DPA
Phnom Penh - More than 1,000 Cambodians gathered at one of the Khmer Rouge's notorious killing fields Wednesday to observe an annual "Day of Anger" and remember the almost 2 million people killed during the regime's 1975-79 rule. A crowd of government officials, Buddhist monks, survivors of the regime and victims' families watched high school students re-enact scenes of torture and execution at the Choeng Ek killing fields, where up to 15,000 men, women and children were murdered and buried in mass graves.
The May 20 ceremony marks the day in 1976 when it is believed Khmer Rouge leaders decided to transform Cambodia into a completely agrarian society - a policy that led to mass deaths through execution, starvation and overwork.
During Vietnam's occupation of Cambodia from 1979 to 1989, the event was a well-organized public holiday with ceremonies held throughout the country.
Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, an archival organization dedicated to documenting the history of the Khmer Rouge, said the day was a hugely significant part of the country's path towards reconciliation.
"The anger has faded somewhat because young people today were not around during that period and did not witness what happened," he said. "But it is important to have this day so we can remember what happened and how the millions of deaths made us so angry."
This year's ceremony was held as the trial of the Khmer Rouge's former chief torturer continued before Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal.
Kaing Guek Eav, known by his revolutionary alias Duch, faces charges of crimes against humanity, torture, premeditated murder and breeches of the Geneva Conventions, allegedly committed while he was warden of the Tuol Sleng torture prison in Phnom Penh.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Youk Chhang said the first trial before the court was an important part of reconciling Cambodia's troubled past.
"We have taken military action against the Khmer Rouge as well as social action, such as today's event, and now the time has come to take legal action," he said. "This must occur for us to become a truly democratic society."
Prisoners at Tuol Sleng were sent to their deaths at Choeng Ek, but the site has since been transformed into a genocide museum and memorial that receives thousands of visitors each year.
The May 20 ceremony marks the day in 1976 when it is believed Khmer Rouge leaders decided to transform Cambodia into a completely agrarian society - a policy that led to mass deaths through execution, starvation and overwork.
During Vietnam's occupation of Cambodia from 1979 to 1989, the event was a well-organized public holiday with ceremonies held throughout the country.
Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, an archival organization dedicated to documenting the history of the Khmer Rouge, said the day was a hugely significant part of the country's path towards reconciliation.
"The anger has faded somewhat because young people today were not around during that period and did not witness what happened," he said. "But it is important to have this day so we can remember what happened and how the millions of deaths made us so angry."
This year's ceremony was held as the trial of the Khmer Rouge's former chief torturer continued before Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal.
Kaing Guek Eav, known by his revolutionary alias Duch, faces charges of crimes against humanity, torture, premeditated murder and breeches of the Geneva Conventions, allegedly committed while he was warden of the Tuol Sleng torture prison in Phnom Penh.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Youk Chhang said the first trial before the court was an important part of reconciling Cambodia's troubled past.
"We have taken military action against the Khmer Rouge as well as social action, such as today's event, and now the time has come to take legal action," he said. "This must occur for us to become a truly democratic society."
Prisoners at Tuol Sleng were sent to their deaths at Choeng Ek, but the site has since been transformed into a genocide museum and memorial that receives thousands of visitors each year.
6 comments:
It's just an other show to please the Vietminh rulers and their bosses. Any thing to cause Khmers to hate Khmer is to serve the Vietminh strategy to take over Cambodia, using Khmer to kill Khmer refering to Khmer proverb " Kambett chett dang eng ".
Please Khmer people, kom chanh bok a puok Vietminh !!! For those who sold themselves to CPP for the title of " ach madom " and " $$$ ", you are created by your parents only to destroy your own nation.
I convincingly don't understand the reason why Hun SenVarman don't officially allow the students learn the history of Pol Pot's era in school?
All Khmers,
Hanoi did give birth to the Khmer Rouge.
Hanoi endoctrinate the KR cadres.
Hanoi agents were infitrated inside KR administativeb cores to make Khmers killed each others.
Hanoi armed the KR.
Hanoi invaded Cambodia in the pretext to liberate Khmers from Pol Pot Regime.
Now Hanoi is in the last step of Vietnamisation of Cambodia into an Viet Indochinese Federation.
The second Champa, the Khmker nation will be. It's irreversible, as said Pham Van Dong.
No more Khmer Values anymore of today.
Khmer Laws were passed to protect the benefits of Hanoi.
Enjoy, enjoy, ah Khmer leaders slave Viet leaders, N.Sihanouk, Hun Sen and his cronies.
There are two edge of the knif!
Hun Xen want to remind people that how bad it was! and so it alot better now than before!
But we, Cambodian, should not accept half peace, half freedome, and live as half human!
If the country do not have real law and demoncracy and depend on person or a group of people stinky mouths, one day it easy to fall back to hell again! And we would not know how to get out of it because by the time we would caught in the midle of the problem!
Please stand up for freedome and right of your neighbores and fellow Khmere!
Do not act so selfish as Shihanouk!
i'm glad cambodia have this day to commemorate all KR victims. it serves as a remind that cambodia must avoid this type of KR style gov't forever. thank god it was only a tiny section of our long history as a country. it's good to commemorate this day for that so people will be reminded not to forget the tragic history and to avoid it at all cost from happening again in our country. god bless cambodia.
It is a pity for a Buddhist nation to get Buddhist monks to participate in that "Day of Anger" event which promotes anger and hatred? It is very much aganst the teaching of Buddha which urges all to get rid of anger or hatred (dosa). Those monks should go about tesching loving kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy (mudita) and equanimity (upekha) which the four faces at the top of Bayon Temple's towers represent.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
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