Cambodia marks 50th anniversary of Khmer Rouge genocide
People in Cambodia have marked the 50th anniversary of the start of the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge regime that claimed the lives of at least 1.7 million people.
May 20th is designated Cambodia's "National Day of Remembrance" to mark the beginning of the atrocity in 1975.
About 2,000 people took part in a memorial service at the site of one of the so-called "Killing Fields" in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. Students from an art university staged a re-enactment of the brutality at the time.
The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, enforced an extreme form of communism until 1979. Forced labor and the systematic killing of intellectuals resulted in the death of more than a fifth of Cambodia's population.
Senate President and former prime minister Hun Sen said in a message on social media that peace is fragile for Cambodia and that people should be aware of the risk of a return to its dark past.
A 70-year-old genocide survivor who took part in Tuesday's event said she wants the younger generations to take action to prevent such a thing happening again. She added, "Do not destroy peace. They must defend peace instead."
Cambodia is now facing the challenge of how to pass on the lessons of the genocide to future generations. More than 70 percent of the population was born after the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime.
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