PhnomPenhPost-Apr 17, 2022
A number of senior government officials have publicly expressed views regarding their “painful” memories of events that took place 47 years ago on April 17, 1975, when the Khmer Rouge guerrillas defeated Lon Nol’s regime and marched their forces into Phnom Penh. April 17, 1975 was also the day when the black-clad Khmer Rouge soldiers began their “evacuation” of Phnom Penh’s entire population, which is considered by some to be the event that marks the beginning of the Cambodian genocide. “We were happy to see that the war was over. There was no more shelling going on every day. We did not know it that day but we were all standing at the gates of hell,” said Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith in a Facebook post. Khmer Rouge tribunal spokesman Neth Pheaktra said that today – 47 years after the Khmer Rouge first came to power – former senior leaders of that regime such as Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan have been found guilty of several crimes against humanity. They were convicted for the forced evacuation of Phnom Penh in Case 002/01 and again found guilty in Case 002/02 for the crimes against humanity that took place in the cooperatives and workplaces and through the persecution of Buddhists as well as forced marriages and other regime policies. Pheaktra noted they were convicted of the crime of genocide against the Cham and ethnic Vietnamese minorities of Cambodia. Some of Cambodia’s political parties marked the anniversary as well. The Candlelight Party held an event at the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, but no official event or ceremony was conducted by the government. Read more at:
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national-kr-tribunal/47th-anniversary-capital-evacuation-observed
