Over thirty years Cambodia has been a country stripped of basic human rights. To this day the government is run by corrupt political leaders whom were to blame for the 2.8 million civilian deaths during the 1970’s (Heuvenille, 2015). Although genocide and ethic minority persecution is part of Cambodia’s past there are many other human rights issues that are on-going from the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.
Many English newspapers to come out of Cambodia speak of the lack of basic political participation and fundamental freedoms the Cambodian people have. The government is monitoring online activity with newly enacted laws that are enabling National Police to arrest and seize people and their belongings if any of the material they put online is specifically against Prime Minister Hun Sen’s campaign. This completely goes against the constitution of Cambodia that states,
“The Kingdom of Cambodia shall recognize and respect human rights as stipulated in the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human rights, the covenants and conventions related to human rights, women’s and children’s rights” (Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, 1993).
Free Speech as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human rights is a basic human right that people process simply because of their humanity (Cruft, Liao & Renzo,2015) and sadly Cambodian officials are choosing to completely ignore this aspect of the constitution. According to an article written by Phenom Phen post many
After they seized power in Cambodia in April 1975, Saloth "Pol Pot" Sar and the Khmer Rouge were responsible for the death of 1.5-3 million Cambodian's and were perhaps one of the most ruthless regimes of the 20th century. The aim of this investigation is to evaluate Pol Pot's means of maintaining power from 1975 to 1979. An account of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge's drastic internal reforms including the slaughter of millions, economic reorganization, political restructuring, and the cultivation of social/ethnic groups will appear in section B. External forces including funding from China and the United States and repressive measures such as censorship, torture, and execution will be assessed. This
The Cambodian Genocide took place from 1975 to 1979 in the Southeastern Asian country of Cambodia. The genocide was a brutal massacre that killed 1.4 to 2.2 million people, about 21% of Cambodia’s population. This essay, will discuss the history of the Cambodian genocide, specifically, what happened, the victims and the perpetrators and the world’s response to the genocide.
In the late 70’s, nearly 2 million Cambodians died of overwork, starvation, torture, and execution in what became known as the Cambodian genocide. A group known as the Khmer Rouge took control of the country in April 1975. Over the course of
Between the years of 1975 and 1979, an estimated 1.5 to 3 million people were killed by the Khmer Rouge during the Cambodian genocide. First They Killed My Father is the story from the perspective of a five year old girl, Loung Ung, and how her life was changed by the Khmer Rouge. Her and her family were forced out of their home, and into labor camps where they were to work for food in order to survive. They relied on each other, and pushed through the Hell that they were unfortunately placed into. In the memoir, First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung, the author demonstrates how the Khmer Rouge use the techniques of confiscation, dress regulations, and food rations in order to remain in control of the citizens.
My argument is backed mainly by the responsive essays of Dith Pran and Cardinal Franz König. In Pran’s essay, he relates to his own experiences in the Cambodian killing fields. He
In just three years of its power in control, Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge turned the country of Cambodia into a living hell. “By 1976 approximately twenty-five hundred prisoners had passed through the bloody corridors of S21, and each year that followed saw increased numbers of tortured prisoners, until they totaled around seventeen thousand by 1979, when the Vietnamese Army liberated Phnom Penh.”(8 Asma) Most prisoners brought to S21 was innocent, they were brought here only because the people in power believe they were enemies of the revolution or associated with western culture. Ironically, the torture chamber used to be a school. People associate hope and bright future with school, especially with
Throughout history, instances of genocide, mass murder, and extreme acts of violence are widespread and pervade through every culture and society. As demonstrated by Panh, Lifton, and O’Brien, similar examples of excessive violence can occur in widely different situations. In order for such violence to occur, there first must exist certain systematic factors. In this paper, I will argue that conditions of instability within a country allow for changes in belief and perception, and these changed perceptions leads to dehumanization and the loss of human rights. The Holocaust, the Cambodian genocide and the Vietnam War, all follow this pattern to some extent. First, I will compare and contrast the ways in which the Holocaust and Cambodian genocide follow this pattern, as well as explore the separate factors within each and possible solutions to these factors. Next, I will discuss the dramatically different Vietnam War, compare and contrast it to the other two, and explore how the uniqueness of the Vietnam War impacts the possible solutions for the loss of human rights within this situation.
The Khmer Rouge forces took over Cambodia, and evacuated the nation's cities. They emptied schools, hospitals, factories and abolished all forms of money and wages. Religion, popular culture, and all forms of self expression were forbidden. They were forced into the countryside to do forced labor, and got less than 90 grams of rice a day. Where most people died from fatigue, disease, execution, and starvation. Now people of Cambodia are exchanging this terrible genocide for healing. Trying to find peace and a resolution for all those who have lost loved ones, or encountered this terrible genocide
Cambodia is a small country of Southeast Asia, less than half the size of the state of California (“World Without Genocide: Cambodian Genocide”). The Cambodian government in the mid 1970’s was unstable as Lon Nol, the Cambodian prime minister, and his forces were being stretched dealing with conflicts of Vietnamese communists, and a rising group of Cambodian communists called the Khmer Rouge Party. (Peace Pledge Union) As the government grew weaker and began to loose control, The Khmer Rouge Party overthrew the country. They began killing for their cause in 1975. The Khmer Rouge Party, under the rule of a man called Pol Pot, enforced a new way of life following values and rules similar to Maoist-Communism (“World Without Genocide: Cambodian Genocide”). The Khmer Party attempted, in simplistic terms, to nationally centralize the middle or farming class of Cambodia (“World Without Genocide: Cambodian
Cambodia, my small country bordering Thailand, has recently descended into a grisly crisis of outright genocide of innocent citizens, my innocent neighbors. This genocide is very different from any other genocide because it isn't driven by racial or religious reasons, but by poisonous ideology, the ideology of my own neighbors. As of today a little less than a million Cambodians have died either from starvation, torture, disease, execution, and even exhaustion from hard labor carried out by their own families, by my own neighbors.
According to the communication decency act, censorship is viewed as unconstitutional because it sabotages people’s right of speech. Citizens of certain countrys are usually restricted from important information when the government threatens or
The underlying foundations of the Cambodian genocide are found in the Maoist political and economic beliefs of the Khmer Rouge administration. The most important leaders, all of whom studied in Paris in the 1950s and became active in the communist movement together, were Saloth Sar (who would later re-brand himself as Pol Pot), Ieng Sary, and Khieu Samphan. 30 The significance of their time together in France is that they developed what to them seemed a coherent political and economic model for the future of their home country, Cambodia.31 The last real stage in transforming
Ever since the actions in Cambodia occurred, it has been debated whether it was an actual genocide. The general definition of genocide is the purposeful and methodical execution of a national, racial, political, or cultural group. The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia demonstrated that a government can be guilty of genocide against its own nation. The radical communist party led by Pol Pot took over Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. After 1979, the Khmer Rouge left a traumatized Cambodian culture that continues to undergo the repercussions of the genocide. People over the age of forty in Cambodia have stories to tell of fear, cruelty, hunger and the loss of family members. However, the Cambodian government is not making an effort to recognize the negative occurrences that have posed itself in the history of their culture.
Cambodia is a South East Asian country formerly known as Kampuchea, it shares borders with Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. In Cambodia during 1975-1979 a political regime known as the Khmer Rouge took control of the country. During this time it is estimated that around 2 million people perished, over a quarter of the population, from torture and execution or from starvation and untreated illness (Fawthrop & Jarvis, 2005). Although the regime ended with defeat by the Vietnamese over 30 years ago, the effects from this reign of terror continues to have an impact on Cambodia. The countries social coexistence, peace building process and the aftermath of the annihilation of so many of its people has affected the current population make up in
Glendon, Mary Ann (2002). A world made new: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Random House. ISBN