Last of the Khmer Rouge

The news are telling us about the trial of the last surviving Khmer Rouge members. Whatever kind of sentence they will get, it will not be enough to compensate the sufferings of those who lived and died under the rule of this political movement. During those events in 1975-79, I wasn’t yet interested in East- And South-East Asia but now it would be good time to review what happened in that era, who the Khmer Rouge were and what they did.

The leader of Khmer Rouge was Pol Pot, his real name was Saloth Sar, who with the other leaders of the organization called Angkar, wanted to lead the country into total agrarian utopia. Pol Pot was a teacher who then joined the communist party of Cambodia and rapidly rose to lead it in the 1960’s.

They started to fight against the government of Cambodia, who was then headed by Prince Sihanouk Norodoum. They were hiding on the mountainous area in the north-eastern corner of the country where hill tribes lived. Pol Pot felt these tribes had an ideal life style: they didn’t use money, they were self-sufficient and weren’t under the influence of any major world religion.

In the beginning the Khmer Rouge were not very successful in their fight but after general Lon Nol disposed Prince Sihanouk in 1970 they joined hands with the Prince and gained rapidly more popularity.

The civil war lasted for five years and the Khmer Rouge gradually extended the area they controlled and finally took Phnom Penh. This happened about the same time as the North Vietnamese troops conquered the South Vietnam and entered Saigon in the spring of 1975. The Khmer Rouge now held the country in their grip.

The Khmer Rouge were in power in Cambodia for less than five years but because of their policies, it is estimated that about 2 million Cambodians died. The first task of Pol Pot was to empty Phnom Penh and other towns of their inhabitants by moving them to do forced labour in the countryside. He based his ideal society on the hill tribe life style and Mao Ze Dong’s thoughts. Pol Pot had visited China and seen how Mao used the Chinese in similar forced labour to get more and more rice and other agricultural products which then could be sold to buy weapons. However, Pol Pot took his teacher’s policy even further. It is said that when the Vietnamese leader Le Duan visited Mao in China, the latter asked him whether he could do the same to his people as Pol Pot was doing. Le Duan said no and Mao replied: “Neither could I.” Yet, it’s debatable which one did more harm to his citizens but I’m not getting into that now.

When the Khmer Rouge marched into the streets of Phnom Penh, the crowds were cheering them, the war would be over now. But it didn’t take long before the black clad soldiers started to move from house to house telling people to join the exodus leaving the city. Those who disagreed were shot. This began the “Year Zero” of Khmer Rouge. The people were taken to enormous communities to do agricultural work, build dams and dug ditches. They were forbidden to have any private property, they couldn’t even own spoons. All the meals were eaten in huge communal canteens and the food that was given to them wasn’t enough to nourish them. So hundreds of thousands died of malnutrition, exhaustion and diseases. Those who had been working under the “liberated” areas of Khmer Rouge and Angkar were a bit better off than the “new ones.”

People had no basic rights, they could not leave their communes, all gatherings and conversations with three or more persons were forbidden. The family institution was heavily criticized, people were told not to show their feelings or pity others, all they were supposed to do was to respect and obey the Angkar organization.

After moving the people from the towns and consolidating their power, the Khmer Rouge began their genocide in earnest. First the officials and soldiers of Lon Nol government were killed, then it was the turn of the intellectuals. They suspected people being intellectuals just if they were wearing spectacles or could speak a foreign language. All were sent to gathering centres or taken straight to execution places, which later became known as “Killing Fields.” Also the minorities were held as suspicious people and so many of Cham, Vietnamese and Chinese origin lost their lives.

The most famous prison or centre were people were “held” and tortured before taken to be executed was Tuol Sleng near Phnom Penh. Later Tuol Sleng became a place for those who were members of the organization and their relatives but whom the leaders suspected being against the party’s policy. They were beaten and tortured until they “confessed” and gave names of others whom the party then sized and took to Tuol Sleng. They “informers” had themselves shared the same fate. After the confessions, the victims were taken to the nearby Killing Field, Choeung Ek and often clubbed to death so that no bullets would be wasted. Both Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek are now museums.

In 1978 Cambodia’s or Kampuchea as the Khmer Rouge called it and Vietnam’s relations broke down. The Khmer Rouge had raided some Vietnamese villages across the border and this gave Vietnam an excuse to invade Cambodia. They attacked in December and in January 1979 had driven the Khmer Rouge away from Phnom Penh, eastern, southern and central areas of Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge went into hiding in the northern and western border areas with Thailand and started another guerilla war, now against the Vietnamese, whom the Khmer Rouge had hated for a long time. They financed their battle for example by selling rights to dig precious gems to Thai businessmen in the areas the Khmer Rouge held.

The battle took a long time but the Khmer Rouge weren’t successful any more, they had lost the support of the people. Cambodians had started to flee their country even before the Khmer Rouge took the power in 1975, had continued to do so under their rule and now did so to flee the Vietnamese supported government. There were many refuge camps on the Thai side of the border until 1999.

Cambodia has mainly been ruled by Hun Sen since the Khmer Rouge was driven away from Phnom Penh. Hun Sen was an ex Khmer Rouge cadre who had escaped to Vietnam the approaching imprisonment during the purges within the party and was later installed as the leader of the country by the Hanoi government. Later he has also been elected to the office. Prince Norodom Sihanouk was crowned as King in 1993 but he abdicated in 2004 and his son became the new king. Both of the Kings have been figureheads without any real power.

In July 1997 Pol Pot’s comrades denounced him and he escaped to the north of the country and hid in the jungle there until his death in April 1998. He was cremated next to a latrine in a pyre of rubber tires. In the beginning of the Khmer Rouge rule hardly anyone knew his real identity or that he was the ruler of the country. He was referred as “Brother Number One.” Even his own brother only realized who he was after Pol Pot’s picture was hung on the wall of the building where the brother lived.

Now the remaining leaders are standing a trial for genocide and crimes against the humanity. The leader of Tuol Sleng prison, Duch, has already been sentenced last year. He received 35 years in prison but that was later reduced to 30 years. He was born in 1932.

Those remaining leaders who are now standing the trial are:

Nuon Chea – He was “Brother Number Two” and is seen as the main ideologist of the party. He denies the charges, saying he knew nothing what was happening in the country. He was born July 7, 1926.

Ieng Sary – The Foreign Minister of Khmer Rouge, ”Brother Number Three”, was often the only bridge to the world outside Cambodia. He was born October 24, 1924
Ieng Thirith – Wife of Ieng Sary and sister-in-law of Pol Pot. Minister of Social Affairs for Khmer Rouge. She was born in 1932.
Khieu Samphan – The figure head of the country and the party, “Brother Number Five.” He was born in July 27, 1931.