Just Go Places Magazine Cambodia Cambodia | Page 6

EHISTORI
d i t o r ’ sC A
L e
L t Bt Ae C
r K G RO U N D

CAMBODIA
The Khmer Rouge was the name given to the Communist
party in Cambodia.They were infamous for engineering the
death of nearly a quarter of the population. They were trying to
return Cambodia to its agricultural past and the heyday of the
11th century when the Khmer Empire dominated South East
Asia. A side effect of their inept agricultural policy was
widespread famine. Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978 and
eventually forced the Khmer Rouge out.

Vietnam remained in control of Cambodia until the
United Nations mediated a peace settlement in 1991.
In 1997, a coup d’etat by Prime Minister Hun Sen
removed any non-communist opposition and consolidated
his power. Hun Sen is a former Khmer Rouge member
who rules Cambodia with an iron fist. His regime is
regularly accused of political oppression, corruption and
human rights violations.

Pol Pot was the leader of the Khmer Rouge. Although
he was educated at the Sorbonne in Paris, he believed
in an egalitarian, agrarian society which had no need for
money, religion or family. Thousands of Cambodians
were killed in order to ‘purify’ the country of monks, the
educated, non-ethnic Khmers, government officials and
artists. Pol Pot was never tried for his war crimes.

photo: ht t ps://f lic.kr /p/cmNSzQ

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