What Was the Aftermath of the Cambodian Genocide Conflict?

Cambodia is still recovering from the genocide of 1975 to 1979.

Considered one of the greatest human tragedies of the 20th century, the Cambodian genocide, which began in 1975, resulted in the deaths of about 1.7 million people. The repressive, ultra-communist Khmer Rouge regime, led by Pol Pot, sought to turn the country into an agrarian utopia and the result was mass murder.

The Killing Fields

Under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, thousands of Cambodians were executed and others died from disease, starvation and forced hard labor. The killing fields refer to various mass graves where political opponents were murdered and buried.

Trauma

In 1978 the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia and by 1979 the Khmer Rouge was toppled. The devastated Cambodian population continued to suffer from starvation and disease in the immediate aftermath as there were minimal supplies of food. Today, Cambodia is still recovering from the psychological and physical trauma of the genocide that took place almost 30 years ago.

Tribunal

For many years after the genocide, which ended in 1979, the atrocities went undocumented and unpunished. Only in 2007 did a tribunal backed by the United Nations find that there was evidence of crimes against humanity including genocide, murder and torture. In 2010, for the first time a senior member of the Khmer Rouge regime was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 35 years. Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, was chief jailer who supervised the deaths of 16,000 Cambodians.

References

• Yale University: Cambodian Genocide Program
• Stanford Graduate School of Business: Cambodia is Facing up to its Genocide says Youk Chhang
• Genocide Watch: The Cambodian Genocide Project