Tuesday 17 February 2009

Cambodia: Khmer Rouge genocide trials begin

Link: Landmark Khmer Rouge trial starts

30 years after the fall of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime, the UN-backed trial of a former Khmer Rouge leader has begun in Cambodia.

The Khmer Rouge was a communist, Maoist party that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 under the leadership of Pol Pot. They set up a radical form of agrarian communism where city dwellers were forced to leave cities and work on farms. Their murderous regime resulted in genocide - between 850 000 and 1.5 million people died from execution, torture, forced work or starvation, representing between 20 to 25% of the total population.

I know very little about Cambodia and intend to rectify this immediately. I never knew that justice had not been done for 30 years.

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2 comments

Vanessa said...

This is kinda what Holiday in Cambodia is all about :)

Mandy said...

Oh, yeah. I know that and I know about the film (and novel) The Killing Fields. But I didn't know many of the details. It's like someone read 1984 (which I just happen to be reading) and went, "what a fabulous idea!"

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