History of Cambodia before the Genocide - Essay Example

Cambodian Genocide Introduction Cambodia is located in southeast of Asia. Prior to the genocide, the country had been faced with series of civil wars. In the years between 1975- 1979, this country experienced a genocide that claimed approximately 1.7 million people. Pol Pot, the party leader of Khmer Rouge, had attempted to enforce the Chinese agricultural model that was based on communism. Those who opposed this were eliminated. The genocide was also heightened by power wars between the supporters of the deposed Prince Sihanouk and the army of Lon Nol. This genocide had a devastating effect to the people of Cambodia. An estimated 25% of the total population was killed. In addition, property worth billions was destroyed. Moreover, this genocide brought unprecedented suffering to the people of Cambodia. This caused psychological trauma to those who survived it. Mass graves were discovered later and the unearthed bones are preserved in memory of those who died in the genocide. In this paper, I will focus on Pol Pot’s ideology leading him to reconstruct Cambodia as well as the extermination of all those who were a formal threat to his success in achieving his mission. History of Cambodia before Genocide Cambodia, an Asian country, gained independence in the year 1953 after being ruled by the French for more than 100 years (Moses 224). It is famous due to its temples back in the 12th century. After independence, in the 1960s, Cambodia had a population of around 7 million people. 95% of the total population belonged to Buddhism religion. At this time, the country was under the rule of Prince Sihanouk. He continued to rule the country until 1970 when he was ousted from power through a military coup. Lon Nol, who was a lieutenant general came to power and was made the president. In retaliation, Prince Sihanouk joined his army with that of Khmer Rouge and started attacking Lon Nol’s army. Khmer Rouge was a guerrilla group that was founded in 1960. This union created civil war. The neighboring country Vietnam was also not stable. After their independence in 1954, the country was divided into two. The rivalry between the two groups led to civil war in the country. The USA supported Lon Nol and when he took over, it took the advantage and started invading Vietnam from Cambodia. Cambodia then became a battlefield. On the other hand, Pol Pot led Khmer Rouge, the guerrilla organization. Pol Pot was born in 1925 in central Cambodia. By that time, Cambodia was part of France (Bergin 9). When still young in his early 20s, Pol went to Paris, France where he pursued his education. He never cleared his studies as he joined Marxism and lost his scholarship. Pol Pot envied the Chinese communism. In 1962, Pol pot was leading the Cambodian Communist Party. Prince Sihanouk was not happy with Pol Pot affiliation. Pol Pot had to flee from Prince Sihanouk; he went to the jungle. In the jungle, Khmer Rouge, an armed movement headed by Pol Pot, was created. He defeated Prince Sihanouk in 1976 and he became the premier. Pol Pot believed that farmers were the best people in the world. He particularly admired the Chinese communism, and he believed in it. He tried to introduce this to his country, and he treated those who opposed him with brutality (Munyas 427). In fact, he believed that the more he killed the better since he was helping to purify the country. Khmer Rouge was the tool that Pol Pot used to rule Cambodia by an iron fist. The army was used to enforce his policies. Cambodia During he Genocide After successfully overthrowing the government, the Khmer group developed a mission for the country (Maguire 44). It wanted to incorporate the Mao, a Chinese communism model. Its approach was extreme and according to the group, it was the ideal way for the country to move on. Pol Pot and his group did not give a chance to the Cambodians to choose what they wanted. Instead, the population was forced to work on large farms. The group was ruthless with anyone who tried to go against it. All un-communists were for instance, to be eliminated; this included all the intellectuals who were taken to be belonging to un-communists. All the people dwelling in towns were ordered to leave. No one was spared including the children, very old, sick, and the disabled. Those who refused to leave were killed together with those who were slow (Wilson 497). The families were disfigured as children were taken from their parents to the forced labor camps (Tyner 15). Civil rights groups that could have come to the rescue of the people were abolished. Political groups were given the same treatment. In addition, all religions were banned and the leaders of religions were all killed. Other extreme measures included banning of music or radio sets, killing all the doctors, teachers, lawyers, scientists and all the other professionals. People were shot dead for minor things like wearing glasses, speaking foreign language, crying and laughing. At one point, the group killed its own members if there was slight suspicion that they were against its policies. These activities led to the death of many thousands of people. Those who were spared from being killed were subjected to harsh working conditions. They were forced to work for long hours without pay. They were intentionally taken away from their homes, where they slept under deplorable state. Following many days of working, the people became weaker and weaker. They never got any medical attention. Consequently, many died from treatable diseases like malaria (Menzel 217). These laborers were prohibited from having any display of affection to each other. In case one developed a medical problem, no attention was accorded hence the output of the laborers reduced. In addition, the food given to the laborers was of low quality that led to the farmers becoming weaker day by day. This treatment also had a negative impact to the psychological well-being of the people. The S-21 was a center for torture and extermination. Initially the S-21 , short form of Security Prison-21, was a high school. When Khmer Rouge took over, this high school was converted into a prison where people were interrogated. Electric fence was set up to prevent people from escaping. In this prison, people were tortured and killed. During its initial days, the inmates were mainly from Lon Nol supporters, teachers, doctors, lawyers, monks and other professionals and students. Prisoners were stripped naked and they slept on the cement floor without blankets or mosquito nets (Lejmi 304). S-21 was center where suffering and misery was the order of the day. In addition, prisoners were not allowed to talk to each other. They were tortured using many inhumane ways. In addition, measures were put in place to ensure that the prisoners did not commit suicide. Due to the suffering in S-21, many people had committed suicide. The Khmer soldiers wanted to torture the prisoners and, therefore, they prevented any attempt to commit suicide. It is estimated that close to 2 million people died during the Cambodian genocide. Cambodia after the genocide Khmer Rouge was closely associated with the Chinese people. This led to its controversies with their neighboring country Vietnam. Vietnam invaded Cambodia and drove away the Khmer Rouge army. This marked the start of the fall of the group. Later on, Pol Pot accused one of his close associate and as such, Khmers arrested him. In 1998, Pol Pot died a natural death. All those who were prosecuted blamed Pol Pot for all the killings (Chigas 255). Many purported that they did not know that such killings were being done. The Cambodian genocide greatly affected the nation and its people in a big way. The effect of the genocide to the country its people Cambodia was greatly affected by this genocide (Lejmi 303). Firstly, the economy of the country was pushed to its knees. The educated and the intellectuals were killed. This denied the country the provision of the much needed people with skills to drive the economy. Similarly, the death of workers took away the working force that was necessary for labor and propel the economy (Kiernan 165). In addition, the country’s reputation was negatively affected. Potential foreign investors were discouraged by the genocide. Consequently, the wealth of the nation declined a great deal. This led to high levels of unemployment, crime, poverty and other vices associated with an economically weak nation. The people of Cambodia were also negatively affected by this genocide (Tyner 16). Close to two million people for instance, lost their lives. This brought a lot of suffering to their relatives. In addition, the people were subjected to forced labor and poor working conditions. This affected the people psychologically and led to loss of self-esteem. The people also suffered from treatable diseases. At the start of their rule, Khmers killed all the doctors and the population was left with no one to attend to them when they fell sick. The Khmer army subjected the whole of the population to these inhumane acts. The young were also not left out. Killing the little children interfered with the future generation of the country. The children grew up with psychological trauma that resulted from this genocide. Conclusion The Cambodian genocide was an unfortunate experience to the people of Cambodia. It led to untold suffering and misery to the population. It is also worth noting that, 25% of the total population lost their lives. This was from the brutality of the Khmers led by their leader Pol Pot. The country as a whole also suffered a great deal. Its economy was hampered and its reputation destroyed. Pol Pot’s attempt to enforce the Chinese communism failed and instead brought suffering and torture to its people. Works cited Bergin, Sean. The Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian Genocide. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2008. Chigas, George. "The politics of defining justice after the Cambodian genocide." Journal of Genocide Research 2.2 (2000): 245-265. Kiernan, Ben. Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007. Lejmi, Mohamed Ali. "Prosecuting Cambodian Genocide." Journal of International Criminal Justice 4.2 (2006): 300-306. Maguire, Peter H. Facing Death In Cambodia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. Menzel, Jorg. "Justice delayed or too late for justice? The Khmer Rouge Tribunal and the Cambodian "genocide" 1975-79." Journal of Genocide Research 9.2 (2007): 215-233. Moses, A Dirk. Empire, Colony, Genocide: Conquest, Occupation, and Subaltern Resistance in World History. New York: Berghahn Books, 2009. Munyas, Burcu. "Genocide in the minds of Cambodian youth: transmitting (hi)stories of genocide to second and third generations in Cambodia." Journal of Genocide Research 10.3 (2008): 413-439. Tyner, James A. The Killing of Cambodia: Geography, Genocide and the Unmaking of Space. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, 2008. Wilson, Paul. "Do Normal People Commit Genocide? Observations From the Cambodian Trial of 'Duch'." Psychiatry, Psychology & Law 17.4 (2010): 495-502. Read More