1970, Sihanouk was deposed in a coup which saw the army under the leadership of Lon Nol, a right-wing politician take over the reigns of the nation with the help of the U.S. Around this time, the Khmer Rouge, a communist organisation in the country was quietly gaining foothold and sided with Prince Sihanouk in the fight against the military government. 

It was also during this time that neighbouring Vietnam was witnessing a large scale civil war between its northern and southern regions. While Sihanouk had maintained neutrality in his involvement in Vietnam, Lon Nol, a supporter of the U.S. backed and aided America’s intervention in South Vietnam in 1964. American troops used Cambodia as a passage to intervene in South Vietnam and pretty soon the civil war spread into Cambodia. Many Cambodians were killed in the U.S. involvement which, unfortunately, proved lucky for the Khmer Rouge. Cambodians who suffered personal losses in the Vietnam conflict, soon joined the Khmer Rouge. 

As the Khmer Rouge’s popularity and support base grew, their campaign against Lon Nol’s regime also met with success and by April 17, 1975 they had toppled Nol’s government and gained control over the country.

Restoration of hostilities

The Khmer Rouge’s rule, brief but horrific, lasted only for a few years as tensions between Cambodia and Vietnam escalated again in 1977. Vietnamese troops occupied Cambodia in 1978, captured the capital Pnomh Penh in January 1979 and established their representative to head the government in 1982. The Khmer Rouge leaders, meanwhile had defected from the country. 

However, with the tacit backing of the western powers the Khmer Rouge leaders continued to fight against the new government which was backed by a Communist Vietnam. For almost a decade, the fight between the two countries continued when finally in 1989, Vietnam withdrew from Cambodia owing to international pressure and sanctions. In 1991, a peace treaty was signed between the warring factions and democratic elections were held and by 1993 Prince Sihanouk was elected to lead the new democratic set up in the country. 

Pol Pot and Co.

APKhmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, who presided over one of the century's most brutal regimes.

With the restoration of a new government, the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime came to light. Mass graves, called killing fields, where millions of Cambodians were buried were unearthed. The Khmer Rouge, by this time, had lost most of its supporters and had weakened in power. In 1997 during a show trial, former members of the regime turned against their leader Pol Pot and accused him of being responsible for the crimes committed during their rule. Pol Pot spent his last few days in the jungles of Cambodia and died in 1998. As recently as August this year, the two top men in the Khmer Rouge regime Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of crimes against humanity.