We're now in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, formerly known as the "Pearl of Asia", up until 1975. The capital of Cambodia (or its historical predecessors) since about 1865, it was a lovely French colonial town (much of the architecture is still around). Then the Vietnam War happened.
I'm not a historian by any means (this has a fuller account, as ever), but from what I can glean, the North Vietnamese forces used Cambodia as part of the famed Ho Chi Minh trail (as they did Laos), to move weapons and supplies to guerrillas fighting the US-backed dictator in South Vietnam. They were aided in these ventures by the communist party of Cambodia, and these practices were (to some extent unofficially) tolerated by the then King of Cambodia, Sihanouk. Eventually the Cambodian military got sick of this, and in 1970 a coup happened (possibly with the support of the CIA), putting General Lon Nol in charge. The Vietnamese then invaded Cambodia, driving back the Cambodian army. US President Nixon then authorised a 30-day invasion of Cambodia by US troops (without informing his supposed ally, and the President of Cambodia, Lon Nol). What followed was a civil war between the Khmer Rouge (the communist party of Cambodia) and the Cambodian army's regime, as the foreign allies of both sides gradually left the conflict (the Vietnamese to unify their country, the Americans to lick their wounds).
On April 17th 1975, Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge (KR), and the civil war was over. The Republic of Cambodia was finished; a state known as Democratic Kampuchea was proclaimed. The KR immediately began marching the entire populations of cities out into the country to work 12 hour days in collective farms for a bowl of rice porridge a day. The extreme Maoism of Pol Pot (the KR leader) split the world into two types of people: the "old people" (rural peasants) and the "new people" (urban dwellers, intellectuals, people with soft hands, people who wore glasses). The idea was to transform Cambodia into a giant self-sustaining farm, free from outside influence, where everyone lived in peace and harmony etc etc. The reality was starvation, disease, and death on an astonishing scale. Some reports suggest that 3 million people died between April 1975 and January 1979, when the invading Vietnamese drove the KR out of Phnom Penh. The total population of Cambodia at this time was around 8 million. Half of the 3 million were executed. They were taken to prisons were they were tortured into confessions that they were CIA or KGB agents, or were stealing rice or some such. Then they were taken out to specific killing fields, beaten to death with farming implements, and buried in pits in the ground.
We've spent the last two days visiting two of the historical sites that are maintained here in Phnom Pen to remember this awful time. The first is Tuol Sleng prison, and the second is the Choeung Ek killing field. At the former there are photos of many of the poor victims who were tortured there, the vast majority of whom (all but 7 according to some reports) were then killed. I've been there before, and most of what I said before still seemed true this time.
I'd never been to Choeung Ek before, however, and I'm glad I went this time. The field itself seems fairly nondescript, the large memorial stupa in the centre aside. But with the entry fee you get one of those natty audio guides, and this is excellent. Suddenly the depressions in the grass at the sides of the path are revealed as previously excavated mass graves. You walk around the site and are told of horror after horror. So many bodies were buried here that they only excavated 86 out of 129 graves (or something like that), and even in the graves they excavated they could only remove the larger bones (skulls, thighs, arms, jaws). In the rainy season, bits of bone, teeth, and clothing still come to the surface every year (and indeed we saw some). Perhaps the most upsetting part of the whole site was the Killing Tree (viewers of a sensitive disposition scroll down now). This was where babies were murdered by having their heads dashed against a large tree before being thrown in the pits with the bodies of their mothers. The whole thing is extraordinarily horrifying and sad. The voice of a KR guard is heard; he joined the KR aged 16. He participated in the killings (including killing other KR soldiers suspected of being traitors) because otherwise it would be him in the pit. He will have to live with his deeds for the rest of his life.
The good news is that the site is very well maintained and seems a fitting memorial to the dead. In addition, four of the surviving leaders of the KR, after 30 plus years of being on the run (and, astonishingly, of being recognised by many international governments including that of the UK as the official government of Cambodia due (because the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia the government they put in place was not recognised for a long time)) are now on trial for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and the chap who had been in charge of Tuol Sleng has already been given a life imprisonment sentence for his crimes. Cambodia is a very young country: more than three quarters of the population are too young to remember the KR directly. Perhaps time will therefore heal these scars. What is certainly true is that horrendous crimes against humanity do still occur every day. Join Amnesty International.
Wow, very moving account. Thanks guys.
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