Pol Pot overthrown - Jan 07, 1979 - HISTORY.com Pol Pot overthrown Publisher A+E Networks On January 7, 1979, Vietnamese troops seize the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, toppling the brutal regime of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge, organized by Pol Pot in the Cambodian jungle in the 1960s, advocated a radical Communist revolution that would wipe out Western influences in Cambodia and set up a solely agrarian society. In 1970, aided by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops, Khmer Rouge guerrillas began a large-scale insurgency against Cambodian government forces, soon gaining control of nearly a third of the country. By 1973, secret U.S. bombings of Cambodian territory controlled by the Vietnamese Communists forced the Vietnamese out of the country, creating a power vacuum that was soon filled by Pol Pot’s rapidly growing Khmer Rouge movement. In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, overthrew the pro-U.S. regime, and established a new government, the Kampuchean People’s Republic.

As the new ruler of Cambodia, Pol Pot set about transforming the country into his vision of an agrarian utopia. The cities were evacuated, factories and schools were closed, and currency and private property was abolished. Anyone believed to be an intellectual, such as someone who spoke a foreign language, was immediately killed. Skilled workers were also killed, in addition to anyone caught in possession of eyeglasses, a wristwatch, or any other modern technology. In forced marches punctuated with atrocities from the Khmer Rouge, the millions who failed to escape Cambodia were herded onto rural collective farms. Between 1975 and 1978, an estimated two million Cambodians died by execution, forced labor, and famine. In 1978, Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia, capturing Phnom Penh in early 1979. A moderate Communist government was established, and Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge retreated back into the jungle. In 1985, Pol Pot officially retired but remained the effective head of the Khmer Rouge, which continued its guerrilla actions against the government in Phnom Penh.

In 1997, however, he was put on trial by the organization after an internal power struggle ousted him from his leadership position. Sentenced to life imprisonment by a “people’s tribunal,” which critics derided as a show trial, Pol Pot later declared in an interview, “My conscience is clear.” Much of the international community hoped that his captors would extradite him to stand trial for his crimes against humanity, but he died of apparently natural causes while under house arrest in 1998. Related Videos January 07, 1979 : Pol Pot overthrown Introduction On January 7, 1979, Vietnamese troops seize the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, toppling the brutal regime of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge, organized by Pol Pot in the Cambodian jungle in the 1960s, advocated a radical Communist revolution that would wipe out Western influences in Cambodia and set up a solely agrarian society. In 1970, aided by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops, Khmer Rouge guerrillas began a large-scale insurgency against Cambodian government forces, soon gaining control of nearly a third of the country.

By 1973, secret U.S. bombings of Cambodian territory controlled by the Vietnamese Communists forced the Vietnamese out of the country, creating a power vacuum that was soon filled by Pol Pot’s rapidly growing Khmer Rouge movement. In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, overthrew the pro-U.S. regime, and established a new government, the Kampuchean People’s Republic. As the new ruler of Cambodia, Pol Pot set about transforming the country into his vision of an agrarian utopia. The cities were evacuated, factories and schools were closed, and currency and private property was abolished. Anyone believed to be an intellectual, such as someone who spoke a foreign language, was immediately killed. Skilled workers were also killed, in addition to anyone caught in possession of eyeglasses, a wristwatch, or any other modern technology. In forced marches punctuated with atrocities from the Khmer Rouge, the millions who failed to escape Cambodia were herded onto rural collective farms. Between 1975 and 1978, an estimated two million Cambodians died by execution, forced labor, and famine.

In 1978, Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia, capturing Phnom Penh in early 1979. A moderate Communist government was established, and Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge retreated back into the jungle. In 1985, Pol Pot officially retired but remained the effective head of the Khmer Rouge, which continued its guerrilla actions against the government in Phnom Penh. In 1997, however, he was put on trial by the organization after an internal power struggle ousted him from his leadership position. Sentenced to life imprisonment by a “people’s tribunal,” which critics derided as a show trial, Pol Pot later declared in an interview, “My conscience is clear.” Much of the international community hoped that his captors would extradite him to stand trial for his crimes against humanity, but he died of apparently natural causes while under house arrest in 1998.

Article Details: January 07, 1979 : Pol Pot overthrown Author January 07, 1979 : Pol Pot overthrown URL 7th January 1979: Cambodian leader Pol Pot overthrown - YouTube 7th January 1979: Cambodian leader Pol Pot overthrown Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jan 6, 2016 On the 7th January 1979 Pol Pot, the Cambodian revolutionary and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea , was overthrown when Vietnamese forces captured the capital city Phnom Penh. Pol Pot was leader of the Cambodian Communist group the Khmer Rouge who were formed in 1968. Areas of Cambodia already were already being used by Vietnamese communists as bases, which led to American carpet bombing campaigns in Cambodia.

Although the significance of this campaign on the rise of the Khmer Rouge is debated by historians, the Khmer Rouge were able to seize power of the country in 1975. They renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea and set about introducing a form of radical communism that aimed to eradicate all Western and modern influences, in an attempt to create a purely agrarian society. This upheaval saw the closure of schools, hospitals, and factories, and the abolition of banking, finance, and currency. Intellectuals were killed en masse, while others were sent on long forced marches into the countryside where they were subjected to forced labour on enormous collective farms. Millions died. Although both countries were communist, relations between Cambodia and Vietnam declined by the end of 1978 as a result of border clashes and differing ideologies. Consequently, on the 25th December, Vietnamese armed forces launched an invasion of Cambodia supported by the newly-formed Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation. The latter consisted of Cambodian communists who had defected from the Khmer Rouge. After they captured Phnom Penh on the 7th January 1979, Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge forces fled into the jungle.

Category Khmer Rouge History | Cambodia Tribunal Monitor Khmer (pdf) Significant portions of the following historical overview were contributed by DC-Cam from Khamboly Dy’s “A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979).” Overview The Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), otherwise known as the Khmer Rouge, took control of Cambodia on April 17, 1975. The CPK created the state of Democratic Kampuchea in 1976 and ruled the country until January 1979. The party’s existence was kept secret until 1977, and no one outside the CPK knew who its leaders were (the leaders called themselves “Angkar Padevat”). While the Khmer Rouge was in power, they set up policies that disregarded human life and produced repression and massacres on a massive scale. They turned the country into a huge detention center, which later became a graveyard for nearly two million people, including their own members and even some senior leaders. The Rise of the Khmer Rouge The Cambodian communist movement emerged from the country’s struggle against French colonization 1940s, and was influenced by the Vietnamese.

Fueled by the first Indochina War in the 1950s, and during the next 20 years, the movement took roots and began to grow. In March 1970, Marshal Lon Nol, a Cambodian politician who had previously served as prime minister, and his pro-American associates staged a successful coup to depose Prince Sihanouk as head of state. At this time, the Khmer Rouge had gained members and was positioned to become a major player in the civil war due to its alliance with Sihanouk. Their army was led by Pol Pot, who was appointed CPK’s party secretary and leader in 1963. Pol Pot, born in Cambodia as Solath Sar, spent time in France and became a member of the French Communist Party. Upon returning to Cambodia in 1953, he joined a clandestine communist movement and began his rise up the ranks to become one of the world’s most infamous dictators. Aided by the Vietnamese, the Khmer Rouge began to defeat Lon Nol’s forces on the battlefields. By the end of 1972, the Vietnamese withdrew from Cambodia and turned the major responsibilities for the war over to the CPK.

From January to August 1973, the Khmer Republic government, with assistance from the US, dropped about half a million tons of bombs on Cambodia, which may have killed as many as 300,000 people. Many who resented the bombings or had lost family members joined the Khmer Rouge’s revolution. By early 1973, about 85 percent of Cambodian territory was in the hands of the Khmer Rouge, and the Lon Nol army was almost unable to go on the offensive. However, with US assistance, it was able to continue fighting the Khmer Rouge for two more years. April 17, 1975 ended five years of foreign interventions, bombardment, and civil war in Cambodia. On this date, Phnom Penh, a major city in Cambodia, fell to the communist forces. Life in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge Regime A few days after they took power in 1975, the Khmer Rouge forced perhaps two million people in Phnom Penh and other cities into the countryside to undertake agricultural work. Thousands of people died during the evacuations.

The Khmer Rouge also began to implement their radical Maoist and Marxist-Leninist transformation program at this time. They wanted to transform Cambodia into a rural, classless society in which there were no rich people, no poor people, and no exploitation. To accomplish this, they abolished money, free markets, normal schooling, private property, foreign clothing styles, religious practices, and traditional Khmer culture. Public schools, pagodas, mosques, churches, universities, shops and government buildings were shut or turned into prisons, stables, reeducation camps and granaries. There was no public or private transportation, no private property, and no non-revolutionary entertainment. Leisure activities were severely restricted. People throughout the country, including the leaders of the CPK, had to wear black costumes, which were their traditional revolutionary clothes. During this time, everyone was deprived of their basic rights. People were not allowed to go outside their cooperative. The regime would not allow anyone to gather and hold discussions. If three people gathered and talked, they could be accused of being enemies and arrested or executed. Family relationships were also heavily criticized. People were forbidden to show even the slightest affection, humor or pity.

The Khmer Rouge asked all Cambodians to believe, obey and respect only Angkar Padevat, which was to be everyone’s “mother and father.” The Khmer Rouge claimed that only pure people were qualified to build the revolution. Soon after seizing power, they arrested and killed thousands of soldiers, military officers and civil servants from the Khmer Republic regime led by Marshal Lon Nol, whom they did not regard as “pure.” Over the next three years, they executed hundreds of thousands of intellectuals; city residents; minority people such as the Cham, Vietnamese and Chinese; and many of their own soldiers and party members, who were accused of being traitors. Many were held in prisons, where they were detained, interrogated, tortured and executed. The most important prison in Cambodia, known as S-21, held approximately 14,000 prisoners while in operation. Only about 12 survived. Under the terms of the CPK’s 1976 “Four-Year Plan,” Cambodians were expected to produce three tons of rice per hectare throughout the country. This meant that people had to grow and harvest rice all 12 months of the year.

In most regions, the Khmer Rouge forced people to work more than 12 hours a day without rest or adequate food. Fall of the Khmer Rouge By the end of 1977, clashes broke out between Cambodia and Vietnam. Tens of thousands of people were sent to fight and thousands were killed. In December 1978, Vietnamese troops fought their way into Cambodia. They captured Phnom Penh on January 7, 1979. The Khmer Rouge leaders then fled to the west and reestablished their forces in Thai territory, aided by China and Thailand. The United Nations voted to give the resistance movement against communists, which included the Khmer Rouge, a seat in its General Assembly. From 1979 to 1990, it recognized them as the only legitimate representative of Cambodia. In 1982, the Khmer Rouge formed a coalition with Prince Sihanouk, who was exiled in China after the Cambodian Civil War, and the non-communist leader Son Sann to create the Triparty Coalition Government.

In Phnom Penh, on the other hand, Vietnam helped to create a new government – the People?s Republic of Kampuchea – led by Heng Samrin. The Khmer Rouge continued to exist until 1999 when all of its leaders had defected to the Royal Government of Cambodia, been arrested, or had died. But their legacy remains. Life in Cambodia Today Democratic Kampuchea was one of the worst human tragedies of the 20th century. Nearly two million Cambodians died from diseases due to a lack of medicines and medical services, starvation, execution, or exhaustion from overwork. Tens of thousands were made widows and orphans, and those who lived through the regime were severely traumatized by their experiences. Several hundred thousand Cambodians fled their country and became refugees. Millions of mines were laid by the Khmer Rouge and government forces, which have led to thousands of deaths and disabilities since the 1980s. A large proportion of the Cambodian people have mental problems because their family members were lost and their spirits damaged. These factors are one of the major causes of the poverty that plagues Cambodia today.

The History Place - Genocide in the 20th Century: Pol Pot in Cambodia 1975-1979 An attempt by Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot to form a Communist peasant farming society resulted in the deaths of 25 percent of the country's population from starvation, overwork and executions. Pol Pot was born in 1925 (as Saloth Sar) into a farming family in central Cambodia, which was then part of French Indochina. In 1949, at age 20, he traveled to Paris on a scholarship to study radio electronics but became absorbed in Marxism and neglected his studies. He lost his scholarship and returned to Cambodia in 1953 and joined the underground Communist movement. The following year, Cambodia achieved full independence from France and was then ruled by a royal monarchy. Map & Photos Pol Pot addresses a closed meeting in Phnom Penh after the 1975 Khmer Rouge victory. Young Khmer Rouge soldiers in 1975. Tuol Sleng Prison, the nerve center of the Khmer Rouge secret police. Today it's the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide. The Killing Fields at Choeung Ek.

This mass grave, discovered in 1980, was one of the first proofs to the outside world of what had occurred during Pol Pot's regime. By 1962, Pol Pot had become leader of the Cambodian Communist Party and was forced to flee into the jungle to escape the wrath of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, leader of Cambodia. In the jungle, Pol Pot formed an armed resistance movement that became known as the Khmer Rouge (Red Cambodians) and waged a guerrilla war against Sihanouk's government. In 1970, Prince Sihanouk was ousted, not by Pol Pot, but due to a U.S.-backed right-wing military coup. An embittered Sihanouk retaliated by joining with Pol Pot, his former enemy, in opposing Cambodia's new military government. That same year, the U.S. invaded Cambodia to expel the North Vietnamese from their border encampments, but instead drove them deeper into Cambodia where they allied themselves with the Khmer Rouge. From 1969 until 1973, the U.S.

intermittently bombed North Vietnamese sanctuaries in eastern Cambodia, killing up to 150,000 Cambodian peasants. As a result, peasants fled the countryside by the hundreds of thousands and settled in Cambodia's capital city, Phnom Penh. All of these events resulted in economic and military destabilization in Cambodia and a surge of popular support for Pol Pot. By 1975, the U.S. had withdrawn its troops from Vietnam. Cambodia's government, plagued by corruption and incompetence, also lost its American military support. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army, consisting of teenage peasant guerrillas, marched into Phnom Penh and on April 17 effectively seized control of Cambodia. Once in power, Pol Pot began a radical experiment to create an agrarian utopia inspired in part by Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution which he had witnessed first-hand during a visit to Communist China. Mao's "Great Leap Forward" economic program included forced evacuations of Chinese cities and the purging of "class enemies." Pol Pot would now attempt his own "Super Great Leap Forward" in Cambodia, which he renamed the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea.

He began by declaring, "This is Year Zero," and that society was about to be "purified." Capitalism, Western culture, city life, religion, and all foreign influences were to be extinguished in favor of an extreme form of peasant Communism. All foreigners were thus expelled, embassies closed, and any foreign economic or medical assistance was refused. The use of foreign languages was banned. Newspapers and television stations were shut down, radios and bicycles confiscated, and mail and telephone usage curtailed. Money was forbidden. All businesses were shuttered, religion banned, education halted, health care eliminated, and parental authority revoked. Thus Cambodia was sealed off from the outside world. All of Cambodia's cities were then forcibly evacuated. At Phnom Penh, two million inhabitants were evacuated on foot into the countryside at gunpoint. As many as 20,000 died along the way. Millions of Cambodians accustomed to city life were now forced into slave labor in Pol Pot's "killing fields" where they soon began dying from overwork, malnutrition and disease, on a diet of one tin of rice (180 grams) per person every two days.

Workdays in the fields began around 4 a.m. and lasted until 10 p.m., with only two rest periods allowed during the 18 hour day, all under the armed supervision of young Khmer Rouge soldiers eager to kill anyone for the slightest infraction. Starving people were forbidden to eat the fruits and rice they were harvesting. After the rice crop was harvested, Khmer Rouge trucks would arrive and confiscate the entire crop. Ten to fifteen families lived together with a chairman at the head of each group. All work decisions were made by the armed supervisors with no participation from the workers who were told, "Whether you live or die is not of great significance." Every tenth day was a day of rest. There were also three days off during the Khmer New Year festival. Throughout Cambodia, deadly purges were conducted to eliminate remnants of the "old society" - the educated, the wealthy, Buddhist monks, police, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and former government officials. Ex-soldiers were killed along with their wives and children. Anyone suspected of disloyalty to Pol Pot, including eventually many Khmer Rouge leaders, was shot or bludgeoned with an ax. "What is rotten must be removed," a Khmer Rouge slogan proclaimed.

In the villages, unsupervised gatherings of more than two persons were forbidden. Young people were taken from their parents and placed in communals. They were later married in collective ceremonies involving hundreds of often-unwilling couples. Up to 20,000 persons were tortured into giving false confessions at Tuol Sleng, a school in Phnom Penh which had been converted into a jail. Elsewhere, suspects were often shot on the spot before any questioning. Ethnic groups were attacked including the three largest minorities; the Vietnamese, Chinese, and Cham Muslims, along with twenty other smaller groups. Fifty percent of the estimated 425,000 Chinese living in Cambodia in 1975 perished. Khmer Rouge also forced Muslims to eat pork and shot those who refused. On December 25, 1978, Vietnam launched a full-scale invasion of Cambodia seeking to end Khmer Rouge border attacks. On January 7, 1979, Phnom Penh fell and Pol Pot was deposed. The Vietnamese then installed a puppet government consisting of Khmer Rouge defectors.

Pol Pot retreated into Thailand with the remnants of his Khmer Rouge army and began a guerrilla war against a succession of Cambodian governments lasting over the next 17 years. After a series of internal power struggles in the 1990s, he finally lost control of the Khmer Rouge. In April 1998, 73-year-old Pol Pot died of an apparent heart attack following his arrest, before he could be brought to trial by an international tribunal for the events of 1975-79. Copyright © 1999 The History Place All Rights Reserved BBC - History - Historic Figures: Pol Pot (1925-1998) Historic Figures z Pol Pot, near the end of his life © Pol Pot was leader of the Khmer Rouge, a communist regime that ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, and caused the deaths of more than one million people. Pol Pot was born Saloth Sar on 19 May 1925 in Kompong Thong province in central Cambodia. The country was then a French protectorate and Pol Pot, whose family were relatively prosperous, was educated in a series of French-speaking schools.

In 1949, he won a scholarship to study in Paris where he became involved in communist politics. He returned to Cambodia in 1953 and became one of the leaders of an underground communist movement, the 'Khmer Rouge'. In 1963, the Khmer Rouge set up guerrilla bases in remote regions of the country to fight the government of Prince Sihanouk. In 1970, Sihanouk was overthrown by General Lon Nol. Civil war broke out between Lon Nol's army and the Khmer Rouge. In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge captured the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. Led by Pol Pot, they reset the calendar to 'Year Zero' and attempted to transform Cambodia into their vision of a communist, rural society. All inhabitants of Cambodian cities and towns were expelled to work in agricultural communes. Money, private property and religion were abolished. Thousands were murdered in special detention centres and thousands more died from starvation and overwork. After raids by the Khmer Rouge across their border, the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia and in 1979 overthrew the Khmer Rouge regime.

Pol Pot fled to the border region with Thailand from where he fought against the Vietnamese-backed government in Phnom Penh. The Khmer Rouge continued to receive support from abroad because of their opposition to the communist regime in Vietnam. In 1997, after a power struggle within the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot was arrested by former colleagues and sentenced to life under house arrest. He died on 15 April 1998. Khmer Rouge Page - Killing Fields | Pol Pot | Ieng Sary | Nuon Chea | Kang Kek Ieu - Cambodian Information Center Khmer Rouge News Khmer Rouge Page Khmer Rouge derives from the French word, Khmer + Rouge = Red Khmer, named by the former King Norodom Sihanouk, for the label of Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) in 1971. The organization was originally formed as the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea in January 1968. In 1981, it's later changed to Party of Democratic Kampuchea.

Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975, and in 1976 Khmer Rouge established a new constitution with the new flag under offical name, Democratic Kampuchea. As one of the most violent regimes of the 20th century, the Khmer Rouge regime was responsible for the deaths of approximately 1.7 million people by execution, starvation and forced labor. Known Name of Khmer Rouge: Khmer Krah-Ham (in Khmer, means Red Khmer) Angkar (in Khmer, means Government) Brief Background of Khmer Rouge: Powered by the Vietnamese, the Cambodian communist movement was created to fight against French colonization during decade of 1940s. In 1960, twenty one politicians formed Kampuchean (or Khmer) People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP). The Khmer Rouge, organized by Pol Pot in the Cambodian jungle in the 1960s, advocated a radical Communist revolution that would wipe out Western influences in Cambodia and set up a solely agrarian society.

In 1970, aided by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops, Khmer Rouge guerrillas began a large-scale insurgency against Cambodian government forces, soon gaining control of nearly a third of the country. By 1973, secret U.S. bombings of Cambodian territory controlled by the Vietnamese Communists forced the Vietnamese out of the country, creating a power vacuum that was soon filled by Pol Pot's rapidly growing Khmer Rouge movement. In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, overthrew the pro-U.S. regime, and established a new government, the Kampuchean People's Republic. As the new ruler of Cambodia, Pol Pot set about transforming the country into his vision of an agrarian utopia. The cities were evacuated, factories and schools were closed, and currency and private property was abolished. Anyone believed to be an intellectual, such as someone who spoke a foreign language, was immediately killed. Skilled workers were also killed, in addition to anyone caught in possession of eyeglasses, a wristwatch, or any other modern technology.

In forced marches punctuated with atrocities from the Khmer Rouge, the millions who failed to escape Cambodia were herded onto rural collective farms. Between 1975 and 1978, an estimated two million Cambodians died by execution, forced labor, and famine. In 1978, Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia, capturing Phnom Penh in early 1979. A moderate Communist government was established, and Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge retreated back into the jungle. In 1985, Pol Pot officially retired but remained the effective head of the Khmer Rouge, which continued its guerrilla actions against the government in Phnom Penh. In 1997, however, he was put on trial by the organization after an internal power struggle ousted him from his leadership position. Sentenced to life imprisonment by a "people's tribunal," which critics derided as a show trial, Pol Pot later declared in an interview, "My conscience is clear." Much of the international community hoped that his captors would extradite him to stand trial for his crimes against humanity, but he died of apparently natural causes while under house arrest in 1998.

Dap Prampi Mesa Chokchey [ដប់ប្រាំពីរ មេសា ជោគជ័យ] (English: Glorious Seventeenth of April) The bright red blood was spilled over the towns And over the plain of Kampuchea, our motherland, The blood of our good workers and farmers and of Our revolutionary combatants, of both men and women. Their blood produced a great anger and the courage To contend with heroism. On the 17th of April, under the revolutionary banner, Their blood freed us from the state of slavery. Hurrah for the glorious 17th of April! That wonderful victory had greater significance Than the Angkor period! To construct a Kampuchea with a new and better society, Democratic, egalitarian and just. We follow the road to a firmly-based Independence. We absolutely guarantee to defend our motherland, Our fine territory, our Magnificent revolution! Hurrah for the new Kampuchea, A splendid, democratic land of plenty! We guarantee to raise aloft and wave the red banner of the revolution. We shall make our motherland prosperous beyond all others, Magnificent, wonderful!

Trial of Khmer Rouge June 21, 1997, Cambodian Co-Prime Norodom Ranariddh and Co-Prime Minister Hun Sen requested United Nations assistance in organizing the process for the Khmer Rouge trials. UN Secretary established a group of experts to study the process and to present a completely international tribunal to the General Assembly and Security Council. In 2001, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) was established and the Law was signed by His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk. In 1999, Kang Kek Iew known as Duch, former director of S-21 Tuol Sleng prison was arrested and charged with the 1994 Law to Outlaw the Democratic Kampuchea Group. Ta Mok, Khmer Rouge military leader was arrested and charged with violation of the 1994 Law to Outlaw the Democratic Kampuchea Group. WELL-KNOWN LEADERS of KHMER ROUGE Salot Sar known as Pol Pot [ Click picture to see more pictures of IENG SARY ] Original Name: Salot Sar, born in May 1925.

He grew up in a well off farming family in Kompong Thong province (about 140 kilometers north of Phnom Penh ). 1931, moved to live with his brother in Phnom Penh . His brother was an official of Palace 1946, joined Indochinese Communist Party to help oust French 1949, received a scholarship to study radio-electricity in France 1952, joined the French Communist Party, and later failed examination 1953, returned to Cambodia and joined Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP) 1954, taught history and geography in a private school in Phnom Penh while joined and worked for communist movement 1956, married to Khieu Ponnary 1960, helped with Paris's Student group to restructure KPRP and raname it, Workers' Party of Kampuchea (WPK) 1963, become command of WPK 1965, went to Hanoi and was approached to ousted the U.S.

out of Indochinese 1966, visited to China, and renamed his party to, Kampuchean Communist Party (KCP) 1967, refuged to live in the northeast of Cambodia 1968, his party established revolutionary army of Kampuchea 1975, turned Cambodia to the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea 1976, became Prime Minister and the official Cambodian head of state 1977, visited to China to seek military assistance against Vietnam 1979, fled by helicopter to Thailand after his regime was ousted by Vietnamese invasion 1985, resigned from the Khmer Rouge military forces 1997, was convinced that his minister for defence, Song Sen, was collaborating with the Hun Sen Government. Then, he was arrested by Ta Mok, commander of Khme Rouge 'Brother Number Five'. During his trail, he agreed to an interview with Nate Thayer, a journalist with the 'Far Eastern Economic Review'. He told Thayer, "First, I want to let you know that I came to join the revolution, not to kill the Cambodian people,... Look at me now. Do you think ...

am I a violent person? No. So, as far as my conscience and my mission were concerned, there was no problem. This needs to be clarified... Whoever wishes to blame or attack me is entitled to do so. I regret I didn't have enough experience to totally control the movement. On the other hand, with our constant struggle, this had to be done together with others in the communist world to stop Kampuchea becoming Vietnamese...

For the love of the nation and the people it was the right thing to do but in the course of our actions wemade mistakes." 1998, died in the evening of 15 April, reportedly from heart failure References: has three daughters and a son 1960, taught history and geography at Kampuch Botr School 1 1963, fled to join the force at a northeastern jungle in Kampong Cham 1 1970, went to Vietnam to seek help from Vietnam 1 1972, became the commander in chief of northeastern zone's military 1 1973, worked in a secret office of the party in suburb of Hanoi, Vietname 1 1975, became a member of the People’s Revolutionary Party and later in September, was a member of the central committee 1 9 October 1975, in charge of foreign affairs of the party and the state 1 30 March 1976, was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, in charge of Foreign Affairs 1 1996, surrendered to the government and was granted amnesty [ Click picture to see more pictures of KHIEU SAMPHAN ] born

 July 27, Kompong Cham Province (?) 1959, finished his study of Economy in France 1950 - 1960, an official for Sihanouk 1962 - 1966; was elected to the National Assembly 1967 - fled to join Communist Movement 1976 - 1979, chairman of the state presidium of Cambodia 1979, led a rebel government 1981, held talk with Sahnouk in Pyongyang, North Korea 1982, met Sihanouk in Beijing and maintained some international recognition 1985, succeeded Pol Pot as leader of Democratic Kampuchean faction 1987 - 1991, representatives of the Khmer Rouge for the 1991 Paris Peace Accords 1998, surrendered to the Cambodian government Cambodian Genocide « World Without Genocide - Working to create a World Without Genocide The Cambodian Genocide refers to the attempt of Khmer Rouge party leader “Pol Pot” to nationalize and centralize the peasant farming society of Cambodia virtually overnight, in accordance with the Chinese Communist agricultural model

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This resulted in the gradual devastation of over 25% of the country’s population in just three short years. Cambodia Cambodia, a country in Southeast Asia, is less than half the size of California, with its present day capital in Phnom Penh. In 1953, Cambodia gained its independence from France, after nearly 100 years of colonialist rule. As the Vietnam War progressed, Cambodia’s elected Prime Minister Norodom Sihanouk adopted an official policy of neutrality. Sihanouk was ousted in 1970 by a military coup led by his own Cambodian General Lon Nol, a testament to the turbulent political climate of Southeast Asia during this time. In the years preceding the genocide, the population of Cambodia was just over 7 million, almost all of whom were Buddhists. The country borders Thailand to its west and northwest, Laos to its northeast, and Vietnam to its east and southeast. The south and southwest borders of Cambodia are coastal shorelines on the Gulf of Thailand.

The actions of the Khmer Rouge government which actually constitute “genocide” began shortly after their seizure of power from the government of Lon Nol in 1975, and lasted until the Khmer Rouge was overthrown by the Vietnamese in 1978. The genocide itself emanated from a harsh climate of political and social turmoil. This atmosphere of communal unrest in Cambodia arose during the French decolonization of Southeast Asia in the early 1950s, and continued to devastate the region until the late 1980s. BACKGROUND OF CAMBODIA Cambodia, a Southeast Asian country less than half the size of California, was the center of the ancient kingdom of Khmer with its capital city Angkor. Cambodia gained its independence from France in 1953, after nearly 100 years of colonial rule. Power was given to Cambodia’s Prince Sihanouk but in 1970, he was deposed in a military coup led by his own Cambodian Lieutenant-General Lon Nol, a response to the turbulent political climate of Southeast Asia during this time.

Lon Nol was made president of the new Khmer Republic while Prince Sihanouk and his loyal followers joined forces with a communist guerrilla organization known as the Khmer Rouge. Soon after, civil war in Cambodia began. The conflict in Cambodia was also caught up in another country’s war: Vietnam. Vietnam at this time was fighting against the French for independence. The French were defeated in 1954, and Vietnam found itself divided in two: communist North Vietnam and pro-Western South Vietnam. Civil war immediately broke out between the two factions. The Viet Congo, a Vietnamese communist guerrilla group with support from North Vietnam and China, fought the South Vietnamese army. [1] In 1964, the US entered the Vietnam War and, after several years of fighting, the US finally withdrew. The war was inconclusive, had cost over three million American and Vietnamese lives, and left the region devastated. [2] Under Prince Sihanouk, Cambodia had maintained neutrality during the Vietnam War by giving support to both sides. The Viet Cong were allowed to use Cambodian ports to ship in supplies while the US was allowed to bomb Viet Cong hideouts in Cambodia- secretly and illegitimately.

US troops were allowed to move freely into Cambodia to continue their struggle with the Viet Cong. For the next four years, American B-52 bombers led attacks to destroy suspected North Vietnamese supply lines. In this effort, as many as 750,000 Cambodians were killed. [3] In 1975, North Vietnamese forces seized South Vietnam’s capital, Saigon, and by the Khmer Rouge and its leader Pol Pot defeated Cambodian Lieutenant-General Lon Nol. Approximately 156,000 Cambodians died in the civil war, half of them civilians. [4] Khmer Rouge timeline RISE OF THE KHMER ROUGE The Khmer Rouge was a brutal, murderous revolutionary group intent on revolutionizing Cambodian society. On April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge army marched into Phnom Penh, the modern capitol. Khmer Rouge soldiers, young peasants from the provinces, mostly uneducated teenage boys who had never been in a city before, swept through town. They set to their job right away, evacuating Phnom Penh and forcing all of its residents to leave behind all their belongings and march towards the countryside.

“Hospital patients still in their white gowns stumbled along carrying their IV bottles. Screaming children ran in desperate search for their parents.” [5] Khmer Rouge Soldiers (AP Photo/Christoph Froehder) Although the Khmer Rouge movement was small at first, new people were constantly being recruited. Many Cambodians had become disenchanted with western democracy due to the huge loss of Cambodian lives that resulted from the US strategy to involve Cambodia in the Vietnam War. The heavy U.S. bombardment, and Lon Nol’s collaboration with the US, drove new recruits to Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge guerrilla movement. Pol Pot’s communism brought with it images of new hope and national tranquility for Cambodia. By 1975, Pol Pot’s force had grown to over 700,000 men. Within days of the Khmer Rouge takeover of Phnom Phen, Pol began implementing his extremist policies of collectivization. The government confiscated and took control of all property including schools, hospitals, various other societal institutions, and communal labor. Pol Pot was educated in France and he was an ardent admirer of “Mao” (Chinese) communism as well as Stalinism.

Pol Pot envisioned the creation of a “new” Cambodia based on the Maoist-Communist model and wanted to restore the country to an agrarian society based on Maoist ideals. [6] The aim of the Khmer Rouge was to deconstruct Cambodia back to a primitive “Year Zero,” wherein all citizens would participate in rural work projects, and any Western innovations would be removed. “It was an attempt of the Khmer Rouge to nationalize and centralize the peasant farming society of Cambodia virtually overnight, in accordance with the Chinese Communist agricultural model.” [7] Taking Cambodia back to Year Zero In order to achieve the “ideal” communist model, the Khmer Rouge believed that all Cambodians must be made to labor for a federation of collective farms; anyone in opposition to this system must be eliminated. Under threat of death, Cambodians nationwide were forced from their hometowns and villages. The ill, disabled, old, and young who were incapable of making the journey to the collectivized farms and labor camps were killed on the spot. People who refused to leave were killed, along with any who appeared to be in opposition to the new regime. Residents of entire cities were forcibly evacuated to the countryside. All political and civil rights of the citizen were abolished.

Children and parents were separated and sent to different labor camps. [8] Cambodians who survived the purges and marches became unpaid laborers, working on minimum rations for endless hours. They were forced to live in public communes, similar to military barracks, with constant food shortages and rampant disease. Due to conditions of virtual slave labor, starvation, physical injury, and illness, many Cambodians became incapable of performing physical work and were killed by the Khmer Rouge as expenses to the system. [9] “To spare you is no profit, to destroy you is no loss.” -Kang Kek Iew (mid-level leader of the Khmer Rouge regime) This list of “potential opposition” included, but was not limited to, journalists, lawyers, doctors, professionals, intellectuals, such as students and professors, and members of the upper class. Factories, schools, universities, hospitals, and all other private institutions were shut down; all their former owners and employees were murdered along with their extended families. It was very common for people to be shot for speaking a foreign language or wearing glasses as these were traits that were associated with the West. Many were also shot for smiling or crying as it was forbidden to show any kind of emotion.

Much of the killing was inspired by the extremist propaganda of a militant communist transformation with the belief that individuals such as journalists, intellectuals, and others were threats to the state. The Khmer Rouge also targeted various religious and ethnic groups during its time in power. Religious enthusiasts, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Cambodians with Chinese, Vietnamese or Thai ancestry, were all persecuted. Leading Buddhist monks and Christian missionaries were killed, and temples and churches were burned. [10] Minority groups were forcibly relocated and the use of minority language was also banned. The Khmer Rouge also vigorously interrogated its own membership and frequently executed members on suspicions of treachery or sabotage. Survival was determined by one’s ability to work. Therefore, Cambodia’s elderly, handicapped, ill, and children suffered enormous casualties for their inability to perform unceasing physical labor on a daily basis. While the Khmer Rouge was gaining power, the U.S. government had very little interest in the events that were occurring in Southeastern Asia. The American Embassy had little concern about the regime and was principally concerned with Cambodia in relation to the effect on the Vietnam War. [11] The U.S.

Embassy in Phnom Penh was not particularly interested in the victims, either. General William Westmoreland, the commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, stated, “The Oriental doesn’t put the same high price on life as does a Westerner. Life is plentiful, life is cheap in the Orient.” [12] It is estimated that one and a half to three million Cambodians lost their lives at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. On July 25, 1983, the Research Committee on Pol Pot’s Genocidal Regime issued its final report, including detailed province-by-province data. The data showed that the number of deaths was 3,314,768. An estimated 25 percent of the total population died due to the Khmer Rouge policies of forced relocation of the population from urban centers, torture, mass executions, used of forced labor, and malnutrition. [13] [14] Even after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the people of Cambodia suffered greatly. Thousands of people fled to Thailand; many forced to eat leaves, roots, and bugs along the way.

[15] Many died of starvation en route, or stepped on land mines, for Khmer Rouge soldiers had laid mines almost everywhere along the western border, to prevent their victims from fleeing. Those who made it to Thailand brought malaria, typhoid, cholera, and a host of other illnesses into the camps. Human rights groups estimated that about 650,000 more people died in the year following the fall of the Khmer Rouge. [16] Khmer Rouge Killing Fields Most of the nation’s Khmer Rouge survivors suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, but through the 1990s, no one in Cambodia recognized this or was offered any treatment. No one paid any attention at all, allowing the illness to fester and, in some cases, worsen. For someone suffering from PTSD, almost anything out of the ordinary could set off a heart-wrenching panic. For older people with heart trouble, these panics could trigger a heart attack. [17] In the early 1990s, mass graves were uncovered throughout Cambodia. “Each held dozens, or hundreds, of skeletal remains from Khmer Rouge execution grounds.

Most often villagers piled the remains in barns or outbuildings the Khmer Rouge had once used. Even now, decades later, villagers say the skulls speak to them.” [18] Skeletal remains unearthed (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE THE EXTRAORDINARY CHAMBERS IN THE COURTS OF CAMBODIA Bringing the perpetrators to justice proved to be a difficult task. Almost three decades after Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge were driven out of Phnom Penh, the Cambodian government requested help from the United Nations in prosecuting its former leaders for crimes that were committed between 1975 and 1979. Initially, the UN wanted to create a court resembling the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, but the Cambodian government resisted the establishment of such as court. The Cambodian government refused the UN’s proposal, opposing Western influence in prosecuting individuals of the Khmer Rouge regime. After much negotiation through the UN General Assembly, the Cambodian government agreed to an amended bi-lateral agreement on June 6, 2003, which approved an agreement on the prosecution of crimes committed between 1975 and 1979.

[19] This agreement resulted in the establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) Because it took so long to set up the Extraordinary Court, many of the members of Khmer Rouge had already died before the trials began. The deceased included Pol Pot, Son Sen (Defense Minister and responsible for the Santebal, the Political Police), Yun Yat (Minister), Thiounn Thioeunn (Minister), Ta Mok (Chief of Military Command), and his deputy Ke Pauk. [20] Many suspected perpetrators were also killed in the military struggle with Vietnam or eliminated as internal threats to the Khmer Rouge itself. So far the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) has prosecuted the following cases: Kang Kek Iew (AKA Comrade Duch) The head of the Khmer Rouge’s internal security branch who extended the prison system nationwide. He was responsible for overseeing the notorious Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Pehn. Kang Kek Iew was placed in charge of Tuol Sleng together with his lieutenants Mam Nai and Tang Sin Hean .

Approximately 16,000 Cambodians were killed within the Tuol Sleng prison. There are only seven known survivors. [21] Cambodian victims of Tuol Sleng He was the first Khmer Rouge leader to be tried by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and was convicted of crimes against humanity, murder, and torture. During his trial, Kang Kek Iew admitted his guilt over the crimes carried out in Tuol Sleng and on July 26, 2010, he was found guilty on charges of crimes against humanity, murder, and torture in which he was given a sentence of 30 years imprisonment. [22] Nuon Chea (AKA Brother Number Two) Second in command of the Khmer Rouge regime and was their chief ideologist. Nuon Chea was arrested at his home on September 19th, 2007, and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. [23] He denied all charges but was ultimately convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to imprisonment for the remainder of his life.

[24] Ieng Sary (AKA Brother Number Three) A co-founder and senior member of the Khmer Rouge, he was the Minister of foreign affairs as well as deputy prime minister. Ieng Sary was arrested on November 12th, 2007, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Before the trial could conclude, Ieng Sary died of a gastrointestinal problems. [25] Ieng Thirith Minister of Social Affairs from 1975 until 1979. Ieng Thirith was arrested on November 12, 2007, after being indicted by the Cambodian Tribunal. [26] She was arrested for crimes against humanity and “planning, direction, coordination and ordering of widespread purges…and the unlawful killing or murder of staff members from within the Ministry of Social Affairs.” [27] Following evaluations from medical experts, she was ruled mentally unfit to stand trial due to her severe case of Alzheimer’s Disease. [28] Khieu Samphan Was an extremely powerful politician in the Khmer Rouge and served as head of state of Cambodia from 1976 until 1979.

Khieu Samphan was arrested on November 19, 2007, charged with crimes against humanity, and was given a life sentence. [29] The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia has been criticized for being slow, as only three people who were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2011 have been tried and convicted. [30] There have also been allegations of corruption and politicization since the Chambers have been in session and concerns about the costs of the court, which has exceeded over $200 million. [31] In 2013, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Cambodia’s National Assembly approved a bill, which makes illegal the denial of the Cambodian genocide and the atrocities that were committed by the Khmer Rouge. [32] Updated: World Without Genocide, March, 2015. By Sandro Krkljes, World Without Genocide associate, Mitchell Hamline School of Law. [1] “Cambodia 1975.” Peace Pledge Union Information.

Vietnam: Maps, History, Geography, Government, Culture, Facts, Guide & Travel/Holidays/Cities Tension Increases with China Over Islands Border Clashes With Cambodia Continue In 1977, border clashes between Vietnam and Cambodia intensified, as well as accusations by its former ally Beijing that Chinese residents of Vietnam were being subjected to persecution. Beijing cut off all aid and withdrew 800 technicians. Hanoi was also preoccupied with a continuing war in Cambodia, where 60,000 Vietnamese troops had invaded and overthrown the country's Communist leader Pol Pot and his pro-Chinese regime. In early 1979, Vietnam was conducting a two-front war: defending its northern border against a Chinese invasion and supporting its army in Cambodia, which was still fighting Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge guerrillas. Hanoi's Marxist policies combined with the destruction of the country's infrastructure during the decades of fighting devastated Vietnam's economy. However, it started to pick up in 1986 under doi moi (economic renovation), an effort at limited privatization. Vietnamese troops began limited withdrawals from Laos and Cambodia in 1988, and Vietnam supported the Cambodian peace agreement signed in Oct. 1991.

Question: Pol Pot was overthrown as ruler of what country in 1979?
Answer: Cambodia