I've only been in Phnom Penh for a day but feel the need to write about what I've seen. Today I took a tuk-tuk to the killing fields and S-21 (the prison used by Khmer Rouge for torture and interrogation). I've never been to Auschwitz but I can imagine that it has a similar feel - the evil that had been there was still looming over the area. These are a few of the facts I learnt today (not for the faint-hearted):
In Cheoung Ek (the killing fields), 8,895 bodies have been found so far. The largest mass grave had over 450 bodies found in it. One of the mass graves was full of bodies of women and children. The children and babies were often killed by hitting their heads against the tree next to the grave, they were then throw in with their mother. In the centre of the killing fields, a large stupa has been erected which contains around 5,00 skulls. You can get really close up to them so that you can actually see how they died- a lot of them had cracked skulls from being blugeoned to death. The KR rarely shot prisoners as they needed to conserve bullets.
In Tuol Sleng (otherwise known as S-21) only 7 of the 20,000 prisoners survived. Some were killed at the prison, most were taken to Cheoung Ek to be killed. A lot of the prisoners were women and children. The prison is particuarly haunting as it has been barely altered since it was closed in 1979, except that the mug shots of all the prisoners are now on the walls, as well as many pictures of the prisoners just after they died. There are different cell blocks there, some of which had large rooms which held 30 or more prisoners, others which had been seperated with brick or wood walls to create tiny claustrophobic cells. The way that the 7 prisoners who survived did survive is because their skills were needed. For instance, one of the prisoners was called upon to paint a picture of Pol Pot. As he entered the painting room, there were the corpses of other painters whose work had been deemed inadequate. Luckily, the survivor painted well enough to be kept alive to paint portraits of the top KR officials until the Vietnamese forced evactuation from the prison.
I find it absolutely mind-boggling that the Khmer Rouge were allowed to commit these acts of genocide without any retribution from the international community. In the 1970's, there were only around 7 million people in Cambodia, and the KR killed 2-3 million of them, targeting in particular intellectuals (to the point were someone would be executed if they wore glasses, as this was seen as a sign of intellect).The KR were even allowed to represent the Democratic Kampuchea at UN meetings, so the murderers were representing their victims. Pol Pot was never tried, and died in Thailand in 1998. So far, only one of the top ranking officials (the chief of S-21) has even admitted guilt, and he was given a measly 35 year jail sentence for his crimes. The trials of 4 other top ranking members of the KR are still taking place now. Crazy.
In Cheoung Ek (the killing fields), 8,895 bodies have been found so far. The largest mass grave had over 450 bodies found in it. One of the mass graves was full of bodies of women and children. The children and babies were often killed by hitting their heads against the tree next to the grave, they were then throw in with their mother. In the centre of the killing fields, a large stupa has been erected which contains around 5,00 skulls. You can get really close up to them so that you can actually see how they died- a lot of them had cracked skulls from being blugeoned to death. The KR rarely shot prisoners as they needed to conserve bullets.
In Tuol Sleng (otherwise known as S-21) only 7 of the 20,000 prisoners survived. Some were killed at the prison, most were taken to Cheoung Ek to be killed. A lot of the prisoners were women and children. The prison is particuarly haunting as it has been barely altered since it was closed in 1979, except that the mug shots of all the prisoners are now on the walls, as well as many pictures of the prisoners just after they died. There are different cell blocks there, some of which had large rooms which held 30 or more prisoners, others which had been seperated with brick or wood walls to create tiny claustrophobic cells. The way that the 7 prisoners who survived did survive is because their skills were needed. For instance, one of the prisoners was called upon to paint a picture of Pol Pot. As he entered the painting room, there were the corpses of other painters whose work had been deemed inadequate. Luckily, the survivor painted well enough to be kept alive to paint portraits of the top KR officials until the Vietnamese forced evactuation from the prison.
I find it absolutely mind-boggling that the Khmer Rouge were allowed to commit these acts of genocide without any retribution from the international community. In the 1970's, there were only around 7 million people in Cambodia, and the KR killed 2-3 million of them, targeting in particular intellectuals (to the point were someone would be executed if they wore glasses, as this was seen as a sign of intellect).The KR were even allowed to represent the Democratic Kampuchea at UN meetings, so the murderers were representing their victims. Pol Pot was never tried, and died in Thailand in 1998. So far, only one of the top ranking officials (the chief of S-21) has even admitted guilt, and he was given a measly 35 year jail sentence for his crimes. The trials of 4 other top ranking members of the KR are still taking place now. Crazy.
Crazy indeed - I lead a sheltered life x
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