|
|
|
 |
 |
From April 17, 1975 until January 7, 1979, the ultra-Communist Khmer Rouge regime, led by Pol Pot, controlled the whole of Cambodia. Under the Khmer Rouge regime the country was known as ‘Democratic Kampuchea’. During the short reign of the Khmer Rouge, between one million and two and a half million Cambodians perished, some killed outright, others dying from disease, malnutrition, neglect and mistreatment. Many of the dead ended up in various ‘killing fields’ that can be found scattered across the country. The killing fields were essentially ad hoc places of execution and dumping grounds for dead bodies. The memorial at Choeung Ek just outside Phnom Penh was an orchard and a Chinese cemetery prior to 1975. During the Khmer Rouge regime it became one of the killing fields - this particular killing field is the site of the brutal executions of more than 17,000 men, women and children, most of whom first suffered through interrogation, torture and deprivation in the S-21 Prison (Toul Sleng) in Phnom Penh. Choeung EK is now a group of mass graves and a manorial stupa containing thousands of skulls. It’s about a 20-40 minute drive from the center of Phnom Penh.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
