Khmer Rouge in Cambodia

Tags:

Dates:
Cambodia Genocide: 1975- 1979 (with Pol Pot in rule)

Groups Involved:
Cambodia and Vietnam with Pol Pot as Khmer Rouge's (Cambodia) leader. Khmer Rouge was given aid from China and startegies from the Thai military. China was Vietnam's rival and Vietnam was helped by the Soviet Union, which competed with China for being in the communist world.

Timeline

1962- Pol Pot became the leader of the underground Communist Party but was soon forced to flee to the jungle to escape the wrath of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, leader of Cambodia. While he was in the jungle he had created an army which is known as the Khmer Rouge (Red Cambodians) and waged a guerrilla war against the Prince's government.
December 25th 1978- Vietnamese troops cross Cambodia border, realizing that they are able to seize Phnom Penh.
January 7th 1979- Seized Phnom Penh successfully, Khmer Rouge flee to the wilderness, Pol Pot escapes in a helicopter.
1985- Pol Pot gave his position as Khmer Rouge leader to Khieu Samphan.
1997- Pol Pot trial and put into house arrest by the Khmer Rouge.
1998- Pol Pot dies of a heart attack and Khieu Samphan surrenders in December and never gets put on trial. Pol Pot died a free man.
1953-Pol Pot had gone to Paris to study electronics but was consumed by Marxism (historic task of the Socialist transformation of Society) because of this new interest, he lost his scholarship and was given no choice but to return to Cambodia.
1970- Prince Sihanouk had been "ousted" because of an U.S.-backed right- wing military coup and had joined his former enemy Pol Pot who ws opposing Cambodia's new military government.
1963-1973- the U.S. had periodicly bombed North Vietnamese sanctuaries in Eastern Cambodia, killing up to 150,000 Cambodian Peasants also giving them reason to flee to the countryside by the hundreds of thousands and settled into the capital, Phnom Penh
1979- many scholars dismissed the reports of mass killings in Cambodia. When the Khmer Rouge were driven out by the Vietnamese, the evidence of the disaster became undeniable. The true cost of genocide, however, will always remain unknown. We may know the number of deaths, but we will never know what has been lost. Imagine two million unique lives, every one cut short. Imagine what might have been.

Victims:
About 2,000,000 victims died during the genocide of Cambodia.

The exact number of people who died is unknown, but has been estimated between 1.4 million and 2.2 million deaths. Between 15-20% of the population.

What Happened?

Cities were liquidated, properties destroyed, money became worthless, families were seperated, and households were destroyed. Townspeoples became farmers or transformed into slaves. Thousands were executed. Khmer Rouge wanted to erase all memories of old cambodia.

Basically, Pol Pot wanted to exterminate all the educated people, such as teachers, students, lawyers, ect. so that nobody would question his beliefs.

On April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge, a communist guerrilla group led by Pol Pot, took power in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

The Khmer Rouge turned Cambodia to year zero. They banned all institutions, including stores, banks, hospitals, schools, religion, and the family. All were killed without reason. Everyone had to pledge total allegiance to Angka, the Khmer Rouge government. It was a campaign based on instilling constant fear and keeping their victims off balance.

A telegram sent to many Khmer Rouge leaders stated: “We are continuing to wipe out the remaining elements,” the telegram said. “They were against our revolution both openly and secretly.”

How did it end?
After the Vietnamese invaded and liberated the Cambodian people from the Khmer Rouge, 600,000 Cambodians fled to Thai border camps. Ten million landmines were left in the ground, one for every person in Cambodia. The United Nations installed the largest peacekeeping mission in the world in Cambodia in 1991 to ensure free and fair elections after the withdrawal of the Vietnamese troops. Cambodia was turned upside down during the Khmer Rouge years and the country has the daunting task of healing physically, mentally and economically.

What happened to those responsible?

Pol Pot was put on trial and imprisoned in 1997. Most members were captured or surrended by 1999.
Nuon Chea brother number 2. Prime Minister. alive and arrested in 2007
Leng Sary brother number 3. Deputy Prime Minister. alive and arrested in 2007
Ta Mok brother number 4. Died while awaiting trial. July 21, 2006
Khieu Samphan brother number 5. President of the Khmer Rouge, head of state. alive and arrested in 2007.
Son Sen. Defense Minister. dead
Yun Yat. dead
Ke Pauk brother number 13. dead
Ieng Thirith. alive and arrested in 2007

What happened to those who were attacked?
They forced all city dwellers into the countryside and to labor camps. During their rule, it is estimated that 2 million Cambodians died by starvation, torture or execution. 2 million Cambodians represented approximately 30% of the Cambodian population during that time.

Everyone was forced to work 12 - 14 hours a day, every day. Children were separated from their parents to work in mobile groups or as soldiers. People were fed one watery bowl of soup with a few grains of rice thrown in. Babies, children, adults and the elderly were killed everywhere. The Khmer Rouge killed people if they didn’t like them, if didn’t work hard enough, if they were educated, if they came from different ethnic groups, or if they showed sympathy when their family members were taken away to be killed.
Is it a "recognized" genocide?

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