Cambodia marks 39 years since fall of Khmer Rouge
PHNOM PENH: Thousands of Cambodian survivors of the Khmer Rouge marked 39 years since the fall of the brutal regime that killed an estimated 1.7 million people.
Up to 40,000 people attended an event in the capital Phnom Penh, organised by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Hun Sen, installed by the Vietnamese who invaded Cambodia on Jan 7, 1979 and put and end to the regime.
“The Jan 7 victory saved the lives of people who survived the killings and brought back to the Cambodian people rights lost under the regime of Pol Pot,” Hun Sen said at the ceremony.
Most of the victims of the regime died of torture, starvation, exhaustion or disease in labour camps or were beaten to death during mass executions in the “killing fields”.
The day is controversial in Cambodia, with Hun Sen’s party celebrating it as a day of liberation while others mourn it as the start of a 10-year occupation by their hated Vietnamese neighbours.
The rise and fall of the genocidal Khmer Rouge was initiated by Vietnam to “divide and weaken” Cambodia to keep it under Vietnamese control, former opposition leader Sam Rainsy said in a post on his Facebook page.
The day marks Cambodia’s journey towards a brighter future, the United States said.
“We also celebrate the ingenuity, courage, and perseverance with which the Cambodian people have emerged from this period of darkness, rebuilt their country, and carried forward the process of national reconciliation,” the US embassy said in a statement.
The anniversary comes amid an opposition crackdown by Hun Sen’s government ahead of a July general election. — Reuters