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Published: November 24th 2008
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As I boarded the luxury coach (the ticket cost 10 USD and it came with a free bottle of water) from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh I was hoping that the 6 hour journey would be long enough to finish the book I had started. The book was called 'First they killed my father' by Loung Eng and tells a story of life (and death) under the Khmer Rouge's genocidal regime from 1975-79.
Khmer Rouge For those not in the know, the Khmer Rouge regime was one that ruled Cambodia between 1975-79 and with it killed around 20%!o(MISSING)f its own population during that time. You may be wondering why the name, 'Khmer Rouge', well it's French for 'Red Khmer' (Cambodia was a French colony don't forget) and red bit symbolised Communism (I had to look this bit up). You may also be wondering why it carried out the genocide. Well that was down to it's infamous leader Pol Pot and his vision for creating a closed country, based on an agrarian economy which would start from 'year zero'.
Those unfortunate enough to be deemed to play no part in the regime's plans included civil
Close up of two skulls
On the left stabbed with a knife, on the right with something more blunt servants, professionals (doctors, accountants...broker consultants), intellectuals, those wearing glasses (not sure what happened to farmers wearing glasses), homosexuals religious/ethnic groups and pretty much all urban dwellers.
The Khmer Rouge initially forced all city dwellers from their city homes under false pretences, 'The Americans are going to bomb the city' (Phnom Penh) they were informed, and told to flee to the country for their 'protection'. Once there, those deemed to be tainted with capitalism would be arrested, separated from their families and then tortured and/or executed. In words of the regime, in reference to these people 'To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss'
As there were faults with the calculations of how much food could be grown, many starved whilst many suffered from malnutrition/disease and of course without any doctors or hospitals (they had all been killed) many died from these conditions.
The Tuol Sleng Genocidal Museum (S21 Security Prison) Arriving at the museum before 11am meant that I could watch a film called 'The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine' which looked at the life of an 11 yr old boy who lost his family during the regime. It
The S21 museum
Looks v similar to 'Bloc' on COD4 interviews surivivors of the S21 prison and captures their feelings along with those of the guards. We were then able to walk around the museum and I along with two others shared a tour guide.
The compound was formerly a school which was then turned into the S21 prison by the Khmer Rouge and with it a place for imprisoning, interrogating, torturing and killing its subjects. As you walk towards the first building you are shown the rules that the prisoners were faced with:
1. You must answer accordingly to my question. Don’t turn them away.
2. Don’t try to hide the facts by making pretexts this and that, you are strictly prohibited to contest me.
3. Don’t be a fool for you are a chap who dare to thwart the revolution.
4. You must immediately answer my questions without wasting time to reflect.
5. Don’t tell me either about your immoralities or the essence of the revolution.
6. While getting lashes or electrification you must not cry at all.
7. Do nothing, sit still and wait for my orders. If there is no order, keep quiet. When I ask you
to do something, you must do it right away without protesting.
8. Don’t make pretext about Kampuchea Krom in order to hide your secret or traitor.
9. If you don’t follow all the above rules, you shall get many many lashes of electric wire.
10. If you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get either ten lashes or five shocks of electric discharge.
After being interrogated the prisoners were tortured with the intention of extracting whatever confessions they were charged with. Methods of torture included being hanged upside down from the gallows with one's head in water, electric shocks, burnt by hot metal instruments, suffocation and pulling out fingernails while pouring alcohol on the wounds.
All in all it was a pretty bleak place to walk around but important witness the place nonetheless.
The Killing Fields You may have seen the film (I haven't yet) but this is the area where the mass graves were and many of the killings took place. It has been reported that many were killed with hammers, axe handles, spades and knives. More sickeningly there are artists pictures of babies being thrown in
the air and bayoneted by Khmer soldiers. All of these methods meant that bullets could be saved.
On arrival you are greeted by the monument that houses hundreds of the victims' skulls behind a glass front. You have the chance to make a donation and light some incense in memory of those killed by the regime before walking around the site.
We then (I shared another guide with the same couple) walked around the site seeing the mass graves and the bone fragments that had been dug up along with the bamboo leaves that were used to cut the throats of the victims.
Both sites, although different in their own way gave an insight into the depths that human nature can reach and despite how gruesome the history that they are portraying, it is important to pay them a visit.
Back in the city As the day had been pretty heavy (to say the least) I decided the following day to check out the market and the town before leaving. One thing I had read was that instead of giving begging children money, give them pens or paper to encourage them to
Bamboo tree
Victims had their throats cut on the sharp edges of the leaves read and write. I half expected them to throw them back at me but I thought I'd give it a go anyway. Man was I pleasantly surprised, they loved them! I had kids following me, cheekily asking me for a different colour and extra pens. Such so that when I got back to the hostel I bought loads more in preparation for my next encounter. What I failed to realise was that I wouldn't get the chance to dish any more out for a few weeks as my next two destinations would be Bangkok and then the Thai Islands....and for a while after too. In fact I'm writing this 6 weeks on with around 20 pens in my rucksack.....
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Bec
non-member comment
Oh my god that is just horrible don't know how you did it it has made me tearful just reading about it. But hey guess we need to know about these things to try and prevent things like this happening in the future.