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{{Genocide}} {{Genocide}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
In ], a ] was carried out by the ] (KR) ] led by ] between 1975 and 1979 in which an estimated one and a half to three million people were killed.{{sfn|Frey|2009|p=83}} The KR had planned to create a form of ] which was founded on the ideals of ] and ]. The KR policies of forced relocation of the population from urban centres, torture, mass executions, use of ], and malnutrition led to the deaths of an estimated 25 percent of the total population ( around 2 million people ).{{sfn|Etcheson|2005|p=119}}{{sfn|Heuveline|1998|pp=49-65}} The genocide was ended following the ].{{sfn|Mayersan|2013|p=182}} Up to 20,000 mass graves, known as the ], have been uncovered.{{sfn|DeMello|2013|p=86}}


The KR goal of purifying the people is similar to the goals of ], in attempting to create a "master race"; as one KR leader said, it was the "purification of the populace".{{sfn|Hannum|1989|pp=88-89}} On 2 January 2001 the Cambodian government passed legislation to try a limited number of the KR leadership. Trials began on 17 February 2009.{{sfn|Mendes|2011|p=13}} On 7 August 2014, ] and ] were convicted and received life sentences for crimes against humanity during the genocide.
The '''Cambodian genocide''' ({{lang-km|របបប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍}}) was carried out by the ] (KR) ] led by ] between 1975 and 1979 in which an estimated 1.5 to 3 million ]ns were killed by the regime.{{sfn|Frey|2009|p=83}} The ] resulted in the establishment of ] by the Khmer Rouge, who had planned to create a form of ] founded on the ideals of ] and ]. The forced relocation of the population from urban centers, ], mass executions, use of ], ], and disease led to the death of an estimated 25 percent of Cambodia's total population (around 2 million people).{{sfn|Etcheson|2005|p=119}}{{sfn|Heuveline|1998|pp=49-65}} The genocide ended in 1979 following the ].{{sfn|Mayersan|2013|p=182}} As of 2009, 23,745 mass graves have been discovered.{{sfn|Seybolt|Aronson|Fischoff|2013|p=238}}

On 2 January 2001 the Cambodian government passed legislation to establish the ], to try a limited number of the KR leadership. Trials began on 17 February 2009.{{sfn|Mendes|2011|p=13}} On 7 August 2014, ] and ] were convicted and received life sentences for ] during the genocide.


Some 17,000 people passed through the ] (also known as S-21) before they were taken to sites (also known as ]), outside Phnom Penh such as ] where most were executed (mainly by ]s to save bullets) and buried in ]s. Of the thousands who entered Tuol Sleng, only seven are known to have survived. Tuol Sleng was only one of some 196 prisons operated by the Khmer Rouge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.d.dccam.org/Projects/Maps/MappingKillingField.htm|title=Mapping the Killing Fields|work=Documentation Center of Cambodia|date=|accessdate=2016-09-10}}</ref>

==Genocide of minorities==

The Khmer Rouge regime arrested and eventually executed almost everyone suspected of connections with the former government or foreign governments, as well as professionals and intellectuals. Ethnic ], ethnic ], ethnic ], ethnic ], ], and the ]hood were the demographic targets of persecution. As a result, ] has been described as "a genocidal tyrant."<ref>William Branigin, '']'', April 17, 1998</ref> British sociologist ] described the Cambodian genocide as "the purest ] of the ] era."<ref>''Theory of the Global State: Globality as Unfinished Revolution'' by ], ], 2000, pp 141, {{ISBN|978-0-521-59730-2}}</ref><br>

Between 327,000<ref name="ReferenceA">10,000 Vietnamese + 215,000 Chinese + 4,000 Lao + 8,000 Thai + 90,000 Cham<br>source:<br>
{{cite web|last1=White|first1=Matthew|title=20th Century death tolls larger than one million but fewer than 5 million people-Cambodia|url=http://necrometrics.com/20c1m.htm#Cambodia|website=necrometrics}}</ref> and 541,000<ref>] from ] column:<br>http://www.mega.nu/ampp/rummel/dbg.tab1.2.gif</ref> ethnic and religious minorities in Cambodia are estimated to have been killed in the ]'s ]s against them.

The Khmer Rouge regime targeted various ethnic groups during the genocide, forcibly relocating minority groups, and banning the use of minority languages.
This attempt to purify Cambodian society along racial, social and political lines led to ]s of the former regime's military and political leadership, along with the leaders of industry, journalists, students, doctors and lawyers as well as members of the Vietnamese and Chinese ethnic groups.{{sfn|Alvarez|2001|p=12}}

The Khmer Rouge banned by decree the existence of ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese, Muslim Cham, and 20 other minorities, which altogether constituted 15% of the country's total population at the beginning of the Khmer Rouge's rule.<ref name="specter">{{Cite book|title=The Specter of Genocide: Mass Murder in Historical Perspective|first=Robert|last=Gellately|first2=Ben|last2=Kiernan|publisher=]|year=2003|pages=313–314}}</ref>

===Ethnic and Religious Victims===

====Vietnamese====
The Khmer Rouge massacred ethnic Vietnamese whom they had ordered to be expelled from Cambodia and who were on their way to Vietnam. They also prevented other Vietnamese from fleeing Cambodia and later massacred them.<ref>{{cite book | title=Revolution and Genocide in Ethiopia and Cambodia | url=https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=AZeaAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA128#v=onepage&q&f=false | author= Edward Kissi | page=128}}</ref>

The remaining 20,000 ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia who were not already repatriated were all killed by the Khmer Rouge.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27W92eiEuY4C&pg=PA69|title=Genocide Since 1945|author=Philip Spencer|page=69}}</ref> In addition to that, the Khmer Rouge also conducted many cross border raids in Vietnam where they slaughtered 30,000 Vietnamese civilians,<ref>{{cite book|title=Death by Government|page=|date=2011|first=R. J.|last=Rummel|isbn=1412821290}}</ref> with one example being the ] where 3,157 Vietnamese civilians were slaughtered at once, forcing the Vietnamese government to urgently respond. Vietnam ] and established the ] (PRK) led by Khmer Rouge defectors.{{sfn|Brinkley|2011|p=}}{{sfn|SarDesai|1998|pp=–}}

The Khmer Rouge also used the media to facilitate their goals of genocide. Radio Phnom Penh called on Cambodians to "exterminate the 50 million Vietnamese".<ref></ref>

====Chinese====
The state of the Chinese Cambodians was described as "the worst disaster ever to befall any ethnic Chinese community in Southeast Asia".<ref name="specter"/> Cambodians of Chinese descent were massacred by the Khmer Rouge under the justification that they "used to exploit the Cambodian people".<ref name="rpg"/> The Chinese were stereotyped as traders and moneylenders, and therefore were associated with capitalism. Among the Khmer, the Chinese were also resented for their lighter ] and cultural differences.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Why Did They Kill? Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide|author=Hinton, Alexander Laban|publisher=]|year=2005|page=54}}</ref> Hundreds of Chinese families were rounded up in 1978 and told that they were to be resettled, but were actually executed.<ref name="rpg">{{Cite book|title=The Pol Pot regime: Race, Power, and Genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge|authorlink=Ben Kiernan|first=Ben|last=Kiernan|publisher=]|year=2008|page=431}}</ref> At the beginning of the Khmer Rouge's rule in 1975, there were 425,000 ethnic Chinese in Cambodia; by the end in 1979, there were 200,000. In addition to being a proscribed ethnic group by the government, the Chinese were predominantly city-dwellers, making them vulnerable to the Khmer Rouge's revolutionary ruralism.<ref name="specter"/> The government of the People's Republic of China did not protest the killings of ethnic Chinese in Cambodia.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Remapping Asian American History|first=Sucheng|last=Chan|publisher=]|year=2003|page=189}}</ref>

====Religious Groups====
Under the leadership of Pol Pot, who was an ardent ],<ref>]; '']''; Viking; 2011; p.543</ref> the Khmer Rouge had a policy of ].<ref name="Wessinger2000">{{cite book|last=Wessinger|first=Catherine|title=Millennialism, Persecution, and Violence: Historical Cases|year=2000|publisher=]|language=English |isbn=9780815628095|page=282|quote=Democratic Kampuchea was officially an atheist state, and the persecution of religion by the Khmer Rouge was matched in severity only by the persecution of religion in the communist states of Albania and North Korea, so there were not any direct historical continuities of Buddhism into the Democratic Kampuchea era.}}</ref> All religions were banned, and the repression of adherents of Islam,<ref>{{cite book|last=Juergensmeyer|first=Mark|title=The Oxford Handbook of Global Religions|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=495|accessdate=8 August 2015}}</ref> Christianity,<ref>{{cite book|last=Quinn-Judge, Westad|first=Odd Arne, Sophie|title=The Third Indochina War: Conflict Between China, Vietnam and Cambodia, 1972-79|publisher=Routledge|page=189|accessdate=8 August 2015}}</ref> and Buddhism was extensive. It is estimated that 25,000-50,000 Buddhist monks were massacred by the regime.<ref name="NYTi"> '']'' - January 2, 1992</ref><ref name=rummel/>

====Cham Muslims====
According to ], the "fiercest extermination campaign was directed against the ethnic Cham Muslim minority".{{sfn|Kiernan|2003|p=30}} Islam was seen as an "alien" and "foreign" culture that did not belong in the new Communist system. Initially, the Khmer Rouge aimed for "forced assimilation" of Chams through population dispersal. After this, Pol Pot began intimidation efforts through assassination of village elders and ultimately full-scale mass killing of Cham peoples which American professor ] and Australian professor ] estimate would have completely wiped out the Cham population were it not for the overthrow of the regime in 1979.<ref name=Totten>{{cite book|last1=Totten|first1=Samuel|last2=Bartrop|first2=Paul R.|authorlink1=Samuel Totten|authorlink2=Paul R. Bartrop|title=Dictionary of Genocide: A-L|date=2008|accessdate=15 April 2017|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=0313346429|page=64|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rgGA91skoP4C&pg=PA64}}</ref>


==Ideology== ==Ideology==
].]]
] played an important role in the genocide. The desire of the KR to bring the nation back to a "mythic past", the desire to stop aid from abroad from entering the nation, which in their eyes was a corrupting influence, the desire to restore the country to an ], and the manner in which they tried to implement this goal were all factors of the genocide.{{sfn|Alvarez|2001|p=50}}{{sfn|Alvarez|2007|p=16}} One KR leader said, it was for the "purification of the populace"{{sfn|Hannum|1989|pp=88-89}} that the killings began.
] played an important role in the genocide. The desire of the KR to bring the nation back to a "mythic past", stop aid entering the nation from abroad, which in their eyes was a corrupting influence and restore the country to an ], and the manner in which they tried to implement this was one factor in the genocide.{{sfn|Alvarez|2001|p=50}} {{sfn|Alvarez|2007|p=16}}

Pol Pot and the KR forced virtually the entire population of Cambodia into mobile work teams.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The World Transformed: 1945 to the Present|last=Hunt|first=Michael H.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0-19-937102-0|location=New York, NY|pages=377}}</ref> Michael Hunt said that it was "an experiment in social mobilization unmatched in twentieth-century revolutions."<ref name=":0" /> The KR used an inhumane labor regime, instilled fear and terror in order to keep the population in line, starvation, upheaval and resettlement, and collectivization of land.<ref name=":0" />


Kiernan compares three ], the ], the Holocaust and the Cambodian genocide, which although unique, shared certain common features. Racism is one, and was a major part of the ideology of all three regimes. Although all three perpetrators were largely secular, they targeted religious minorities. All three also tried to use force of arms to expand into a "contiguous heartland" (], ], and ]), all three regimes also "idealized their ethnic peasantry as the true 'national' class, the ethnic soil from which the new state grew."{{sfn|Kiernan|2003|p=29}} ] compares three ], the ], the ] and the Cambodian genocide, which although unique shared certain common features. Racism is one and was a major part of the ideology of all three regimes. Although all three perpetrator guanoators were largely secular, they targeted religious minorities. All three also tried to use force of arms to expand into a "contiguous heartland", (], ], and ]), all three regimes also "idealized their ethnic peasantry as the true "national" class, the ethnic soil from which the new state grew."{{sfn|Kiernan|2003|p=29}} The Khmer Rouge regime targeted various ethnic groups during the genocide, forcibly relocating minority groups, and banned the use of minority languages. Religion was also banned, and the repression of adherents of ], ], and ] was extensive. And according to Kiernan, the "fiercest extermination campaign was directed at the ethnic ] minority".{{sfn|Kiernan|2003|p=30}} This attempt at the purification of Cambodian society along racial, social and political lines led to the military and political leaders of the former regime, as well as leaders of industry, journalists, students, doctors, lawyers as well as the Vietnamese and Chinese ethnic groups being purged.{{sfn|Alvarez|2001|p=12}} The exact numbers of Cham people killed are unknown; however, according to survivors there were an estimated 700,000 before the KR came to power, and there were an estimated 200,000 left following the genocide.{{sfn|Hannum|1989|p=87}}


==International reaction== ==International reaction==
]
In 1977 the book '']'' written by ] was released, although the English translation was not published until 1978.{{sfn|Beachler|2011|p=45}} Ponchaud was one of the first authors to bring the genocide to the world's attention.{{sfn|Bartrop|2012|p=261}} Ponchaud has said that the genocide "was above all, the translation into action the particular vision of a man : A person who has been spoiled by a corrupt regime cannot be reformed, he must be physically eliminated from the brotherhood of the pure."{{sfn|Tyner|2012|p=145}} In 1977, ''Murder of a gentle land: the untold story of a Communist genocide in Cambodia'', written by ] and Anthony Paul, was published.{{sfn|Barron|1977}} The book drew on accounts from refugees, and after an abridged version was published in '']'', it was widely read.{{sfn|Mayersan|2013|pp=183-184}}
In 1977 the book '']'' written by ] was released, although the English translation was not published until 1978.{{sfn|Beachler|2011|p=45}} Ponchaud was one of the first authors to bring the genocide to the world's attention.{{sfn|Bartrop|2012|p=261}} Ponchaud has said of the genocide that it, "Was above all, the translation into action the particular vision of a man : A person who has been spoiled by a corrupt regime cannot be reformed, he must be physically eliminated from the brotherhood of the pure."{{sfn|Tyner|2012|p=145}} In 1977 ''Murder of a gentle land: the untold story of a Communist genocide in Cambodia'' written by ] and Anthony Paul was published.{{sfn|Barron|1977}} The book drew on accounts from refugees, and after an abridged version was published in ] it was widely read.{{sfn|Mayersan|2013|pp=183-184}}


In 1973, ], serving with the ] (U.S.) embassy, had raised concerns over the atrocities being carried out. In a report, he stated that the KR had "much in common with those of totalitarian regimes in ] and the ]".{{sfn|Power|2002|p=96}} Quinn has written of the KR that "hat emerges as the explanation for the terror and violence that swept Cambodia during the 1970s is that a small group of alienated intellectuals, enraged by their perception of a totally corrupt society and imbued with a Maoist plan to create a pure socialist order in the shortest possible time, recruited extremely young, poor, and envious cadres, instructed them in harsh and brutal methods learned from Stalinist mentors, and used them to destroy physically the cultural underpinnings of the Khmer civilization and to impose a new society through purges, executions, and violence."{{sfn|Hinton|Lifton|2004|p=23}} In 1973 ], serving with the U.S. embassy had raised concerns over the atrocities being carried out. In a report, he stated that the KR had "much in common with those of totalitarian regimes in ] and the ]".{{sfn|Dutton|2007|p=32}} Quinn has written of the KR that "hat emerges as the explanation for the terror and violence that swept Cambodia during the 1970s is that a small group of alienated intellectuals, enraged by their perception of a totally corrupt society and imbued with a Maoist plan to create a pure socialist order in the shortest possible time, recruited extremely young, poor, and envious cadres, instructed them in harsh and brutal methods learned from Stalinist mentors, and used them to destroy physically the cultural underpinnings of the Khmer civilization and to impose a new society through purges, executions, and violence."{{sfn|Hinton|2004|p=23}}


During the genocide, ] was the main international patron of the Khmer Rouge, supplying "more than 15,000 military advisers" and most of its external aid.{{sfn|Kurlantzick|2008|p=}} As a result of Chinese and Western opposition to the Vietnamese invasion, the Khmer Rouge continued to hold Cambodia's ] (UN) seat until 1982, after which the seat was filled by a Khmer Rouge-dominated coalition—the ] (CGDK).{{sfn|PoKempner|1995|p=}}{{sfn|SarDesai|1998|p=}} China trained Khmer Rouge soldiers on its soil during 1979—1986 (if not later), "stationed military advisers with Khmer Rouge troops as late as 1990,"{{sfn|PoKempner|1995|p=}} and "supplied at least $1 billion in military aid" during the 1980s.{{sfn|Brinkley|2011|pp=–}} After the ], ] continued to allow the Khmer Rouge "to trade and move across the Thai border to sustain their activities&nbsp;... although international criticism, particularly from the U.S. and ]&nbsp;... caused it to disavow passing any direct military support."{{sfn|PoKempner|1995|pp=–}} There are also ] to weaken Vietnam's influence in ].{{sfn|Haas|1991|pp=17–18, 28–29}}{{sfn|Thayer|1991|pp=180, 187–189}}{{sfn|Brinkley|2011|pp=, }} The support of ], in conjunction with China, was essential to the triumph of the KR in the ].{{sfn|SarDesai|1998|p=124}} During the genocide, China was the main international patron of the KR, supplying more than 15,000 military advisers and most of their external aid.{{sfn|Roett|2008|p=193}} As a result of Chinese and Western opposition to the Vietnamese invasion, the KR retained Cambodia's UN seat until 1982.{{sfn|PoKempner|1995|p=106}} China hosted KR military training camps from 1979 until at least 1986, and stationed military advisers with KR troops until as late as 1990.{{sfn|PoKempner|1995|p=106}} After the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement, ] continued to allow KR guerillas to trade and move across the Thai border, although criticism from the U.S. and Australia caused it to disavow passing any direct military support.{{sfn|PoKempner|1995|p=107-108}} ] claimed that the US offered material support to the Khmer Rouge after the Vietnamese invasion.<ref name = "Kiernan 30">{{citation |separator= . |last= Kiernan |first= Ben |authorlink= Ben Kiernan |date=April 2005 |chapter= The Cambodian Genocide and Imperial Culture |chapterurl= http://www.yale.edu/cgp/KiernanCambodia30thAnniversaryEssay.doc |title= 90 Years of Denial |publisher= '']'' (Beirut) & '']'' (Boston) |pages= 20–21 |accessdate= 15 September 2012 }}</ref> Other sources have disputed these claims.<ref>{{Cite news| url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE4DA163FF931A15757C0A96E958260 | work=The New York Times | title=Pol Pot's Evil Had Many Faces; China Acted Alone | date=22 April 1998}}</ref><ref>], "Cambodia: Misperceptions and Peace," ''Washington Quarterly'', Spring 1991. "There is no evidence that the US gave any material support whatsoever to the Khmer Rouge."</ref><ref>Stephen J. Morris, "Vietnam’s Vietnam," ''Atlantic Monthly'', January 1985, "ABC Flacks For Hanoi," ''Wall Street Journal'', 26 April 1990.</ref><ref>"Skeletons in the Closet," ''The New Republic'', 4 June 1990.</ref>
The Cambodian NGO ] has, by 2008, mapped 20,000 mass graves.{{sfn|Verkoren|2008|p=225}} The Cambodian Genocide Program at ], directed by Ben Kiernan, estimates that the death toll may be closer to two million than one million after their discovery of mass graves.{{sfn|Terry|2002|p=116}}

As of 2009, the Cambodian NGO ] has mapped some 23,745 mass graves containing approximately 1,386,734 suspected victims of execution; execution is believed to account for roughly 60% of the full death toll.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sharp|first=Bruce|url=http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/deaths.htm|title=Counting Hell|date=2008-06-09|accessdate=2016-09-23}}</ref>{{sfn|Seybolt|Aronson|Fischoff|2013|p=238. This source gives a slightly lower figure of 1,298,772, but that is the authors' "own calculation based on Internet data" and appears to be an undercount.}}


==War crimes trials== ==War crimes trials==
{{main article|Khmer Rouge Tribunal}}
] ]
On 15 July 1979, following the overthrow of the KR, the new government passed "Decree Law No, 1". This allowed for the trial of ] and ] for the crime of genocide. They were given an American defence lawyer, ].{{sfn|Etcheson|2005|p=14}} They were ] and convicted of genocide.{{sfn|Donlon|2012|p=103}} On 15 July 1979 following the overthrow of the KR the new government passed "Decree Law No, 1", this allowed for the trial of Pol Pot and ] for the crime of genocide. They were given an American defence lawyer, ].{{sfn|Etcheson|2005|p=14}} They were tried in absentia and convicted of genocide.{{sfn|Donlon|2012|p=103}}


In January 2001, the ] passed legislation to form a tribunal to try members of the KR regime.{{sfn|Stanton|2013|p=411}} In January 2001 the ] passed legislation to form a tribunal to try members of the KR regime.{{sfn|Stanton|2013|p=411}}


So far the ] (ECCC) has tried:
=== Kang Kek Iew ===
In 1999, Duch was interviewed by Nic Dunlop and ], in which he admitted his guilt over the crimes carried out in Tuol Sleng. He expressed sorrow for his actions and stated he was willing to stand trial, and give evidence against his former comrades. On 16 February 2009 the trial began, and he accepted that he was responsible for the crimes carried out at Tuol Sleng, on 31 March 2009. On 26 July 2010 he was found guilty on charges of crimes against humanity, torture and murder and was given a sentence of 35 years' imprisonment.{{sfn|Bartrop|2012|pp=166-167}} On 3 February 2012 his previous sentence was replaced with life imprisonment.{{sfn|ECCC-Kaing|2012}}


], AKA Comrade Duch, AKA Hang Ping, was a mid level leader of the KR regime. He set up the first Khmer prison (code name M-13) in Kampong Forest, where the prisoners had to live in pits. He set up another prison two years later, known as M-99. It is estimated that up to 20,000 people were tortured and executed there. Following the Khmer Rouge victory in April 1975 the prison system was extended nationwide and in Phnom Penh the infamous ] prison was founded. Duch was in charge of the prison together with his lieutenants ] and ] who led the torture and interrogation of prisoners. It is estimated that 16,000 people were killed within the Tuol Sleng compound with only seven known survivors. In 1999 Duch was interviewed by Nic Dunlop and ] in which he admitted his guilt over the crimes carried out in Tuol Sleng, he expressed sorrow for his actions and stated he was willing to stand trial, and give evidence against his former comrades. On 16 February 2009 the trial began, and he accepted that he was responsible for the crimes carried out at Tuol Sleng, on 31 March 2009. On 26 July 2010 he was found guilty on charges of crimes against humanity, torture and murder and was given a sentence of 35 years imprisonment.{{sfn|Bartrop|2012|pp=166-167}}
=== Nuon Chea ===
On 19 September 2007, ], known as Brother Number Two, was arrested, and later arraigned before the ECCC.{{sfn|Corfield|2011|p=855}} At the end of the trial in 2013 he denied all charges, stating that he had not given orders "to mistreat or kill people to deprive them of food or commit any genocide". He was convicted in 2014 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He has expressed remorse and accepted moral responsibility for the crimes, stating "I would like to sincerely apologize to the public, the victims, the families, and all Cambodian people."{{sfn|Nuon Chea|2013}}


On 19 September 2007 ], AKA, Brother Number Two was arrested, and later arraigned before the ECCC.{{sfn|Corfield|2011|p=855}} At the end of the trial in 2013 he denied all charges, stating that he had not given orders "to mistreat or kill people to deprive them of food or commit any genocide." He has expressed remorse and accepted moral responsibility for the crimes, stating, "I would like to sincerely apologize to the public, the victims, the families, and all Cambodian people."{{sfn|Nuon Chea|2013}}
=== Ieng Thirith ===
] was arrested on 12 November 2007 at the same time as her husband, Ieng Sary.{{sfn|MacKinnon|2007}} She was indicted on 10 September 2010, for crimes against humanity and genocide. On 17 November 2011, following evaluations from medical experts, she was found to be unfit to stand trial due to a mental condition.{{sfn|de los Reyes|Mattes|Lee|Van Tuyl|2012|p=1}}


] was arrested on 12 November 2007 at the same time as her husband, Ieng Sary.{{sfn|MacKinnon|2007}} She was indicted on 10 September 2010, for crimes against humanity and genocide. On 17 November 2011, following evaluations from medical experts, she was found to be unfit to stand trial due to a mental condition.{{sfn|de los Reyes|2012|p=1}}
=== Khieu Samphan ===

] was arrested on 19 November 2007 and charged with crimes against humanity.{{sfn|Munthit|2007}} He was convicted in 2014 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
] was arrested on 19 November 2007 and charged with crimes against humanity.{{sfn|Munthit|2007}} In 2014 Samphan and Chea, were given life sentences for crimes against humanity. The tribunal has been criticised for being slow, as only three people, Kaing Guek Eav, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2011 have been tried and convicted.{{sfn|The Telegraph|2014}}


==Denial== ==Denial==
{{main article|Cambodian genocide denial}} {{main|Cambodian genocide denial}}


A few months before his death on 15 April 1998,{{sfn|Chan|2004|p=256}} Pol Pot was interviewed by Thayer. During the interview he stated that he had a clear conscience and denied being responsible for the genocide. Pol Pot asserted that he "came to carry out the struggle, not to kill people". According to Alex Alvarez, Pol Pot "portrayed himself as a misunderstood and unfairly vilified figure".{{sfn|Alvarez|2001|p=56}} A few months before committing suicide on 15 April 1998,{{sfn|Chan|2004|p=256}} Pol Pot was interviewed by Nate Thayer. During the interview he stated that he had a clear conscience and denied being responsible for the genocide. Pol Pot asserted that he "came to carry out the struggle, not to kill people". According to Alex Alvarez, Pol Pot "portrayed himself as a misunderstood and unfairly vilified figure".{{sfn|Alvarez|2001|p=56}}


In 2013, the Cambodian Prime Minister ] passed legislation which makes illegal the denial of the Cambodian genocide and other war crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge. The legislation was passed after comments by a member of the opposition, ], who is the deputy president of the ]. Sokha had stated that exhibits at Tuol Sleng were fabricated and that the artifacts had been faked by the Vietnamese following their invasion in 1979. Sokha's party have claimed that the comments have been taken out of context.{{sfn|Buncombe|2013}} In 2013, the Cambodian Prime Minister ] passed legislation which makes illegal the denial of the Cambodian genocide and other war crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge. The legislation was passed after comments by a member of the opposition, ], who is the deputy president of the ]. Sokha had stated that exhibits at Tuol Sleng were fabricated and that the artifacts had been faked by the Vietnamese following their invasion in 1979. Sokha's party have claimed that the comments have been taken out of context.{{sfn|Buncombe|2013}}


== In literature and media == == In literature and media ==
According to Deirdre Boyle, ], "who is considered by many to be the cinematic voice of Cambodia, is himself a survivor of the Khmer Rouge's killing fields. Arguably his best known and most affecting documentary is '']'', in which he recuperates memory to represent speechless horror and thereby shatter silence. With its unsettling reenactments, S-21 allows us to observe how memory and time may collapse to render the past as present and by doing so reveal the ordinary face of evil."{{sfn|Boyle|2009|p=95}} ], "who is considered by many to be the cinematic voice of Cambodia, is himself a survivor of the Khmer Rouge's killing fields. Arguably his best known and most affecting documentary is S-2 1: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine/S-21, la machine de mort Khmere rouge in which he recuperates memory to represent speechless horror and thereby shatter silence. With its unsettling reenactments, S-21 allows us to observe how memory and time may collapse to render the past as present and by doing so reveal the ordinary face of evil."{{sfn|Boyle|2009|p=95}}


Loung Ung's "First They Killed My Father," published 2000.
The genocide is portrayed in the 1984 drama film '']'' and ]'s novel ''Never Fall Down'' (2012).<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/mar/11/the-killing-fields-reel-history | location=London | work=The Guardian | title=The Killing Fields: authentically good | date=12 March 2009}}</ref><ref name="Debra Lau Whelan">{{cite web |url=http://www.slj.com/2012/10/awards/national-book-award-finalists-in-young-peoples-lit-unveiled/#_ |title=SLJ Speaks to National Book Award Finalists |work=] |author=Debra Lau Whelan |date=October 10, 2012 |accessdate=November 15, 2012}}</ref>

The ] is referenced satirically in the ] song "]".<ref name="Vinyl release">{{cite web | url=https://www.discogs.com/Dead-Kennedys-Holiday-In-Cambodia/release/997569 | title=Dead Kennedys – Holiday In Cambodia (Vinyl) | publisher=] | accessdate=September 20, 2017}}</ref>

The genocide is recounted by ] in her memoir '']'' (2000).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41482326|title=First they killed my father : a daughter of Cambodia remembers|last=Loung.|first=Ung,|date=2000|publisher=HarperCollinsPublishers|isbn=0060193328|edition=1st|location=New York|oclc=41482326}}</ref><ref name="Debra Lau Whelan"/>

Loung Ung's memoir was made into a ] directed by ]. Set in 1975, the film depicts 5-year-old Ung who is forced to be trained as a ] while her siblings are sent to labor camps by the Khmer Rouge regime.<ref name="Variety:Telluride Film Review: ‘First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers’">{{cite web|last1=Debruge|first1=Peter|title=Telluride Film Review: ‘First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers’|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/first-they-killed-my-father-review-angelina-jolie-1202545717/|publisher=Variety|accessdate=20 September 2017|date=3 September 2017}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Genocide museum.jpg|Tuol Sleng genocide museum
File:Genocide phnom.jpg| Photo from genocide museum
File:Museum phnom pen genoc.jpg| Tuol Sleng
File:Museum fash gen.jpg|Tuol Sleng
File:Koluchaya prov.jpg|Genocide museum
File:Kazarma museum.jpg| In the museum
</gallery>


==See also== ==See also==
]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


==References== ==References==
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==Bibliography== ==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|3}} {{refbegin|3}}
* {{cite book|last=Alvarez|first=Alex|title=Governments, Citizens, and Genocide: A Comparative and Interdisciplinary Approach|year=2001|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0253338495|ref= harv}} *{{cite book|last=Alvarez|first=Alex|title=Governments, Citizens, and Genocide: A Comparative and Interdisciplinary Approach|year=2001|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0253338495|ref= harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Alvarez|first=Alex|title=The Prevention and Intervention of Genocide|year=2007|publisher=Transaction|isbn=978-0765803849|pages=7–30|editor=Samuel Totten|chapter=The Prevention and Intervention of Genocide During the Cold War Years|ref= harv}} *{{cite book|last=Alvarez|first=Alex|title=The Prevention and Intervention of Genocide|year=2007|publisher=Transaction|isbn=978-0765803849|pages=7–30|editor=Samuel Totten|chapter=The Prevention and Intervention of Genocide During the Cold War Years|ref= harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Barron|first=John|title=Murder of a gentle land: the untold story of a Communist genocide in Cambodia|year=1977|publisher=Reader's Digest Press|isbn=978-0883491294|author2=Anthony Paul|ref= {{sfnref|Barron|1977}}}} *{{cite book|last=Barron|first=John|title=Murder of a gentle land: the untold story of a Communist genocide in Cambodia|year=1977|publisher=Reader's Digest Press|isbn=978-0883491294|author2=Anthony Paul|ref= {{sfnref|Barron|1977}}}}
* {{cite book|last=Bartrop|first=Paul R.|title=A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide|year=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0313386787|ref = harv}} *{{cite book|last=Bartrop|first=Paul R.|title=A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide|year=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0313386787|ref = harv}}
* {{cite news|title=Khmer Rouge trial ends with defendants denying charges|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24756631|accessdate=5 January 2014|newspaper=BBC|date=31 October 2013|ref= {{sfnref|Nuon Chea|2013}} }} *{{cite news|title=Khmer Rouge trial ends with defendants denying charges|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24756631|accessdate=5 January 2014|newspaper=BBC|date=31 October 2013|ref= {{sfnref|Nuon Chea|2013}} }}
* {{cite book|last=Beachler|first=Donald W.|title=The Genocide Debate: Politicians, Academics, and Victims|year=2011|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0230114142|ref= harv}} *{{cite book|last=Beachler|first=Donald W.|title=The Genocide Debate: Politicians, Academics, and Victims|year=2011|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0230114142|ref= harv}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Boyle|first1=Deirdre|title=Shattering Silence: Traumatic Memory and Reenactment in Rithy Panh's S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine|journal=Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media|date=2009|volume=50|issue=1/2|pages=95–106|publisher=Wayne State University Press|ref= harv|doi=10.1353/frm.0.0049|jstor=41552541}} *{{cite journal|last1=Boyle|first1=Deirdre|title=Shattering Silence: Traumatic Memory and Reenactment in Rithy Panh's S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine|journal=Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media|date=2009|volume=50|issue=1/2|pages=95–106|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/41552541|publisher=Wayne State University Press|ref= harv|doi=10.1353/frm.0.0049}}
*{{cite news|last=Buncombe|first=Andrew|title=Cambodia passes law making denial of Khmer Rouge genocide illegal|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/cambodia-passes-law-making-denial-of-khmer-rouge-genocide-illegal-8649701.html|accessdate=2 January 2014|newspaper=The Independent|date=7 June 2013|ref= {{sfnref|Buncombe|2013}} }}
*{{Cite book
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*{{cite book|last=Corfield|first=Justin J.|title=The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War A Political, Social, and Military History|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-961-0|editor=Spencer C. Tucker|chapter=Nuon Chea|ref= harv}}
|last = Brinkley |first = Joel | year = 2011
*{{cite book|last=de los Reyes|first=Faith Suzzette|title=KRT TRIAL MONITOR|year=2012|publisher=Asian International Justice Initiative|url=http://wcsc.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/Special-Report-IT-FTST_final.pdf|coauthors=Daniel Mattes, Samantha B. Lee, and Penelope Van Tuyl|ref= harv}}
| title = Cambodia's Curse: The Modern History of a Troubled Land
*{{cite book|last=DeMello|first=Margo|title=Body Studies: An Introduction|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415699303|ref= harv}}
| location = | publisher = ]
*{{cite book|last=Donlon|first=Fidelma|title=Routledge Handbook of International Criminal Law|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415524506|pages=85–106|editor=William A. Schabas, Nadia Bernaz|chapter=Hybrid Tribunals|ref= harv}}
| isbn = 978-1-610-39001-9 | ref = harv }}
*{{cite book|last=Dutton|first=Donald G.|title=The Psychology of Genocide, Massacres, and Extreme Violence: Why Normal People Come to Commit Atrocities|year=2007|publisher=Praeger|isbn=978-0275990008|ref= harv}}
* {{cite news|last=Buncombe|first=Andrew|title=Cambodia passes law making denial of Khmer Rouge genocide illegal|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/cambodia-passes-law-making-denial-of-khmer-rouge-genocide-illegal-8649701.html|accessdate=2 January 2014|newspaper=The Independent|date=7 June 2013|ref= {{sfnref|Buncombe|2013}} }}
* {{cite book|last=Chan|first=Sucheng|title=Survivors: Cambodian Refugees in the United States|year=2004|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0252071799|ref= harv}} *{{cite book|last=Etcheson|first=Craig|title=After the Killing Fields: Lessons from the Cambodian Genocide|year=2005|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0275985134|ref= harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Corfield|first=Justin J.|title=The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War A Political, Social, and Military History|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-961-0|editor=Spencer C. Tucker|chapter=Nuon Chea|ref= harv}} *{{cite book|last=Frey|first=Rebecca Joyce|title=Genocide and International Justice|year=2009|publisher=Facts On File|isbn=978-0816073108|ref= harv}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Hannum|first1=Hurst|title=International Law and Cambodian Genocide: The Sounds of Silence|journal=Human Rights Quarterly|date=1989|volume=11|issue=1|pages=82-138|doi=10.2307/761936|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/761936|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|ref= harv}}
* {{cite book|last=de los Reyes|first=Faith Suzzette|title=KRT TRIAL MONITOR|year=2012|publisher=Asian International Justice Initiative|url=http://wcsc.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/Special-Report-IT-FTST_final.pdf|first2=Daniel |last2=Mattes |first3=Samantha B. |last3=Lee |first4=Penelope |last4=Van Tuyl|ref= harv}}
*{{cite journal|last=Heuveline|first=Patrick|title='Between One and Three Million': Towards the Demographic Reconstruction of a Decade of Cambodian History (1970-79)|journal=Population Studies|year=1998|volume=52|issue=1|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/2584763|publisher=Taylor & Francis|ref= harv}}
* {{cite book|last=DeMello|first=Margo|title=Body Studies: An Introduction|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415699303|ref= harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Donlon|first=Fidelma|title=Routledge Handbook of International Criminal Law|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415524506|pages=85–106|editor=William A. Schabas, Nadia Bernaz|chapter=Hybrid Tribunals|ref= harv}} *{{cite book|last=Hinton|first=Alexander Laban|title=Why Did They Kill?: Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide|year=2004|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520241794|coauthors=Robert Jay Lifton|chapter=In the Shadow of Genocide|ref= harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Dutton|first=Donald G.|title=The Psychology of Genocide, Massacres, and Extreme Violence: Why Normal People Come to Commit Atrocities|year=2007|publisher=Praeger|isbn=978-0275990008|ref= harv}} *{{cite book|last=Kiernan|first=Ben|title=The Specter of Genocide: Mass Murder in Historical Perspective|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521527507|editor=Robert Gellately, Ben Kiernan|chapter=Twentieth-Century Genocides Underlying Ideological Themes from Armenia to East Timor|ref= harv}}
*{{cite news|last=MacKinnon|first=Ian|title=Leading Khmer Rouge figures arrested|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/nov/12/ianmackinnon|accessdate=7 January 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|date=12 November 2007|ref= {{sfnref|MacKinnon|2007}} }}
* {{cite book|last=Etcheson|first=Craig|title=After the Killing Fields: Lessons from the Cambodian Genocide|year=2005|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0275985134|ref= harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Frey|first=Rebecca Joyce|title=Genocide and International Justice|year=2009|publisher=Facts On File|isbn=978-0816073108|ref= harv}} *{{cite book|last=Mayersan|first=Deborah|title=Genocide and Mass Atrocities in Asia: Legacies and Prevention|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415645119|editor=Deborah Mayersen, Annie Pohlman|chapter="Never Again" or Again and Again|ref= harv}}
*{{cite book|last=Mendes|first=Errol|title=Peace and Justice at the International Criminal Court: A Court of Last Resort|year=2011|publisher=Edward Elgar|isbn=978-1849803823|ref= harv}}
*{{Cite book
*{{cite news|last=Munthit|first=Ker|title=Ex-Khmer Rouge Head of State Charged|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-D8T0S8OG0.html|accessdate=7 January 2014|newspaper=Associated Press|date=19 November 2007|ref= {{sfnref|Munthit|2007}} }}
| last = Haas | first = Michael | authorlink = Michael Haas (political scientist) | date = 1991
*{{cite book|last=PoKempner|first=Dinah|title=Cambodia at War|year=1995|publisher=Human Rights Watch|isbn=978-1564321503|ref= harv}}
| title = Cambodia, Pol Pot, and the United States: The Faustian Pact
*{{cite book|last=Roett|first=Riordan|title=China's Expansion Into the Western Hemisphere: Implications for Latin America and the United States|year=2008|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|isbn=978-0815775546|ref= harv}}
| location = | publisher = ]
*{{cite book|last=SarDesai|first=D.R.|title=Vietnam, Past and Present|year=1998|publisher=Westview|isbn=978-0813343082|ref= harv}}
| isbn = | ref = harv }}
*{{cite book|last=Stanton|first=Gregory H.|title=Pioneers of Genocide Studies|year=2013|publisher=Transaction|isbn=978-1412849746|editor=Samuel Totten, Steven Leonard Jacobs|pages=401–428|chapter=The Call|ref= harv}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Hannum|first1=Hurst|title=International Law and Cambodian Genocide: The Sounds of Silence|journal=Human Rights Quarterly|date=1989|volume=11|issue=1|pages=82–138|doi=10.2307/761936|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|ref= harv|jstor=761936}}
*{{cite news|title=Cambodia sentence two top Khmer Rouge leaders to life in prison|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/cambodia/11017876/Cambodia-sentence-two-top-Khmer-Rouge-leaders-to-life-in-prison.html|accessdate=7 August 2014|agency=Associated Press|publisher=The Telegraph|date=7 August 2014|ref= {{sfnref|The Telegraph|2014}} }}
* {{cite journal|last=Heuveline|first=Patrick|title='Between One and Three Million': Towards the Demographic Reconstruction of a Decade of Cambodian History (1970–79)|journal=Population Studies|year=1998|volume=52|issue=1|publisher=Taylor & Francis|ref= harv | doi = 10.1080/0032472031000150176|jstor=2584763|pages=49–65}}
* {{cite book|last=Hinton|first=Alexander Laban|title=Why Did They Kill?: Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide|year=2004|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520241794|first2=Robert Jay |last2=Lifton|chapter=In the Shadow of Genocide|ref=harv}} *{{cite book|last=Terry|first=Fiona|title=Condemned to Repeat?: The Paradox of Humanitarian Action|year=2002|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0801487965|ref= harv}}
*{{cite book|last=Tyner|first=James A.|title=Genocide and the Geographical Imagination: Life and Death in Germany, China, and Cambodia|year=2012|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1442208988|ref= harv}}
* {{cite web|title=KAING Guek Eav|url=http://www.eccc.gov.kh/en/indicted-person/kaing-guek-eav|website=Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)|accessdate=19 August 2015|ref=ECCC-Kaing}}
* {{cite book|authorlink=Ben Kiernan|last=Kiernan|first=Ben|title=The Specter of Genocide: Mass Murder in Historical Perspective|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521527507|editor=Robert Gellately, Ben Kiernan|chapter=Twentieth-Century Genocides Underlying Ideological Themes from Armenia to East Timor|ref= harv}} *{{cite book|last=Verkoren|first=Willemijn|title=The Owl and the Dove: Knowledge Strategies to Improve the Peacebuilding|year=2008|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-9056295066|ref= harv}}
Waller, James. “Communist Mass Killings: Cambodia (1975-1979)”. Keene State College. Cohen Center, Keene, NH. 17 February 2015. Powerpoint Lecture.
*{{Cite book
| last = Kurlantzick | first = Joshua | year = 2008
| title = China's Expansion Into the Western Hemisphere: Implications for Latin America and the United States
| chapter = China's Growing Influence in Southeast Asia
| publisher = ] Press
| isbn = 978-0-815-77554-6 | ref = harv }}
* {{cite news|last=MacKinnon|first=Ian|title=Leading Khmer Rouge figures arrested|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/nov/12/ianmackinnon|accessdate=7 January 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|date=12 November 2007|ref= {{sfnref|MacKinnon|2007}} }}
* {{cite book|last=Mayersan|first=Deborah|title=Genocide and Mass Atrocities in Asia: Legacies and Prevention|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415645119|editor=Deborah Mayersen, Annie Pohlman|chapter='Never Again' or Again and Again|ref= harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Mendes|first=Errol|title=Peace and Justice at the International Criminal Court: A Court of Last Resort|year=2011|publisher=Edward Elgar|isbn=978-1849803823|ref= harv}}
* {{cite news|last=Munthit|first=Ker|title=Ex-Khmer Rouge Head of State Charged|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-D8T0S8OG0.html|accessdate=7 January 2014|newspaper=Associated Press|date=19 November 2007|ref= {{sfnref|Munthit|2007}} }}
* {{cite book|last=PoKempner|first=Dinah|title=Cambodia at War|url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a7dd8.html|year=1995|publisher=Human Rights Watch|isbn=978-1564321503|ref= harv}}
* {{cite book|authorlink=Samantha Power|last=Power|first=Samantha|title=A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide|year=2002|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=0-465-06150-8|ref= harv}}
* {{cite book|last=SarDesai|first=D.R.|title=Vietnam, Past and Present|year=1998|publisher=Westview|isbn=978-0813343082|ref= harv}}
* {{cite book|last1=Seybolt|first1=Taylor B.|last2=Aronson|first2=Jay D.|last3=Fischoff|first3=Baruch|title=Counting Civilian Casualties: An Introduction to Recording and Estimating Nonmilitary Deaths in Conflict|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=9780199977314|ref= harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Stanton|first=Gregory H.|title=Pioneers of Genocide Studies|year=2013|publisher=Transaction|isbn=978-1412849746|editor=Samuel Totten, Steven Leonard Jacobs|pages=401–428|chapter=The Call|ref= harv}}
* {{cite news|title=Cambodia sentence two top Khmer Rouge leaders to life in prison|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/cambodia/11017876/Cambodia-sentence-two-top-Khmer-Rouge-leaders-to-life-in-prison.html|accessdate=7 August 2014|agency=Associated Press|publisher=The Telegraph|date=7 August 2014|ref= {{sfnref|The Telegraph|2014}} }}
* {{cite book|last=Terry|first=Fiona|title=Condemned to Repeat?: The Paradox of Humanitarian Action|year=2002|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0801487965|ref= harv}}
*{{Cite journal
| authorlink = Nate Thayer
| last = Thayer | first = Nate | year = 1991
| title = Cambodia: Misperceptions and Peace
| journal = ] | volume = 14 | issue = 2 | pages = 179–191
| doi = 10.1080/01636609109477687 | ref = harv }}
* {{cite book|last=Tyner|first=James A.|title=Genocide and the Geographical Imagination: Life and Death in Germany, China, and Cambodia|year=2012|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1442208988|ref= harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Verkoren|first=Willemijn|title=The Owl and the Dove: Knowledge Strategies to Improve the Peacebuilding|year=2008|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-9056295066|ref= harv}}
* Waller, James. "Communist Mass Killings: Cambodia (1975–1979)". Keene State College. Cohen Center, Keene, NH. 17 February 2015. Powerpoint Lecture.
{{refend}}


{{refend}}
== External links ==
* {{Commonscat-inline}}


{{Cambodia topics}} {{Cambodia topics}}
{{Genocide topics}} {{Genocide topics}}
{{Authority control}}


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Revision as of 22:42, 14 February 2018

Part of a series on
Genocide
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In Cambodia, a genocide was carried out by the Khmer Rouge (KR) regime led by Pol Pot between 1975 and 1979 in which an estimated one and a half to three million people were killed. The KR had planned to create a form of agrarian socialism which was founded on the ideals of Stalinism and Maoism. The KR policies of forced relocation of the population from urban centres, torture, mass executions, use of forced labor, and malnutrition led to the deaths of an estimated 25 percent of the total population ( around 2 million people ). The genocide was ended following the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia. Up to 20,000 mass graves, known as the Killing Fields, have been uncovered.

The KR goal of purifying the people is similar to the goals of Nazi Germany, in attempting to create a "master race"; as one KR leader said, it was the "purification of the populace". On 2 January 2001 the Cambodian government passed legislation to try a limited number of the KR leadership. Trials began on 17 February 2009. On 7 August 2014, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were convicted and received life sentences for crimes against humanity during the genocide.

Ideology

Mass grave at the Killing Field of Choeung Ek.

Ideology played an important role in the genocide. The desire of the KR to bring the nation back to a "mythic past", stop aid entering the nation from abroad, which in their eyes was a corrupting influence and restore the country to an agrarian society, and the manner in which they tried to implement this was one factor in the genocide.

Ben Kiernan compares three genocides in history, the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust and the Cambodian genocide, which although unique shared certain common features. Racism is one and was a major part of the ideology of all three regimes. Although all three perpetrator guanoators were largely secular, they targeted religious minorities. All three also tried to use force of arms to expand into a "contiguous heartland", (Turkestan, Lebensraum, and Kampuchea Krom), all three regimes also "idealized their ethnic peasantry as the true "national" class, the ethnic soil from which the new state grew." The Khmer Rouge regime targeted various ethnic groups during the genocide, forcibly relocating minority groups, and banned the use of minority languages. Religion was also banned, and the repression of adherents of Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism was extensive. And according to Kiernan, the "fiercest extermination campaign was directed at the ethnic Cham Muslim minority". This attempt at the purification of Cambodian society along racial, social and political lines led to the military and political leaders of the former regime, as well as leaders of industry, journalists, students, doctors, lawyers as well as the Vietnamese and Chinese ethnic groups being purged. The exact numbers of Cham people killed are unknown; however, according to survivors there were an estimated 700,000 before the KR came to power, and there were an estimated 200,000 left following the genocide.

International reaction

Skulls of Khmer Rouge victims

In 1977 the book Cambodge année zéro written by François Ponchaud was released, although the English translation was not published until 1978. Ponchaud was one of the first authors to bring the genocide to the world's attention. Ponchaud has said of the genocide that it, "Was above all, the translation into action the particular vision of a man : A person who has been spoiled by a corrupt regime cannot be reformed, he must be physically eliminated from the brotherhood of the pure." In 1977 Murder of a gentle land: the untold story of a Communist genocide in Cambodia written by John Barron and Anthony Paul was published. The book drew on accounts from refugees, and after an abridged version was published in Readers Digest it was widely read.

In 1973 Kenneth M. Quinn, serving with the U.S. embassy had raised concerns over the atrocities being carried out. In a report, he stated that the KR had "much in common with those of totalitarian regimes in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union". Quinn has written of the KR that "hat emerges as the explanation for the terror and violence that swept Cambodia during the 1970s is that a small group of alienated intellectuals, enraged by their perception of a totally corrupt society and imbued with a Maoist plan to create a pure socialist order in the shortest possible time, recruited extremely young, poor, and envious cadres, instructed them in harsh and brutal methods learned from Stalinist mentors, and used them to destroy physically the cultural underpinnings of the Khmer civilization and to impose a new society through purges, executions, and violence."

The support of North Vietnam, in conjunction with China, was essential to the triumph of the KR in the Cambodian civil war. During the genocide, China was the main international patron of the KR, supplying more than 15,000 military advisers and most of their external aid. As a result of Chinese and Western opposition to the Vietnamese invasion, the KR retained Cambodia's UN seat until 1982. China hosted KR military training camps from 1979 until at least 1986, and stationed military advisers with KR troops until as late as 1990. After the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement, Thailand continued to allow KR guerillas to trade and move across the Thai border, although criticism from the U.S. and Australia caused it to disavow passing any direct military support. Ben Kiernan claimed that the US offered material support to the Khmer Rouge after the Vietnamese invasion. Other sources have disputed these claims. The Cambodian NGO Documentation Center of Cambodia has, by 2008, mapped 20,000 mass graves. The Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale University, directed by Ben Kiernan, estimates that the death toll may be closer to two million than one million after their discovery of mass graves.

War crimes trials

The tribunal's main building with the court room

On 15 July 1979 following the overthrow of the KR the new government passed "Decree Law No, 1", this allowed for the trial of Pol Pot and Ieng Sary for the crime of genocide. They were given an American defence lawyer, Hope Stevens. They were tried in absentia and convicted of genocide.

In January 2001 the Cambodian National Assembly passed legislation to form a tribunal to try members of the KR regime.

So far the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) has tried:

Kang Kek Iew, AKA Comrade Duch, AKA Hang Ping, was a mid level leader of the KR regime. He set up the first Khmer prison (code name M-13) in Kampong Forest, where the prisoners had to live in pits. He set up another prison two years later, known as M-99. It is estimated that up to 20,000 people were tortured and executed there. Following the Khmer Rouge victory in April 1975 the prison system was extended nationwide and in Phnom Penh the infamous Tuol Sleng prison was founded. Duch was in charge of the prison together with his lieutenants Mam Nai and Tang Sin Hean who led the torture and interrogation of prisoners. It is estimated that 16,000 people were killed within the Tuol Sleng compound with only seven known survivors. In 1999 Duch was interviewed by Nic Dunlop and Nate Thayer in which he admitted his guilt over the crimes carried out in Tuol Sleng, he expressed sorrow for his actions and stated he was willing to stand trial, and give evidence against his former comrades. On 16 February 2009 the trial began, and he accepted that he was responsible for the crimes carried out at Tuol Sleng, on 31 March 2009. On 26 July 2010 he was found guilty on charges of crimes against humanity, torture and murder and was given a sentence of 35 years imprisonment.

On 19 September 2007 Nuon Chea, AKA, Brother Number Two was arrested, and later arraigned before the ECCC. At the end of the trial in 2013 he denied all charges, stating that he had not given orders "to mistreat or kill people to deprive them of food or commit any genocide." He has expressed remorse and accepted moral responsibility for the crimes, stating, "I would like to sincerely apologize to the public, the victims, the families, and all Cambodian people."

Ieng Thirith was arrested on 12 November 2007 at the same time as her husband, Ieng Sary. She was indicted on 10 September 2010, for crimes against humanity and genocide. On 17 November 2011, following evaluations from medical experts, she was found to be unfit to stand trial due to a mental condition.

Khieu Samphan was arrested on 19 November 2007 and charged with crimes against humanity. In 2014 Samphan and Chea, were given life sentences for crimes against humanity. The tribunal has been criticised for being slow, as only three people, Kaing Guek Eav, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2011 have been tried and convicted.

Denial

Main article: Cambodian genocide denial

A few months before committing suicide on 15 April 1998, Pol Pot was interviewed by Nate Thayer. During the interview he stated that he had a clear conscience and denied being responsible for the genocide. Pol Pot asserted that he "came to carry out the struggle, not to kill people". According to Alex Alvarez, Pol Pot "portrayed himself as a misunderstood and unfairly vilified figure".

In 2013, the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen passed legislation which makes illegal the denial of the Cambodian genocide and other war crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge. The legislation was passed after comments by a member of the opposition, Kem Sokha, who is the deputy president of the Cambodian National Rescue Party. Sokha had stated that exhibits at Tuol Sleng were fabricated and that the artifacts had been faked by the Vietnamese following their invasion in 1979. Sokha's party have claimed that the comments have been taken out of context.

In literature and media

Rithy Panh, "who is considered by many to be the cinematic voice of Cambodia, is himself a survivor of the Khmer Rouge's killing fields. Arguably his best known and most affecting documentary is S-2 1: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine/S-21, la machine de mort Khmere rouge in which he recuperates memory to represent speechless horror and thereby shatter silence. With its unsettling reenactments, S-21 allows us to observe how memory and time may collapse to render the past as present and by doing so reveal the ordinary face of evil."

Loung Ung's "First They Killed My Father," published 2000.

See also

Mass killings under Communist regimes

References

  1. Frey 2009, p. 83.
  2. Etcheson 2005, p. 119.
  3. Heuveline 1998, pp. 49–65.
  4. Mayersan 2013, p. 182.
  5. DeMello 2013, p. 86.
  6. Hannum 1989, pp. 88–89.
  7. Mendes 2011, p. 13.
  8. Alvarez 2001, p. 50.
  9. Alvarez 2007, p. 16.
  10. Kiernan 2003, p. 29.
  11. Kiernan 2003, p. 30.
  12. Alvarez 2001, p. 12.
  13. Hannum 1989, p. 87.
  14. Beachler 2011, p. 45.
  15. Bartrop 2012, p. 261.
  16. Tyner 2012, p. 145.
  17. Barron 1977.
  18. Mayersan 2013, pp. 183–184.
  19. Dutton 2007, p. 32.
  20. Hinton 2004, p. 23.
  21. SarDesai 1998, p. 124.
  22. Roett 2008, p. 193.
  23. ^ PoKempner 1995, p. 106.
  24. PoKempner 1995, p. 107-108.
  25. Kiernan, Ben (April 2005), "The Cambodian Genocide and Imperial Culture", 90 Years of Denial, Aztag Daily (Beirut) & Armenian Weekly (Boston), pp. 20–21 {{citation}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |separator= ignored (help)
  26. "Pol Pot's Evil Had Many Faces; China Acted Alone". The New York Times. 22 April 1998.
  27. Nate Thayer, "Cambodia: Misperceptions and Peace," Washington Quarterly, Spring 1991. "There is no evidence that the US gave any material support whatsoever to the Khmer Rouge."
  28. Stephen J. Morris, "Vietnam’s Vietnam," Atlantic Monthly, January 1985, "ABC Flacks For Hanoi," Wall Street Journal, 26 April 1990.
  29. "Skeletons in the Closet," The New Republic, 4 June 1990.
  30. Verkoren 2008, p. 225.
  31. Terry 2002, p. 116.
  32. Etcheson 2005, p. 14.
  33. Donlon 2012, p. 103.
  34. Stanton 2013, p. 411.
  35. Bartrop 2012, pp. 166–167.
  36. Corfield 2011, p. 855.
  37. Nuon Chea 2013.
  38. MacKinnon 2007.
  39. de los Reyes 2012, p. 1.
  40. Munthit 2007.
  41. The Telegraph 2014.
  42. Chan 2004, p. 256.
  43. Alvarez 2001, p. 56.
  44. Buncombe 2013.
  45. Boyle 2009, p. 95.

Bibliography

Waller, James. “Communist Mass Killings: Cambodia (1975-1979)”. Keene State College. Cohen Center, Keene, NH. 17 February 2015. Powerpoint Lecture.

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