Like Vietnam, Cambodia has changed a lot in the last decade since Caryl was here last. Tourism is taking off, cities are growing, the population is rising. But, the scars of Cambodia's recent history are still visible throughout the country.
The Khmer Rouge was formed in 1968 as an offshoot of the Vietnam People's Army from North Vietnam. It was the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, and Khieu Samphan. They were allied with North Vietnam during the American War. They are responsible for the Cambodian genocide, which resulted in the deaths of 2 to 3 million people, about a third of the population of Cambodia at that time. People died because of their failed agricultural policies, medical decisions, and outright torture and murder. The agricultural reform policies they enacted started with forcing all the city people, whom they referred to as the "New People," to move to the countryside and become farmers. Of course, the city people knew nothing of farming, and they had no tools or training, so many people perished. The Khmer rouge wanted the country to be completely self sufficient, so they did not import any medicines - people died of preventable and easily treated diseases. They also attempted to kill anyone who was educated, even though most of the movement leaders themselves had been educated (for example, Pol Pot failed out of school in France).
They also tortured and killed anyone they suspected of working against them, or anyone who may have posed a threat. One foreigner, a British man, was executed after he was tortured and confessed to working for the US CIA. Clearly, this is very unlikely. Much of the torture was carried out in the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, which is now a museum. This used to be a school before Pol Pot came to power - he shut down the schools and pagodas and turned them into prisons, stables, and warehouses. He released statements such as, "School is not important. What's important is work and revolution". You can still see the chalkboards on the walks and imagine what it must have looked like when kids were learning in these classrooms. These rooms were later turned into cell blocks and interrogation rooms.
Of the 14,000 to 20,000 prisoners of S-21, the exact number of survivers is not known, but there were 7 men who have been known to have survived after the regime collapsed. Additionally, there may have been as many as 179 individuals who were released between 1975 and 1978. Only two of the seven famous survivers are still alive today; they spend their time at the prison selling their memoirs and posing for pictures with tourists. Although a bit strange, I think that, after all that has happened to them, they should do as they please, and if they're making good money, then I'm glad. They seemed happy to be photographed and were pleased by all the attention - though I couldn't speak with them due to the language barrier, I can only imagine it's probably therapeutic for them to have so many people interested in their stories and acknowledging what they've been through.
Most of the people from S-21 and the 196 other prisons were taken to killing fields like the one outside of Phnom Penh and buried in mass graves. Victims included men, women, the elderly, even children and babies. Because they didn't want to waste bullets, people were murdered by other means, mainly head wounds. Babies were killed by being struck against a tree. Their justification for killing infants was that they didn't want the children to grow up and seek revenge. This was truly a horrible time in Cambodia's history.
By 1979, the Khmer Rouge had fled the country while the People's Republic of Kampuchea was being established. However, the government-in-exile still had a seat in the UN until 1993 (and even received UN aid!).
Picture 1: Main gate to the prison.
Picture 2: Interrogation room.
Picture 3: Classroom turned prison.
Picture 4: View from one of the rooms and a billboard showing child survivors of the prison. When one person was suspected of treason, his/her whole family was imprisoned.
Pictures 5-7: More interrogation rooms.
Pictures 8 & 9: Images of tortured prisoners.
Picture 10: Rules for the prisoners.
Pictures 11 & 12: Images of prisoners at intake.
Pictures 13 & 14: Pictures of remains found in the killing fields.
Pictures 15 & 16: Cell blocks.
Picture 17: Defaced picture of Pol Pot at the prison museum. Usually I don't approve of graffiti on museum exhibits, but I kind of like this one.
Picture 18: A photo of skulls arranged in the shape of Cambodia.
Pictures 19 & 20: Human remains found inside the prison, now on display.
Picture 21: One of the 7 survivors was a painter. He later pained scenes from the prison and the killing fields which are on display at the prison museum.
Picture 22: Chum Mey, a machine repairman, one of the 7 survivors. One of his quotes I found particularly interesting, "But I do not condemn the people who tortured me. If they were still alive today and if they come to me, would I still be angry with them? No. Because they were not senior leaders and they were doing what they had to do at the time. I consider them victims like me, because they had to follow other people's orders. How can I say I would have behaved differently? Would I have had the strength to refuse to kill, if the penalty was my own death? During the interrogation I was angry, but after a long while, learning about that place, understanding that people had to do what they were told to do, I wasn't angry with them anymore. Even the ones who tortured me, they also lost parents and family members."
Picture 23: Bou Meng, the painter of picture 21.
Picture 24: After the prison tour we had a quick lunch at a local restaurant. I didn't think I would be able to eat much, but the food in Cambodia is just so amazing! Please don't judge me.
Picture 25: On our way to the killing fields.
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