Cambodian Genocide 1975-1979

Genocide Intentional mass killing especially of those part of an ethnic group and/or religion.

How? The Regime would go on raids picking up people on their lists Citizens deemed fit to work in labour camps, worked until starvation Unfit were killed with their families

Who? 1975-1979, carried out by the Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot Pol Pot was a Cambodian politician 1963-1981, he also served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea The Khmer Rouge regime was mainly made up of teen peasants Who?

Why? After Pol Pot overthrowing the government they were put on a mission to reconstruct Cambodia Using the communist model of Mao’s China They believed the population must be made to work as labourers to help rebuild Cambodia

Where? Citizens were forced to relocate to other areas of Cambodia Victims suffered from disease, execution, starvation and forced labour Conditions were as terrible as Holocaust Some refer to this event as the Cambodian Holocaust

Victims Citizens of Cambodia were targeted Ill, disabled, old and very young It’s estimated about 1.5 - 3 million were killed Children were taken from their parents and placed in separate forced labour camps Anyone in opposition (intellectuals and educated were assumed to be) were eliminated Those who refused, didn’t obey or didn’t do as asked fast enough Victims

The towns Factories, schools, universities and hospitals were shut down Lawyers, doctors, teachers, engineers, scientists and people in professional fields were murdered along with their extended family

USA’s Response When US official publicly announced the atrocities people that mistrusted US motives dismissed these statements Thought they were lies or exaggerations The US government took little action as their defeat in Vietnam was still fresh They had no ties to Cambodia and felt it was a distant country they didn’t feel obligated to help

Vietnam’s Response Vietnam drove Pol Pot’s regime out of Cambodia Vietnamese troops were the only successful barrier to the Khmer Rouge Regime However, the government demanded they withdraw The Vietnamese still continued to push back and made sure killing fields did not reappear Known as the liberators of Cambodia

Taking Action I think Vietnam was very persistent in helping Cambodia even though they were told to withdraw If more countries and troops helped the amount effected would have been smaller but at the end of the day the regime was still pushed out and forced to surrender

Resources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_genocide http://www.ppu.org.uk/genocide/g_cambodia1.html https://schoolgenocide.weebly.com/methods.html https://www.ushmm.org/confront-genocide/cases/cambodia/violence/international- response# http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A175992565/GIC?u=43riss&xid=6881b729 http://www.davidstuff.com/historical/polpot.htm https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~amamendo/KhmerRouge.html http://endgenocide.org/learn/past-genocides/the-cambodian-genocide/ https://sites.google.com/site/thesecretbombingofcambodia/cambodian-genocide http://www.businessinsider.com/former-us-ambassador-describes-when-the-us- abandoned-cambodia-and-handed-it-over-to-the-butcher-2015-4