How did the economic and social systems of the Khmer Rouge violate the Human Rights?
The Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge period (1975–1979) refers to the rule of Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, leng Sary, Son Sen, Khieu Samphan and the Khmer Rouge Communist party over Cambodia, which the Khmer Rouge renamed as Democratic Kampuchea. Due to the large numbers, the deaths during the rule of the Khmer Rouge, Khmer Rouge is often considered a Genocide, and commonly known as the Cambodian Holocaust or Cambodian Genocide. The Khmer Rouge took power at the end of the Cambodian Civil War and were toppled with the invasion of Cambodia by neighbor and former ally Vietnam in the Cambodian-Vietnamese War, which left Cambodia under Vietnamese occupation for over a decade. 'Khmer Rouge' was the name of King Norodom Sihanouk gave to his communist opponents in the 1960s. It implement their radical Maoist and Marxist-Leninist transformation program at this time, and it wanted to transform Cambodia into a rural, classless society. As the result, the Khmer Rouge abolished money, free markets, nomal schooling, private property, foreign clothing styles, religious practices, and traditional Khmer culture, and so many things were restricted from people. Everyone was deprived of their basic rights, and family relationship were heavily criticized. Over the years, the Khmer Rouge killed and arrested thousands of soldiers, military officers, and civil servants, intellectuals, city residents, minority migrants. The four-year of Khmer Rouge cost approximately 2 million lives through the combined result of political executions, starvation, and forced labor.
Khamboly, Dy. A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) . [Phnom Penh, Cambodia]: Documentation Center of Cambodia, 2007 . Print. Chapter 1. Page 1
Source Analysis
Source 1
The Khmer Rouge period (1975–1979) refers to the rule of Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, leng Sary, Son Sen, Khieu Samphan and the Khmer Rouge Communist party over Cambodia, which the Khmer Rouge renamed as Democratic Kampuchea. Due to the large numbers, the deaths during the rule of the Khmer Rouge, Khmer Rouge is often considered a Genocide, and commonly known as the Cambodian Holocaust or Cambodian Genocide. The Khmer Rouge took power at the end of the Cambodian Civil War and were toppled with the invasion of Cambodia by neighbor and former ally Vietnam in the Cambodian-Vietnamese War, which left Cambodia under Vietnamese occupation for over a decade. 'Khmer Rouge' was the name of King Norodom Sihanouk gave to his communist opponents in the 1960s. It implement their radical Maoist and Marxist-Leninist transformation program at this time, and it wanted to transform Cambodia into a rural, classless society. As the result, the Khmer Rouge abolished money, free markets, nomal schooling, private property, foreign clothing styles, religious practices, and traditional Khmer culture, and so many things were restricted from people. Everyone was deprived of their basic rights, and family relationship were heavily criticized. Over the years, the Khmer Rouge killed and arrested thousands of soldiers, military officers, and civil servants, intellectuals, city residents, minority migrants. The four-year of Khmer Rouge cost approximately 2 million lives through the combined result of political executions, starvation, and forced labor.
Khamboly, Dy. A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) . [Phnom Penh, Cambodia]: Documentation Center of Cambodia, 2007 . Print. Chapter 1. Page 1
Source Analysis
Source 1
"Dutch Painter Brings Khmer Rouge Victims to Life." Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Philip Smet, n.d. Web. <http://www.rnw.nl/international-justice/article/dutch-painter-brings-khmer-rouge-victims-life>.
This is a painting drawn by Philip Peter Klashorst. It's my first secondary source to help people understand what happened during Khmer Rouge. The date this was created is unknown, but there are many quotes left from the creator. According to what he said, the reason of creating this painting was because he wanted to remember the victims. The painter visited Phnom Penh as a tourist and he went to the Tuol Sleng Museum of the Genocide. He saw the pictures of prisoners more than 6,000, who mostly did not know what they had done wrong. By using this format, the creator made an art piece that's extra-ordinary so attract more people. This source shows how Cambodian people lived in harsh condition and got executed sometimes without a reason or just for a little thing. This painting proves that the Khmer Rouge had very cruel history that tortured and killed many innocent people of Cambodia. The creator of this painting is definitely feeling sorry for those victims who became subjects to the painting. He is representing the side that's against the system of Khmer Rouge. This source somehow has quite a lot of limitations. The creator doesn’t know the exact situation of what was going on. He is just looking at the things in the museum, which are mostly about the pictures of imprisoners who were killed. He doesn’t know if they have really done something wrong or not. Except for this aspect, this is a good source to support explaining what the Khmer Rouge had done so cruelly.
How does it violate human right?
Human Right Article 5.
Human Article 1.
This is a painting drawn by Philip Peter Klashorst. It's my first secondary source to help people understand what happened during Khmer Rouge. The date this was created is unknown, but there are many quotes left from the creator. According to what he said, the reason of creating this painting was because he wanted to remember the victims. The painter visited Phnom Penh as a tourist and he went to the Tuol Sleng Museum of the Genocide. He saw the pictures of prisoners more than 6,000, who mostly did not know what they had done wrong. By using this format, the creator made an art piece that's extra-ordinary so attract more people. This source shows how Cambodian people lived in harsh condition and got executed sometimes without a reason or just for a little thing. This painting proves that the Khmer Rouge had very cruel history that tortured and killed many innocent people of Cambodia. The creator of this painting is definitely feeling sorry for those victims who became subjects to the painting. He is representing the side that's against the system of Khmer Rouge. This source somehow has quite a lot of limitations. The creator doesn’t know the exact situation of what was going on. He is just looking at the things in the museum, which are mostly about the pictures of imprisoners who were killed. He doesn’t know if they have really done something wrong or not. Except for this aspect, this is a good source to support explaining what the Khmer Rouge had done so cruelly.
How does it violate human right?
Human Right Article 5.
- No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Human Article 1.
- All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.