Cambodian Genocide - Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge
The photographs of the victims from the Cambodian genocide are what really haunt you. There's a huge discussion of this topic on my blog, www.vagabonding.com Here's an entry I wrote about this: Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge, and Genocide in Cambodia During their three-year, eight-month, and 21-day rule of Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge committed some of the most heinous crimes in modern history: - The entire population of Cambodia's urban areas was evacuated from their homes and forced to march into rural areas to work the fields. - Every man, woman, and child was forced into slave labor for 12-15 hours each day. - An estimated two million people (21% of Cambodia's population) lost their lives. Many of these victims were brutally executed; many more died of starvation, exhaustion, and disease. That these crimes were committed so recently (1975-1978) makes them all the more sickening. The country's scars are still plainly visible: - The population is suspiciously youthful (50% is under the age of 15). - The economy is in shambles. This is partially thanks to the Khmer Rouge's execution of the upper and educated classes. The fact that they destroyed most of the vehicles and machines in the cities can't have helped. - New human remains turn up around the exhumed mass graves of the Killing Fields of Cheoung Ek on a daily basis. Silent reminders of the tragedy, these bones and teeth are ceremoniously placed into makeshift shrines in tree hollows and cement planters. It's hard to <b>...</b>
Cambodian phnom penh Genocide photographs Killing Fields Choeung Ek Tuol Sleng S-21 prison Pol Pot Vagabonding
