Responses on two posts - Essay Example

Responses on two posts The Washington Post article provided a different perspective to the situation in Cambodia as the Khmer Rouge ruled from 1975 to 1979. During this period, Pol-Pot ruled Cambodia with an iron fist with the region recording more than one million deaths. The citizens of the country also suffered from malnutrition, diseases, and economic problems and faced a series of brutality from the tyrannical regime of Pol-Pot, who was assisted by other tyrants like: Ta Mok, Nuon Chea, and Ieng Sary.

The article noted that in spite of the sufferings of the Cambodian masses, not all of them resented the Khmer Rouge. This is just a way that the author of the Washington post tried to show readers that a government, no matter how bad it looks in the eyes of the public would have its own supporters. Reintegration into the Cambodian society became a problem for these loyalists after the Khmer Rouge surrendered to the government. The author also says that the Khmer Rouge fighters have now been living in abject poverty as they no longer get the benefits that they were getting when the Khmer Rouge was in power.

This just goes to show that a cry for amnesty would leave few people suffering as they would no longer get the benefits they were getting when the rebel group was in control. This article also lays emphasis to the fact that there is now a breath of fresh air as a result of the surrender of the Khmer Rouge. 1 2. The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) was established in 2009 with the aim of safeguarding the human rights, freedom, peace, prosperity and stability of the people of the Southeast Asian nations.

The efforts of the member nations of the commission like Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam in ensuring that the aims of the commission are achieved were highlighted in the article. These countries have made concerted efforts to combat the problem of atrocities in the region of Southeast Asia.2 The problem of the commission is that they have no legal grounds to deal with problems of human rights violation in the member states.

The commission has to become broader in their scope as this is the only thing that would help them tackle the problems of human rights violation efficiently. There is still hope that the commission would help tackle the issues of human rights violation, especially in countries like Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. Bibliography ASEAN Secretariat. “Press Release of the Fourth ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights.” Available from http://www.aseansec.org/25872.htm. (accessed February 17, 2011) Roasa, Dustin.

“Khmer Rouge veterans forced to confront the past.” Available from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2010/12/01/AR2010120106522.html. (accessed February 17, 2011)