...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 terms of age, gender ratios and has left many with mental health problems (Bockers, Stammel & Knaevelsrud, 2011). There is some international debate as to whether the deaths are considered to be genocide, and why the men responsible for these senseless mass murders have not been brought to justice. The definition of genocide is the deliberate killing of people who belong to a particular racial, political, or cultural group. This definition clearly explains the mass murders undertaken under the direction of pol pot and the Khmer rouge party. It is a very difficult task to prosecute people under genocide charges as they are usually protected by a government of group of followers. Cambodians believe it would somehow diminish the offence if the term “genocide” was not used to explain the mass murders of their people (Fawthrop & Jarvis, 2005). Khmer Rouge or the People's Revolutionary Party...
Words: 1415 - Pages: 6
...of the Khmer Rouge on Cambodian society from 1975-1979 Cambodia became one huge labor camp under the Khmer Rouge. After deposing Lon Nol on 1975, the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot began one of the most brutal regimes in human history. This not only changed the Cambodian society but also ultimately destroyed it. This was due to the extreme vision of communism, which Pol Pot wanted to implement for a perfect and a peaceful society. Prince Norodom Sihanouk always tried to maintain Cambodia’s neutrality. But with Laos and Vietnam as its borders, he knew this was impossible. After the assassination of Diem in South Vietnam, Sihanouk condemned America’s policies; in turn he allowed Viet Cong bases in Cambodia. America in regard to this started ‘Operation Menu’ from 1969, to destroy the Viet Cong bases. When Sihanouk went to visit China on 1970, the CIA deposed him because he allowed North Vietnamese and Viet Cong to have sanctuaries in Cambodia. Sihanouk was replaced by pro-American and anti-Communist Lon Nol. This marked an end of a peaceful era in Cambodia. As soon as Lon Nol gained the power, he ordered the communist to leave Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge and the Viet Cong in retaliation to this launched an attack against the Lon Nol government. After a five year civil war between Lon Nol’s Royal Cambodian army, Viet Cong, North Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge and over 600 000 Cambodians died, Lon Nol left Cambodia on 1st April 1975. Seventeen days later the Khmer Rouge took over...
Words: 1701 - Pages: 7
...There has been many different genocides around the world, but the ones that will be compared and contrasted in the article today are the Holocaust and the Killing Fields of the Khmer Rouge. The people were killed in different ways. There was different punishments used during these genocides. The conditions of the work/concentration camps were brutal. The genocide was eventually ended due to the armed forces of other countries. Even though these genocides may seem completely different, they have their similarities as well a their differences. The genocide both had their own way of killing those involved. Under the Khmer Rouge, the adults were killed by kneeling over a pre-dug grave and would get hit in the back of the head with a steel axle rod (Buncombe). Children were killed by having their heads smashed against a tree trunks (Buncombe). In the holocaust, the victims would be shot if they fell behind when they were going from one camp to another (Wiesel 77). They would be burned alive inside crematories (30-31). This how Pol Pot of the Khmer Rouge and Adolf Hitler of the Nazi Party had their victims killed....
Words: 533 - Pages: 3
...France and was then ruled by a royal monarchy. Map & Photos Cambodia and surrounding area. Pol Pot addresses a closed meeting in Phnom Penh after the 1975 Khmer Rouge victory. Young Khmer Rouge soldiers in 1975. Tuol Sleng Prison, the nerve center of the Khmer Rouge secret police. Today it's the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide. The Killing Fields at Choeung Ek. This mass grave, discovered in 1980, was one of the first proofs to the outside world of what had occurred during Pol Pot's regime. By 1962, Pol Pot had become leader of the Cambodian Communist Party and was forced to flee into the jungle to escape the wrath of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, leader of Cambodia. In the jungle, Pol Pot formed an armed resistance movement that became known as the Khmer Rouge (Red Cambodians) and waged a guerrilla war against Sihanouk's government. In 1970, Prince Sihanouk was ousted, not by Pol Pot, but due to a U.S.-backed right-wing military coup. An embittered Sihanouk retaliated by joining with Pol Pot, his former enemy, in opposing Cambodia's new military government. That same year, the U.S. invaded Cambodia to expel the North Vietnamese from their border encampments, but instead drove them deeper into Cambodia where they allied themselves with the Khmer Rouge. From 1969 until 1973, the U.S. intermittently bombed North Vietnamese sanctuaries in eastern Cambodia, killing up to 150,000 Cambodian peasants. As a result, peasants fled the countryside by the hundreds of thousands and settled...
Words: 333 - Pages: 2
...bothered, and awed the world. The movie tells us of what happened in Cambodia during the time of the American-Vietnam war and the seizing of Cambodia’s government by the Khmer Rouge. It showed us the real scope of the disaster that fell upon the Cambodian government and society by using the experiences of three journalists namely: Dith Pran, Sydney Schanberg and Jon Swain. And though I would want to argue that there might have been certain events that were left untouched by this movie that could have lend us more valuable information about the Cambodian Genocide and the Khmer Rouge regime, I would leave that point be and focus on relating the movie to the Machiavellian view of politics, power, and society. Back when Cambodia was still in Prince Sihanouk’s control, the country did little to intervene with the matters of the Vietnam civil war by giving favors on both sides. When Lon Nol took over, however, Cambodia suddenly became a part of the Vietnam battlegrounds. He allowed the American troops to bomb away suspected hideouts of South Vietnamese guerillas located in southern Cambodia, resulting bombings that took almost 750,000 lives (http://www.ppu.org.uk/genocide/g_cambodia.html). While these things were happening, the number of Khmer Rouge’s members was rapidly increasing. Khmer Rouge’s leader, Pol Pot, was a great admirer of the Maoist communism and launched an extreme campaign of reconstructing Cambodia and eradicating the pollution that “Western Society” inflicted...
Words: 1547 - Pages: 7
...1863 Cambodia becomes controlled and protected by France. The French established a French/Cambodian civilisation that had a known ruling class. At the top and in the midst of this was the Cambodian King. The French did nothing to change or override the existing ruling ways, but worked with the king rather than overpowering them. The French Colonial rule lasts for 90 years. 1941 Cambodia is overlooked by the Japanese who are occupying Cambodia during World War II. Meanwhile, Prince Norodom Sihanouk is crowned King. 1945 The occupation of the Japanese in Cambodia ends. 1946 France reinforces the protectorate of Cambodia. This now permits Cambodians to form political parties. An armed campaign against the French is begun by communist Guerrillas....
Words: 496 - Pages: 2
...a word to describe the Nazi’s way of killing the Jewish people, by using the ancient Greek word genos, (which means race and tribe) and the word Latin cide, (which means killing)? IT WAS GENOCIDE! Raphael Lemkin created the word Genocide because he lost his family in the Holocaust. Genocide is a mass murder that develop in ten stages: classification, symbolization, discrimination, dehumanization,...
Words: 1665 - Pages: 7
...way in which the Sangha was used by the Republican and communist forces. The main question of this essay is: ‘How did the Republican Party (1970-1975) and the Khmer Rouge...
Words: 926 - Pages: 4
...Emmanuel Obi Althea M Pullins 01/18/2010 Abstract The history of Cambodia will be reviewed in this paper. The paper will focus on the history of Cambodia from the time that Pol Pot led the country until present time. The paper will look in detail at the genocide of Cambodia that occurred under the leadership of Pol Pot from 1975 to 1979 where an estimated 2,000,000 Cambodians died. An analysis of the political landscape will be discussed in the paper. Women culture and the treatment of women during this period will be examined. The paper will also evaluate the religious culture, the impact that various ethnicities had on Cambodia, and report on the agrarian reform in Cambodia. An exploration of why Cambodia progress in the areas of economic growth, social development, and political development has been stymied will be investigated. A comprehensive look at the educational system of Cambodia will be reviewed along with urban development. History Cambodia is juxtaposed on mainland Southeast Asia between Thailand and Vietnam (2010). Because of Cambodia’s location, it has long been vulnerable to foreign territorial ambitions. Cambodia has struggled to maintain self-identity and survival as a nation (1993). The name “Cambodia” derives from the French Cambadge, which comes from Khmer word the People’s Republic of Kampuchaea (1979-1989), the country was known internationally as Kampuchea, but more recent governments have returned to using Cambodia, and the official...
Words: 4414 - Pages: 18
...The economy of Cambodia was in poor conditions due to the genocide. It was primarily damaged by the US bombings during the Cold War. “The countryside was littered with as many as 8 million landmines.” (Text 3) The economy lying in irresponsible hands resulted in decrease of food supply and medicine and several thousands of Cambodians deceased because of malnutrition and illness. (Text 2) “In less than four years, between 1.7 million and 2.5 million people died, out of 8 million. Many succumbed to starvation or exhaustion.” (Text 3) The bombings alone caused several deaths. Even though many were forced into labor, it did not serve the country enough to sustain the economy. The genocide did not conclude until Vietnam invaded Cambodia...
Words: 362 - Pages: 2
...Through Hell and Back Children of Cambodia’s Killing Fields by Dith Pran is a very moving book about the takeover by the Khmer Rouge under the rule of Pol Pot. It’s filled with stories from survivors who retell their story, and survival of the genocide. All stories were told by adults who went through the regime as children. All were survivors in a part of history. Now the children’s voices of Cambodia’s killing fields can be heard. The book was written to retell a piece of history, and to make sure the history is never lost. The survivors wanted people to be aware of what they had gone through. Sarom Prak wanted people notified what happened to the people of Cambodia (71). They wanted their stories to be heard throughout the world. They don’t want another genocide to happen again in Cambodia, or anywhere around the world. The children are making their stories examples of the pain that can be caused by genocide. They want make sure nobody ever has to go through the pain they had gone through. These children were survivors during a dark time in history in Cambodia. But their stories were not solely to retell their own, but also the ones who couldn’t. The people who died during the regime were never able to let their stories be heard. These stories were also made to honor everyone who died during the Khmer Rouges ruling whether from malnutrition, malaria, getting beat or getting shot. Three different survivors added at the end of their story that they dedicated...
Words: 1369 - Pages: 6
...Genocide is a type of torture. All through Europe, thousands of Jews were getting killed during the Holocaust and in Rwanda, thousands of Hutu were getting killed. Like the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda, there was genocide in Cambodia. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge took control in 1975. A man named Pol Pot became the head of the government in 1976. During his “reign”, he counted many of his citizens as enemies of the country and killed them. He had mines placed all over the country and had work camps and facilities made essentially for killing people. He also took control of everything including schools, hospitals, and houses, “under the Khmer Rouge, there were, of course, no markets – nor money or schools or medicine” (“Cambodian Genocide”). By doing this, everyone in Cambodia barely had access to the necessities of life, including clean water. The result of his reign before he was overthrown was the death of about 25% of the population, so around “1.7 million people” (“Cambodian Genocide”). Israel and United States also have problems. In Israel, torture “has a long tradition”(Watzal). People in Israel have tortured many people throughout the years secretly and then “the Israeli public was first informed of torture practices in 1977”(Watzal)...
Words: 1147 - Pages: 5
...-King Sihanouk’s Kingdom of Cambodia: King Norodom Sihanouk wanted Consolidate/Retain Power -Khmer Republic: General Lon Nol = Attain/Maintain Power -Communist Party of Kampuchea: Pol Pot = Overthrow Khmer Republic 2. Sihanouk Policy (foreign and Domestic) -Cambodia foreign policy was based on Neutrality (non-alignment) within the region -Sihanouk received large amounts of aid from the USA *-Sihanouk maintained strong relations with China and Vietnam +Did not believe US could win the war, and thus: -Did not want to align with a loser -Did not want to upset with eventual winner (vietnam) +Cambodia Domestic Politics became polarized among classes: -King Sihanouk Urging to retain power -Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK – Khmer Rouge) led insurgency against the government. 3. Conference in Bandung: -29 countries, mostly newly independent, representing 25% of the planet and 1.5 billion people -the conference’s stated aims were to: +Promote Afro-Asian economic and cultural cooperation +Oppose colonialism or neocolonialism by the either the United States or the Soviet Union in the Cold War, or any otherImperialistic nations. -The conference was an important step toward the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement (Neutrality) -Event attended by Cambodia’s King Sihanouk 4. Destabilizing force in Cambodia: A. International: -US support General Lon Nol -China support Khmer rough -US used “strategy bombing” ( Hochiminh Trail) -Cambodia receives aids from the...
Words: 808 - Pages: 4
...recreational activities usually takes place in other communities. Per Maurer & Smith (2013), the community one belongs to does not necessarily have to be the geographical location, but a community in terms of the members' feeling of belonging or sense of membership. This is a referred to as a phenomenological community. The phenomenological community does not automatically share a geographical location as does the geopolitical community. This type of community is a group of people who have shared similar values, interests, beliefs and goals. Examples of phenomenological communities include religious groups, social groups or profession. My phenomenological communities is my nursing organization, co-workers from the hospital and my Khmer-American society. Some challenges that a community health nurse maybe face with is the cultural values or norm of that community or what resources are available for that community. The nurse should first gather data and assess the community prior to implemental any program. Several questions should be address: what is the economic stability of that...
Words: 490 - Pages: 2
...international partners and diplomatic allies. Cambodia’s recent support for China during multilateral talks on the South China Sea has demonstrated the strength of the partnership and led some critics to depict Cambodia as a Chinese “client state.” This paper examines the extent to which that label is valid. In its ideal form, a patron-client relationship entails an asymmetric exchange of benefits, typically including material support and protection from the stronger state and a degree of deference and political support from its weaker partner. This deference, which reduces the weaker state’s autonomy and often generates political backlash, is what makes governments reluctant to embrace client state status. This paper argues that the Sino-Cambodian relationship has strengthened largely because China has offered Cambodia’s governing elites a favorable bargain, providing extensive economic and political benefits without demanding costly forms of political fealty in return. That has begun to change, however. Cambodia’s governing elites have become more dependent on China, more beholden to Beijing’s policy preferences, and more closely identified with China by critics at home and abroad. The relationship has thus taken on an increasing patron-client character, exposing Cambodia to the downside risks inherent in such an arrangement and auguring poorly for the future if current trends continue. In July 2012, the foreign ministers...
Words: 13509 - Pages: 55
