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Pol Pot: The Role Of Genocide In Cambodia

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The world witnessed a catastrophic event between 1975 and 1979, which many would call the Cambodian Genocide. During the four years of the genocide, the Khmer Rouge regime will be responsible for an estimated two million deaths. Events such as the Vietnam War and authoritarian rule in Cambodia gave rise to Pol Pot. The main culprit, Pol Pot will be responsible for carrying out the Cambodian Genocide. While conducting the Cambodian Genocide, the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, violated many human rights in accordance with the International Bill of Human Rights. During the genocide, the international community remained silent; however, recently the international community has taken actions to provide justice for victims. Inside Cambodia before …show more content…

The Khmer Rouge regime believed eliminating all Western ideas, exposure to the outside world, and anti-capitalist policies would repair Cambodia. Pol Pot wanted to destroy the past and start Cambodia from “Year Zero”. The Khmer Rouge set the goal to eliminate all Western ideology from Cambodia. In order to achieve their goal, the regime persecuted the educated and intellectual classes. Doctors, lawyers, current or former military, and police became targets for the regime. Religious persecution targeted Christians, Buddhist, and Muslim citizens. The regime closed all schools, hospitals, shops, offices, and monasteries. The second goal of the Khmer Rouge was to eliminate competition throughout Cambodia, which would create a wealthy society for everyone. In order to achieve this goal, the regime enacted policies to place people in collective living arrangements. People lived in communes set up by the government and ruled by Khmer Rouge military officials. The regime enacted a policy of “re-education” to discourage Western ideology. The regime killed anyone resisting “re-education”. Furthermore, the regime divided citizens into categories based on the trust the Khmer Rouge had for them. Anyone pro-Western culture and people in urban areas were “new citizens”. Over time, “new citizens” could move up to “deportees”, then “candidates”, and lastly “full rights citizens”. However, most citizens were never able to move …show more content…

For the first time since the Khmer Rouge’s rise to power, the international community had direct evidence of a possible genocide. After many decades, the world discovered the atrocities perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge. In January 2001, the Cambodian government established the Khmer Rouge Tribunals. The goal of the tribunal was to put former leaders of the Khmer Rouge on trial for their crimes against humanity. For the first time, the international community would try to provide justice for the victims of the Cambodian

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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.

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