3 April 1975
Cambodians hide from Khmer Rouge raids during the US supply airlift, at the airport of Pochentong, Phnom Penh. © Francoise Demulder,@AFPphoto https://t.co/fOOs9UBTCq
Cambodians boarding at the airport of PhnomPenh fleeing the civil war. © Francoise Demulder ,@AFPphoto https://t.co/EbJFDz7Ye4
Tran’s international airlines DC8 cargo jet sits on ramp at PhnomPenh’s Pochentong Airport, Cambodia. It had caught fire after sustaining blast damage from a Khmer Rouge rocket which landed nearby. The plane, was used in a U.S. financed rice airlift. © Jess Tan ,@AP_Images https://t.co/mhWOIkrYy3
Today, many former Khmer Rouge personnel remain in power, including PrimeMinister Hun Sen. Ruling Cambodia since 1985, the leader of the communist Cambodian People’s Party is now the longest-serving prime minister in the world.
From 1979-1990, the Khmer Rouge held onto its seat in the UN-General Assembly, and was recognized as the only legitimate representative of Cambodia. When KR leader Pol Pot died in 1998, he had not faced justice in front of an international tribunal.
The Khmer Rouge’s formal control came to an end when Vietnam invaded the capital on Jan. 7, 1979. But even then, the KR was seen a powerful challenge to Vietnamese influence in Cambodia, and maintained support and military assistance from the U.S. and other Western countries.
Mass killings primarily targeted the middle class and intellectuals as well as ethnic Vietnamese and Cham Muslims. The Khmer Rouge wiped out up to one fifth of Cambodia’s population at the time, causing scholars to coin the term “autogenocide”.
Following their victory, the KR forcibly evacuated the country’s major cities to create an agrarian utopia by forcing the population onto collective farms and banning money, traditional culture, schools and religion. Cambodia became known as DemocraticKampuchea.
The Khmer Rouge were led by Pol Pot, Ieng Sary (who both studied in France and married sisters) Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan. PolPot’s best friend in high school was Lon Non, brother of General Lon Nol. He was executed within forty-eight hours.
Despite a massive American bombing campaign against the Khmer Rouge (which was the brainchild of Secretary of state Henry Kissinger and was kept secret from congress), they won the Cambodian Civil War when they captured the PhnomPenh and overthrew the Khmer Republic in 1975.
After Prince Sihanouk was overthrown in a 1970 military coup by General Lon Nol, who established the pro-US KhmerRepublic, he leant on the Khmer Rouge for support. The princes’ approval legitimized the movement and allowed the KR to mobilize in the countryside.
The Khmer Rouge army was slowly built up in the jungles of Eastern Cambodia during the late 1960s, supported by the North Vietnamese army, the VietCong and the Communist Party of China (CPC). (3/n)
The Khmer Rouge, a hardline-communist regime, took power in Cambodia on 17.4.1975. In the regime’s pursuit of a classless agrarian society, at least 1.7 million people died in labor camps, prisons and killing fields due to torture, disease and starvation. (2/n)
Please read this thread for a brief history of the Khmer Rouge. It permits critical lessons for an investigation of human behavior, ideology, beliefs and justice. I will continuously update it, as its implications are still valid, not only for Cambodia but our lives today. (1/n)