The Killing Fields

Today I decided to do something cultural and see a little history. The first place I went to, and if you're ever here I do recommend doing this in the following order, is the Genocide Museum Tuol Sleng, formerly known as Khmer Rouge S-21 Prison. Then I took a trip outside Phnom Penh to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek.

Just a little background on both places. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge, an extremely communist organization, took over the government of Cambodia and proceeded to try and turn the country into an agrarian utopia by forcing the urban residents to migrate to the countryside to work on the farms. All education, religion, arts, and industry were eliminated and to be associated with such meant that you had no civil or human rights and were in danger of being summarily executed.

S-21 was often the first stop after being arbitrarily arrested by the Khmer Rouge. The former classrooms were turned into torture chambers and equipped with said instruments. Now its a museum that not only displays the torture devices but has hundreds of pictures, biographies, and personal stories of those who worked there and also survived. Like most murderous regimes, the Khmer Rouge kept good records.

The next stop was the Killing Fields, where most of the detainees of S-21 were executed, about 10 miles outside of Phnom Penh. Now, its a sleepy pasture with a few buildings and large stupa, or monument. Its hard to imagine what happened there until you see the 8000 stacked skulls and bones of men, women, and children. Its a sobering thing to see.

For those of you thinking, "Well at least this was exposed and people were brought to justice". Not really. War crimes tribunals have only started as recently as 2007 (the regime was toppled by the Vietnamese in 1979) and the mastermind behind the whole thing, Pol Pot, died while under house arrest in Thailand in 1998. Most of the ageing bigwigs have denied any knowledge of the activities at S-21 or the Killing Fields. The director of S-21, Comrade Duch, has acknowledged his role in the atrocities and has made a full confession.

On a lighter note, I'm heading to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City is the official name) tomorrow morning. I don't anticipate any other depressing posts for the remainder of this trip. Of course I could be wrong.