Evacuation Of The Cities
Citizens who were living in Cambodia cities were imagining their happy, peaceful and prosperous lives under the new ruler until the Khmer Rouge soldiers entered Phnom Penh and started firing into the air as signal to leave the town.
The soldiers forced around two million Phnom Penh residents, including over one million wartime refugees, into the countryside. There was no exception for the sudden evacuation. The young, old and sick, even pregnant were compelled to join the evacuation. Many pregnant women died while giving birth and many children became separated from their parents. Furthermore, Thousands of the evacuees died on the road because the condition was very inadequate. There were no proper medical services, medicine and food. . Within a week, the people of Phnom Penh and other cities that had been controlled by Khmer Republic government were moved to rural areas to do agricultural work.
During the evacuation, The Khmer Rouge told people that American was going to bomb Phnom Penh, so they have to leave. But, this wasn't true. In October 1977, Pol Pot said that the evacuation was to break up an "enemy spy organization". Khmer Rouge activated the Evacuation of cities system in order to turn the country into a nation of peasants and workers in which corruption, feudalism, and capitalism could be completely uprooted. The Khmer Republic government felt that cities were evil and that only peasants in the country side were pure enough for their revolution. After the evacuation, Phnom Penh became a "ghost city". Very few remainders of the city were only about 40,000, and those were administrative officers, soldiers and factory workers.
Khamboly, Dy. A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) . [Phnom Penh, Cambodia]: Documentation Center of Cambodia, 2007 . Print. Chapter 3. Page 14
Source analysis
Source 2
Citizens who were living in Cambodia cities were imagining their happy, peaceful and prosperous lives under the new ruler until the Khmer Rouge soldiers entered Phnom Penh and started firing into the air as signal to leave the town.
The soldiers forced around two million Phnom Penh residents, including over one million wartime refugees, into the countryside. There was no exception for the sudden evacuation. The young, old and sick, even pregnant were compelled to join the evacuation. Many pregnant women died while giving birth and many children became separated from their parents. Furthermore, Thousands of the evacuees died on the road because the condition was very inadequate. There were no proper medical services, medicine and food. . Within a week, the people of Phnom Penh and other cities that had been controlled by Khmer Republic government were moved to rural areas to do agricultural work.
During the evacuation, The Khmer Rouge told people that American was going to bomb Phnom Penh, so they have to leave. But, this wasn't true. In October 1977, Pol Pot said that the evacuation was to break up an "enemy spy organization". Khmer Rouge activated the Evacuation of cities system in order to turn the country into a nation of peasants and workers in which corruption, feudalism, and capitalism could be completely uprooted. The Khmer Republic government felt that cities were evil and that only peasants in the country side were pure enough for their revolution. After the evacuation, Phnom Penh became a "ghost city". Very few remainders of the city were only about 40,000, and those were administrative officers, soldiers and factory workers.
Khamboly, Dy. A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) . [Phnom Penh, Cambodia]: Documentation Center of Cambodia, 2007 . Print. Chapter 3. Page 14
Source analysis
Source 2
Khamboly, Dy. A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) . [Phnom Penh, Cambodia]: Documentation Center of Cambodia, 2007 . Print. Chapter 3. Page 15
This source is from the history of democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) book and was published by Khamboly, Dy, who has worked for the documentation center of Cambodia since 2003. this interview contains a woman talking about her experiences during the creation of two new social systems.
This is a highly reliable source of information because it is a personal interview that has experienced the Khmer Rouge's evacuation of cities. The interviewee is Sim Soth aka Koy, who was a cyclo driver in Phnom Penh. He is recalling what he say during the evacuation. This source is created to convey the situation during the evacuation and to support the fact that Khmer Rouge violated the human rights by reporting how one of the Khmer Rouge's regime, evacuation of cities, had been done and how it affected people. The author chose this interview format because it is an effective format of source which can clearly show the reasons why evacuation of cities is violating human rights with detailed explanation. Further more, it has a high reliability as this is from person who actually experienced the issue. It can gain more faith from the audience than the other sources. The document is basically saying that the evacuation of cities happened in sudden and the condition of evacuation was just terrible and horrible. We have to pay much attention to the places that Sim Soth aka Koy mentioned. He was from Phom Penh, and he was told to go to Takhmau, but he actually ended up in the Takeo province. This shows that the Khmer Rouge lied to the citizens during the evacuation and they made people walked such a far distance on foot which would have really distressed them.
We can tell that Sim Soth aka Koy has a strong negative perspective towards the evacuation of cities and he felt like nightmare when he was evacuating. We can also tell that he was a student, but also a cyclo driver, and he is one of the evacuees from Phnom Penh to Takeo province. The source is telling that Khmer Rouge started to activate their regime and treated people violently. The source was created under the Khmer Rouge regime and it is reflecting that the Khmer Rouge regime was so violent and terrible that forced people to suffer. The controversies which can be told from this source is that Khmer Rouge violated many human rights. People were forced to leave their home without knowing the true reason, families were separated, there was not enough food provided to people, and they had to walk a long distances on their foot, confiscated their belongings, and they were killed if they didn’t follow what they were told. The limitation of the source is based on not attested source of information but just a personal experience; this information can be biased and not fully correct. Sim Soth aka Koy could have missed some very important information or add some extra information that has not happened or exaggerated it. The other limitation is that this source is just explaining about the situation and there is no a personal thought or opinion on the issue.
How does it violate human right?
The source is clearly showing that Khmer Rouge's evacuation of cities is violating the human rights. The source strongly supports that it is especially violating two articles which are article 13 and 17.
Human Right Article 13.
· (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
· (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country
Human Right Article 17.
· (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
· (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
People were forced to move out from the town and move to the country side. In the source, it is saying that "Suddenly, they fired into the air, ordering people to leave the town" which supports evacuation of cities violated article 13. Evacuation of cities is limiting Cambodian's right to be free to move and residence within the borders of each state.
The other aspect is that the Khmer Rouge confiscated people's belongings and those who refused would be killed or taken away. Quotes from source,
"The Khmer Rouge confiscated people's belongings and who refused would be killed or taken away" and "on the way, I saw a lot of recently swollen dead bodies." supports that the evacuation of cities violated article 17 which is saying that No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property. The Khmer Rouge arbitrarily deprived people's property.
This source is from the history of democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) book and was published by Khamboly, Dy, who has worked for the documentation center of Cambodia since 2003. this interview contains a woman talking about her experiences during the creation of two new social systems.
This is a highly reliable source of information because it is a personal interview that has experienced the Khmer Rouge's evacuation of cities. The interviewee is Sim Soth aka Koy, who was a cyclo driver in Phnom Penh. He is recalling what he say during the evacuation. This source is created to convey the situation during the evacuation and to support the fact that Khmer Rouge violated the human rights by reporting how one of the Khmer Rouge's regime, evacuation of cities, had been done and how it affected people. The author chose this interview format because it is an effective format of source which can clearly show the reasons why evacuation of cities is violating human rights with detailed explanation. Further more, it has a high reliability as this is from person who actually experienced the issue. It can gain more faith from the audience than the other sources. The document is basically saying that the evacuation of cities happened in sudden and the condition of evacuation was just terrible and horrible. We have to pay much attention to the places that Sim Soth aka Koy mentioned. He was from Phom Penh, and he was told to go to Takhmau, but he actually ended up in the Takeo province. This shows that the Khmer Rouge lied to the citizens during the evacuation and they made people walked such a far distance on foot which would have really distressed them.
We can tell that Sim Soth aka Koy has a strong negative perspective towards the evacuation of cities and he felt like nightmare when he was evacuating. We can also tell that he was a student, but also a cyclo driver, and he is one of the evacuees from Phnom Penh to Takeo province. The source is telling that Khmer Rouge started to activate their regime and treated people violently. The source was created under the Khmer Rouge regime and it is reflecting that the Khmer Rouge regime was so violent and terrible that forced people to suffer. The controversies which can be told from this source is that Khmer Rouge violated many human rights. People were forced to leave their home without knowing the true reason, families were separated, there was not enough food provided to people, and they had to walk a long distances on their foot, confiscated their belongings, and they were killed if they didn’t follow what they were told. The limitation of the source is based on not attested source of information but just a personal experience; this information can be biased and not fully correct. Sim Soth aka Koy could have missed some very important information or add some extra information that has not happened or exaggerated it. The other limitation is that this source is just explaining about the situation and there is no a personal thought or opinion on the issue.
How does it violate human right?
The source is clearly showing that Khmer Rouge's evacuation of cities is violating the human rights. The source strongly supports that it is especially violating two articles which are article 13 and 17.
Human Right Article 13.
· (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
· (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country
Human Right Article 17.
· (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
· (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
People were forced to move out from the town and move to the country side. In the source, it is saying that "Suddenly, they fired into the air, ordering people to leave the town" which supports evacuation of cities violated article 13. Evacuation of cities is limiting Cambodian's right to be free to move and residence within the borders of each state.
The other aspect is that the Khmer Rouge confiscated people's belongings and those who refused would be killed or taken away. Quotes from source,
"The Khmer Rouge confiscated people's belongings and who refused would be killed or taken away" and "on the way, I saw a lot of recently swollen dead bodies." supports that the evacuation of cities violated article 17 which is saying that No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property. The Khmer Rouge arbitrarily deprived people's property.