Phnom Penh

While traveling in South East Asia your sightseeing experiences cannot always be cheery and whimsical, or even enjoyable. Often times the history of these Asian countries is unpleasant and depressing, and the reality of the past must be dealt with. In Cambodia the two places described below are far from pleasant, in fact they are brutal and horrific places, but imperative to knowing and understanding the country.

In Capital City of Cambodia the recent past of the Khmer Rouge cannot be avoided. This brutal regime that was in power in Cambodia from 1975 til 1979, brutally murdered over two million people in the name of creating a class-less agrarian society. Normal citizens were rounded up for being so called "subversive elements" and "threats to the state." These victims were not given due process or any legal rights what so ever, and were sent to S-21 to be tortured and ultimately to the "Killing Fields" to be murdered.

Visiting the "Killing Fields" and S-21, (Security Prison 21) also know as Tuol Sleng Prison was an experience I will never forget. Words cannot describe the gruesome experience of walking through these notorious places and thinking of all the victims.

Our first day in Phnom Pehn we biked to the "Killing Fields" which are essentially farm lands about 16 kilometers outside of the Capital. This is the sight of mass graves and where most of the accused civilians were brought to be murdered by the Khmer Rouge Army. The land is still littered with bones and remnants of clothing from the victims. It was horrifying. The brutality still lingers in the air in these fields, it is a place that rattles a person to the core.

The following day we went to S-21 or Tuol Sleng Prison. Tuol Sleng is right in the heart of town only a fifteen minute walk from our guest house. This prison and torture center was once a girls high school that was converted into a place of interrogation and carnage. Eerie, haunting, creepy, chilling; none of these words come close to the terrified emotions one feels walking through this school. I have never been so frightened walking down the halls of a building. The magnitude of the killings and that took place boggles your mind.

During our stay in Phnom Pehn we also had the opportunity to attend the current tribunal that is being carried out by the United Nations and The Extraordinary Chambers of the Court of Cambodia. It has been 30 years since the Khmer Rouge dictatorship took over the government and only now are the perpetrators being brought to justice. This tribunal made up of International and Cambodia lawyers and judges is attempting to finally make justice possible for the victims and their families. The court is trying those who are still alive and were once in positions of power within the Khmer Rouge dictatorship. This is a task becoming increasingly more difficult, due to the fact that so much time has past.

We were able to hear one of the few survivors of S-21 give testimony about his horrendous torture and imprisonment. The defendant on trial at the moment is called Duch and he is the man who ran the S-21 prison from 1975-1979.

While we were in Phnom Penh many of the locals we met did not seem to know about the UN and ECC tribunal and were indifferent to discussing the Khmer Rouge past. The new generation of Cambodians want to put the past behind them and forget about this genocide. I cannot blame, them this history is tragic. I only hope that what little justice can be done will help to ease the pain and help the families and the country achieve some form of closure.

After visiting these places and learning what I could about the history, I came to my own conclusion that even with the convictions taking place and justice being carried out (or the most feasible version of justice considering the circumstances), the Khmer Rouge should never be forgotten. The atrocities committed by their leaders and supporters should stay fresh in our minds. This is the only way that "never again" becomes a reality instead of an empty pledge.