DPA
Phnom Penh - An Italian graffiti artist has been sharply criticized for spray-painting walls at a notorious Khmer Rouge execution centre, national media reported Tuesday.
Fabrizio Cammisecra, who reportedly lives in London, posted photographs that showed him spray-painting cell walls of Tuol Sleng genocide museum, known as S-21, where thousands of victims of the Khmer Rouge were tortured and executed between 1975 and 1979.
S-21 survivor Bou Meng, who testified last year at the trial of the prison's former head, Comrade Duch, told the Cambodia Daily newspaper he was appalled at Cammisecra's actions.
"This is bad to see. S-21 is a historical museum," Bou Meng said. "How can people deface it? They should not let this happen again."
Bou Meng, an artist, was one of just a handful of people who survived S-21 where as many as 30,000 people are thought to have been tortured and executed.
The Cambodia Daily newspaper printed one of the spray-painted images, a portrait of a boy executed at S-21 holding a sign with Cammisecra's tag, codefc, and the words "#codefc stuDIED here 1975-1979."
Others that Cammisecra posted online show spray-painted images of more executed prisoners from S-21 with his codefc tag.
The director of S-21 museum, Keh Sobanaka, said his staff had scrubbed away several images in the past few months, and described people willing to deface S-21 as "mentally ill."
Judgement in Duch's trial is due to be handed down in the coming weeks. Duch, who was tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity for his part in the deaths of 12,380 people at S-21, faces life in prison if convicted.
Around 1.7 million people are believed to have died from execution, starvation, illness and overwork during the Khmer Rouge regime's rule of Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.
Fabrizio Cammisecra, who reportedly lives in London, posted photographs that showed him spray-painting cell walls of Tuol Sleng genocide museum, known as S-21, where thousands of victims of the Khmer Rouge were tortured and executed between 1975 and 1979.
S-21 survivor Bou Meng, who testified last year at the trial of the prison's former head, Comrade Duch, told the Cambodia Daily newspaper he was appalled at Cammisecra's actions.
"This is bad to see. S-21 is a historical museum," Bou Meng said. "How can people deface it? They should not let this happen again."
Bou Meng, an artist, was one of just a handful of people who survived S-21 where as many as 30,000 people are thought to have been tortured and executed.
The Cambodia Daily newspaper printed one of the spray-painted images, a portrait of a boy executed at S-21 holding a sign with Cammisecra's tag, codefc, and the words "#codefc stuDIED here 1975-1979."
Others that Cammisecra posted online show spray-painted images of more executed prisoners from S-21 with his codefc tag.
The director of S-21 museum, Keh Sobanaka, said his staff had scrubbed away several images in the past few months, and described people willing to deface S-21 as "mentally ill."
Judgement in Duch's trial is due to be handed down in the coming weeks. Duch, who was tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity for his part in the deaths of 12,380 people at S-21, faces life in prison if convicted.
Around 1.7 million people are believed to have died from execution, starvation, illness and overwork during the Khmer Rouge regime's rule of Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.
1 comment:
What is the different between this Italian dude pray-painted images of an executed prisoners onto the wall of S-21 vs thousands of mug-shot of the same S-21 victim that hung in the next room? Come on people he's is not painting a nake women on the wall?
you Cambodian's is no narrow. That's why you can't think outside the box!
Post a Comment