The Khmer Rouge genocide (Part 1)

Our guest author for a new series on the Cambodian genocide and its aftermath is Dr. Leakhena Nou, who has done extensive research on Cambodians both in Cambodia and the Cambodian diaspora.

An estimated two million Cambodians died under the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. Over one-quarter of the population perished due to forced evacuation, forced labor, rape, execution, torture, starvation, and disease, among other crimes committed against the vulnerable.

Choeung Ek commemorative stupa
Choeung Ek commemorative stupa filled with skulls. Photo by Quadell, in public domain.

Under the leadership of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge instituted an oppressive policy of radical social engineering aimed at achieving the “super great leap forward.” This secured the Khmer Rouge’s place as one of the most brutal regimes of the 20th century.

The Khmer Rouge forcefully evacuated the inhabitants of Phnom Penh and other cities, marching them to the countryside, where they worked as slave laborers in agricultural work camps. City dwellers, lacking any farming experience, often died of starvation and/or torture in labor camps.

In addition to depopulating the urban centers and imposing a farm-based economy, the Khmer Rouge also confiscated all private property, banned religion, and shut down all social institutions, including schools and hospitals.

In its attempt to create a classless society, the Khmer Rouge quickly and systematically wiped out Cambodia’s intellectual, economic, cultural, and social elites.

Khmer Rouge soldiers executed artists, teachers, lawyers, doctors, journalists, and other members of the “intelligentsia,” along with anyone who displayed any vestiges of ethnic, religious, or class distinction. People were murdered simply because they wore glasses–a sign of presumed wealth, high social status, and education.

After sweeping the more populated cities, the Khmer Rouge forced surviving members of the targeted groups into labor camps, where they were often literally worked to death, tortured, and/or eventually executed at prisons such as Tuol Sleng (Security Prison “S-21”) or in the infamous Killing Fields such as Choeung Ek.

Leakhena Nou, Associate Professor of sociology at California State University at Long Beach and director of the Applied Social Research Institute of Cambodia