On April 17th, 1975, a communist regime called
the Khmer Rouge came to power led by a man named Pol Pot, a former teacher
educated in France. Over the next 4 years of his rule, genocide would claim
over 2 million Cambodian lives. They were killed by their own government. 1 in
4 people were murdered.
.JPG) |
| Bodies were dumped into pits by the hundreds, covered with DEET, and buried naked. Their graves are unmarked. |
Less than 30 km from Phnom Penh is one of the Killing Fields. Thousands of people were taken there and worked to death in the rice fields or simply killed. The deaths were without mercy: throats were cut using dried palm leaves, women were beaten and raped, and babies were smashed against a large tree.
.JPG)
Western governments had no idea what was happening. If they did, they kept that knowledge from their people. In fact, the UN supported the Khmer Rouge even after evidence of the killings emerged.
How can people be so cruel? Its a shame we walk the Earth with such people - if you can even consider them them to be people after treating others like this.
ReplyDeleteHorrors beyond the ability of my imagination to comprehend. It is hard to accept that these things happen everyday, everywhere, throughout time. I only hope that we are, slowly, moving in the right direction.
ReplyDelete