ipl-logo

Cambodia Genocide Essay

475 Words2 Pages

The Cambodian Genocide was wrongly named a genocide as it doesn’t fit the definition rather it should be called crimes against humanity. Khmer Rouge was a communist group led by Pol Pot. The foundation of its policies was influenced by the belief of Pol Pot that Cambodia had been destroyed by outside influences specifically the west. By 1975 the Khmer Rouge had taken over Cambodia and began the killing of what was ultimately 1.7 million people, 21% of the country’s population, during the year 1975-1979. Targets of these killings were the educated; doctors, teachers, lawyers but also Christians and Buddhist Monks. The majority of Khmer Rouge's victims shared their ethnic identity with their attackers which brings to question if the definition …show more content…

Due to the circumstance of the killings what took place in Cambodia is best defined as Crimes Against Humanity. Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity while describing a type of violence along a similar line have a very specific distinction which separates them. As defined by Amnesty International a Crime Against Humanity is "crimes committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians during peace or wartime" whereas a genocide is "acts committed with the intent to destroy, completely or partially, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group". Civilians all throughout Cambodia were attacked, placed into mass graves, held captive until they confessed their crimes-which often times they had not committed- and tortured. Children could be killed because they couldn't keep up in the agricultural society that the Khmer Rouge region aimed to turn Cambodia into. The Khmer Rouge committed horrible acts of injustice and killed millions of people but what was not a leading drive for killing specific people was their ethnicity. These acts were not committed with an intent to destroy an ethnic group but they were a systematic attack. Due to this fact, the crimes committed were wrongly named a genocide and the proper terminology would be Crimes Against

Show More
Related

Khmer Rouge And Pol Pot Similarities

509 Words | 3 Pages

The Khmer Rouge has taken over Cambodia. This is much like what is happening in the Soviet Union. It may look different but the mass murdering and cruelty has lead both countries into a state which is not looked at kindly. Each country was in the same situation from the standpoint of the citizens. Rights were taken away, torture and cruel deaths occurred, and the death of many was looked at by the powerful as a worthy cause to the country as a whole.

Read More

Examples Of Alienation In Night By Elie Wiesel

1624 Words | 7 Pages

In 1944, a Polish-Jewish lawyer came up with the word, “genocide.” However, even seventy-five years later, many people still debate what factors go into making a genocide. Of course, there is mass murder, mistreatment of large groups of people, and difficult life conditions. Take the Cambodian Genocide, for example. People were tortured and killed so much during this genocide that at one of the death camps, “as few as 12 managed to survive” (Pierpaoli).

Read More

Cambodian Genocide Causes

958 Words | 4 Pages

Causes of the Cambodian Genocide The Cambodian genocide took place from 1975 to 1979; it is estimated that some two million Cambodians were systematically murdered by the Khmer Rouge and its followers (Power 90). In Alexander Hinton’s article, “A Head for an Eye” he recounts in details the experience of Gen, a survivor of the Cambodian Genocide. After the Lon Nol government was overthrown by the Khmer Rouge, the Communists began their witch-hunt in an attempt to identify and kill anyone who was associated with the former regime, as well as the educated, the Vietnamese, the Muslim Cham, the Buddhist monks, and other “bourgeois elements” (Power 101). During the investigation, it was revealed that Gen’s father was a teacher–this fact alone was

Read More

Analysis Of Loung Ung's First They Killed My Father

1219 Words | 5 Pages

Loung Ung’s First They Killed My Father is a vivid, detailed memoir of a young girl’s experiences in Cambodia throughout the Khmer Rouge era. It records in expressive detail the horrors suffered by the Ung and her family while living under the oppressive rule of the insane Khmer Rouge. Meanwhile, First They Killed Her Sister by Soneath Hor, Sody Lay and Grantham Quinn is a lengthy criticism in direct opposition to the aforementioned memoir. Although the authors of First They Killed Her Sister made some excellent points throughout their assessment of First They Killed my Father such as showing how Ung having misrepresented some aspects of Khmer culture and history, they completely and utterly failed in their attempt to discredit her based on the claims that she perpetuated racial tension and distorted what really happened in 1970s Cambodia, which breaks down the few good points they did have. The critics correctly assert and prove that Ung misrepresented certain aspects of Khmer culture and history, showing that at times, Ung’s description of what had happened was distorted or partially fabricated.

Read More

Summary Of The Perils Of Indifference

581 Words | 3 Pages

During the span of 4 years the Khmer Rouge killed an estimated 1.7 and 2 million Cambodians. With little to no outcry from the international community. “The Khmer Rouge took control of the Cambodian government in 1975, with the goal of turning the country into a communist agrarian utopia. In reality, they emptied the cities and evacuated millions of people to labor camps where they were starved and abused” (The Cambodian Genocide). Doctors, teachers and other educated people, as well as monks, the rich, and anyone who did not accept there ways were killed.

Read More

Comparison Of The Holocaust And The Cambodian Genocide

582 Words | 3 Pages

The Khmer Rouge was a revolutionary group who wanted to reconstruct Cambodian society.   On April 17, 1975 the Khmer Rouge attacked the capitol Phnom Penh. As soon as the Khmer Rouge got to the capitol they started to force the people to leave all their possessions and march to the rural part of Cambodia. “Hospital patients

Read More

Pol Pot's Role In The Khmer Rouge

251 Words | 2 Pages

What: The Cambodian Genocide refers to the attempt of Khmer Rouge party leader “Pol Pot” to change Cambodia overnight. This resulted in the obliteration of over 25% of the country’s population in just three years. When:

Read More

Cambodian Genocide Essay

654 Words | 3 Pages

Rahul Mone Mrs. Marsden ELA Honors I 4 February, 2016 The Cambodian Genocide The genocides of Cambodia and the Holocaust were two major genocides that have changed the history of the world forever. The Cambodian genocide started when the Khmer Rouge attempted to nationalize and centralize the peasant farming society of Cambodia (Quinn 63).

Read More

First They Killed My Father Symbols

468 Words | 2 Pages

For example , the soldiers are mean and treat the Cambodians like trash like their nothing and kill whoever and whenever they want to even if they look at them wrong. “Keav, and now pa, one by one, the Khmer rouge is killing my family.” In First They Killed My Father, Loung used the color red for a variety of things such as clothing, and food. The reason for this is because in Cambodia, they are unable to wear or use any kind of color.

Read More

Pol Pot And The Khmer Rouge Cambodia Summary

1682 Words | 7 Pages

In effect, the already educated people including the Buddhist monks, former government officials, merchants, professionals and former soldiers were executed for he believed that these people represented the “old society.” Also, the non-natives of Cambodia like the Chinese, Muslims and Vietnamese are also killed. (Biography.com, 2016) Foreign connections and influences were also cut off from the country, except for China. Even cars, libraries, and other so-called “alien” symbols were ruined, for they symbolized intellectualism and modernization (Murphey,

Read More

Cambodia Genocide Essay

635 Words | 3 Pages

The Cambodian genocide was under the control of the Khmer Rouge and led by Pol Pot from 1975 through 1979. It was estimated that over 2 million people lost their lives during the course of the genocide. While this was taking place there was no support from the international community. The Khmer Rouge were excessively brutal towards the people of Phnom Penh.

Read More

Analysis Of The Shock Of War By Sean Kennedy

762 Words | 4 Pages

In Killing Fields, there were an estimated two million or more deaths based on their identity, which dehumanized Cambodians who were seen as a nuisance to their nation. Millions of children were left motherless or fatherless solely due to the violent biases of those in power. In a course reading, Sisowath Doung Chanto, one of many who suffered, discusses the brutality of the Khmer Rouge genocide. Sadly, he lost his father to the Khmer Rouge genocide and stated how his father’s punishment was so brutal that the executioner himself could not speak of it without shock (Chanto); he was beaten to the point where he lost consciousness. Again, Chanto’s experience serves as a reminder of how innocent civilians were tormented due to their ethnic identities and they were unable to seek political aid, as it was stated in the lecture that there was no foreign aid

Read More

Explain Why Cyberstalking May Be More Commonplace Than Physical Stalking

524 Words | 3 Pages

Discuss why cyberstalking may be more commonplace than physical stalking.   Which form of stalking should society fear most and why? As the world get more and more engrossed with technology and social media cyberstalking is on the rise. People, mostly teens and young adults, have gotten so comfortable with having on online presence that they see little to no problem with sharing personal information such as photos, means of contact, and even their full names and phone numbers.

Read More

Genocide Vs War

1178 Words | 5 Pages

The UN Convention defines genocide as “any of the follow acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group” (Jones 13). The wordings of the definition can

Read More

Genocide In Cambodia Essay

1237 Words | 5 Pages

The Cambodian Genocide is considered to be one of the worst human tragedies in the last century.  The Genocide in Cambodia should be more recognized around the world for its severity and intensity.  Khmer Rouge, a communist group led by Pol Pot, seized control of the Cambodian government from Lon Nol in April of 1975.   He then renamed it the Democratic Kampuchea.

Read More

More about Cambodia Genocide Essay

Related Topics

Open Document