Cambodia Genocide Perpetrators When April 17 1975 January

Cambodia Genocide

Perpetrators When: April 17, 1975 – January 7, 1979 Who: Khmer Rouge (Marxism/Maoism) Pol Pot (1925 -1998) Secretary General Khmer Rouge Co. Founder Leader of genocide Nuon Chea (1926 -2019) Prime Minister Khieu Samphan (1931 -present) President Kaing Guek Eav “Duch” (1942 -present) Director of S 21 Ieng Sary (19252013) Minister of Foreign Affairs

Victims Dead: ~2 million people (25% of the total population) Causes: Execution, torture, starvation, exhaustion, disease Targets: Intellectuals, educated people, professionals, monks, religious enthusiasts, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Cambodians with Chinese, Vietnamese or Thai ancestry Refugees: ~830, 000

Tuol Sleng Prison (S 21)

The Killing Fields

Refugees How many? : ~830, 000 refugees Where did they go? : Mostly Thailand Vietnam. In 2007, there were approximately 44, 000 Cambodians living in Long Beach. How were they treated? : Most refugees lived in makeshift camps along the ill-defined Thailand Cambodia border. Many in the camps were starving, had malaria, and were in very poor health. Most of those who settled in the camps lived in squalor with no access to basic services. Who supported them? : The United Nations Border Relief Operation and private agencies. Did they go home? : Starting in 1991, UNHCR supervised repatriation efforts that resulted in more than 360, 000 Cambodians returning home. The rest were resettled in other countries.

Summary of Genocide - Timeline April 17, 1975: Khmer Rouge overthrows King Sihanouk. Phnom Penh’s 2. 5 million residents are evacuated and sent to the countryside. 197 5 6 197 7 197 8 1975 -1979: “Re-education” of the general population, encouraging a communal lifestyle. Those who had been exposed to the “outside world” or who refused “reeducation” were killed. All others were sent to work on the rice fields. January 7, 1979: Under the leadership of Khmer Rouge defector, Hun Sen, Vietnamese troops take control of Phnom Penh and 197 depose Pol Pot. 9 198 0 1979: A genocide court finds Pol Pot and Leng Sary guilty of genocide. Neither appear in court nor serve any sentence.

What’s Happened Since? May 1993: Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh are elected Co- Prime Ministers during a UN supervised election. 1998: Civil war ends. Hun Sen becomes Prime Minister. 2001: Cambodia’s National Assembly creates a national court in order to prosecute those who committed serious crimes during the genocide. June 2007: The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia brings charges against Khmer Rouge leaders. Only 3 Khmer Rouge leaders are tried. Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were convicted of crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity. All were sentenced to life in prison. July 2018: Hun Sen wins re-election as prime minister.

Resources Human Rights Watch: www. hrw. org/asia/cambodia Why the world should not forget Khmer Rouge and the killing fields of Cambodia: www. washingtonpost. com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/08/07/whythe-world-should-not-forget-khmer-rouge-and-the-killing-fields-ofcambodia/ Timeline: The History of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge: www. pbs. org/pov/enemies/photo_gallery_timeline. php#. VN 0 f. Tvn. F 98 E “The Killing Fields” the movie: www. youtube. com/watch? v=92 z. K 2 w 78 J-c http: //www. country-data. com/cgi-bin/query/r-2118. html http: //www. crimesofwar. org/a-z-guide/cambodia/ https: //www. theguardian. com/world/2018/jul/29/cambodia-hun-senre-elected-in-landslide-victory-after-brutal-crackdown