Abstract:

In the mid-1970's, Cambodia was the victim of a brutal genocide, when the communist Pol Pot regime exterminated every fifth inhabitant. In less than four years, hundreds of thousands were murdered, and over a million died as a result of starvation and disease. We hear from those who lost their families as well as from former guards who perpetrated the crimes. A guard who beat prisoners claims he was forced to commit torture; the alternative would have been his own murder. He feels terribly guilty now and has confessed to his family. Sorya Sim of the Documentation Centre says "The purpose of documenting is justice and memory." The Centre collects material to prosecute the Khmer Rouge and to educate the younger generation about the events. Recently, a peace treaty paved the way for the first real evaluation of the Pol Pot regime - and perhaps for reconciliation. This process is difficult in a country like Cambodia, where it is seen as "wrong" to talk negatively about the past. The Institute for Social Development organized several peace marches and four reconciliation meetings and at one of these, the Khmer Rouge leader in 1999 apologized. For many people, and for the media, saying "I am sorry" was not enough. Kassie Neou of Cambodia's Institute for Human Rights, believes the peace marches promote the possibility of "...living together in understanding, and that way people can focus on harmonious ways of living." But many carry mental and physical wounds, too fearful to speak out about the atrocities of that tragic time.