Cambodian genocide

In Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 the genocide of between one and a half to three million people were carried out by the Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot.

Ideology

Ideology played an important role in the genocide. The desire of the Khmer Rouge 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 is history, the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust and the Cambodian genocide, which although unique shared certain commonalities. Racism is one and was a major part of the ideology of all three regimes. Although all three were atheist, 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.

International reaction

"In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge received aid and assistance from the United States after their regime was overthrown by the Vietnamese in the late 1970s. Even though the nature of the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge was by then well known, the United States saw them as an important check on Vietnamese power in southeast Asia and consequently felt justi¤ed in assisting this genocidal state"

War crimes trials

On 15 July, 1979 following the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge 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 which will try members of the Khmer Rouge regime.

So far the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia has tried.

Kang Kek Iew, AKA Comrade Duch, AKA Hang Ping, was a mid level leader of the Khmer Rouge regime. He set up the first Khmer prison (code name M-13) in Kampong Forest were 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 takeover 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 and it is estimated that 16,000 people were killed within it. There are 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.

Nuon Chea[1]

Ieng Thirith

Genocide denial

"In an interview just months before his death, Pol Pot, former Khmer Rouge leader and the architect of the Cambodian genocide, denied being responsible for the genocide committed against his people during the 1970s. Asserting that “I came to carry out the struggle, not to kill people,” Pol Pot portrayed himself as a misunderstood and unfairly vili¤ed ¤gure, instead of the leader of a movement considered one of the most brutal of the twentieth century. Incredibly, he also declared, “Am I a savage person? My conscience is clear.”"

In 2013, the Cambodian prime minister passed legislation which makes denial of the genocide and other war crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge illegal. 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 artefacts 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.

Bibliography

• Alvarez, Alex (2001). Governments, Citizens, and Genocide: A Comparative and Interdisciplinary Approach. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253338495. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Bartrop, Paul R. (2012). A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0313386787. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Buncombe, Andrew (7 June, 2013). "Cambodia passes law making denial of Khmer Rouge genocide illegal". The Independent. Retrieved 2 January, 2014. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
• Donlon, Fidelma (2012). "Hybrid Tribunals". In William A. Schabas, Nadia Bernaz (ed.). Routledge Handbook of International Criminal Law. Routledge. pp. 85–106. ISBN 978-0415524506. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Etcheson, Craig (2005). After the Killing Fields: Lessons from the Cambodian Genocide. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0275985134. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Frey, Rebecca Joyce (2009). Genocide and International Justice. Facts On File. ISBN 978-0816073108. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Kiernan, Ben (2003). "Twentieth-Century Genocides Underlying Ideological Themes from Armenia to East Timor". In Robert Gellately, Ben Kiernan (ed.). The Specter of Genocide: Mass Murder in Historical Perspective. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521527507. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Stanton, Gregory H. (2013). "The Call". In Samuel Totten, ‎Steven Leonard Jacobs (ed.). Pioneers of Genocide Studies. Transaction. pp. 401–428. ISBN 978-1412849746. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)